86-800: " Do it yourself " (" DIY ") is the method of building, modifying , or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi-raw materials and parts to produce, transform, or reconstruct material possessions, including those drawn from the natural environment (e.g., landscaping)". DIY behavior can be triggered by various motivations previously categorized as marketplace motivations (economic benefits, lack of product availability, lack of product quality, need for customization), and identity enhancement ( craftsmanship , empowerment, community seeking, uniqueness). The term "do-it-yourself" has been associated with consumers since at least 1912 primarily in
172-547: A " hack ". It could also refer to an innovative fix or a simple work-around, a solution that bends the rules, or a resource that can be used in such a way. It is also often used to signify creativity: to make existing things work, or to create new things with meager resources. Rasquache is the English form of the Spanish term rascuache , originally with a negative connotation in Mexico it
258-512: A "legion of regular listeners". Watts continued to give numerous talks and seminars, recordings of which were broadcast on KPFA and other radio stations during his life. These recordings are broadcast to this day. For example, in 1970, Watts' lectures were broadcast on Sunday mornings on San Francisco radio station KSAN; and even today a number of radio stations continue to have an Alan Watts program in their weekly program schedules. Original tapes of his broadcasts and talks are currently held by
344-520: A "popularisation of Suzuki's earlier works, and besides being very unscholarly it is in many respects out of date and misleading." Watts married Eleanor Everett, whose mother Ruth Fuller Everett was involved with a traditional Zen Buddhist circle in New York. Ruth Fuller later married the Zen master (or "roshi"), Sokei-an Sasaki , who served as a sort of model and mentor to Watts, though he chose not to enter into
430-566: A European lecture tour to his cabin in Druid Heights , California. Friends of Watts had been concerned about him for some time over his alcoholism. On 16 November 1973, at age 58, he died in the Mandala House in Druid Heights. He was reported to have been under treatment for a heart condition. Before authorities could attend, his body was removed from his home and cremated on a wood pyre at
516-452: A cosmic Self-playing hide-and-seek ( Lila ); hiding from itself ( Maya ) by becoming all the living and non-living things in the universe and forgetting what it really is – the upshot being that we are all IT in disguise ( Tat Tvam Asi ). In this worldview, Watts asserts that our conception of ourselves as an " ego in a bag of skin", or "skin-encapsulated ego" is a myth; the entities we call the separate "things" are merely aspects or features of
602-472: A formal Zen training relationship with Sasaki. During these years, according to his later writings, Watts had another mystical experience while on a walk with his wife. In 1938 they left England to live in the United States. Watts became a United States citizen in 1943. Watts left formal Zen training in New York because the method of the teacher did not suit him. He was not ordained as a Zen monk, but he felt
688-784: A nearby beach by Buddhist monks. Mark Watts relates that Watts was cremated on Muir Beach at 8:30 am after being discovered deceased at 6:00 am. His ashes were split, with half buried near his library at Druid Heights and half at the Green Gulch Monastery . His son, Mark Watts, investigated his death and found that his father had planned his own passing meticulously: My father died to all of us very unexpectedly, but not to himself, and there were questions raised around his passing as to ... what had happened and particularly since there were various characters involved that ... helped to remove his body. And so there were questions about both had it happened for natural causes [or]
774-505: A need to find a vocational outlet for his philosophical inclinations. He entered Seabury-Western Theological Seminary , an Episcopal (Anglican) school in Evanston, Illinois, where he studied Christian scriptures, theology, and church history. He attempted to work out a blend of contemporary Christian worship, mystical Christianity, and Asian philosophy. Watts was awarded a master's degree in theology in response to his thesis, which he published as
860-661: A noted Eastern Orthodox Christian hieromonk and controversial theologian within the Orthodox Church in America under the jurisdiction of ROCOR . Rose's own disciple, a fellow monastic priest published under the name Hieromonk Damascene, produced a book entitled Christ the Eternal Tao , in which the author draws parallels between the concept of the Tao in Chinese religion and the concept of
946-827: A popular edition under the title Behold the Spirit: A Study in the Necessity of Mystical Religion . He later published Myth & Ritual in Christianity (1953), an eisegesis of traditional Roman Catholic doctrine and ritual in Buddhist terms. However, the pattern was set, in that Watts did not hide his dislike for religious outlooks that he decided were dour, guilt-ridden, or militantly proselytizing—no matter if they were found within Judaism, Christianity, Islam , Hinduism , or Buddhism . In early 1951, Watts moved to California, where he joined
