The Wisdom of Insecurity Audiobook By Alan Watts, Deepak Chopra - introduction MD cover art

The Wisdom of Insecurity

A Message for an Age of Anxiety

Preview

Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends April 30, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Wisdom of Insecurity

By: Alan Watts, Deepak Chopra - introduction MD
Narrated by: John Lee
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends April 30, 2025 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.50

Buy for $13.50

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

An acclaimed philosopher shows us how—in an age of unprecedented anxiety—we can find fulfillment by embracing the present and living more fully in the now. He is "the perfect guide for a course correction in life" (from the Introduction by Deepak Chopra).

The brain can only assume its proper behavior when consciousness is doing what it is designed for: not writhing and whirling to get out of present experience, but being effortlessly aware of it.

Alan Watts draws on the wisdom of Eastern philosophy and religion in this timeless and classic guide to living a more fulfilling life. His central insight is more relevant now than ever: when we spend all of our time worrying about the future and lamenting the past, we are unable to enjoy the present moment—the only one we are actually able to inhabit.

Watts offers the liberating message that true certitude and security come only from understanding that impermanence and insecurity are the essence of our existence. He highlights the futility of endlessly chasing moving goalposts, whether they consist of financial success, stability, or escape from pain, and shows that it is only by acknowledging what we do not know that we can learn anything truly worth knowing.

In The Wisdom of Insecurity, Watts explains complex concepts in beautifully simple terms, making this the kind of book you can return to again and again for comfort and insight in challenging times.

“Perhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West, Watts had the rare gift of ‘writing beautifully the unwritable.’” —Los Angeles Times

©2011 Alan Watts and Deepak Chopra (P)2023 Random House Audio
Consciousness & Thought Meditation Modern Personal Development Personal Success Philosophy Spirituality Wisdom

Critic reviews

“The wisdom of insecurity is not a way of evasion, but of carrying on wherever we happen to be stationed—carrying on, however, without imagining that the burden of the world, or even of the next moment, is ours. It is a philosophy not of nihilism but of the reality of the present—always remembering that to be of the present is to be, and candidly know ourselves to be, on the crest of a breaking wave.”—Philip Wheelwright, Arts and Letters

“This book proposes a complete reversal of all ordinary thinking about the present state of man. The critical condition of the world compels us to face this problem: how is man to live in a world in which he can never be secure, deprived, as many are, of the consolations of religious belief? The author shows that this problem contains its own solution—that the highest happiness, the supreme spiritual insight and certitude are found only in our awareness that impermanence and insecurity are inescapable and inseparable from life. Written in a simple and lucid style, it is a timely message.”—Book Exchange (London)

What listeners say about The Wisdom of Insecurity

Highly rated for:

Brilliant Philosophy Clarity Experience Classic Watts Material Watts Wit Great Masterpiece
Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    63
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    56
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    56
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

It was a great listen

I like the expansive nature of its main message. I could see AW reading it with the peaceful music in the background

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Being as a child

Having read "The Book" decades ago, I find that Watts' explanations expand my thinking. I appreciate how he does that.

It is ironic, then, that his message points to the idea that thinking gets in the way of experiencing life. And experiencing life, here and now, is what it's all about. Past and future get in the way.

The most profound insights for me are found in the last 30 minutes. But you must follow his argument laid out throughout the book to have the last 30 minutes make sense.

Experience the book.
Take what you will.
Enjoy today.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Beautiful Way of Explaining Zen and How It Applies to Modern Life…

I’ve read this book 7 times already and I’ve listened to it once … my next step is to read it while following it with the book …
Dr. Watts is just one of those rare philosophers who can explain Zen in a way that’s easy to understand but in a humorous manner! I want to add … I do not personally consider his works as “self-help” books they are ways to see life in a whole different perspective … of all the books Dr. Watts wrote this is the one I recommend you read first!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

True wisdom of life, the way to liberation

Such a great masterpiece from Alan Watts. True wisdom and a great reminder to enjoy present moment.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I want to understand to surrender I to release into All

It is so easy and eagerly absorbed as brilliant philosophy, yet it points us toward the release into clarity that does not require this book for being.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Truth

Incredible and so clear. There is no real duality and this is the most important aspect.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent content

I love the ideas Alan Watts presents here, but the narrator speaks way too fast. I had to slow the narration down to .8x

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A presentation to remember.

The rhythm and voice and subject of this audiobook presentation is as food for my thoughts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Hard to follow

I have listened to many, many hours of Alan Watts audiobooks, and I can usually follow along without much difficulty. Not so with this book. The content may be classic Watts material, but the narration has a completely different pace. Whereas Watts will speak at a fairly slow pace - occassionally stopping to let a point sink in or chuckle to himself - the narration of this book was rushed. In short, I missed out on most of the content in this book because it was just relayed too quickly for me to follow along.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Hard to follow as others have pointed out

Watts fans have grown to love his pacing and this book’s pacing is so different in the narration that it almost feels like a book written by AI mimicking Watts.
The inflections in the narration also make parts hard to even hear while on top volume. I found myself heading to YouTube and looking up another talk by Watts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!