I practice transcendental meditation but I love the headless way as I can use it when I have to have my eyes open. Any negative emotion you feel just arises in space. I think the practice is so powerful because you’re not making yourself the focus. You are just space for the world.

Sam Harris' Waking Up meditation app brought me here. I like how you explained it! Thanks Shanti. Peace - Jason from Ottawa.

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jason!

Brilliant! This is hugely helpful toward experiencing “no self” thank you

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Great to hear Carinne! Enjoy headlessness

When awareness is focused on the headlessness, it feels and looks like the whole world or universe IS my head and my body and its little legs is an appendage connected to the world via the head area. We are also upside down compared to everyone else because our feet are pointing towards their feet! Our brains "correct" what our eyes actually see. This is what the book, "Drawing on the right side of the brain" was also about. Good artists can draw what the eye actually perceives, while bad drawers are correcting what they actually see into acceptable "proper" shapes, (the stereotypical cliche idea) ,which makes it more childlike and less professional. That is the main difference between an artist and an ordinary average drawer. One other related idea is Paradolia, where people see faces in clouds or rocks, etc, . I propose that it is Paradolia at work when we look at actual faces! It's all part of the cognitive correction that we put the raw image from our eyes through. We are not seeing what is actually there, but a cognitive creation! That's why we need to learn to see the headless reality and not the idea construct we have replaced it with.

Can you also acknowledge that it is also terrifying, too? Just a few nights ago, I had this realization that I cannot see my own face directly, cannot see my own head, that I always have this eyes-forward POV and it freaked me out.

@FirstPersonHood

3 жыл бұрын

Until you realize everything that can possibly happen appears to YOU!!!

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

I think this feeling of fear when ones perspective changes is common. I used to have a lot of terror come up while meditating. I think it is our ego-mind freaking out as we come to a perspective that is not so ego focused. The illusory small self will do what it can to draw itself back to the centre of your attention. I would suggest doing your best to allow the feelings to arise and pass and notice the open space inside which the terror appears and disapears. That space itself is not affected by the fear - it remains perfectly clear and open. It may take some time to recalibrate and settle into the direct experience of headlessness. It is nothing special but can take some getting used to. Hope that helps.

@augfss338

Жыл бұрын

I freaked out too… laughed a lot later … hated it , then loved it. Now I feel stupid. 😅

@martingifford5415

Жыл бұрын

Once you accept that discomfort in life is inevitable, then it will be okay.

I think that was he was getting at is what many ancient philosophies state, that you are not your body, you are pure awareness. Douglas Harding hinted at that when he mentioned certain passages from the Upanishads.

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Yes yes yes! Same same

I watched other videos on this and got a glimpse but your explanation really solidified my view, thank you!

Damn that’s a great shortcut.

The Formless Awareness that is there in place of your head is so vast that it encompasses EVERYTHING! Even your body exists within this Field of Awareness!! So that means that your mind is not in your body; your body is in your mind!

Thanks, Shanti -- I agree with the posters below that a) you really got the headless way and b) you have a knack for explaining it a clear and compelling way. I think the "knack" is that you are relaxed and creative and filled with love for your life and for other people. Love, peace, joy, Dan

@WideAwakeWithShanti

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Dan. Glad you appreciated it. Hope you can enjoy having no head as well!

this is a great explanation of our space-like nature.

Really enjoyed this video and your explanation. Thank you for this!

@WideAwakeWithShanti

5 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it!!

Man! How likable are you Shanti. Thanks for the video. I love the headless way.

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Haha great to hear you enjoyed it Anand :-)

This is explained in such a great way and I love how you have added some videos at the same time because the shift was more obvious, especially the driving one. Thank you.

@WideAwakeWithShanti

2 жыл бұрын

Yay so happy to hear that

love Douglas Harding and his ideas around headlessness. I have found a deep sense of freedom and oneness with my environment practicing this concept. Also as I have come to understand that everyone else shares this same experience, I feel greater empathy and togetherness.

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Yes i love Douglas' teachings about how we are 'built for love' - I contain you and you contain me :-)

So nice to see you again Sante🤗!

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the nice comment Odette!

I love the headless way! Great job describing it buddy!

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks dude - enjoy headlessness!!!

Wonderful and inspiring explanation and sharing! Thank you!!

@WideAwakeWithShanti

4 жыл бұрын

Pleasure! Enjoy your headlessness!

Great job explaining! Thank you. ❤️

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks!!

Very useful tactic, thank you!!

holy fucking shit this video made me experience it - not just get it intellectually. wow

I found this to be very helpful.