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#17330862431301032-561: A printing house and later a bank. He spent his spare time involved with the Buddhist Lodge and also under the tutelage of a "rascal guru" named Dimitrije Mitrinović . (Mitrinović was himself influenced by Peter Demianovich Ouspensky , G. I. Gurdjieff , and the varied psychoanalytical schools of Freud , Jung and Adler .) Watts also read widely in philosophy, history, psychology, psychiatry, and Eastern wisdom. By his own reckoning, and also by that of his biographer Monica Furlong , Watts
1118-420: A role. Use of angle grinder is not preferred as large amounts of harmful sparks and fumes (and particulates ) are generated when compared with using reciprocating saw or band saw . Angle grinders produce sparks when cutting ferrous metals. They also produce shards cutting other materials. The blades themselves may also break. This is a great hazard to the face and eyes especially, as well as other parts of
1204-467: A scholarship to the oldest boarding school in the country, Watts attended The King's School, Canterbury , in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral . Though he was frequently at the top of his classes scholastically and was given responsibilities at school, he botched an opportunity for a scholarship to Trinity College, Oxford by styling a crucial examination essay in a way that was read as "presumptuous and capricious". When he left King's, Watts worked in
1290-570: A tiny focus area within the larger context, positioning DIY as a venue for holistic engagement. DIY ethic is the ethic of self-sufficiency through completing tasks without the aid of a paid expert . The DIY ethic promotes the idea that anyone is capable of performing a variety of tasks rather than relying on paid specialists. Italian archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of a 6th-century BC Greek structure in southern Italy. The ruins appeared to come with detailed assembly instructions and are being called an "ancient IKEA building". The structure
1376-632: A volunteer programmer at the KPFA radio station in Berkeley . He wrote more than 25 books and articles on religion and philosophy, introducing the Beat Generation and the emerging hippie counterculture to The Way of Zen (1957), one of the first best selling books on Buddhism. In Psychotherapy East and West (1961), he argued that psychotherapy could become the West's way of liberation if it discarded dualism , as
1462-526: A wide range of skill sets. DIY has been described as a "self-made-culture"; one of designing, creating, customizing and repairing items or things without any special training. DIY has grown to become a social concept with people sharing ideas, designs, techniques, methods and finished projects with one another either online or in person. DIY can be seen as a cultural reaction in modern technological society to increasing academic specialization and economic specialization which brings people into contact with only
1548-478: Is available. As a means of adaptation during the Cuban Special Period times of economic crisis, resolver ("to resolve") became an important part of Cuban culture. Resolver refers to a spirit of resourcefulness and do-it-yourself problem solving. Jugaad is a colloquial Hindi , Bengali , Marathi , Punjabi , Sindhi and Urdu word, which refers to a non-conventional, frugal innovation, often termed
1634-407: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Alan Watts Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker, and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Buddhist , Taoist , and Hindu philosophy for a Western audience. Watts gained a following while working as
1720-478: Is entirely in terms of abstractions. It trains you to be an insurance salesman or a bureaucrat, or some kind of cerebral character. In the 1970s, DIY spread through the North American population of college and recent-college-graduate age groups. In part, this movement involved the renovation of affordable, rundown older homes. But, it also related to various projects expressing the social and environmental vision of
1806-532: Is knowing when to stop". A personal account of Watts's last years and approach to death is given by Al Chung-liang Huang in Tao: The Watercourse Way . Regarding his ethical outlook, Watts felt that absolute morality had nothing to do with the fundamental realization of one's deep spiritual identity. He advocated social rather than personal ethics. In his writings, Watts was increasingly concerned with ethics applied to relations between humanity and
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#17330862431301892-547: Is the archivist for the San Francisco Zen Center, and Suzuki and my father had been good friends, and Richard Baker, rōshi Baker, had presided over my father's funeral. So after this video interview, David said to me: "I always did think it was funny that your father came and planned his own funeral" and I said "He did what?" and he described to me the meeting of Richard Baker and my father six months before he died, where he planned his funeral, and then I realized that
