NY, Pantheon, (1966). The book that most succinctly stated Watts's case for an interpretation of human nature that borrowed from Eastern religions and the mystical experience to attempt to shed the mind-body dualism of Western culture and religion, which he argues artificially -- and incorrectly -- separates us from our environment, our world, and ultimately ourselves. Watts was one of the early advocates of Zen in the West, and his books typically have an aspect of comparative religion, translating one culture's concepts into another's vocabulary. This one is the one that attempts most resolutely to delineate his insights and definitions in terms that are secular and Western; it also helped to provide the vocabulary for a generation that was experimenting with consciousness-altering psychedelic drugs, whose effects were often described in terms borrowed from the literature of Eastern mysticism. Inscribed by the author. Large but light stains to boards; very good in a very good, spine and edge-sunned dust jacket with a couple closed edge tears. A key volume in Watt's oeuvre, and seldom encountered signed. [#031543] SOLD