Alan Watts Academy
Alan Watts
Practical Non-Duality
_edited.png)
São Luis (PT) ~ The Hague (NL) ~ Ubud (ID) ~ London (UK)
Ego Awakening without Spirituality
Even after 50+ years, the works of Alan Watts are still very much alive.
Although merely listening to Alan's soothing voice can already be satisfying, sooner or later you might actually want to change your perception into the one Watts talks about.
But how to get past the ego illusion without reinforcing the ego? Most people get stuck in the process.
The most popular approach is the spiritual lifestyle: meditations, mindfulness, yoga, mantras, prayer, a vegetarian diet, etc. This is a yin, or feminine, approach.
While this certainly works for some, it didn't work for Alan Watts. Nor does it work for anyone else with a strong inclination to use the mind.
Using the mind to overcome identification with mind is the yang, or masculine, approach of Alan Watts – an approach without much popular spirituality.
This path entails a temporary change in attitude from the wandering of the ordinary mind into a consistent exploration (and adoption) of all the practical implications of the non-dual philosophy: Practical Non-Duality.
We have specialized in facilitating such a process with the works of Alan Watts. In live groups, online and privately.
Watts' philosophy in 8 Quotes
“You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at itself”
Free Introduction Workshops
In our free introduction workshop, we'll explain:
-
The basics of non-duality according to Alan Watts
-
How ego awakening links to happiness and decision-making
-
How practical non-duality differs from other approaches
The introduction workshop takes 1.5 hours. It's free, but requires registration due to limited seating.
Fundamentals Course
(coming soon)
Non-duality seems like a wide ranging topic. Yet, upon a closer look, it's absolutely not rocket science.
It's pretty much a finite set of topics you need to (really, really) understand well. When you really do, you'll also experience ego awakening.
"If you say you understand me but you don't feel it, I'd argue that you don't really understand me"
~ Alan Watts
We're currently recording our live teachings that capture all the main concepts in our fundamentals course. Supported by many quotes, audio fragments and even visual diagrams.
Our "Fundamentals Course" will be available from April 1, 2026. It comes with free access to weekly Q&A sessions.
This course will provide a solid framework for our integration retreats and will therefore become a pre-requisite.
“Practices like yoga, meditation, Zen, prayer, or psychedelic ceremonies, all have something to recommend them. But, when practiced in order to get some kind of spiritual illumination or awakening, they strengthen the fallacy that the ego can toss itself away.
Trying to get rid of the ego-sensation reinforces the false belief it’s real.”
~ Alan Watts
"
Program elements
Each of our programs contains 3 returning elements that are offered with great variation.
Blind spots ~ receiving direct feedback
√
For each dialogue, we select fragments & quotes from the work of Alan Watts (& Friends). We then engage in dialogues with the sole purpose of discovering and overcoming blind spots through Socratic questioning.
Discomfort ~ consistently following intuition
√
Ego Awakening implies a surrender to intuition, because when there's no (belief in) ego left, intuition is the only drive that remains. That doesn't mean you can't follow your intuition pre-awakening. The challenge is just that it's sometimes difficult to recognize what is ego and what is intuition. And, even if you do recognize it, it can be uncomfortable. That's why some easy, fun (and innocent) discomfort practices are part of our live programs.
Mindset change ~ perceiving like Alan Watts
√
Some actors prepare for movies by getting into the skin of their character. They study the lens through which the character perceives the world. This lead to some of the most praised performances in movie history, but it often came at the expense of the actor struggling to let go of the character's lens – it works too well for mindset change. We assist people in perceiving life in a similar way as Alan Watts.
Live Retreats
We'll start our renewed 1-week integration retreats in the Fall of 2026 in Europe. These retreats builds on the content in the fundamentals course. More information will follow this Spring.
Designed for Ego Awakening
Very few tools help you regain the egoless perspective on a frequent basis ~ with personal feedback ~ without interrupting every-day life ~ while being affordable ~ with fun. We do.
