Overview
In this workshop, Richard Lang guides us through different guided, unorthodox and simple pointing experiments aimed to remind us who we are, and who we are not. This session with Richard felt like a natural and consistent revisiting of our true nature. It was very practice-oriented, but at the same time, felt effortless and was very enjoyable. We recommend not only watching the recording, but actually following along and doing the experiments.
Guest Bio
Richard Lang was student of Douglas Harding, author of “on having no head” and the founder of a contemplation method called The Headless Way. As Richard describes it, The Headless Way is a modern way of seeing our true nature, the limitless ’space’ we are looking out of. Richard has been practicing and sharing the Headless Way for over fifty years now, and has also written several books about it. His mission is to make seeing our true nature as widely available as possible.
Links
To learn and practice with Richard Lang check check his courses, and live events on Innercraft and his website:
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- Podcast: https://www.inner-craft.com/podcast/
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Music by DJ Taz Rashid:
Transcript
Speaker 1 00:01:39 And, uh, this is being aware. I would say of your true nature, who you really are. And when you look on the screen, you can see what you look like. That’s your appearance you’re familiar with. See? So just one of the experiments is the point, which is a way of directing your attention. So if you point at your appearance on the screen, just use your finger and look down your finger. So it’s attention. It’s directing your attention. Well, there’s your appearance. That’s, that’s clear now, while you’re looking, there’s point back at the place you’re looking out of, which is your side of the screen, and look at your finger now. And I think you’ll find you don’t, you don’t see an appearance here. I don’t, anyway, I’m pointing at nothing or wide open space or awareness.
Speaker 1 00:02:40 So this, this is bringing your attention to back to the place you are looking out on. And, uh, we call it, I call it looking out of a single eye. What does that mean? Well, if, again, if it’s quite good to have your picture on the screen, your appearance, cuz you can contrast your appearance with your reality, what you look like through the camera to distance and what you are at zero distance. You see that’s the it’s very simple. And when you look at yourself on the screen, then you see looking at two little eyes in a head. Well, are you for yourself looking outta two eyes or outta one? So what you do very simple is you make pair of glasses like this. You just put your fingers together. You go put your fingers together and you’re going to look at them and you see two holes there and now you, you are going at this little test. You see? So now you put them on and watch what happens to the dividing line. Well, I find the dividing risk line disappears and the two become one. So you just try that again. You it’s such a simple thing, but it, it is simple. You bring them and there’s no dividing line here and you are looking at a single eye or single opening.
Speaker 1 00:04:03 Now, uh, this, I would say is a nonverbal experience. I’m using words and gestures to communicate it. But the actual experience I would say is nonverbal, but obviously we need language to talk about it. And I say that, uh, it is just, we’re going. We we’ll do some non-visual things. It’s not just about seeing about hearing and sensing and all the other centers too. But it’s easiest to start with vision and um, just, it is so available. Notice you can’t see your face now, now what do you see instead? Well, I see a room and trees outside. I see the world instead of my head, I see the world and uh, in language and I say, that’s a nonverbal experience and you can’t get it wrong. I mean, you can’t see your head unless you tell me you can. And then I’d be very interested to find out what that’s like. But
Speaker 1 00:05:34 Now what I think they mean is all right. I I’m aware of that. Now you’ve pointed it up. Cuz a lot of people don’t think about that. A lot of people go through the whole lives without really thinking about the fact that they can’t see their head. And if someone does say something about it, they say, yeah, no know, and it doesn’t mean anything. My job is to point it out and show you what it means or indicate what it might mean. But that’s totally up to you. I can’t, uh, you know, uh, do anything about that. I can only share what it means to me, but I, uh, so the first thing though, is that, uh, I, I can’t imagine how you would not have the experience, but what people sometimes says. Yeah. But I don’t feel anything a bit like maybe Lillian was saying, you know, it it’s, maybe it’s just a trick.
Speaker 1 00:06:24 It’s just too shallow, you know, it’s too easy. I mean that, that can’t be enlightenment. You see? Uh, and uh, I, I, uh, I just don’t feel what I think I should feel. Well, why is that? Well, I don’t know. I feel I should feel enlightened.
Speaker 1 00:07:52 So when people say it doesn’t do anything from me, I, I say, well, I mean, it, it it’s a bit like this is the wrong analogy, but yeah. Have this drink of vodka. This is terrible. Have this drink of vodka. Oh, it doesn’t do anything for me. I said, wait, right.
Speaker 2 00:09:05 I have a double vision from birth and uh, so I switch when I look, it switches automatically. It’s only the right eye that sees distance. And if I look closer, it’s the left eye that takes over. So somehow I’m always seeing a part of my nose unless I do, I do hold the head and
Speaker 1 00:09:39 Relax,
Speaker 2 00:09:41 Relax the gauge. Totally. And then,
Speaker 1 00:09:46 And then what,
Speaker 2 00:09:48 And then there’s just, there are two things
Speaker 1 00:10:10 Okay. Yes. All right. I’ll respond to that. Thank you. First of all, look at everybody. Look at their nose and you can close one eye. You know, I can see my nose. I close the other eye and I see the nose on the other side, but what is it attached to now? This is radical. It’s radical. You look on the screen. And of course you can see your nose is a single thing, tiny in the middle of your face. But I look here, this is a huge thing that sometimes solid and sometimes transparent goes from the ceiling to the floor and is not attached to anything. It’s just comes out nowhere and the same on the other side. So people say, oh, I can see my nose. I know, but is it attached to anything? Not what you know, remember, imagine that’s not meditation. Meditation is being humble enough.