Thanks mate!

While pointing the finger towards head one can see the nose and not other parts. The eyes are normally made in that way.

@WideAwakeWithShanti

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, but right at your centre is space

@AkshayChaitanya

2 жыл бұрын

@@WideAwakeWithShanti space is everywhere - in and outside. . kzread.info/dash/bejne/dqhkvJufZcW5qMY.html

Thanks Shanti, it's certainly a wild idea & I guess there's a reason it fell into my lap the other night. ...i like the stillness the driving would do 4 me, being detached! Gosh, I'm so detached I am like a jar of honey! Thanks again mate.

@WideAwakeWithShanti

4 жыл бұрын

Awesome! The next step after becoming detached is to realise there is actually no seperation between that open awareness and the objects that appear within it. Enjoy!

I've been reading Harding's book. Your video has helped bring it to life. Thanks

@WideAwakeWithShanti

2 жыл бұрын

Glad to hear it was helpful. Enjoy headlessness!

Woww.. I've come across this method before but It did not click sooo much as it did today. Thankkk you❤ PROFOUND

Thanks sir❤❤❤

I guess I’ve been doing this already. I just imagined that everything is ideas like an ocean or river of them, and I’m just a drop in that. Ideas flow through me, and some I catch and add to me, while others go on floating. I haven’t thought of myself as headless so much as bodyless, but this video helped me see that

@esistwieesist6835

11 ай бұрын

Absolutely correctly identified. You are not headless. But disembodied. Everything appears only in consciousness. Your imaginary body like the imaginary dog ​​poop🙂

Good one. Thank you. I like your style of explanation.

@WideAwakeWithShanti

2 жыл бұрын

Groovy thanks!

Great meditation technique, and you're such a cool guy!

@WideAwakeWithShanti

4 жыл бұрын

Haha thanks!

Driving a Porsche 911 Cabrio on the A14 in Germany near Leipzig will also work

Excellent explanation, really helpful. Thankyou so much . You have really got this and this video has helped it click in me . Genius. So simple and immediate yet so profound and practical. The Headless Way App is good as are the Richard Lang videos and site But for me this video is a jewell. Thankyou once again

@WideAwakeWithShanti

4 жыл бұрын

So good to hear! Glad it helped.

The only issue is that there needs to be a degree of space between 2 people for relationship to exist otherwise you are fused/merged, and no relationship can be possible then if you think about it so it’s a profound experience but to try to live that way would erase healthy psychological boundaries that are necessary for healthy relationships to be sustainable. Lacking any sense of personal boundaries whatsoever leads to many harmful situations - the inability to differentiate between oneself and another at least on a relative level. So, please keep this in mind!

@FirstPersonHood

3 жыл бұрын

This is often times explained as a meditation, however, this is simply pointing to your normal everyday reality. If you never came across this topic it would still be the reality of your existence. Healthy relationships come out of this natural reality that is pointed to with the headless way. All is well my friend. To realize you are the happening of all things leans more toward making relationships GREAT!

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah good points Jessica. Yes good to keep healthy psychological and physical boundaries. In my experience it is possible to be headless and still maintain healthy boundaries. In fact they feel more healthy as there is more love present.

Something about how you explained the feeling of headlessness really clicked for me, thank you!

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Wonderful to hear Erik - enjoy headlessness!

Its like getting high on subjective perception of reality

@jeanetteb2347

3 жыл бұрын

This experience is really objective, it is not filtered.

Shanti,you have explained the headless white very very very well. Ciao This is Marco from Italy

great video. thanks

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Yay!

Good explanation ✌️

@WideAwakeWithShanti

5 жыл бұрын

Yay thanks glad you liked it. Enjoy headlessness :-)

Thank you so much for sharing... 🗿

This pointer doesn’t work for me because I can always see my nose in my periphery, and I can always feel the muscles in my face. Sure, I can’t see my head, but I’m always aware that it’s there. Sometimes more so than other parts of my body.

Ok, I can understand the space - that everything originates in the centre and that everything moves around it. Yet, hasn’t changed anything.. what am I missing? Why am I not getting the enlightenment 🥺

@augfss338

Жыл бұрын

😂😂 cuz there is nobody there to get enlightenment, just your space like nature ever present and ever enlightened .. really the light that allows all to be seen , and nothing can see it .

Nice dude

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

I was hoping I'd learn something. I've thought about this since I was 5. So how can I use this to be helpful?

Simple and sweet explanation. Got the meditation . Would it help to think of the feeling of yourself as space and nothingness , as after sometime , the proposition of not having a head is difficult for the mind . Like maybe see the sensation of the head is an appearance in the nothingness of you like other objects in the world ?

