You don't look out there for God, something in the sky, you look

“You don’t look out there for God, something in the sky, you look in you.” — Thus spoke Alan Watts, the philosopher of harmony and paradox, the bridge between East and West, who taught that the divine is not a distant monarch but the living pulse within the soul of man. His words, though born in the modern age, carry the resonance of the ancient mystics, who taught that truth does not dwell in temples or stars, but in the heart of the seeker himself. For what Watts sought to awaken in us is the timeless realization that God is not elsewhere, but everywhere, and that to know Him is to discover the divine reflection already shining within one’s own being.

In these words, Watts tears down the walls of separation that mankind has built between heaven and earth, between the sacred and the self. He challenges the notion that God is a figure beyond the clouds, watching from afar. Instead, he speaks as the wise men of old once did — as Lao Tzu when he said, “The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao,” or as Jesus when He declared, “The kingdom of God is within you.” What they all point toward is one radiant truth: that the divine is not an object to be found, but a presence to be realized; not a being outside us, but the very essence of our existence.

The origin of this quote lies in Watts’ lifelong study of comparative religion. A man raised in the Christian faith, he journeyed deeply into the philosophies of Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism, seeking the universal thread that binds all spiritual paths. What he discovered was not contradiction, but unity — that behind every name for God, behind every ritual and scripture, there lies the same mystery of consciousness itself. When he said, “You look in you,” he was not speaking of ego or pride, but of awareness, the silent witness within each of us that observes thought, emotion, and experience. This, he taught, is the spark of the infinite — the divine mirror through which God beholds His own creation.

To understand his meaning, we may turn to the example of Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha. For years he searched for enlightenment in the world — studying with teachers, practicing austerities, wandering forests. But the revelation came only when he ceased searching outside and sat beneath the Bodhi tree in stillness. There, in silence, he saw the truth that had always been present: that the light he sought in the heavens had always burned within his own heart. So too did Watts remind humanity that in our endless striving to find God in doctrine, idols, and heavens, we forget to listen to the still, small voice within — the one that whispers through conscience, compassion, and quiet awareness.

Yet this teaching does not deny the sacredness of the world around us. Rather, it reveals that the world itself is the body of the divine, and we are its consciousness. When Watts speaks of looking “in you,” he means also that by awakening the divine within, we come to see it reflected in all things. The trees become holy, the rivers become temples, every face becomes the face of God. To find God within is to see the divine everywhere — for the boundary between self and universe dissolves, and one realizes the oneness of all existence. This is not arrogance, but humility — the recognition that the “I” who seeks is but a wave in the ocean of the Eternal.

Consider also the lives of those who have lived by this truth. Mother Teresa, serving the poor of Calcutta, once said she saw “the face of Christ in every suffering person.” She did not look to the heavens for God; she found Him in the heart of each soul she touched. Likewise, the poet Rumi wrote, “I searched for God and found only myself. I searched for myself and found only God.” In every age, those who awaken to the divine within become lights for others — for they no longer see separation between man and God, between self and other. Their very presence radiates peace, because they have discovered that the sacred dwells in the heart of all beings.

Therefore, my children, take this teaching not as abstraction but as a call to awakening. Do not seek God in the distance — not in wealth, not in status, not even in distant heavens. Seek Him in your own silence, in your kindness, in the depth of your awareness. Sit with yourself and listen to the life that moves through your breath, the intelligence that beats your heart — there you will find the divine. When you discover that spark within, your prayers will no longer rise upward to the sky; they will radiate outward through your deeds, your compassion, your very being.

And so remember the wisdom of Alan Watts: “You don’t look out there for God… you look in you.” For the sky you gaze upon and the soul that gazes are one and the same. The Infinite is not afar but within, and the path to God is not a journey across worlds, but a journey into the depths of your own spirit. Walk that path with courage and love, and you shall find that the God you sought has been waiting all along — not in the heavens, but in the heart of your own divine being.