> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Science of the First Person with Richard Lang - URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/headless-way/ - Published: 2026-09-10T12:25:01.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-10T21:18:12.000Z - Description: Clues to ultimate reality hiding in plain sight: Exploring the Headless Way - Author: Amir Giles - Tags: recording [← Recordings](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recordings/) # The Science of the 1st Person A conversation with Richard Lang [Consciousness & Mind](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recordings/#wrim-topic-heading "Browse the recording library by topic")8 September 2026 · 1h 58m ## Free preview · 4:03 ## Watch the full conversation [Join as a member →](#/portal/signup) Watch preview again Already a member? [Sign in](#/portal/signin) ## Chapters 33 chapters · 1h 58m Chapters33 chapters · 1h 58m⌄ [▶00:00Welcome to **Richard Lang**](#recording-video)[▶03:34The Headless Way: **Who am I?**](#recording-video)[▶08:05A map of yourself at **different distances**](#recording-video)[▶12:16The **view in** and the **view out**](#recording-video)[▶13:44Experiment: where do your **hands** disappear?](#recording-video)[▶14:27Experiment: **pointing back** at the one who looks](#recording-video)[▶15:56Meeting others **face to no face**](#recording-video)[▶18:06What about **touch** and the other senses?](#recording-video)[▶19:04Growing up: **baby, child, adult, seer**](#recording-video)[▶21:57Are we really **behind the eyes**?](#recording-video)[▶23:25Finding a language for **first-person experience**](#recording-video)[▶25:48The body as **object** and the body as **subject**](#recording-video)[▶28:10Douglas Harding’s map of **body and mind**](#recording-video)[▶31:47Is the **view out** limited to the human scale?](#recording-video)[▶36:33Experimenting with **eyes closed**](#recording-video)[▶38:26If we are one, why do we have **separate minds**?](#recording-video)[▶46:36**Integrated Information Theory** and the experience of self](#recording-video)[▶48:00Do glasses or **AI smart glasses** get in the way?](#recording-video)[▶51:12The void as **mirror and projector**](#recording-video)[▶52:26**Ernst Mach’s picture**: nothing to manufacture](#recording-video)[▶54:08Why doesn’t **everyone see this**?](#recording-video)[▶1:04:42An experiment with **time and timelessness**](#recording-video)[▶1:08:37Does time change across the **different regions**?](#recording-video)[▶1:12:16**Death**: what Richard knows and what he doesn’t](#recording-video)[▶1:21:44Sleep and **altered states of consciousness**](#recording-video)[▶1:25:07**Galileo**: looking for yourself and revising the model](#recording-video)[▶1:30:05In what sense can we **feel the planet**?](#recording-video)[▶1:32:19Feeling trapped in a body: **conditioning and practice**](#recording-video)[▶1:40:33Experiment: a **tense hand** in an unstressed space](#recording-video)[▶1:42:55**Conflict, empathy and boundaries**](#recording-video)[▶1:50:41Closing experiment: the **whole field of experience**](#recording-video)[▶1:55:09Further **experiments and meetings**](#recording-video)[▶1:56:46Bernardo’s **dashboard of perception** and closing thanks](#recording-video) ### Clues to reality in the dashboard of perception In 1886, physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach drew his famous "View from the Left Eye". It's a sketch of the world that doesn't take an imagined third-person perspective, but instead depicts reality as it actually shows up: The blur of a nose. The arch of an eyebrow. A body trailing off into a room, with no head in sight. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Ernst_Mach_Inner_perspective.jpg) Ernst Mach, Inner Perspective Mach's point was that this inner perspective, the Innenperspektive, is where all experience begins, and that we habitually overlook it in favour of the third-person view. This careful, empirical and direct investigation of experience was later developed by philosopher Douglas Harding as a "Science of the First Person". His *Hierarchy of Heaven and Earth* was called by C.S. Lewis “a work of the highest genius”, and gained the interest of contemporaries including Owen Barfield, Alan Watts and Aldous Huxley. “***Though in essence the same as Zen, Sufism, and other spiritual disciplines, this way proceeds in an unusually down-to-earth fashion.***” — Douglas Harding The approach claims you are more likely to see who you really are in a few minutes of experimentation than years of reading, meditation or traditional spiritual practice. Richard has been a lifelong student of this Headless Way, steeped in both its practice and philosophy. (His discussion with [**Sam Harris**](https://samharris.org/podcasts/181-illusory-self/?ref=withrealityinmind.com)is an excellent introduction.) Today, he will introduce some essential observations that you can verify for yourself, followed by a Q&A. ## Watch the full conversation With Reality in Mind is supported by its members. Join to access live meetings, recordings and transcripts, and help us create more conversations like this one. [Join as a member →](#/portal/signup) RL ## Richard Lang Headless Way teacher and author Richard Lang is Co-ordinator of the Shollond Trust, the UK charity set up in 1996 to help share the Headless Way as widely as possible in the world. He first saw who he really was when he attended a workshop with Douglas Harding in 1970\. He is committed to making this Vision as widely available as possible. If you have a way in which you can help in this endeavour, or would like to invite him to give a workshop in your part of the world, please contact him. Richard's first book, [*Seeing Who You Really Are*](https://headless.org/harding-books/seeing-who-you-really-are?ref=withrealityinmind.com), was published by Watkins in 2003\. His second book, [*Open to the Source - Selected Teachings of Douglas Harding*](https://headless.org/harding-books/open-to-the-source?ref=withrealityinmind.com), was published by Inner Directions in 2005\. These publications are available through our [bookshop](https://headless.org/bookshop.htm?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Richard has also produced many videos about Seeing, which are available on The Headless Way [Youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=headexchange&ref=withrealityinmind.com). [Visit Richard’s website ↗](https://headless.org/Contact/richard-lang.htm?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ## Transcript Join as a member to access the full transcript [Join as a member](#/portal/signup) [Already a member? Sign in](#/portal/signin) ## Resources Join as a member to access audio and meeting chat [Join as a member](#/portal/signup) [Already a member? Sign in](#/portal/signin) ## Continue exploring [![The freedom to transform suffering to joy](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Asset-14.5--14--1-ac0e68d5-94e0-4cfd-abc0-3e3b3f00cf85.png)▶MEANING & SUFFERINGThe freedom to transform suffering to joySthaneshwar Timalsina & Bernardo Kastrup on the joy, horror & meaning of existence14 July 2026](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/suffering-meaning-joy/)[![Overwhelming evidence for purpose, but is it instinctive or planned?](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/image-2--1--500b367b-18ac-4f85-9be9-ed97c0535b26.png)▶MEANING & SUFFERINGOverwhelming evidence for purpose, but is it instinctive or planned?Exploring a living, evolving universe with Jude Currivan23 June 2026](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/instinct-or-plan/)[![Birth](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Blue-Womb_WebFile-3-13c3b012-2a04-479f-acc0-78a2e58d961c.jpg)▶MEANING & SUFFERINGBirthWhy your life is not a test; the origin of thought, creativity & life2 June 2026](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/birth/) ## Watch the full conversation With Reality in Mind is supported by its members. 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