How does it feel to lack a sense of boundaries? A case study of a long-term mindfulness meditator.
Yochai Ataria, Yair Dor-Ziderman, Aviva Berkovich-Ohana
Consciousness and cognition December 1, 2015 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.09.002 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractBased on detailed self-reports from a long-term mindfulness practitioner with about 20,000 hours of meditation experience, the sense of boundaries (SB) can shift through three stages: default, dissolving, and disappearing. During these shifts, seven overlapping categories change, including senses of internal versus external, time, location, self, agency, ownership, and the first-person perspective. Two categories—the touching/touched structure and bodily feelings—persist even when the SB disappears entirely. The findings suggest that the sense of boundaries is not a single, fixed experience but a composite of multiple, separable dimensions that can be altered through meditative practice.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Qualitative case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | A single long-term mindfulness practitioner (S) with 40 years of practice in Satipathana and Theravada Vipassana traditions |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Mindfulness meditation Neurophenomenology Sense of agency Sense of boundaries Sense of ownership |
| Citations | 158 |
| Key finding | Seven categories of experience (internal/external, time, location, self, agency, ownership, and first-person perspective) change as the sense of boundaries dissolves, while the touching/touched structure and bodily feelings remain even when boundaries disappear. |
Abstract
This paper discusses the phenomenological nature of the sense of boundaries (SB), based on the case of S, who has practiced mindfulness in the Satipathana and Theravada Vipassana traditions for about 40years and accumulated around 20,000h of meditative practice. S's unique abilities enable him to describe his inner lived experience with great precision and clarity. S was asked to shift between three different stages: (a) the default state, (b) the dissolving of the SB, and (c) the disappearance of the SB. Based on his descriptions, we identified seven categories (with some overlap) that alter during the shifts between these stages, including the senses of: (1) internal versus external, (2) time, (3) location, (4) self, (5) agency (control), (6) ownership, and (7) center (first-person-egocentric-bodily perspective). Two other categories, the touching/touched structure and one's bodily feelings, do not fade away completely even when the sense-of-boundaries disappears.