This book begins with the question 'Who am I?' and immediately sets off in an astonishingly original direction. Why didn't anyone before Harding think of responding to this question like this? It's so obvious, once you see it. Harding presents a new vision of our place in the universe that uses the scientific method of looking to see what is true. It turns out that the truth about ourselves is not only true but also very good, and breathtakingly beautiful. We live in a sacred, many-layered, living universe - or rather it lives in us. Though it was completed in 1950, this book is still ahead of its time. One day it will surely be widely recognised for its greatness: its all-encompassing vision, its originality and freshness, its depth of insight, its wide-ranging knowledge, the clarity and poetry of its language, its humanity. It is a world-view not dependent on local culture or religion, but on universally verifiable facts. It is also a world-view that respects our manifest differences whilst celebrating our underlying unity - the unity not just of oneself with other people but with all of life, indeed with the whole universe. Harding died in 2007 aged 97, leaving behind him an impressive body of work. He was a highly creative person who was passionate about - he was in love with - this living universe and the immortal treasure that abides at its centre - at our centre. "A work of the highest genius." C. S. Lewis.

In this book the author of On Having No Head investigates the most poignant problem our life poses - what lies at the end of it. He asks us to check four things. First, that to discover whether we are perishable, we must first discover what we are. Second, that outsiders are in no position to tell us this: they can only tell us what we look like at a distance. Third, that what we are is obvious as soon as we dare to look. And fourth, that we turn out to be in all respects the opposite of what we had been told. This revolutionary conclusion is arrived at by doing the nine "tests for Immortality" that form the backbone of the book. Then, our identity and immortality having been firmly established, we apply this knowledge to the fact of ageing and of dying itself, thus realizing their infinite potential for joy. Finally, the book explores in detail the true resurrection life - life lived in a Heaven which is none other than this earthly scene perceived as it is. 'The "open secret" is no longer secret. Douglas Harding's Little Book of Life nd Death makes the insights of the sages accessible to all. Courageous, personal and inspiring, this book asks the most difficult questions about life and death, and to our - and apparently even the author's - amazemnt, answers them. Like Harding's classic book On Having No Head, this work is written in a down-home, heartfelt syle. Read this book. Do the "experiments" which are Harding's unique and powerful contribution to what might be called the technology of enlightenment. Get ready to die, and to live anew.' Rober W. Fuller. Former president, Oberlin College. 'The literature on dying will never be the same again.' Ram Dass

An infallible guide to eliminating stress by Douglas Harding, author of On Having No Head. When we come up against stressful situations in our everyday life our automatic reaction is to turn away and escape. If, on the other hand, we can accept stress, allow it to become part of us, the conflict disappears. The secret lies in seeing that either we are the No-thing that overcomes stress by excluding it or the Every-thing that overcomes stress by including it. This method of coping with stress applies to its many manifestations in our lives. It can turn boredom into joy and despondency into deep contentment. Learning to head off stress takes no time at all and is impossible to forget. All it requires is tht we dare to take a fresh look at ourselves. Revolutionary in its ease and directness, its simplicity and penetration, this approach is guaranteed to turn our preconceptions upside down.