Speaker 1 00:11:02 You know? Hum. You know, I think, I think that, uh, here’s some theory for you. If you, if you can manage it, there are four stages to our lives, the baby, the child, the adult and the sea, the baby’s headless. See you you’re preverbal. You have no idea what you looked like. You came in like this now as a baby, if you looked and saw your nose, you’d say what’s, that’s that hanging there. And there’s another one there you wouldn’t have yet gone out and looked at yourself through the camera or through other people. And see, imagine, you know, seeing, seeing your face from their point of view with your nose in the middle of your face, and then sort of put that on like a mask. You haven’t done that as a baby. You’ve got a nose there, nose they’re big. You know, you’re just wide open headless.
Speaker 1 00:12:00 You, you you’re just open. See preverbal now growing up is learning through language. To see yourself with others, others see you, which you can never do directly. You can never see yourself directly. You walk around your whole life. You never see yourself directly. It’s unnerving. When you think about it, the only way you can become aware of what you look like is through others, through the shop window, through the camera, you look in the mirror. Well, what happens when you look in the mirror and you’ve seen those pictures of the in, you know, the infant who looked in the mirror and then back and then round the back and then that’s not you yet. That’s another infant. Who’s that and disappears. You see? Well, you were like that when you were very small. If, if you were very small and you were on the zoom call, you, you, you wouldn’t be thinking that’s me.
Speaker 1 00:12:59 You, you wouldn’t know a friend of mine years ago, her daughter was about five, I think. And uh, came home with a picture of her class at school. You see? And so mom went through all the faces who are well that’s that’s Fred. And, and then, well, I don’t know who that little girl is. It was her. She had not yet. You see what we do? And you can do this with the, the picture on the screen. And imagine it’s a mirror. What you learn to do in effect, cuz you can’t see yourself, but now you can see your yourself on the screen. Now everybody tells you as you’re growing up, that what you see in the mirror is what you are here. They point at you. They can’t, you can’t see anything there. You’re dependent on them to find out who you are. And they say, look in the mirror and to begin me say, yeah, but that’s over there.
Speaker 1 00:14:03 You see like the infant. So yeah, but that’s in effect. What you’ve got to do is reach in, get, hold the face, pull it out, stretch it, cuz it tiny, flip it inside, out like a mask and put it on. And imagine now you are behind a face. You can’t see your face. You know, invisible. It is light being invisible. But you, so what you’ve got to do is learn to wear a mask. We call it playing the face game. You’ve got to put and walk around as if you are behind a face. You see so that when someone looks at you, you have the feeling of, you know, they’re not just looking into space, they’re looking at somebody, but you’ve got to imagine that. And we forget it takes months and years to build, to get that face on properly. You see, but the, we reason why you are able to do it because I sometimes tell this story that say you’re an infant.
Speaker 1 00:14:57 And you realize that in order to become a part of society, you have to get your face on because you have to know who people are talking to and all of that and what your name is and all of you know, everything that goes with that. You’ve got to somehow kind of wear this mask, hold this mask in front of you, you know, like at a mask ball and walk around with it until you don’t have to think about it, but begin with you. It’s quite a task cuz your default position is to be headless is to be carefree. Three of your parents just in the moment playing open. You see? So you, you, but you, everybody is is 24 7 telling you, you see that relating to you as if you are behind the face. So you realize you be, be better concentrate and get that going.
Speaker 1 00:15:51 But to begin with, you can do it for about a second. And then you forget and you say to your little infant friend, you said, you say, you know this thing about learning to be behind the face, learning to be in a body. You see, uh, I just can’t do it. I can do it for about a second. And then I forget, I’ll never be able to do it. And your friends are now. I’m like that. I and who, you know, I just can’t do it 10 years later. You, you, that’s all you’re doing. Why is that? That is because 24 7 people are telling you that’s what you are and you, you want to do it actually because the only way to join in, you know, you want, you need a face, you need an identity to be able to operate and have a individual life and all of that you see.
Speaker 1 00:16:40 So the first stage is headless without knowing anything. Other than that, the second stage is the child where you’re learning to put that on. And uh, you, you know, for example, if you look at your face in the, in the, on the screen now and look, look at your mouth, you see it’s a tiny little thing there. See is tiny. Now be aware of the sensations of your mouth. Well, the sensations, I mean, if you haven’t yet learned to put your face on how big of the sensations of your mouth you just kind of is the, you know, it’s the, the Cheshire cat without the face, just as well. It’s just a sensation floating in, in awareness. I mean, does it have a color? I can’t see a color. How wide is it? Well, I mean, without any kind of memory of the mirror, I can’t tell you that you’re floating there in the mouth, but you need to know where to put your food a baby, you know the ice cream.
Speaker 1 00:17:36 Oh,
Speaker 1 00:18:36 I mean, you need, if you don’t have the image of your mouth, for example, you, where would you put your food? But you’ve got a pretty good idea where the image you’ve mapped it or where your forehead is or the back of your head or your back, you know, or your toe. But you have mapped all these Sensa, the images in the mirror, photographs and what people have said, aren’t all these sensations. I mean, close your eyes now you see, and if you were a baby and uh, you know, just theoretically ask how big are you? Well, you haven’t got any map yet. How big are you on president Evans? I can’t say, I mean, I, I, if someone told me, well, I think you’re about five miles across, you know, or 5 cent. You, you can’t I, what shape are you? What shape? So you haven’t yet got the image of your hand and your back and your mouth and your, you know, toes.
