Why Spiritually Awakened People Secretly Struggle With Lust – Alan Watts

Quick Overview

Spiritually awakened individuals often struggle intensely with lust because repression amplifies this natural energy, which Alan Watts viewed not as an enemy but as the life force itself; true freedom comes not from trying to eliminate desire (lust), but from consciously integrating it with awareness, allowing it to be felt without judgment, which dissolves the inner conflict and transforms lust into vitality, creativity, and genuine peace.

Key Points: Trying to get rid of desire (lust) is futile, likened to flattening water with a hammer, as resistance only fuels obsession. Spiritually awakened people often feel intensely conflicted because they suppress or moralize natural energies like lust, leading to secretive, compulsive behavior, as described by Carl Jung. Alan Watts emphasized that Eastern philosophies like Taoism view desire as energy, and that enlightenment is not about escaping human impulses but seeing through them, integrating the shadow. The inner conflict intensifies when the mind judges the body's desires, creating a split where the ego seeks transcendence while the body seeks grounding through sensation. Lust, when not suppressed, reveals its true nature as a powerful surge of vitality—a message from life asking to be listened to, not a spiritual failure or a simple sexual craving. The solution is acceptance and integration: seeing desire as part of the terrain, not an obstacle, which leads to genuine inner freedom, where attraction becomes appreciation and sexual energy becomes creativity. When desire is fully observed without judgment, it loses its compulsive grip, transforming into vitality and fostering emotional stability, rather than being the cause of suffering.

Context: This video explores the common paradox faced by spiritually awakening individuals: the intensified struggle with lust, often viewed negatively in many spiritual traditions. Citing philosophers like Alan Watts and psychologist Carl Jung, the video argues against the Western tendency to suppress or morally judge natural drives, contrasting this with Eastern philosophies that see desire as vital energy (Taoism) or craving (Buddhism) that causes suffering only when resisted or clung to. The core context is reframing lust not as a moral failing or an enemy to be defeated, but as an expression of life energy that, when consciously integrated rather than repressed, leads to profound personal wholeness and freedom.