1978-540: Is the method of life and the means of cosmic and human evolution, how our fundamental ignorance is rooted in the exclusive nature - the instinctive grasping at identity, mind and ego, how to come in touch with the Field of Consciousness and Light, and other cosmic principles. Watts sought to resolve his feelings of alienation from the institutions of marriage and the values of American society, as revealed in his comments on love relationships in "Divine Madness" and on perception of
2064-617: The Logos in classical Greek philosophy and Eastern Christian theology. Watts also studied written Chinese and practised Chinese brush calligraphy with Hasegawa as well as with Hodo Tobase, who gave classes for a period in the academy's kitchen, which were also attended by Gordon Onslow Ford . He became proficient in Classical Chinese . While Watts was noted for an interest in Zen Buddhism , his reading and discussions delved into Vedanta , "
2150-562: The DIY Network cable television channel. Both were launched to appeal to the growing percentage of North Americans interested in DIY topics, from home improvement to knitting . Such channels have multiple shows revealing how to stretch one's budget to achieve professional-looking results ( Design Cents , Design on a Dime , etc.) while doing the work yourself. Toolbelt Diva specifically caters to female DIYers. Beyond magazines and television,
2236-609: The Michelin tyre company. His mother, Emily Mary Watts (née Buchan), was a housewife whose father had been a missionary. With modest financial means, they chose to live in pastoral surroundings, and Watts, an only child, grew up playing at brookside, learning the names of wild flowers and butterflies. Probably because of the influence of his mother's religious family the Buchans, an interest in "ultimate things" seeped in. It mixed with Watts's own interests in storybook fables and romantic tales of
2322-531: The PBS television series This Old House , starring Bob Vila , premiered and spurred a DIY television revolution. The show was immensely popular, educating people on how to improve their living conditions (and the value of their house) without the expense of paying someone else to do (as much of) the work. In 1994, the HGTV Network cable television channel was launched in the United States and Canada, followed in 1999 by
2408-524: The University of London , where he met the esteemed scholar of Zen Buddhism , D. T. Suzuki , who was there presenting a paper. Beyond attending discussions, Watts studied the available scholarly literature, learning the fundamental concepts and terminology of Indian and East Asian philosophy. Watts's fascination with the Zen (Ch'an) tradition—beginning during the 1930s—developed because that tradition embodied
2494-478: The underground punk scenes, and significantly altered the way fans interacted with musicians. Zines quickly branched off from being hand-made music magazines to become more personal; they quickly became one of the youth culture's gateways to DIY culture. This led to tutorial zines showing others how to make their own shirts, posters, zines, books, food, etc. The terms "DIY" and "do-it-yourself" are also used to describe: Much contemporary DIY music has its origins in
2580-506: The " Houseboat Summit " panel discussion in a 1967 edition of the San Francisco Oracle ) reflected a growing sentiment: Our educational system, in its entirety, does nothing to give us any kind of material competence. In other words, we don't learn how to cook, how to make clothes, how to build houses, how to make love, or to do any of the absolutely fundamental things of life. The whole education that we get for our children in school
2666-473: The 1950s, he conveyed his admiration for the practicality in the historical achievements of Chan (Zen) in the Far East, for it had fostered farmers, architects, builders, folk physicians, artists, and administrators among the monks who had lived in the monasteries of its lineages. In his mature work, he presents himself as "Zennist" in spirit as he wrote in his last book, Tao: The Watercourse Way . Child rearing,
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2752-751: The 1960s and early 1970s. The young visionary Stewart Brand , working with friends and family, and initially using the most basic of typesetting and page-layout tools, published the first edition of The Whole Earth Catalog (subtitled Access to Tools ) in late 1968. The first Catalog , and its successors, used a broad definition of the term "tools." There were informational tools, such as books (often technical in nature), professional journals, courses and classes. There were specialized, designed items, such as carpentry and stonemasonry tools, garden tools , welding equipment, chainsaws , fiberglass materials and so on – even early personal computers. The designer J. Baldwin served as technology editor and wrote many of