Speaker 1 00:19:32 You what shape you? I can’t, I, I don’t know. You see now open your eyes and there’s the map on the screen. Well, you you’ve over the years, you’ve mapped you all your body. So now baby is no, you know, no size, no shape, no color. You know, no surface dividing you off from the world. That is big. Cause if you, as you learn, second is the, the child and you are learning to put this face on. See, were you learning to be behind a surface? Aren’t you? Which means that you’re separate. If you look at someone else on the screen, now what you’re learning to do when you’re a baby, you look at that face. You’re just empty. You see you’re you are invisible. You there’s, you are not self conscious at all. You’re you, you could you down language, but you say, well, the only face I’ve got is yours.
Speaker 1 00:20:35 See? There’s no division, no divine mind, no distance. Well as a baby, you learn to take the, the, imagine the image from the mirror and put it on. See? So you’re learning to be in a body and behind a face. So by the third stage of the adult, you look in the mirror, that’s you, you’re walking around deeply convinced. You’re behind a surface behind a face in a body born and will die. And when you look at someone else, it’s automatic for you to think I’m behind the face here and they’re behind the face there. So we’re like this we’re separate. All right. That is social relation. That’s learning, you know who I am and who you are. But now we’re in the third stage where we are head to head. We’re separate. I’m behind the face. You’re behind the face. And I have completely forgotten about this wide openness.
Speaker 1 00:21:27 I’ve completely forgotten. I’m invisible in a way that I can’t see myself. I’m acting as if I’m behind a face. See? So by the third stage, I mean the infants, I dunno how I’ll ever do that by the time you’re adult, because it’s 24 7 feedback about that. You, you do it. You there’s no option, but you, you know, it’s a good thing. It’s a good thing. But we then think that that is who I am, who you are. I I’m just Richard and you are just Andrews. And, and that, that that’s it. See? And wow. Wow. And see, now you could say that growing up when you’re a baby, you have no idea who you are. So growing up is finding out who, who you are, the one in the mirror, you don’t have a choice. You can’t choose who’s in the mirror is finding out which one of those you are, which of these on the screen you are, oh, that’s oh, that’s me.
Speaker 1 00:22:27 Is it? Is that, is that me? You see, you didn’t know. As a baby learning to identify with that one become that, see, growing up is learning which one you are and then learning to, to take responsibility for being that one so that everything, uh, that, that one says is what I say. And you know, all of that, what I am suggesting, which is, is nothing new. It’s a traditional suggestion that is in a new form with the experiments and the headless way. What I’m suggesting is that is not the end of the story of your growth. It’s half the story growing up is finding out which person you are and then learning to be that and act as if that’s you, but don’t stop there. That’s not the end of the, the, the growth. The next stage of growth is called the sea. And that is reawakening to being invisible, reawakening to what you are looking out of that no one else can see cuz you see, you are the only one that can notice your headless cause everyone else sees your head.
Speaker 1 00:23:43 So that’s why we are so convinced that we ha are behind a face because everyone on the planet is telling you that you do. And only you can see you don’t so who are you to, you know, argue against, I think it’s 9 billion. Now, something like that, you know, I mean, you, you are just you, they must be right. It can’t mean anything that I can’t see myself. Well, I’m here to say it means everything. It means everything. And uh, you, you are what the headless way is, is about, is saying, look for a moment, put aside respectfully, everyone is saying you are because they’re not in a position to tell you what you are at center. They’re in a position to tell you what you are at six feet. I through the camera, I can tell you what you are and sincerely tell you what you are with your head. You see? But I say, but the question is not what you look like at this range, important as that is. But what are you at center at zero now only you are in a position to see that only I’m in a position to see what I am you. You will tell me, oh, you’ve got face reach. I say I do for you. But for me, I don’t. Now I’m gonna take that seriously. At least I’m gonna pause and consider whether that is important.
Speaker 1 00:25:12 And uh, it, I, I am here to testify if you like, that’s hugely important. I mean, it makes sense. It’s not just a trick. That’s the work Douglass Harding did. For example, you say Richard, we can see you’ve got ahead. I say, you are over there. Why don’t you tell me what I am at a bit closer range? You know? Because range relatively. It makes all the difference. So you come up to me and say, oh, from here you are just a patch of skin. Oh, I say, but you’re still not here. I wanna know what I’m here. Come closer. You get the right instruments. Oh, but this very close range, your cells keep coming. Whoa, you are, you are a Mo molecule. And my God, you’ve nearly disappeared. I say, well, surprise, surprise. You know? And I’m right at center. And I’ve completely disappeared.
Speaker 1 00:26:01 Makes sense. You see, now if you were to go away from there, say, yeah, but let me see what you are from third row away. Well then you get London and then you get England and then you get Europe and then you get the planet, the start of the galaxy and you go, oh my God, you’re you are a lot more things than we thought you were. Now, the thing is that I identify with Richard, you know, that layer of my body. I identify with London. I identify with England. I identify with the, with the planet, even with the, the star, if we were attacked by another star, I’d be fighting for this star star war. So this makes sense. It makes sense scientifically that you’re not just one layer. You are made of cells and you are part of greater bodies. It’s all one system.
Speaker 1 00:26:57 You can’t, you can’t sit here and breathe without your cells, without the molecules that make yourselves without the atoms that make your molecules. It take it take sound seriously, but you can’t sit here and breathe without your atmosphere or your sunlight, or even I suggest the, the, the, the whole, the whole galaxy, because it’s one system. Now the question is what are you right at the center of all these layers? Well, only you can look, you see, and what the headless way is that that is a, a, a kind of modern, scientific, uh, context. And, but, uh, to reframing in that language, the old question, who am, I know myself, Christine, wake up, wake up, wake up to what? Wake up to what you are. How do you do that? It’s not about thinking primarily. It’s about waking up. When you wake up in the morning.
