Rooms and Boundaries

The concept

• How does it fit in with the goals of enlightenment?
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• How do these exercises help with this goal?
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  • TODO - more
• How to approach each of these exercises
  • Sense how your perception of "here" can rely heavily on what Room you are in. There is a clear sense that other Rooms are not this Room. Feel that difference, and move your perception between
    • This Room
    • That Room
    • What contains both rooms
    • Are there other rooms related? What about windows, mirrors, etc?

Rooms

• Take a moment to feel the space of the room you are in, to the furthest corner, stopping that awareness at the ceiling, walls, and floors. Notice the difference in quality between rooms of different sizes and shapes.
  • You can especially learn to do this whenever you cross through a doorway - encourage an immediate awareness of the boundaries of the new room you are in.

Doors and windows

• In a room with many openings, notice the difference in quality between open doors (including doorways without doors), closed doors, and windows (including any transparent door)
• Appreciate how a window divides the space between the room you are in, and the space beyond, while at the same time inviting you to sense that the "outside" and the inside of the window are being brought together by the window because it is transparent. Be aware of the space of the room you are in, and the space of the "outside" and the space of the two places added together.
• Many of the Mirror exercises can be repurposed for Windows as well.

Mirrors

These exercises can be done whenever you are doing a stationary routine activity like brushing your teeth. Place a sticker on the mirror you use, near where your face is reflected, as this will be a visual cue you use when seeing the mirror as a special type of doorway. Take time to visually appreciate the following and notice the quality of your mind and awareness.

• Your body exists on "your side" of the mirror
• There are two bodies here, you can see them both at the same time
• The "mirror you" is more clear and real than the "real you" (See [People].)
• The "mirror you" exists in a room with its own quality and feel, while being essentially the same room
• The mirror itself exists, independent of either room. Appreciate the quality of the mirror itself, while being fully aware of both selves.
• Relax your perception of the room being divided into two rooms, and feel it as one larger room, double the size. Move your perception back and forth between one room and two rooms.

Television

• Another type of room