Douglas Harding and The Headless Way is a simple path to self-Inquiry
What if you’ve been seeing yourself all wrong? Douglas Harding, a British philosopher and mystic, thought so. His “Headless Way” offers a radical yet practical approach to self-inquiry, challenging the idea that you’re just a body with a head on top. Instead, Harding suggested you’re a boundless awareness—headless, in a sense—where the world unfolds. Developed after a striking realization in the Himalayas, his method skips complex theories for direct experience. Here’s what it’s about, plus two easy experiments to try yourself.
Harding’s insight hit when he noticed he couldn’t see his own head. From his perspective, where his head should be was simply… the world. No boundary, no “thing” separating him from what he saw. He argued this isn’t a trick—it’s how we actually are. We assume we’re isolated egos, but firsthand experience reveals something else: we’re the space in which life happens. Influenced by Zen and mysticism, Harding turned this into a lifelong teaching, detailed in his 1961 book On Having No Head. It’s less about believing and more about looking for yourself.
*On Having No Head, by Douglas Harding
The Headless Way isn’t abstract philosophy—it’s hands-on. Harding devised simple “experiments” to shift how you see yourself. They take seconds, cost nothing, and might just flip your perspective. Below are two to try right now.
Experiment 1: The Pointing Test
Sit comfortably and point at something in front of you—a wall, a tree, anything. Notice it’s “out there.” Now point at your chest. You feel it’s “you,” right? Finally, point at where your head should be. What do you actually experience? For most, it’s not a face or skull—it’s an open space, filled with the world. Harding says this absence is your true self: not a thing, but a capacity.
Experiment 2: The Mirror Check
Stand before a mirror. Look at your reflection—there’s your face, familiar and solid. Now shift focus: notice the “you” doing the looking. From your viewpoint, there’s no head in the way—just the mirror, the room, and the scene. The reflection is an image “out there,” but the real you, Harding insists, is this clear, headless awareness holding it all.
These exercises aren’t about denying your body—they’re about seeing beyond the usual story. Critics might call it quirky or overly simple, but fans say it cuts through mental clutter to reveal what’s always been there. Harding, who lived from 1909 to 2007, taught this globally, urging people to test it themselves.
Want to dig deeper? Try repeating the experiments throughout your day—while eating, walking, or working. Notice how the “headless” view changes your sense of self. At InfoArmed.com, we’re all about exploring ideas that empower. Harding’s Headless Way might just arm you with a fresh take on who—or what—you really are.
* Link to Amazon.com