Speaker 1 00:28:05 It’s not a thinking thing. It’s just, I’m awake. I’m that’s now these experiments you see? So just look point back again. We’ll do some non visual point back at the place you’re looking out of, like I’m doing now, you’re pointing at the center of all your layers. You’re pointing in the place that no one else can look at. Cuz you are only you or your side of your finger. Now, do you see an appearance there? I don’t to put it in language. I it’s just space for the world. It’s nonverbal. It’s a kind of silence.
Speaker 1 00:28:44 So, uh, this is about, uh, asking and exploring what you are, what at, with the, the entertaining, the possibility that, um, you, you, you, uh, have, um, accepted what society says you are, which is, which is important and are overlooking, uh, what you are in your own experience. So these experiments headless way is about reacquainting ourselves with our own point of view. And of course you have to make some sense of it and connect it with the social view of you and, and all of that. But the primary thing is, look for yourself. You see, what do you, what do you see? What do you see? Not what you think or no. Cause what you think or no is inherited from society.
Speaker 1 00:30:36 Well, I, uh, I, I don’t know. I can’t say how big I am. You see the darkness that you are aware of? How wide is it? Uh, I, I don’t, I can’t, I can’t say. And, um, well open your eyes cuz uh, this is quite a good thing to do with, to, to just, uh, learn from the visual field and apply the lessons to the non-visual. So if you be aware of the whole field of view, so this is a bit like what Lillian was saying. You just relax. Cause soft eyes is in martial arts. So that, I mean, you might be looking at some, you are looking at something in the center of the field of vision, whatever that is. Uh, not particularly at the screen. I don’t, I’m not asking you to look, just look at anything and then just notice that that’s in the center of the whole field of view.
Speaker 1 00:31:36 And the whole field of view is vast. I mean, uh, uh, don’t just limit your view to tunnel vision, have panoramic vision. So that goes all the way out to the edge where it gets rather it’s not in focus, like the thing in the middle, it fades out all the way around. It fades out. Now, if you look back at, uh, an object, your computer or whatever, you’ll see, it’s got a, boundary’s got a hard edge and there’s something all the way around that boundary. You know, the background, any object you look at has got a boundary and a background, all right, now, soft eyes, be aware the whole field of vision all the way to where it fades out, uh, which I’m gonna call an edge that where, you know, the per periphery. But is there anything around that edge beyond the edge above it, below it to the left to the right, you know, is it, is the whole picture set against another background? Well, no, it’s just hanging in space. There’s nothing above it. I say, see.
Speaker 1 00:32:52 So, uh, I would say that the picture, the view is not contained inside something bigger. You see? And if you look at any object again and, and compare its size with another object, it’s it is relative. It’s either bigger or smaller about the same size suppose and, and look at two other objects. You’re just easy to see, which is bigger and which is smaller, less. Cause it’s relative. Cuz the object that is bigger than the smaller one, you can compare it with another one and now it becomes smaller. It’s relative. Now look at the whole field of view. Just relax back. And there you are. The whole visual field. How big is it? Well there isn’t a second to compare it with. I don’t see a second. So I can’t say while it it’s big, bigger or smaller, it it’s. How big is it? There’s nothing to compare it with.
Speaker 1 00:33:54 It’s incomparable. See. So how wide is it? It’s as wide as east is from west. You see it’s just it’s as wide as its wide. It’s not, I can’t say so. The third thing to note is is that, uh, if you pick two objects again in the visual field, you can see a distance between them. So between any two objects, there’s a distance. Now again, relax, be aware. The whole visual field is very relaxing, soft eyes, relaxing seat. Now be aware the whole visual field. How far away is it? Well, I mean, where from anywhere you might measure from is within the field. There’s nowhere to measure from. I can’t say how far it is. I can’t say where it is.
Speaker 1 00:34:42 So this is putting into language in nonverbal experience, but I say it’s not a visual field and not inside anything. Can’t say how big it is. I can’t say how far away it is. It’s I mean right here or I don’t know. Dunno. All right. Now, close your eyes and be aware of the darkness. Is it inside anything? I, I, I don’t perceive it as inside. Whether that’s inside a head or inside a bigger picture. It’s not, I don’t, I don’t nothing around now. How big is it? You know, why is it how big, well, there isn’t a second to compare it with single. And how far away is it? Well from where
Speaker 1 00:35:59 So there you go. Society. How could society tell you? I mean, honestly is just not in a position to say you’ve got be a rebel and look for yourself. You see now if you then attend to the field of sound. So that’s the, the kind of field of vision with your eyes closed the darkness. Now the field of sound, all the sounds going on. So that’s my voice. And then background sounds and whatever sounds you can hear and soft sounds and loud sounds and see. Now how big is the whole field of sound? Well, there certainly isn’t a second. I don’t find a second to compare them. Now, are those sounds happening inside any kind of container? You know, well, society still ruin your head I suppose, or in your ear. Wait a minute, the sounds are just coming outta silence.
Speaker 1 00:37:04 So I don’t find them inside anything. How, how far away is the sound of my voice? Well, from where you’ll see where, how far nothing I find nowhere to measure from, and even, you know, the, the close sound or the distance sound they’re equally here. You know, there’s no they’re equally. I am equally unable to measure. Now I find, uh, that the sounds are going on in the same space as the darkness, you know, the sound are coming out nowhere and going back or out silence. This is language you see in the darkness. The is coming out of nowhere or happening in nowhere or in, or in the great void or the silence or awareness you see, and now you move your attention to body sensations. Well, we, we we’ve, we’ve looked a bit at what it’s like to be a baby. We’ll go back to being a baby in a way, just so that you can put aside all the knowledge that society has given you very useful, but you can put that aside so you can, uh, look for yourself. So all, all these bud sensations, uh, let’s call it the field of sensation, you know, well, how big is it?