2838-523: The Eastern ways do. He considered Nature, Man and Woman (1958) to be, "from a literary point of view—the best book I have ever written". He also explored human consciousness and psychedelics in works such as "The New Alchemy" (1958) and The Joyous Cosmology (1962). His lectures found posthumous popularity through regular broadcasts on public radio, especially in California and New York, and more recently on
2924-632: The German psychotherapist Karlfried Graf Dürckheim . Upon returning to the United States, Watts recorded two seasons of a television series (1959–1960) for KQED public television in San Francisco, "Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life". In the 1960s, Watts became interested in how identifiable patterns in nature tend to repeat themselves from the smallest of scales to the most immense. This became one of his passions in his research and thought. Though never affiliated for long with any one academic institution, he
3010-672: The Pacifica Radio Archives, based at KPFK in Los Angeles, and at the Electronic University archive founded by his son, Mark Watts. In 1957 Watts, then 42, published one of his best-known books, The Way of Zen , which focused on philosophical explication and history. Besides drawing on the lifestyle and philosophical background of Zen in India and China and Japan, Watts introduced ideas drawn from general semantics (directly from
3096-432: The art and design community. The terms Hacktivist , Craftivist, or maker have been used to describe creatives working within a DIY framework (Busch). Otto von Busch describes 'Hacktivism' as "[including] the participant in the process of making, [to give] rise to new attitudes within the 'maker' or collaborator" (Busch 49). Busch suggests that by engaging in participatory forms of fashion, consumers are able to step away from
3182-422: The arts, cuisine, education, law and freedom, architecture, sexuality, and the uses and abuses of technology were all of great interest to him. Though known for his discourses on Zen, he was also influenced by ancient Hindu scriptures, especially Vedanta and Yoga, aspects of which influenced Chan and Zen. He spoke extensively about the nature of the divine reality that Man misses: how the contradiction of opposites
3268-662: The body. Modern power tools are mostly equipped with advanced dust control systems, including HEPA-certified dust extractors and integrated water delivery systems , to mitigate the release of harmful particulates. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( OSHA ) mandates the use of such control measures in environments with high dust levels. DIY is prevalent amongst the fashion community, with ideas being shared on social media, such as YouTube, about clothing, jewellery, makeup, and hairstyles. Techniques include distressing and bleaching jeans, redesigning old shirts, and studding denim. The concept of DIY has also emerged within
3354-499: The budding environmental movement , to which Watts gave philosophical support. He also encountered Robert Anton Wilson , who credited Watts with being one of his "Light[s] along the Way" in the opening appreciation of his 1977 book Cosmic Trigger : The Final Secret of the Illuminati . Werner Erhard attended workshops given by Alan Watts and said of him, "He pointed me toward what I now call
3440-431: The core values of the DIY punk ethic by leveraging creative ways of communication through zines and other projects. Adherents of the DIY punk ethic also work collectively. For example, punk impresario David Ferguson 's CD Presents was a DIY concert production , recording studio , and record label network. A form of independent filmmaking characterized by low budgets, skeleton crews, and simple props using whatever
3526-449: The dark aesthetics and nihilist discourse in punk fanzines in the 1970s and onwards in the shadow of rising unemployment and social tensions. In the 1960s and 1970s, books and TV shows about the DIY movement and techniques on building and home decoration began appearing. By the 1990s, the DIY movement felt the impact of the digital age with the rise of the internet. With computers and the internet becoming mainstream, increased accessibility to
Do it yourself - Misplaced Pages Continue
3612-598: The decoration. The building was built by Greek artisans coming from the Spartan colony of Taranto in Apulia. In North America, there was a DIY magazine publishing niche in the first half of the twentieth century. Magazines such as Popular Mechanics (founded in 1902) and Mechanix Illustrated (founded in 1928) offered a way for readers to keep current on useful practical skills, techniques, tools, and materials. As many readers lived in rural or semi-rural regions, initially much of
3698-417: The domain of home improvement and maintenance activities. The phrase "do it yourself" had come into common usage (in standard English) by the 1950s, in reference to the emergence of a trend of people undertaking home improvement and various other small craft and construction projects as both a creative-recreational and cost-saving activity. Subsequently, the term DIY has taken on a broader meaning that covers
