Member Input...take one!

Ok – this might be a little unusual for this group (and any other group too). May I suggest you consider “On Having No Head, Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious” by Douglas E. Harding.

Douglas Harding's message is simplicity itself yet stunningly enlightening. He is fond of simple experiments to explain his ‘no-head’ observation. An as example, here is an experiment I sent to a few friends of mine. For the purposes of this email, please consider yourself an honorary meathead and do the experiment yourself.


Dear Meat-heads,


Try this experiment: Point at something within your view; let's say your computer. Actually point at it with your finger. Notice it has color, shape, texture, size, etc. Try pointing at something else in the room: point at the mouse, let's say. Notice its physical characteristics. Now point at, let's say your arm. Again – color, shape, texture, size, boundaries, etc. So everything around you right now has physical characteristics which are clearly evident and which you can point at and experience.


You, of course, are in the room too somewhere, right? You are here right now, and your finger is pointing at all this stuff around you. So, where are you, exactly?


Just for fun, actually do this next step: Continue to direct your pointing finger up your arm till you are pointing directly at yourself – where you are looking out from. Isn't it true that you are pointing at yourself right now? If you are anywhere you are certainly right where you are pointing at and where you seem to be looking out from. For me, there is no color here, no shape, no size, texture, boundaries. There’s no-thing.


You now pointing at the real you. The everyday actual you. And, isn't what you are pointing at now what you have always been all your life? Of course, if you think about it, there is a head somewhere around there, and arms, feet, heart, computer, walls, etc. But you, yourself, are something totally distinct from all that, which is what you are pointing at!


Everything else you point at has physical characteristics, like color, size, shape, etc. What you are pointing at now has none of these characteristics. Which makes perfect sense if you are a non-physical, awake and aware presence as, from all direct present evidence, you seem to be.


You have no shape, color, smell, boundaries. None the less you are here. You are present and aware, period. You have a body, of course, a computer, a room, a world but you are not any of those “things” nor do you possess any of their characteristics (like color or shape).