@WideAwakeWithShanti

4 жыл бұрын

Yes Id go with whatever works for you!

Hey brother, do a vid of affirmations while doing Amy Cuddy's power poses, very potent

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks ill check it out

Everything and Nothing. Thank you,.

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!!

My nose, my eyelashes have a shape...but yes i get the gist of the idea

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Gary. It is common to see part of your face. I can see the tip of my nose. The practice is to direct your attention back to its source - the point where you are looking out of. Then one can see that all things, including the nose and/or upper lip appear within that open space of awareness above your shoulders. Hope that helps?

I understand the exercise but my big nose is distracting me from the fact I dont have a head 🤣 no matter where i look i can see it in my field of view 😅 loving my non-dual folks!

Lol whoa. Great explanation. Lol whoa that’s really something!

@WideAwakeWithShanti

4 жыл бұрын

Yes, and headlessness is a perfectly normal and natural state too!

I don't understand.Even if I don't see my head I feel it all the time like how it's hot and sweat is pouring on it. How it gets red if I am embarassed. How my tooth aches, how my eyes are strained.. I know it's there my head because of physical feelings

❤❤🙏🙏

fascinating thought . Will try this in my meditation. Thank-you Shanti.

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Yes recommend trying it both in meditation but also in everyday life - enjoy!

Why you had quite KZread?😢

sam harris waking up :)

For me this just caused horrible existential crisis, i figured this out accidentally few days ago and i'm still freaking out :(

@FirstPersonHood

3 жыл бұрын

Quickly realize you are everything that could possibly ever happen!! Its natural. Go on with your life all is well.

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry i just saw this message. I would recommend connecting with a respected spiritual teacher to help work through this shift in awareness - its common to be a bit freaked out as our sense of identity shifts - I hope it settles for you and feel free to contact me by sending a message through my website if needed wideawakewithshanti.com

Can this help with self consciousness in social interaction?

@benjamingroves1703

4 жыл бұрын

ceeloc almost certainly, yes. I’m not an expert, but keeping exploring the subject. There are some profound moments, and changes in perception, that can occur. My source for a lot of this thinking is Sam Harris and his meditation app. Richard Lang and Douglas Harding also great people to check out.

@WideAwakeWithShanti

4 жыл бұрын

Yes I think it can as it helps us realise we are not seperate from other people and this can greatly reduce fears and anxieties, though sometimes the old habit patterns take a while to quiet down

I've gotten so use to this experience that the peacefulness of it has died down quite significantly. Is this normal?

@WideAwakeWithShanti

5 жыл бұрын

Yes I think the initial euphoria wears off and it becomes just the natural state - 'nothing special' as they say in zen. But keep checking in I think to make sure the ego has not snuck in the back door and taken over! In true headlessness there is generally a sense of deep peace and connectedness I think - at least in the background.

@colleenhoney

4 жыл бұрын

That crafty thought ridden ego gets it's way Into every nook & cranny, no denying it's a full time job.

@colleenhoney

4 жыл бұрын

What I find really upsetting is WHY we are born to go through all this grief, trying to find a way to still our turbulent thoughts. Some of us are living in hellish states & it just doesn't seem very damn fair that we learn a heap of patterns for the first 20 or 30 or 50 bloody years, then we have to UNLEARN all the bullduggery - 'Something' or 'Someone' has a very sick sense of humour is all I can say!!!

@kopilit

4 жыл бұрын

@@colleenhoney I've been thinking along those lines for a while and it is extremely depressing in one way and freedom in another. If you have all eternity to work with then a life is a day at the office from your true perspective. Think of every moment as working in eternal space .And one more thing that may help, we were born clear, and we were co creators of our own illusionary suffering, we joined with the mind voluntarily , as we do every time we engage in thoughts or feelings.

What about joy ??

@WideAwakeWithShanti

4 жыл бұрын

Joy often arises spontaneously when you dont have a head getting in the way :-)

Am I the only person that sees their nose and upper lip when they're looking at something?! I may not be able to see my full face and head but I definitely constantly see some of its features in the periphery of my vision.

@travisbickle8008

4 жыл бұрын

you'll get used to very soon

@jeanetteb2347

3 жыл бұрын

That is in the periphery, but now experience the Centre of You. I also met with the Headless way or Seeing who you really are. It is amazing! It is indeed instant enlightenment, but you have to practice and I also listened to Eckhart Tolle and Rupert Spira.

