I knew some iconoclastic and original clergy in the early days of my church service. Their experiences, education, and world view were expansive and unconstrained by conventional spiritual thinking. They were inspiring in word and service. If not for them, I doubt that I would have continued to study for ordination. I also know that, if I were to start the ordination process today, I would not be as welcomed as I was 36 years ago, as clergy have largely become bland, narrow, and uninspired. Alan Watts may have been an extreme case of that expansiveness, but we once were served by more people like him than what we have serving these days and we were the better for it. This was originally published on September 28, 2012.
It may seem odd to find a fellow on the Friday list who was "defrocked" after only
six years as an Episcopal deacon/priest, but Alan Watts was very much a product
of his time who, sometimes indirectly, taught us much of what prayer and
meditation could do in the contemporary age.
As with many of those whom I admire in the Episcopal Church [such as
Muhlenberg, who was originally a German-speaking Lutheran, and Schereschewsky,
a German-speaking European Jew], Watts came to the Church through a rather
un-conventional route. Although, as far as I know, he wasn't German-speaking.
Alan Watts was born in
London,
England during
the First World War and was baptized in the Church of England. As a boy, he
loved the "Dr. Fu Manchu" stories by the writer Sax Rohmer [as did I
when a boy, although I can't admit that too publicly as the Episco-cats now
consider those works "racist"] which encouraged a fascination with
Eastern religion and the occult, a fascination that became his life's work as
Watts' intellect matured.
While still an adolescent, he published an essay in a reputable journal of
Buddhist studies. After moving to
New
York City in the late 1930's, he continued his studies
in Eastern thought while reading the works of Lafcadio Hearn, among others, and
even sitting in counsel with Joseph Campbell, the well-known scholar of
archetype.
He was ordained to the Holy Order of Priests in the Episcopal Church in 1945
and served for five years as the chaplain for
Northwestern
University, just outside of
Chicago.
Why, you might wonder, did a man of intellect with specific interest in
Asian religion and philosophy seek ordination as a Christian, not to mention an
Episcopalian? Well, that's the interesting part.
Clearly, having been raised in the Church of England,
Watts
was comfortable with Anglican/Episcopal theology and worship. That's one
portion of the answer. Another is that the Anglican/Episcopal tradition has
always been one of scholarship and academic orientation. To be ordained in the
Episcopal Church, one must have at least a master's degree or its equivalent;
have a working knowledge of at least one Biblical language, and a familiarity
with the lively arts.
Certainly, anyone who reads
The Coracle's Friday profiles or of the Anglicans/Episcopalians who make up the lesser
feast days on the church calendar will note the overtone of academic achievement. A parish may see its
rector as that person who fixes the toilet, re-sets the parish house door, and
rakes the yard, but he/she is also someone who has published academic and other
articles and earned at least one, and perhaps multiple, graduate and
post-graduate degrees. A broad appreciation of human spiritual inquiry is intertwined with ecclesial service.l
But, there is another reason, and that's what makes
Watts
story interesting to me, as it also displays something that may be lacking in
the contemporary church; something that might explain its current lassitude.
Watts' fascination was with ritual, Eastern
or otherwise. While he was living in
New York,
he worshiped at the
Church of
St. Mary the Virgin in the
Times
Square area. It is still there, and the place where I worship on
those stray Sundays off when I happen to be in the city. St. Mary's, which is
also known as "Smokey Mary's" due to its famous use of great amounts
of incense, is an Episcopal Church that upholds like no other the "high
church" tradition of Anglicanism. During worship, the lections are
chanted, as is the liturgy itself, the music is of a lofty and very traditional
standard, and the liturgical action coordinated to bring a sense of spiritual
mystery and wonder to every aspect. It is not for those who find church attendance
a distraction on their way to their kids' soccer game.
Watts had never experienced the like in a Western religious setting and
realized that there were common elements to human spiritual expression that
need not be constrained by cultural barriers or labels such as "East"
or "West". This realization lead him to continue his studies within
the Episcopal Church and to serve as a very interesting university chaplain. He
was deposed [the canonical legal term for the vulgar, but more familiar, "defrocked"] as
his wife left him and sued for divorce. Yes, in
Watts'
day, Episcopal clergy could not be divorced. For personal reasons, I find that
notion amusing.
His time as an Episcopal priest did produce a very interesting work,
Myth
and Ritual in Christianity; a book that explains in an uncommon manner the intention
behind the things we do in church. It's one of my favorites.
After being liberated from the Episcopal Church,
Watts became the first scholar to effectively present Eastern philosophy to Western
audiences. He wrote seemingly countless books and articles. He was published in everything from scholarly journals to
Redbook and
Playboy. He rubbed shoulders with everyone from the composer John Cage to the
psychiatric icon C.G. Jung. He met Jack Kerouac and is a character in one of
his novels. He still has an eponymous website,
found here, where much more may
be read.
