After many years, I am once again listening to the writings of Alan Watts—a British philosopher guided by common sense and a deep passion for learning. Born during World War I in England, Watts’ insights continue to resonate today. For those who believe that the two World Wars are distant events, I encourage you to think about your parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents. It becomes far more tangible when you realize that your grandfather or great-grandfather lived through and fought in those wars, at a time when human rights—such as freedom, justice, and respect—were violated on a scale never seen before in history.

Alan Watts clearly and transparently shares his experiences with religion, philosophy, nature, history, psychology, and Eastern wisdom. Once again, he awakens the innate desire to understand, reason, analyze, and question. The need to seek answers to those age-old questions: What is the meaning of existence? How can we find balance? Where are we going, and why? What do we truly want or need? Abundance, love, power, recognition, success, freedom, unity, peace, harmony?

I’m sure you’ve asked yourself many times the same questions. But answering them is not easy. If you manage to be honest with yourself, you’ll admit that you’re not sure of anything. But to realize this with clarity, sincerity, and humility, you must go through a personal process of extreme openness, where, first, you confront your fears, then your wounds, and finally, your demons.

Think you have no fears? That’s a lie. Think you have no wounds? Another lie. Think you’re a loving person without demons? Yet another lie. Lies have been a part of humanity since we first started using reason. We lie out of fear, out of desperation, out of desire, and out of the instinct to survive. It’s a dishonest instinct, but one that is deeply normalized in our society. Words carry the weight we give them. Sometimes they feel like they weigh a ton, and other times they feel as light as a feather in the air.

Another reason people lie is due to ignorance. Whether intentional or not, it’s the result of a lack of awareness and understanding of the laws that govern us. But I’m not talking about laws created by humans to control others; I’m talking about natural laws—known as natural rights—that are based on the principles of nature. These laws are objective, universal, and predictive.

All human beings have the right to live and learn freely. And if I were to sum up all rights and commitments, they ultimately reduce to two things: LOVE and RESPECT. With love, our lives have meaning. With love, our existence is amplified. With love, we achieve harmony, directly connected to the law of causality: We receive what we give, sooner or later. Through love and respect, there is hope to create a conscious, fulfilled life for all existence. You cannot kill for life, you cannot lie for truth, and you cannot destroy to create. You cannot start a war to have peace.

You don’t need to be a genius to understand that natural laws have a universal purpose and are in perfect harmony. Yet, humanity introduced its own LOGIC and interpretation of these laws to organize human life within society, because living in a society requires commitment and rules for governance and coexistence.

Authority is established through the exercise of certain powers. Legitimate authority is conceived as service—that is, the capacity to compel others to adhere to its demands. In this case, moral authority should be granted by society to its leaders, but it often seems to be excluded from their demands. Their understanding lacks coherence.

After World War II (which is why it’s called “World War”), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was ratified by the UN General Assembly in Paris in 1948.

And now I ask you—and myself too: Do you believe you live freely, consciously, with dignity and equality? Or do we live in a world filled with discrimination, injustice, torture, inhumane conditions, enslavement, discrimination, and restricted access to natural resources?

What are you doing to protect your rights? Or do you believe there is nothing that can be done to improve things? Do you think you “lucked out” by being unknowingly enslaved? Do you think some people don’t deserve more?

The purpose of this writing is to prompt you to think and question whether the life you live is one you’ve chosen or one chosen for you by others. Do you want to continue living as you have, or do you wish to improve your life and make it more meaningful and purposeful? Or will you let complacency consume you?

Wake up. Wake up, and let’s wake up together!

In the name of our ancestors, to honor those who, in some cases, gave their lives so that we might live FREE and in PEACE.

I’ll leave you with a quote by Spanish writer Ana María Matute: “The worst thing in this world is surviving.”