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Heads
Your guide to a multitude of heads. A source of (un)truth.
Head 0: The No Head
There's not much that can be usefully said about this state. There
seem to be constant references to it in mystic literature but most
of the things the mystic's say aren't going to make much sense unless
you know what they mean already. Hence they end up sounding confused.
Leary and Wilson also talk about some aspects of this head in describing
the 8th circuit but if anything they make less sense on this subject
than those who have given up any hope of scientific description. This
state can be described as what lies beyond absence of consciousness
rather than the absence itself (perhaps it should be called head -1).
It has variously been called Samhadi, Satori and any number of other
things.
I know of no drugs that will always induce this state and the only practices
that seem to work fairly reliably are tantra and raja
yoga but even these don't seem to work all the time. In
fact these practices are best thought of as waiting
around for it to just happen. It should be pointed out
that head0 seems to be in some ways much less spectacular
than (for instance) the effects of psychedelics, but then
in others ways it can be far more spectacular. In
addition to being the ultimate goal of the mystical
tradition it also describes a state you are in ALL THE
TIME, which is quite hard to explain. Many claim head0 has
no worth at all, often mystics who have spent their
lives pursuing it. The state can also be described as
logically impossible.
If all that seems a bit nonsensical it must be remembered that head0
transcends language.
No amount of reading or study is will cause you to reach this state but the following may be helpful to the curious:
- The Book of Lies - A. Crowley
- The Tao te Ching - Lao tse Tung
The work of Crowley makes constant reference to this topic but I feel that the Book of Lies with its constant assault on reason works best. I also find A.O. Spare's concept of Kia quite useful but it can be easy to mistake this MAP for the territory. A good survey of Zen, Tao and some Hinduism could also be a good idea but try not to get caught in the descriptions or you will miss the point.