Focus the Mind on Mind
Rather than trying to silence your mind, we focus your conceptual thinking mind exclusively on itself until your perception of this conceptual self shifts.
Down-to-Earth
We refrain from spiritual dogma and semantic bypassing games of conflating the absolute and relative perspective. Just radically honest, playful blind spotting.
Frequent repetition
Regain the non-egoic perspective several times a week with personal feedback instead of long stretches between costly, holiday-requiring retreats.
Small groups
Ask many questions in a small setting and receive personal feedback instead of having to compete for attention and add a challenge of large audiences watching you.
We host guru-free ego awakening programs based on the work of Alan Watts & Friends. Using the mind to get past the identification with mind. And humor. Like Watts.
“Without effort you will never reach it, with effort nobody has ever reached it. You will need great effort, and only then there comes a moment when effort becomes futile.
If you can surrender, surrender; do not ask how. If you ask how then you are not meant to surrender yet. You are asking for a method, so then follow method. Either you will succeed or you will fail: both are good. Through both you will reach.”
"
~ Osho
Explainers
What is Non-Duality?
Video 1: "How the brain creates an ego"
Video 2: "How to make up your mind about non-duality"
The Evidence
Is there any hard evidence that the thinker in our head – the ego – isn't real?
Well, is there any evidence that the you you think you are is real?
The answer to either question is: No.
If you live by the principles of science, you wouldn't just assume the ego is real, only because it feels like it.
You'd investigate it. Especially since your position on this matter greatly affects your decisions, ranging from those about self-development to some of the most ordinary every-day decisions.
Ego Awakening
If the ego is indeed a distorted lens of your (self)perception - one with short term benefits but long term problems – than you might want to get rid of it.
This is usually called 'ego awakening'. It has nothing to do with abilities to explore higher dimensions or other supernatural skills.
Ego awakening is just a waking up from a hypnotic thought-pattern that is making it more difficult to follow your intuition – the path of who you're naturally inclined to be.
Video 3: "Undoing the ego habit – thinking more vs less"
“The feeling that we call “I” is an illusion.
Taking oneself to be the thinker of one’s thought is a delusion that produces nearly every kind of human conflict and unhappiness.”
~ Sam Harris, neuroscientist
"
Video 4: "The Awakening roadmap"
How to.. use the mind for Ego Awakening?
Ego awakening can be achieved in many ways. While paths can be enhanced with all sorts of practices or substances, the main distinction is: Silencing the mind vs Using the mind.
As the ego is a product of excessive conceptual thinking, depriving the mind from conceptual stimulus – by long meditations – can break the egoic thought pattern.
Instead, for those individuals in which the tendency to think is too strong to go back to it's origin, the only way out is by turning conceptual thinking against itself.
Which path is best for you, depends on your personality and the culture – the conditioning – you grew up in.
The Awakening Process
“After awakening, you soon discover that you are able to continue with ordinary activities — to work and make decisions as ever, though somehow this is less of a drag. …
In the words of a Chinese Zen master: nothing is left at this moment but to have a good laugh.”
"
~ Alan Watts
Other Options
Book: Considering Non-Duality
There are various arguments for and against non-duality to be found throughout books about this topic. Throughout the years, we've collected several from fields such as neuroscience, quantum physics, psychology and etymology. In 2022, these were published in the book "Making up your mind about waking up your mind". In 2024, a shorter and simplified version was published as "Considering Non-Duality".
Private consults and retreats
At various stages of the ego awakening process, especially towards the initial awakening, it can be helpful to have a private session in which the entire dialogue is tailored around your blind spots.The benefit of private sessions is that we can refer back to previous sessions and workshops – point out your inconsistencies on a meta level – which can't be done in our group workshops.If you're visiting from outside the area, we recommend to get in touch with us as we can reserve your workshop spots as well as guarantee availability of private sessions during your stay. We don't offer accommodation, but we can make suggestions for any budget, making it a tailored private retreat.
“If you got the message,
hang up the phone.”
~ Alan Watts
"