@jmseipp

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, you’re the only one. Do you have some Alien DNA or something??

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

It is common to see part of your face. I can see the tip of my nose. The practice is to direct your attention back to its source - the point where you are looking out of. Then one can see that all things, including the nose and/or upper lip appear within that open space of awareness above your shoulders.

@nmh1120

3 жыл бұрын

a nose is not a head, and regardless it's not even a nose from your perspective. it's a dark blurry blob. your mind/memories are filling in the gaps for you and TELLING you that it's your nose. same with your upper lip. a lip is not a head, and it's not even a lip you're seeing is it? it's more like a dark smudge at the bottom of your visual field. the point of this exercise is to almost force yourself to be as experientially naive as a small child or something. take everything in your direct, raw, first person experience as literally as possible. in my experience, my torso comes up and instead of a head being on it, i see only the world, a space which includes everything, INCLUDING my headless body. there is absolute no head or face in my direct experience. there are dark smudges in the middle and bottom of my visual field, and i have some tingling sensations, but no evidence for a face or head

"I would lose my head if it was not attached to my shoulders." Anonymous

While walking on a road, the scenery was passing THRU me as a vast, indescribable spaciousness or presence. Later, whilst standing by a road, cars were passing right THRU ME...a vast, boundless, nonphysical essence or Being Ness. Sadly, the experience soon faded but the effects of "vast boundessness" seem to remain! 😂

Wouldn't the periphery of your nose have something to say about a "headless" feeling, i still observe the outer edge of a head.

i can take my finger and feel my head..my nose, lips, eyes, ears and more!!!

@nmh1120

3 жыл бұрын

no. your mind is filling in the gaps of that based on memories, and previous knowledge that you do in fact have a head (from a third person perspective) take your hand and feel the top of where you believe your head is. doesn't your hand completely disappear into nothingness? where did it go? then you feel a tingling sensation that is occurring.....where? where is that sensation happening? also in that same nothingness.

Why is this not clicking for me

I've tried this many times over the years and still don't get it.

@FirstPersonHood

2 жыл бұрын

What are you confused by?

I do this but it's made no difference. I was already aware in the non dual sense but still I feel my life is shat and suicide is not out of the question.

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry to hear it is not helpful - wishing you well on the journey

@mellowbirds4777

3 жыл бұрын

@@danielbanfai5195 thanks for the kind response. Things aren’t quite so depressing now thankfully but still not free of that. Isn’t the idea of non dual awakening such an amazing curious thing... An intense seeker, then an end to all of that, then the stark immediate fact.. of the reality that once seemed to exist ‘around’ you is now all there seems to be. Incredible.

@soularlight5696

3 жыл бұрын

There is Great Happiness and Peace when resting as The Self and it is available at all times. What makes the difference for me is to BE and seize striving. That's all

actually i can see some part of my nose and my hairs when pointing,,,so ..

@WideAwakeWithShanti

5 жыл бұрын

Hi Reza. Yes you can see a bit of your nose, but notice that at your centre right in the middle there is just space. The idea is to bring your attention right back to the centre where there is space and openness. Does that make sense?

@rezfgjj9194

5 жыл бұрын

yes it makes sense...very intersting approach..im currently resting as awareness

But you can’t see if you don’t have eyes !

Don't fully grasp this. I can't see my head because of the positioning of my eyes on my head... They look outwards, and report back what they see, however illusionary it may be, to my brain. Of course they can't look back on themselves. How does this make me headless? I can feel my head with my hands. If I bump it, it hurts... I get that the boundary between my body and everything else is a material illusion. I get that scientifically I am part of everything. I just don't understand the idea of headlessness. If I'm missing something, I'd like to learn it.

@FirstPersonHood

3 жыл бұрын

You fully have it!! What it means to you will eternally evolve as you continue to explore.

@mcm0009

3 жыл бұрын

I would also call it an illusion, though because of the positioning of the eyes the illusion is quite strong, particularly if you look for it. For me the next step is to consider that all of your senses send only electrical signals to your brain, your brain then constructs a complete simulation for you to experience, this simulation is created inside this 'space' that he speaks about. Everything you experience, even the sight and feeling of your own body is being simulated and projected into this 'space' where your head is/should be.

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Ryan. The headlessness practice helps us bring attention right back to the centre where there is space and openness. When we notice that in our direct experience we cant see our head - it helps us direct our attention back to this centre. We begin to see that all appears within the space of awareness, and that aware space itself remains unaffected. It can shift our sense of self. Does that make sense?

But I can see my nose and cheeks and eyebrows...

He wasn’t walking in the Himalayas. He made that bit up.

