Seeing the Void: Experiencing Emptiness and Awareness with the Headless Way Technique
Brentyn J. Ramm, Anna-Lena Lumma, Terje Sparby, Ulrich Weger
Mindfulness April 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-024-02341-6 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Preregistered Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 20 |
| Population | Adults with no prior exposure to the Headless Way exercises |
| Intervention | Headless Way exercises |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Emptiness Thematic analysis Perception Contemplation The void Feeling Silence Qualitative research Schema genetic algorithms Applied psychology Psychotherapist Aesthetics |
| Key findings | The Headless Way exercises can effectively induce void-like experiences and experiences of awareness itself in participants without prior meditation experience. |
Abstract
Abstract Objectives Practitioners in contemplative traditions commonly report experiencing an awareness that is distinct from sensory objects, thoughts, and emotions (“awareness itself”). They also report experiences of a void or underlying silence that is closely associated with this awareness. Subjects who carry out the Headless Way exercises frequently report an experience of emptiness or void at the same time as other contents (void-like experiences). The goals of this study were to (1) assess the reliability of these methods in eliciting the recognition of awareness and void-like experiences in participants who had no prior exposure to these techniques, (2) investigate the prevalence of these experiences in these tasks, and (3) to differentiate these experiences from closely related and potential precursor experiences.
Method: Twenty adults participated in in-depth individual interviews in which they were guided through the Headless Way exercises. A thematic analysis was conducted on the interview transcripts.
Results: Twelve of the participants reported a void-like experience, and five participants reported an experience of awareness itself. These experiences were respectively categorized as subsets of the more general categories of perceptual absences and the sense of not being person-like. Another novel finding was the real-time reports of awareness and void-like experiences during the exercises.
Conclusions: Our findings provide preliminary evidence that the Headless Way exercises can effectively induce experiences of emptiness and awareness in participants without prior experience. The findings suggest that such experiences can be elicited outside of a traditional meditation context, including in non-meditators. Furthermore, the experience of not being person-like and of perceptual absences may be precursors and more general forms of recognizing awareness itself and the void-like nature of the mind. Preregistration This study is not preregistered.