3784-484: The earliest example of this attitude was the punk music scene of the 1970s. More recently, the orthodox understanding that DIY originates in 1970s punk, with its clearest practices being in the self-produced 7" single and self-published fanzines, has been challenged. As George McKay asks in the title of his 2023 article: 'Was punk DIY? Is DIY punk?' McKay argues instead for what he terms a 'depunking' of DIY. Riot grrrl , associated with third-wave feminism , also adopted
3870-615: The early sixties, that he was not an academic philosopher but rather "a philosophical entertainer". Experimentation Some of Watts's writings published in 1958 (e.g., his book Nature, Man and Woman and his essay "The New Alchemy") mentioned some of his early views on the use of psychedelic drugs for mystical insight. Watts had begun to experiment with psychedelics, initially with mescaline given to him by Oscar Janiger . He tried LSD several times in 1958, with various research teams led by Keith S. Ditman, Sterling Bunnell Jr., and Michael Agron. He also tried marijuana and concluded that it
3956-649: The environment Posttranslational modifications , changes to proteins arising from protein biosynthesis Modding , modifying hardware or software Mod (video gaming) Modified car Body modification Grammatical modifier Home modifications Chemical modification , processes involving the alteration of the chemical constitution or structure of molecules See also [ edit ] All pages with titles containing Modification Modified (disambiguation) Modifier (disambiguation) Mod (disambiguation) Edit (disambiguation) Manipulation (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
4042-462: The faculty of the American Academy of Asian Studies in San Francisco. Here he taught from 1951 to 1957 alongside Saburo Hasegawa (1906–1957), Frederic Spiegelberg , Haridas Chaudhuri , lama Tada Tōkan (1890–1967), and various visiting experts and professors. Hasegawa, in particular, served as a teacher to Watts in the areas of Japanese customs, arts, primitivism, and perceptions of nature. It
4128-470: The following: Examples of high dust level tasks include: Some power tools are equipped with dust collection system (e.g. HEPA vacuum cleaner) or integrated water delivery system which extract the dust after emission. While the type of material used will determine the composition of the dust generated, the size and amount of particulates produced are mainly determined by the type of tool used. Implementation of effective dust control measures may also play
4214-612: The idea of "mass-homogenized 'Mc-Fashion ' " (Lee 2003)" , as fashion Hacktivism allows consumers to play a more active role in engaging with the clothes they wear (Busch 32). DIY as a subculture was brought forward by the punk movement of the 1970s. Instead of traditional means of bands reaching their audiences through large music labels, bands began recording, manufacturing albums and merchandise, booking their own tours, and creating opportunities for smaller bands to get wider recognition through repetitive low-cost DIY touring. The burgeoning zine movement took up coverage of and promotion of
4300-531: The ill will that was an unintentional by-product of alienation from the natural world. He felt such teaching could improve the world, at least to a degree. He also articulated the possibilities for greater incorporation of aesthetics (for example: better architecture, more art, more fine cuisine) in American life. In his autobiography he wrote, "… cultural renewal comes about when highly differentiated cultures mix". In his last novel, Island (1962), Huxley mentions
4386-541: The internet has led to more households undertaking DIY methods. Platforms, such as YouTube or Instagram, provide people the opportunity to share their creations and instruct others on how to replicate DIY techniques in their own home. The DIY movement is a re-introduction (often to urban and suburban dwellers) of the old pattern of personal involvement and use of skills in the upkeep of a house or apartment, making clothes; maintenance of cars, computers, websites; or any material aspect of living. The philosopher Alan Watts (from
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#17330862431304472-461: The internet, on sites and apps such as YouTube and Spotify . The bulk of his recorded audio talks were recorded during the 1960s and early 1970s. Watts was born to middle-class parents in the village of Chislehurst , Kent (now south-east London), on 6 January 1915, living at Rowan Tree Cottage, 3 (now 5) Holbrook Lane. Watts's father, Laurence Wilson Watts, was a representative for the London office of
4558-495: The late 1970s punk rock subculture. It developed as a way to circumnavigate the corporate mainstream music industry . By controlling the entire production and distribution chain, DIY bands attempt to develop a closer relationship between artists and fans. The DIY ethic gives total control over the final product without need to compromise with record major labels. According to the punk aesthetic, one can express oneself and produce moving and serious works with limited means. Arguably,