@WideAwakeWithShanti

5 жыл бұрын

Oh really? haha

@tommartin9612

5 жыл бұрын

I read that also.

@GetMeThere1

4 жыл бұрын

Right. Richard Lang says that, in fact, his first experience came in looking at the self-portrait of Ernst Mach, which shows the same view of chest and legs, with no head.

@FirstPersonHood

3 жыл бұрын

He did have the Himalayan experience after he saw that he was the happening of everything.

@justbreakingballs

3 жыл бұрын

FirstPersonHood he himself said that was made up for the book. He said that. He said the publishers wanted a cool story about it rather than saying he was just walking down the street.

But I can see my nose.

Doesn’t this mess with your sense of reality?

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Haha yes i think that is the whole point. It can shift our sense of who we are.

I use a mirror to see my head!!!!!!!

@danielbanfai5195

3 жыл бұрын

Yes you can use a mirror to see your head - but as Douglas Harding says - our head in the mirror is some distance from us. The practice is to direct your attention to that empty space that is above our shoulders in our direct experience right now. That space is at zero distance. All reflections occur within that space. Hope that helps.

I can see my lips, my nose, and even my cheeks. If I look up I can see my eye brows.

@WideAwakeWithShanti

4 жыл бұрын

Yes but the important thing to notice is that right at your center there is open space. All the things like the tip of your nose appear within that space. What are you looking out of? :-)

@nmh1120

3 жыл бұрын

you can't see lips or a nose or cheeks. you see dark smudges that your mind is ASSUMING and TELLING you are lips, nose and cheeks. take everything as literal as possible. just stare at your visual field and tell me HONESTLY, do you see your face or head anywhere? i will guarantee you that you don't. a smudge in the center of your visual field is not a nose or a lip, it's a smudge. a photo of your head is not your head, nor is a reflection of your head if you look in a mirror. so again, look now into your direct experience and ask yourself, do you see your face/head anywhere?

What is alive eating flesh with flies? ◄ Colossians 3:3 ► For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Seeing that you were dead [al-Baqarah 2:28] He who is forgetful of the Self, mistaking the physical body for it. Ramana Maharshi ----- Is the world real? So a genius can work out the dead? Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. Albert Einstein. ------ However: (Which see) (Matthew 2:18) "Nothing is as it seems. Nor is it otherwise." Lankavatara Sutra - Mahāyāna Buddhism There is no greater mystery than this; that being the reality we seek to gain reality. Sri Ramana Maharshi Plato’s cave analogy. Inprisoned inside the cave (Us), prisoners see the shadows on the wall and mistakenly view the shadows as reality. Greek word "cosmos" Meaning "In The World" functioning apart from God And according to Early Christian gnosticism - "Seraphims" Keter - Crown Divine Plan ~ The Angel of Death. (Read John 7:7) Satan is the ruler of this "cosmos" (John 12:31; 16:11; 1 John 5:19) Islam. The Surah takes its title from the sentence, Wa anzalna' l-hadida, of verse 25 The iron Hinduism. (Caught up in Samsara - Maya ~ The Malevolant illusion) ( Sanskrit: “magic”) In which this universe like a snake on a rope imagined appears.

I can see my nose, brow and lips. Making this exercise a bit redundant.

@FirstPersonHood

4 жыл бұрын

You are different from your point of view than other humans you look at.

@WideAwakeWithShanti

4 жыл бұрын

Yes but the important thing to notice is that right at your center there is open space. All the things like the tip of your nose appear within that space. What are you looking out of? :-)

Sorry to burst anyone's bubble on this one, but to say you don't have direct experience of having a head is totally false. Just because you can't see your head only denies visual experience of the head. You can touch your head. That's direct sensory experience of having a head. So you still perceive your head as an object in consciousness through sensation. It's fine to say you're creating the sense of having a head within consciousness, but it's silly to think you don't perceive having a head. If you bang it on a door, you notice it's there.

@FirstPersonHood

2 жыл бұрын

Dude, you see all heads at a distance from YOU. "YOU" IS GROUND ZERO FOR ALL THINGS.

Sorry dude, I can see a part of my nose and I know my nose is a part of my face and my face is a part of my head and I can feel my head is there right on top of my neck. this obviously dose not work for me.

Eye can not see itself, a tooth can not bite itself. So what. Slap yourself you find your head or let me slap you into enlightenment. It's not even that.

You apparently have too much time on your hands to jabber on about crap like this. Go find something you genuinely add value to the world by. This ain't that.

Talk about having an open mind. 😉

you said nothing