Speaker 1 00:38:30 Or if you identify with those sensations, how big are you? You know, how, how big is the field of sensation? Well, there, isn’t a second to compare it with, for start. And it’s a bit like, you know, you get soft eyes, you get soft darkness, you get soft sensation. I mean, it is just a, a very wide, you know, like wide-eyed peripheral vision there’s is the same sensation, very relaxing. I mean, uh, the idea that your sensations are in a tiny little box, you know, in your body is to constrict them, isn’t it and, and feel small. Well, put aside that image and have soft sensations, soft body, you know, well, I mean your vast, I mean, that’s relaxing. It’s that, you know, suddenly, you know, you, you throw the tangled fishing line into the water and it expands because there’s no limit in the water. Just, it just keeps expanding. Well, well, it’s a bit like that with sensation. Cause there’s no boundary. There’s not, you’re not inside anything. I say, I’m not sure. I mean, whoa, you’re as big as the universe, you know how big that is and you don’t have to force this. You like, you don’t have to force the fishing line to expand in the water. You know, just notice, you know, how wide are you? Well, can’t say how far away are these sensations?
Speaker 1 00:40:00 Well, there’s no way to measure from, and are the sensations happening in a different space than the sounds or the darkness? Well, I, I say no, it’s just one space. One awareness. You see, you are conscious, you are aware or how many awarenesses do you actually experience? You hear about mine. You hear about Andres, but how many do I experienced one and doesn’t have my name on it. And, uh, the sounds are in it and the darkness is in it. And, uh, the sensations are in it and my thoughts and feelings. So, uh, you might be aware of a particular feeling or judgment or thought, you know, or a number, think of a number. And that’s kind of at the center just as, when you are looking, you’ve got something in the center of the field of view, but just relaxed into big mind and just you’re vaguely aware of any other thoughts going on. And you, you, you can’t see them directly. It’s right. You can’t see the hydrogen field of vision directly and you don’t try, you know, you can’t, and it’s the same with your mind. I would suggest that some things are, are more clear up front of stage and the rest is sort of vague. And that is it that how it is, you, you, it kind of fades out. And um, so one asked you, you know, how big is this mind?
Speaker 1 00:41:37 Well, there, isn’t a second to compare with. And is it inside anything? Well, I find it’s not. You see? And it’s again like your body. If you put aside the image of your body, well, how big is it? It just UN uncontained. It just sort of expands it’s same with your mind. I, I find, you know, you, it soft mind, soft eyes, soft hearing, soft sensing, soft mind, see a, and uh, you, you, you’re not trying to pin it down. You can’t pin it down. Where do your thoughts come from? You see, how are they coming out of a small head or brain or do they just pop up out of what Zen calls no mind, you know, and go back very fertile, the no mind, you know, the nothingness, it sounds negative. Isn’t it just incredibly fertile. It just, it’s thinking all the time and it’s feeling and it’s making sounds and it’s, you know, got sensation. It just full. Even with your eyes closed, it’s just busy, busy, you know, it’s just rich, like a, you know, summer’s day with insects is just busy. So a lot going on in this absolutely clean, clear silence. That’s the two aspects, you know, you point back and you can’t see anything, but you point out, you see few of view. You here is no mind, but it’s full of mind and it’s full of sensations.
Speaker 1 00:43:15 And, uh, still with eyes closed now, uh, uh, I’m gonna suggest you can, instead of just doing soft looking or soft hearing or, uh, you know, soft eyes or soft sensing, soft being soft being, so you don’t focus on any particular sense. So I’m not asking you to send, you know, focus on thoughts or sounds, but just to have no preference, but you will get things announcing themselves, but you, but you are kind of interested to see whether, you know, a thought and then a memory and then a sensation. And there will be some things that you don’t have to worry. There’ll always be something. But now you, you know, you, you, uh, soft being is you, you just, your being is out in the box, out in the water. Uh, you know, as being just expanding or no, no boundary. I mean, where is your boundary?
Speaker 1 00:44:26 This is completely natural. This is what you’ve always been. This is nothing new. Except every time you wake up and be aware of it, it’s new, cuz its nature is fresh. It’s not old. Your true nature. Doesn’t get old cuz I mean, how old are you? But aside what society says, well, I can’t say I’m now, you know how long is now, how old is now? It’s just, it’s just now it’s delicious. It’s fresh. It’s always, now it’s always fresh. See? And you’ve, you don’t have to try. It’s just, you, you can’t make it happen. It just already is happening. You just got to acquaint yourself with it and know, you know how to find it.
Speaker 1 00:45:28 And it’s the same for us. All. This is where we come together. Uh, what is arising within the space is different for each of us, but the space itself has, uh, has, does not have an address or a name or a gender or an age, you know? And uh, uh, it’s a great mystery. How it’s the same. And as all yet, we have different experiences in it. But this is where we come together. The ground of being that, that our common ground is this soft being this, this openness is, or maybe you wanna call it that’s so that way we come now, you know, don’t we all wanna really meet somehow yet. Rema keep our differences. You know? Well, here it is. It’s the perfect combination of being uniquely different and meeting utterly. So it is clearly are not two consciousnesses yet. I respect that what you are experiencing in this consciousness is different from mine. So now I’m going in a moment, ask you to open your eyes. It seems to just take a, your eyes.
