FILM REVIEW By ShirleySienna
April 2020
Encore
Why Not Now was an excellent documentary created using old film material, with some explanatory cartoon graphics to make certain points and fill in some gaps. It was put together with sincerity, humour and was absolutely captivating; I think I left the cinema with a bit of a crush on the man himself, as I am sure did a few others! I am positive Alan himself would have appreciated the way this documentary portrayed the details of his personal and public life. His teachings allowed us to glimpse a legacy of information so uncannily relative to our current global situation, that I have no doubt he inspired the film-maker, from whatever world he now abides in, to get this film made. He was involved in world conferences for accessing solutions to the dilemmas facing humankind and the environment. He shared his teachings everywhere, from universities to coffee shops, a Zen-based TV show in America, where he lived most of his adult life although born in England, audio recordings and books. Alan was also involved in the creation of ‘The Oracle’, an underground newspaper founded in San Francisco, where he lived and worked for many years. Photo Credit: Supplied by ShirleySienna
8
Supernal Magazine
Alan’s popularity and life on a ferry-boat in the harbour became overwhelming due to the number of people, whose demands on his time, took him away from his writing. So, he moved out of the city into a simple place in the mountains, which, from the photos and video, looked uncannily like where one would epect the Zen Masters to abide in the mist-covered hills in China or Tibet. It was here I sensed that he really aligned with his purpose and relaxed into the integrity of the higher-self. He had no agenda except to share and encourage people to pursue integrity and awareness in all things and to create relatability to the energy of ‘Zen’. I was able to see how this charismatic soul lived and stayed true to his personal journey through decades of very changing and challenging times indeed. It gave me positive encouragement about my personal state of self- awareness and more than a little synchronicity, but also the feeling that perhaps we are bent on being doomed as a race of ‘eyes and mind wide shut’, hell-bent on ‘doing’, rather than ‘being’! His teachings, in both recordings and books, are popular and appreciated around the world, nearly 50 years after his death in 1973. He passed at only 57 years old. I wish Alan was around still, for I think a wise, humble and kind man, who was able to keep things simple, humorous and sensible, would be like a breath of fresh air in this year of 2020. Alan Watts 6/1/1915 – 16/11/1973
