title: How does it feel to lack a sense of boundaries? A case study of a long-term mindfulness meditator.
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.
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Dept., Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Electronic address: Yochai.ataria@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yochai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ataria
authors.affiliation: The Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Israel.
authors.forename: Yair
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dor-Ziderman
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Dept., Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel; Faculty of Education, The Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Aviva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berkovich-Ohana
mesh_terms: D058256:Brain Waves / Q000502:physiology*; D002016:Buddhism; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology*; D004532:Ego; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D064866:Mindfulness; D011434:Proprioception; D055698:Touch Perception
keywords: Mindfulness meditation; Neurophenomenology; Phenomenology; Sense of agency; Sense of boundaries; Sense of ownership