Speaker 1 00:47:24 It still true. You see, uh, it is still true. You, your soft now, one of the things I think Lillian raised it is, but what about, I still feel separate for example. So do I see, I, I, in the sense that I identify with Richard, you know, in a, at that level as the self being, uh, there’s no differences, but my view out is mine. You see now does the feeling of being separate operating your life, you know, wanting this, not, does that stop you from being aware of soft being of your no, the two go together. People think that it, when you’re aware of your true nature, which is this vastness you see in which everything’s happening, there’s no dividing that, that you should somehow no longer feel separate or not feel self-conscious or not suffer or have problems. I say it, that’s not my experience that they go together. And this is, uh, you as your true nature, living an individual life, any questions or comments or reflections to share? Yes.
Speaker 2 00:49:12 I would think that the sheer, uh, very powerful momentum of I am solid. And this is there when, uh, doing what you propose with our eyes closed, especially for Mamo practitioner is yeah. Yes, yes, yes. Fantastic. Especially working with sound. I found particularly interesting, but as soon as we open our eyes, so I would, my question is, um, when one works with this does one somewhat could, would need to put more emphasis on, um, close eyes perception so that there’s some, some habit, some, um, familiarity. So that the potential for, for this to be with eyes open and yeah, I guess one will have to,
Speaker 1 00:50:20 Well, I think this is a individual thing and you find out what works for you. I, I love doing, uh, you know, being aware of my true nets with eyes closed, but I find it, uh, as easy, if not easier with eyes open, uh, and certainly practical, you know, because you can’t spend much of your time with eyes closed. But when I, you know, look at a person when I’m with a person, I, I meditate and I notice am I, you know, put it in words, nonverbal, is it face to face or it face to no face, face, face to no face. Am I looking out two little holes in her head or out of one vast openness, one vast open single eye. Am I walking down the street or is the street moving through my stillness? Oh, street moving through my stillness now. So this is very practical as, as you, I, I love the closed eye, but you know, very limited application in terms of practical, you, you can’t live like that.
Speaker 1 00:51:25 So do what works for you. The other I’ll give you some tips if, if I may, I mean, do, do that, do whatever works, go with it, you know, uh, um, and someone was telling me about learning to play the piano, you know, learn to play songs you like, I’m like, you know, because you’ll wanna do it. Well. I mean, if you like that closed things, do it. If you like it, if you know, it will, it will grow you, it will, it will build your energy. Now, uh, I, uh, find that the experiments help me be aware of that with eyes open and, uh, uh, the, but, um, here’s um, so that, that, you know, that, that’s my, uh, my point of view, but I will add something here, which, because the, the question might be well, alright, this is very obvious, but how do I actually live consciously from the, for, from this as this throughout the day, you know, what, what, how, that’s the point?
Speaker 1 00:52:35 Isn’t it? You wanna live from this? You don’t wanna just glimpse it and then not think about it or be aware of it. So how do you do it? Well, I mean, that’s one way is to, uh, generate it in it as your eyes close another is to, you know, just sort of make a habit when you’re with people, notice your face over. I mean, it’s a pleasure. It’s a pleasure, nothing in the way it’s loving, it’s loving, you know, or when you’re driving, go on a drive and just relaxing to be still, you know, I mean, it’s a pleasure. It is soft eyes, you know, that’s relaxing, it’s relaxing, you know, in company, you are, you are, you are soft, open, you know, you’re being everybody without saying anything, right? So those, those, those, those things, but, uh, I’ll give you, um, an idea here.
Speaker 1 00:53:28 Uh, and it is that when you’re, as I said, when you’re a baby, you don’t know who you are, you you’re soft being without knowing anything else. And growing up is learning to get into hard being and to get an edge and a bound, a hard edge, really to get a hard edge and to be separate. You see? And, uh, that is a totally appropriate phase of life to do that. But as I said, you know, you’re an infant and you say to your friend, I’ll never do it. I’ll never do it. You know, I’m just big. I’m just big. I’ll never get into that little thing. You know, and friend said, I know I just can’t do it. Well, what, what gets you to do it is 24 7, your friends
Speaker 1 00:54:26 So by the time you’re an adult, you’ve done it. You’ve done what you thought was impossible. Why? Because you are in company where that is the currency, and it’s the only currency to spend. And if you don’t have that currency, you’ll die, you know, I mean, you need it to get food. You need it to get love. You need it to belong. So I mean, absolutely vital that currency, and it still is vital where, you know, to the day you die, whether you are the bud or whoever you, you, that that continues. However, the point being is that the, you might say growing up is finding out who you are and, uh, identifying and becoming responsible for that. Cause how do you to put it in these terms? How do you stabilize your personal identity? Because some people don’t, you know, I mean, there are few people with psych problems.
Speaker 1 00:55:24 Don’t stabilize. They don’t, they they’re they’re out to lunch. You know, they, they scattered, they they’re skitzo, they, they haven’t got, you know, I mean, it’s a sad condition. It’s, it’s serious, but all of us have stabilized our, uh, identity enough, enough, you know, deeply enough to function. You’re not worried enough. You don’t wake up and say, who am I? Right? You don’t have to keep going and sitting in a corner to remember who you are, right. Close your eyes. I’m Richard, I’m Richard. I’m rich. You’d have to do that. You got it going, you know, you’ve got it going. You’ve stabilized your identity. All right. Now you wake up to the fact that your true identity is this openness. And the question is, how do I stabilize it? It’s the same mechanism. It’s not rocket sounds. People think, oh, it’s some esoteric thing. I mean, how do you do it?
