On having no head : Zen and the rediscovery of the obvious

'Reason and imagination and all mental chatter died down... I forgot my name, my humanness, my thingness, all that could be called me or mine. Past and future dropped away... Lighter than air, clearer than glass, altogether released from myself, I was nowhere around.' Thus Douglas Harding describes his first experience of headlessness, or no self. First published in 1961, this is a classic work which conveys the experience that mystics of all times have tried to put words to. 'Reason and imagination and all mental chatter died down... I forgot my name, my humanness, my thingness, all that could be called me or mine. Past and future dropped away... Lighter than air, clearer than glass, altogether released from myself, I was nowhere around.' Thus Douglas Harding describes his first experience of headlessness, or no self. First published in 1961, this is a classic work which conveys the experience that mystics of all times have tried to put words to. Hide 201309031728_page0001_2R 201309031728_page0002_1L 201309031728_page0002_2R 201309031728_page0003_1L 201309031728_page0003_2R 201309031728_page0004_1L 201309031728_page0004_2R 201309031728_page0005_1L 201309031728_page0005_2R 201309031728_page0006_1L 201309031728_page0006_2R 201309031728_page0007_1L 201309031728_page0007_2R 201309031728_page0008_1L 201309031728_page0008_2R 201309031728_page0009_1L 201309031728_page0009_2R 201309031728_page0010_1L 201309031728_page0010_2R 201309031728_page0011_1L 201309031728_page0011_2R 201309031728_page0012_1L 201309031728_page0012_2R 201309031728_page0013_1L 201309031728_page0013_2R 201309031728_page0014_1L 201309031728_page0014_2R 201309031728_page0015_1L 201309031728_page0015_2R 201309031728_page0016_1L 201309031728_page0016_2R 201309031728_page0017_1L 201309031728_page0017_2R 201309031728_page0018_1L 201309031728_page0018_2R 201309031728_page0019_1L 201309031728_page0019_2R 201309031728_page0020_1L 201309031728_page0020_2R 201309031728_page0021_1L 201309031728_page0021_2R 201309031728_page0022_1L 201309031728_page0022_2R 201309031728_page0023_1L 201309031728_page0023_2R 201309031728_page0024_1L 201309031728_page0024_2R 201309031728_page0025_1L 201309031728_page0025_2R 201309031728_page0026_1L 201309031728_page0026_2R 201309031728_page0027_1L 201309031728_page0027_2R 201309031728_page0028_1L 201309031728_page0028_2R 201309031728_page0029_1L 201309031728_page0029_2R 201309031728_page0030_1L 201309031728_page0030_2R 201309031728_page0031_1L 201309031728_page0031_2R 201309031728_page0032_1L 201309031728_page0032_2R 201309031728_page0033_1L 201309031728_page0033_2R 201309031728_page0034_1L 201309031728_page0034_2R 201309031728_page0035_1L 201309031728_page0035_2R 201309031728_page0036_1L 201309031728_page0036_2R 201309031728_page0037_1L 201309031728_page0037_2R 201309031728_page0038_1L 201309031728_page0038_2R 201309031728_page0039_1L 201309031728_page0039_2R 201309031728_page0040_1L 201309031728_page0040_2R 201309031728_page0041_1L 201309031728_page0041_2R 201309031728_page0042_1L 201309031728_page0042_2R 201309031728_page0043_1L 201309031728_page0043_2R 201309031728_page0044_1L 201309031728_page0044_2R 201309031728_page0045_1L 201309031728_page0045_2R 201309031728_page0046_1L 201309031728_page0046_2R 201309031728_page0047_1L 201309031728_page0047_2R 201309031728_page0048_1L 201309031728_page0048_2R 201309031728_page0049_1L