4644-446: The material related to their needs on the farm or in a small town. By the 1950s, DIY became common usage with the emergence of people undertaking home improvement projects, construction projects and smaller crafts. Artists began to fight against mass production and mass culture by claiming to be self-made. However, DIY practices also responded to geopolitical tensions, such as in the form of home-made Cold War nuclear fallout shelters, and
4730-472: The microscope, he goes away and works on what he has seen." Watts sometimes ate with his group of neighbours in Druid Heights (near Mill Valley , California) who had endeavoured to combine architecture, gardening, and carpentry skills to make a beautiful and comfortable life for themselves. These neighbours accomplished this by relying on their own talents and using their own hands, as they lived in what has been called "shared bohemian poverty". Druid Heights
4816-522: The mid-1990s, DIY home-improvement content began to find its way onto the World Wide Web . HouseNet was the earliest bulletin-board style site where users could share information. Since the late 1990s, DIY has exploded on the Web through thousands of sites. In the 1970s, when home video ( VCRs ) came along, DIY instructors quickly grasped its potential for demonstrating processes by audio-visual means. In 1979,
4902-510: The most harmful form (other than ultra-fines ) of air pollution . Exposure to particulate matter, especially PM2.5 and ultrafine particles (PM0.1), has serious health implications. According to the World Health Organization, there is no safe level of particulate exposure, with these emissions linked to increased risks of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Many tasks create dust . With high dust levels are caused by one of more
4988-422: The mysterious Far East. He attended The King's School Canterbury where he was a contemporary and friend of Patrick Leigh Fermor . Watts also later wrote of a mystical dream he experienced while ill with a fever as a child. During this time he was influenced by Far Eastern landscape paintings and embroideries that had been given to his mother by missionaries returning from China. The few Chinese paintings Watts
5074-399: The natural environment and between governments and citizens. He wrote out of an appreciation of a racially and culturally diverse social landscape. He often said that he wished to act as a bridge between the ancient and the modern, between East and West, and between culture and nature. Watts led some tours for Westerners to the Buddhist temples of Japan. He also studied some movements from
5160-514: The new physics ", cybernetics , semantics , process philosophy , natural history , and the anthropology of sexuality. Watts left the faculty in the mid-1950s. In 1953, he began what became a long-running weekly radio program at Pacifica Radio station KPFA in Berkeley. Like other volunteer programmers at the listener-sponsored station, Watts was not paid for his broadcasts. These weekly broadcasts continued until 1962, by which time he had attracted
5246-430: The organism-environment in "The Philosophy of Nature". In looking at social issues he was concerned with the necessity for international peace, for tolerance, and understanding among disparate cultures. Watts also came to feel acutely conscious of a growing ecological predicament. Writing, for example, in the early 1960s: "Can any melting or burning imaginable get rid of these ever-rising mountains of ruin—especially when
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#17330862431305332-469: The religious practice of maithuna or spiritual-sexual union without emission by both partners, as being similar to that which Roman Catholics call " coitus reservatus ". A few years before, Watts had discussed the theme in his own book, Nature, Man and Woman , in which he discusses the possibility of the practice being known to early Christians and of it being kept secretly by the Church. In his writings of
5418-831: The reviews of fabrication tools, tools for working soil, etc. The Catalog 's publication both emerged from and spurred the great wave of experimentalism, convention-breaking, and do-it-yourself attitude of the late 1960s. Often copied, the Catalog appealed to a wide cross-section of people in North America and had a broad influence. DIY home improvement books burgeoned in the 1970s, first created as collections of magazine articles. An early, extensive line of DIY how-to books were created by Sunset Books , based upon previously published articles from their magazine, Sunset , based in California. Time-Life , Better Homes and Gardens , Balcony Garden Web and other publishers soon followed suit. In
5504-421: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Modification . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Modification&oldid=1227248365 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