Speaker 1 00:56:23 I need to go and see some master. I need special tech is not, it, it, it it’s the same mechanism. What is that? Sanger, hang out with others who are aware of it and let them remind you. And you remind that this is what we’re doing in this meeting. I would say, at least for me, what is on the front burner is being aware of our true identity. So the whole hour and a half is about, you know, this is stabilizing. What’s stabilizing, just enjoying it, using it as currency, you know, spending it
Speaker 1 00:57:20 It’s not, it’s not an obscure thing. It’s that if you are in company, you will take on the mores, the rules of that company to survive. And if you’re in a company where you are only seen as being a thing, you that’s what you’ll be, you know, you don’t, you probably dunno anything else and who would question it, you know, cuz everyone agrees on it. But then when you open up and enter into communities where like here, it, it is admitted and acknowledged and experience not just thought about that. You are also for yourself wide open and that, that is currency. And I’m telling you in your, uh, you know, at least perhaps acknowledging yes, that’s true is currency. You know, well the hang out with others. And if you feel confident enough, start to spend the money, start to give as good as you get.
Speaker 1 00:58:18 You know, because that in, when you grow up and you stabilize your personal identity, it is not enough just to hear that, what others tell you, you are, you have to stand on your soapbox and say, yes, I am Richard. You have to do that. Cause otherwise it just is like, you need institutional care or something. Uh, you know, you’re just receptive, passive. It’s a matter being active and uh, participating, I’m getting on a roll here, I’m having a rant
Speaker 1 00:59:16 Uh, you can’t see it a bit blurry or cloudy. So in this community, I say, there’s absolutely no question that, you know, as he got it, as she got it, as they got it more, you know, job done, you can’t see your head. You say, see the world over. We’re past that. Now we are in the market of, uh, communicating about it, of spending the currency rather than, you know, should we let that person in as that person nonsense, bullshit, you know, is a bit like when you’re an adult, you know? Hmm. Does that person yet know who they are as an adult? You know, you don’t, you, you job done, right. I mean, here you say, I wonder if Andrew Smith knows yet that he’s, you know, or Michael doesn’t Michael know that he’s Michael yet maybe you kid
Speaker 1 01:00:23 I mean, people, some people say I don’t get it, you know, but I mean, that’s they do. They just want attention.
Speaker 1 01:01:32 Well, enjoy it, enjoy it. Well, what I’ve done just as it happened was, uh, all my life, since I was a teenager, I have hung out with others who are headless
Speaker 4 01:02:38 I guess I do have a question, uh, about the, I, I appreciate, uh, Lilian your question about sensations in the body that what’s coming up for me is, you know, that there, it seems there are a lot of these activities are focused on the visual field because of the, the directness towards this mechanism. You’re talking about where we cut right to the heart of how I am relating to the map I have of all of these sensations and the meaning that all of the them have together, uh, as experience rolls on my question, I guess, is, uh, in your, in your world, your headless community, the circle of friends that you’re talking to, do you find to me, my experience has been the more often I remember and stay in remembrance, uh, even when we were doing the exercises earlier, there’s a, there’s a kind of sigh of relief and a relaxing of, of the muscles and the, just the Vira, the holding together of the body holds less so soft being as you were describing. Um, my experience has been that becomes softer over time and the body, this, you know, the apparent survival animal trusts that it doesn’t need to survive. Like it has felt thus far. Um, so this kind of gradual overtime of a settling or integration, a word outside of the headless way for this, this process is, is this something this kind of, uh, integration process with the body sensations? Is that something that you see in, uh, the headless way community, people that you work with and talk to?
Speaker 1 01:04:23 Definitely, definitely. Yes, of course. Uh, you, you, you can understand it as an arc so that when you are a baby, you are soft being, as you grow up, you get hard and small and tense, and now you open out again, it’s very physical. So I, I, the visual is an easy way in, but, uh, it’s all the senses. And so I’m now, uh, as you, you see what you’ve done there is just brought my attention to the body, right. That’s community. That is infectiousness. So now I’m, I am now aware that my body is big. That’s relaxing. That’s that is it’s loving, it’s friendly. It is it’s. So you see how that works. That’s marvelous. Do you see that’s marvelous.
Speaker 4 01:05:24 Yeah. Thank you.
Speaker 5 01:05:34 I have a comment and a question, Richard first, uh, it was, well this whole 75 minutes or whatever amount of time we’ve been to where it’s been great. Uh, I do see what you say about the sang and talking about it being infectious, and also your way to point out as to our ator, uh, the whole conversation seem like, uh, I’m comparing it to practice instead, but they seem like intense, relaxing at the same time and just free in practice, which was, uh, I’m really grateful for that. Thank you. Um, the question I have is about, I think a lot of people here they already have, let’s say a formal meditation practice from whatever tradition that is. I’m wondering, how would you, uh, advise us to integrate pointing out exercises or the headless way into our practice or daily practice? Uh, would you recommend, I mean, I think this is my way of thinking to, which is very methodical. I, I like usually to have directions and schedules, things like that. Uh, so I, I, I know it doesn’t have to be that way, but I I’m wondering if you have any way, any advice on how to integrate the headless way into our practice?
Speaker 1 01:07:05 Well, it depends on your practice. What’s your practice?
Speaker 5 01:07:09 Uh, let’s say I may date for five minutes in the morning, 45 minutes a
Speaker 1 01:07:14 Day, but what do you do in your meditation?
Speaker 5 01:07:16 I usually do either, um, breath, counting meditation, or a form of who am I sort of inquiry meditation.
