Alan Watts
The Same Magnet
[Chorus]
The outside thing that you see
And the inside thing that you are
Are poles – of the same magnet
Or back and front of the same coin
Without one there isn’t the other
That means, of course, then, that we are living in the midst of a world of animals, vegetables, minerals, atmospheres, astronomical bodies that’s highly intelligent
It’s intelligence concentrated, crystallized, in our brains
That’s where it comes out, you see?
In any field
[Chorus]
The outside thing that you see
And the inside thing that you are
Are poles – of the same magnet
Or back and front of the same coin
Without one there isn’t the other
Let’s take any field of forces
Take a chemical solution, and at certain critical points in this chemical solution, the crystals start to form
And so, in the same way, the total intelligence of this whole universe crystallizes in human brains
Also in other kinds of brains
That’s where it really comes out
But it’s the total intelligence of the whole field that does this
So we go with the whole thing; interdepend with it
[Chorus]
The outside thing that you see
And the inside thing that you are
Are poles – of the same magnet
Or back and front of the same coin
Without one there isn’t the other
We don’t live in an environment which is just rock, just air, just atmosphere, and so on
The environment’s only like that when we think about it analytically and try to explain it
But when we think of, “It isn’t just rock and air,” see, but “those things go together.”
When you see the interconnectedness, when you see, in the simplest way, how flowers go with bees
And other insects; they don’t live without them
Humans go with cattle, they don’t exist without them
Plants, etc, etc, etc
When you see the intervals, the significance of the relationships between these things, it’s only then, when you see that, that you are aware of the melody
[Chorus]
The outside thing that you see
And the inside thing that you are
Are poles – of the same magnet
Or back and front of the same coin
Without one there isn’t the other
The person who can’t hear melody, who is tone-deaf
He only hears a succession of sounds, because he’s not aware of the intervals
Now, most people are brought up to be tone-deaf in respect to their own existence and the rest of the universe
They don’t see the relationships
They’re not aware of the unity
Once you spot that, you spot how everything goes with the thing
But you are one end and that, out there, is the other end
And they really go together
Then you may be said to be living a harmonious life