5590-669: The scope of home improvement DIY continues to grow online where most mainstream media outlets now have extensive DIY-focused informational websites such as This Old House , Martha Stewart , Hometalk , and the DIY Network . These are often extensions of their magazine or television brand. The growth of independent online DIY resources is also spiking. The number of homeowners who blog about their experiences continues to grow, along with DIY websites from smaller organizations. Use of power tools can cause adverse effects on people living nearby. Power tools can produce large amounts of particulates including, ultrafine particles . Particulates are
5676-654: The spiritual, interwoven with the practical, as exemplified in the subtitle of his Spirit of Zen: A Way of Life, Work, and Art in the Far East . "Work", "life", and "art" were not demoted due to a spiritual focus. In his writing, he referred to it as "the great Ch'an (emerging as Zen in Japan) synthesis of Taoism , Confucianism and Buddhism after AD 700 in China." Watts published his first book, The Spirit of Zen, in 1936. Two decades later, in The Way of Zen he disparaged The Spirit of Zen as
5762-456: The things we make and build are beginning to look more and more like rubbish even before they are thrown away?" These concerns were later expressed in a television pilot, Conversation with Myself, made for NET (National Educational Television) filmed at his mountain retreat in 1971 in which he noted that the single track of conscious attention was wholly inadequate for interactions with a multi-tracked world. In October 1973, Watts returned from
5848-435: The time. It looks as if someone was instructing others how to mass-produce components and put them together in this way." Much like our modern instruction booklets, various sections of the luxury building were inscribed with coded symbols showing how the pieces slotted together. The characteristics of these inscriptions indicate they date back to around the 6th century BC, which tallies with the architectural evidence suggested by
5934-489: The traditional Chinese martial art taijiquan , with an Asian colleague, Al Chung-liang Huang . In several of his later publications, especially Beyond Theology and The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are , Watts put forward a worldview , drawing on Hinduism , Chinese philosophy , pantheism or panentheism , and modern science, in which he maintains that the whole universe consists of
6020-488: The whole. Watts's books frequently include discussions reflecting his keen interest in patterns that occur in nature and that are repeated in various ways and at a wide range of scales – including the patterns to be discerned in the history of civilizations. Watts' explorations and teaching brought him into contact with many noted intellectuals, artists, and American teachers in the human potential movement . His friendship with poet Gary Snyder nurtured his sympathies with
6106-468: The writings of Alfred Korzybski ) and also from Norbert Wiener 's early work on cybernetics , which had recently been published. Watts offered analogies from cybernetic principles possibly applicable to the Zen life. The book sold well, eventually becoming a modern classic, and helped widen his lecture circuit. In 1958, Watts toured parts of Europe with his father, meeting the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung and
6192-551: Was Professor of Comparative Philosophy at the American Academy of Asian Studies , had a fellowship at Harvard University (1962–1964), and was a Scholar at San Jose State University (1968). He lectured college and university students as well as the general public. His lectures and books gave him influence on the American intelligentsia of the 1950s–1970s, but he was often seen as an outsider in academia. When questioned sharply by students during his talk at University of California, Santa Cruz , in 1970, Watts responded, as he had from
6278-606: Was a temple-like building discovered at Torre Satriano , near the southern city of Potenza , in Basilicata . This region was recognized as a place where local people mingled with Greeks who had settled along the southern coast known as Magna Graecia and in Sicily from the 8th century BC onwards. Christopher Smith, director of the British School at Rome , said that the discovery was, "the clearest example yet found of mason's marks of
6364-423: Was a useful and interesting psychoactive drug that gave the impression of time slowing down. Watts's books of the '60s reveal the influence of these chemical adventures on his outlook. He later said about psychedelic drug use, "If you get the message, hang up the phone. For psychedelic drugs are simply instruments, like microscopes, telescopes, and telephones. The biologist does not sit with eye permanently glued to
6450-544: Was able to see in England riveted him, and he wrote "I was aesthetically fascinated with a certain clarity, transparency, and spaciousness in Chinese and Japanese art. It seemed to float..." These works of art emphasised the participatory relationship of people in nature, a theme that stood fast throughout his life and one that he often wrote about. (See, for instance, the last chapter in The Way of Zen . ) By his own assessment, Watts