Speaker 1 01:07:29 Well, then, uh, you would explore this in your own way, but for example, you could be aware of your breathing happening in the stillness, in the, you know, just in it face to no face it’s sensation of breathing happening in the bodiless space. So the, the headless way sorts two way visually the view out is of the field and the, where you’re looking from is the absence here is the space it’s consciousness awareness, where you can apply that to the sensation of breathing is happening in the boundless space. That’s, uh, you know, you, you’re just not overlooking that space or the, the counting, uh, you know, it’s happening in the no mind. Uh, so I, I think that, uh, it, it, it becomes more like not doing anything than doing, you know, so, uh, you know, but you’ll find your own way. Uh, and I, I think that this is a creative edge, uh, how, what, you know, how can you use these things that are valuable and, uh, good reminders to now, to, to add on awareness, you know, for of this. Yeah. The other thing is that, I mean, I don’t know, we will, we do another, these in, in the future or something, is that the idea of
Speaker 5 01:08:52 Yeah. If, if
Speaker 1 01:08:54 We can, well, I mean, then, then you could say, look, uh, we’ll set one up in what X weeks or whatever it is, everyone here knows that you see, so then you you’ve set up a kind of rhythm. Right? And so you, if you, uh, part thing about practice is rhythm, right. You know, doing it once that’s not what it’s about, it’s doing it regularly. So it builds it, you know, sort of builds something. So if, uh, just an idea, it’s not, uh, that if you have in mind, okay. So in next weeks we’re gonna do another one. There’s a rhythm. So now you think, oh, okay. I, the I’m, I’m starting a practice if you like a rhythm. Yeah. But I think that, uh, you will find your own way. And, and I think that part of the Sanger is, is to exchange ideas and exchange what, you know, uh, uh, you know, things at work, uh, and be inspired by others and find that people’s response is different from yours, but valid, you know, and their way of going about it is different, but that’s something in it that you can use. Yeah.
Speaker 5 01:10:26 Thank you. That’s very helpful.
Speaker 1 01:10:37 You, you see, the, the thing about headless way is, uh, I suppose I teach it don’t I, but, um, what am I teaching? Well, I, I’m not teaching kind of knowledge about your true nature, cuz there’s nothing to know and, and you’ve got it. Uh, so, uh, I, I am here enjoying the fact that we’ve all got it. I, I’m not here to say no. Well, I think you a bit more of this and oh no, that’s not what, what this is about. This is about, uh, for me, um, exchange, you know, sharing my experience and understanding of something that we’ve all got and your experience and understanding is different. And, uh, if we have more time and more time, you know, I’m here to, to dog share, but there’ll be more exchange, you know, because you can teach me, uh, you can share with me in your response and, uh, unless I’m just being arrogant or something, you know, it it’s about, uh, the one mysteriously enjoying being many so that it can share.
Speaker 1 01:11:54 It’s different reactions with itself, genuinely as if it’s talking to someone else, you know, I mean the five, five phases here, five voices here potentially in one consciousness. Well, that’s wild. You know, I mean this, this voice of mind is in your con it’s coming outta your consciousness. Now I’m now speaking currency, you know, a different currency. Aren’t I from the normal one where there’s my voice, not your voice. No, it’s my voice. You can’t have my voice. No, it’s mine.
Speaker 2 01:13:21 Question me again.
Speaker 1 01:13:31
Speaker 2 01:13:35 Yeah. It’s your fault. Of course.
Speaker 1 01:13:38
Speaker 2 01:13:39 Um, this, this week, somehow I started the week thinking, okay, this week, I’m practicing having no opinions since I have countless opinions.
Speaker 1 01:14:37 Yeah. Oh, wow. Yes. Uh, you, you know, uh, there is a, one of the maturing features. I would say if I put it like that, is that you stop taking your spiritual temperature. What I mean is, you know, am, am I doing it right? Or am I seeing who I am? Or, you know, is it still there? Well, you keep, look, you know, you keep taking your temperature and having a look. And every time you look, you can’t see your face. And after a while, think, why am I obsessing about this? It’s always there. It’s never gonna go away. You know, you know, let it have a rest for God’s sake, you know, to relax. And, uh, you it’s always there when you want it. And it’s not as if, uh, because you haven’t been aware of it five minutes or five hours or five days that you now have to crank yourself back up, you know, and get into gear.
Speaker 1 01:15:45 And finally you are, you know, the engine’s running and you are on and you wonder how long you’re gonna keep it going for, you know, cuz soon as you start to think about it, you’re obviously not you all of that nonsense, you know? No, it, you look, it’s a hundred percent on full power, you know? Uh, uh, as it always, always, always will be, well, you know, after it’s a bit, you know, as you’re growing up, you know, oh God, I can’t remember my name. So maybe you probably had a, a phase when you, I can’t remember my name. Like what is my name? You know? Well, oh no, I remember that few few God, I forgot it again. You know? Well, uh, uh, after a while you, you know, you, you get it, you got it. You don’t think about it. You’re not gonna, you just cuz you don’t remember your name, you know, think of your name for an hour.
Speaker 1 01:16:41 You isn’t with this is better, more natural, you know, a cleaner, you know, uh, you know, I mean, at the end of the day you remember your name and you think, oh God, I’m Richard.
Speaker 1 01:17:35 You know, in fact forget is to come back with refreshed kind of insight, isn’t it? You, you can only enjoy the, you know, the joy of remembering who you are, if you’ve, you know, seemingly forgotten it. So that rhythm as a please and you, you relax and you, you don’t beat yourself up. If you haven’t been aware of your no Facebook, five minutes
Speaker 5 01:19:05 Thank you so much returns. This has been such a special time, really appreciated and thank you everyone for sharing it with us.
Speaker 1 01:19:12 Well, I’d delight to hang out with you all and uh, yeah. Good to see. I hope to see you all.