Douglas Harding


Douglas Edison Harding was an English philosophical writer, mystic, spiritual teacher and author of a number of books, including On Having No Head, Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious.

Biography

He was born in Lowestoft in the county of Suffolk and raised in the Exclusive Plymouth Brethren, a Christian sect, from which he apostatised at the age of 21.
In 1943, aged 34, after ten years of self-enquiry, study and writing, Harding had decided he was made of 'layers'. What he was depended on the range of the observer. As a result of his studies, Harding was convinced that he was human only at a certain range. Closer to, he saw himself as cellular, molecular, atomic. At very close range, therefore, he saw himself as almost nothing. It made sense to him therefore that at centre he was a mysterious 'nothingness'. In 1943, he looked back at himself and noticed that from his own point of view he was headless. He was looking not out of two eyes but a 'single eye', a boundless openness – an openness that was self-evidently aware, and was also full of the whole world. Here was direct experience of his central identity, his True Self. No longer did he have to rely on speculation. Following this he spent the next 8 years exploring the scientific, philosophical, psychological, religious... implications of his discovery, presented in his book The Hierarchy of Heaven and Earth, described by C. S. Lewis as "a work of the highest genius". This book was published by Faber & Faber in 1952. After taking time off from his profession, Harding then returned to architecture.
Harding continued to write, however, but it was not until 1964 that he clearly shared the experience of 'headlessness' with another person - his secretary. Following this, Harding gradually began to share 'Seeing' more widely. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Harding developed his 'experiments'. Harding described these experiments as 'a breakthrough' in terms of making easily available the experience of 'who we really are', our true nature - which is No-thing and Everything. Harding was emphatic that people tested out his claims for themselves - "you are the sole and final authority on you". He rejected the role of 'guru', always pointing others back to themselves. "Look for yourself". Harding said of this meditation, "While it lasts, this is an all-or-nothing meditation which can't be done badly."
As well as writing many books and articles, and developing his experiments, Harding also designed his Youniverse Explorer model, which models the layers of our body/mind, from the galaxy to particles, and includes at the centre of all these layers a clear sphere, symbolising one's True Nature - one's No-face.
Harding travelled widely, sharing 'Seeing'. In the 1990s and early 2000s he travelled and gave workshops with his second wife, Catherine.
Harding was married twice and had two sons and a daughter. He died at Nacton near Ipswich, England.

Books