6536-442: Was during this time he met the poet Jean Burden , with whom he had a four-year love affair. Watts credited Burden as an "important influence" in his life and gave her dedicatory cryptograph in his book Nature, Man and Woman , to which he alludes in his autobiography (p. 297). Besides teaching, Watts served for several years as the academy's administrator. One notable student of his was Eugene Rose , who later went on to become
6622-484: Was exactly the same time that he changed... his Will too, so I realized that almost six months to the day before my father died, that he was planning his own passing. And so once I had that piece of the puzzle, I realized that, as I look more carefully, that my father had actually been ill for some time, and that he was aware of, very aware of, his mortality and impending problems, and who knows, he may have actually done something to hasten his death, or, we don't know, but he
6708-470: Was founded by the writer Elsa Gidlow , and Watts dedicated his book The Joyous Cosmology to the people of this neighbourhood. He later dedicated his autobiography to Elsa Gidlow, for whom he held a great affection. Regarding his intention for living, Watts attempted to lessen the alienation that accompanies the experience of being human that he felt plagued the modern Westerner, and (like his fellow British expatriate and friend, Aldous Huxley ) to lessen
6794-561: Was imaginative, headstrong, and talkative. He was sent to boarding schools (which included both academic and religious training of the " Muscular Christian " sort) from early years. Of this religious training, he remarked "Throughout my schooling, my religious indoctrination was grim and maudlin." Watts spent several holidays in France in his teen years, accompanied by Francis Croshaw, a wealthy Epicurean with strong interests in both Buddhism and exotic, little-known aspects of European culture. It
6880-434: Was it not of natural causes, I mean there were conspiracy theories, every manner of opinion on this going around, and so I set out to try and figure it out. And there was a group of Yamabushi Buddhists, Ajari [real name Neville Warwick , 1932–1993, a physician also known as "Dr Ajari"] was the fellow's name who ran it, and they actually showed up and took control of the site, and got my father's body and all of this, and there
6966-756: Was not long afterward that Watts felt forced to decide between the Anglican Christianity he had been exposed to and the Buddhism he had read about in various libraries, including Croshaw's. He chose Buddhism, and sought membership in the London Buddhist Lodge , which was then run by the barrister and QC Christmas Humphreys (who later became a judge at the Old Bailey). Watts became the organization's secretary at 16 (1931). The young Watts explored several styles of meditation during these years. Upon winning
7052-498: Was part of this [Yamabushi] sect many years before. He flew in from the American Samoas and we interviewed him, and it turned out he was a completely unreliable person to interview because he would make up this, make up that, so at first we thought we had some really valuable information, but as time went on he was spouting every different theory that we'd ever heard and so... But David Chadwick had come to hear this and David Chadwick
7138-527: Was primarily an autodidact . His involvement with the Buddhist Lodge in London afforded Watts a considerable number of opportunities for personal growth . Through Humphreys, he contacted eminent spiritual authors, e.g. the artist, scholar, and mystic Nicholas Roerich , Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan , and prominent theosophists like Alice Bailey . In 1936, aged 21, he attended the World Congress of Faiths at
7224-649: Was recontextualized by the Mexican and Chicano arts movement to describe a specific artistic aesthetic, Rasquachismo , suited to overcoming material and professional limitations faced by artists in the movement. modification [REDACTED] Look up modification in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Modification may refer to: Modifications of school work for students with special educational needs Modifications (genetics) , changes in appearance arising from changes in
7310-449: Was some question as to how they had arrived there so quickly, and before anybody else, and they whisked his body off before the County opens its offices. ... And so there was definitely some questions about [Ajari's] role. What was Mary Jane's role? There were these kind of things, and so I actually got into figuring it out, sort of as a puzzle, and in the course of it I interviewed a fellow who
7396-401: Was very aware that... he was going to pass on, and he planned for it, and once I got the full picture my conclusion was that Ajari had helped him, and actually been part of the plan there. So I think it was, like many things in his life, it was well thought out, well orchestrated, and well executed. His wife, Mary Jane Watts, wrote later in a letter that Watts had said to her "The secret of life
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