I realize if the subject of alcoholism/drugs/addiction makes you uncomfortable, you may very well have concerns as to where I am leading this with such a title. I hope you will bear with me, and with the discomfort, and that the bearing of it is worth your while in the end.
;)
I have had some very deep, dark personal and professional experiences with addicts and have had to face my own questions concerning the role of addiction, the psychology, and the spirituality, for both the addict and those in the lives of the addict. Over the years of this questioning, I have become somewhat hyper-aware to addictive/compulsive behaviors. I now see compulsion playing a part in the majority of human interactions. I have yet to come to a full conclusion on addiction and compulsions, and so when I discovered Watt's alcoholism less than an hour after discovering his brilliant, thought-prooking work, I questioned what part addiction played in the life of Watts and whether it detracted from my perceptions of him.
Then I found Rose Rosetree. I had googled Watts for further insight on his addiction, and I found a website that addresed my questioning of whether or not Watt's alcoholism destroys his credibility as an enlightened person. That site is rose-rosetree.com. The follwing is what she had to say on the matter:
January 27th, 2011 by Rose Rosetree
Alan Watts
Blog-Buddies, as part of this highly educational thread, I have just dipped into the photo of Alan Watts shown here. It’s the same picture used when I initially researched Watts for our Enlightenment Life List.
What I find is a huge wakeup throughout his auric field, with a very Buddhist void-like flavor of bliss permeating his chakra databanks.
Yes, I also find a pervasive suffering, which would be compatible with the notion of his being an alcoholic. As you have been following this thread, you know that a couple of Blog-Buddies have pointed out that Watts is notorious for being an alcoholic. Also, evidently, not a great father, according to his adult daughter.
Comments here have led those of us who follow this thread to wonder something important. Could a non-saint become spiritually Enlightened? Could an alcohlic get There? Could someone There later become an alcoholic?
At the time of the photo used here for research, to my perception, Alan Watt’s system is not actively drunk. And it is actively the aura of an Enlightened human.
Beyond that, let’s consider:
Blog-Buddies, here is one thing I know for sure. Ancient and modern sages have said — and I believe as well — that you cannot whether someone is Enlightened or not by outward appearances.
Everyone plays a role in life, expressing the presence of God. Enlightened people just do it with more consciousness. (Hey, there’s the bumper sticker, right? 
)
Back at my role in this thread, what I do is to use energetic literacy to tell as accurately as I can about whether someone has crossed over this great threshold of consciousness. This is done for educational purposes, to get people using energetic literacy and thinking.
Sure, it is possible that I have made a mistake with Alan Watts, or anyone else I have placed either on or off my Enlightenment Life List. But I still believe this teaching exercise is worthwhile, even important.
FWIW, I still find Watt’s human chakra databanks to be very vigorous and aligned, harmoniously and consistently balanced, and with an awakened quality to the entire set of databanks. Hence, according to my definition, he radiates the aura of a man who is Enlightened.
As I understand it, Alan Watts was one of the first great American spokespeople for Buddhism. This could have been a hard burden to bear.
By comparison, Swami Paramahansa Yogananda wasn’t compromised in any way. So pure, his corpse didn’t even decay, the impeccable saint was one of the first great Indian imports in America, bringing Hinduism and meditation to the U.S.
However, think about the lifestyle (and karma) of that great saint, Yogananda. If you have read Autobiography of a Yogi (one of my alltime favorite books) you know that grew up among spiritual seekers, sadhus, and saints.
Yogananda was trained as part of a graced lineage. After becoming a swami, he had the support of a monastic order, a huge and loving community of supporters.
Of course, Yogananda was a renunciate, glad to be one, and socially backed up by traditions existing for thousands of years — according to which the ONLY way to become Enlightened was to be a recluse rather than a householder.
By contrast, consider this fellow ahead of his time, this Alan Watts. What do we know about his life? Many of you know more than me, even if you have only read about him at Wikipedia. But I do gather that Alan Watts was (as Blog-Buddy Carol has mentioned in a comment here) a householder to some degree.
Also, Watts did write one of the first American books on gaining Enlightenment. The Way of Zen, which I haven’t read yet, was an important bestseller back in the day, reputed to contain his time’s most cogent, compelling, and truth-filled explanations of Buddhism in the Western world (a book praised by Mr. Enlightenment in an earlier post).
What did Alan Watts have for support in this maverick East-Meets-West lifestyle? Playing his cosmic role was immensely important but not necessarily easy.
Did Watts have a supportive community of friends who understood him, either humanly or with his experiences of higher consciousness?
Doing even a little bit of pioneering in this world can be an immense burden. Easy to volunteer to do on the other side, perhaps. Yet many pioneers have had to live Hell on earth.
Maybe that would include a man who actively made a breakthrough on earth, enduring great personal pain while bringing a Buddhist version of Heaven into America.
source: http://www.rose-rosetree.com/blog/2011/01/27/enlightened-enlightenment-alan-watts-alcoholic-buddhism-energetic-literacy/