My Mahamudra Notes
Inspired by Daniel P Brown
Complete Guide to Dissolving Boundaries in Space Meditation Technique
1. Introduction
Overview
Dissolving Boundaries in Space Meditation is a contemplative technique designed to help practitioners experience the innate vastness and boundarylessness of awareness. By engaging the senses and consciousness in a specific way, this practice loosens the conceptual boundaries that normally fragment our experience, leading to a deep sense of spacious freedom and unity.
Foundation
This method draws from advanced Dzogchen and Mahamudra teachings, as well as contemporary nondual meditative frameworks like those used by Dustin DiPerna and Susan Mickel. At its core is the recognition that our ordinary sense of separation is a conceptual overlay on an already unified field of awareness.
Transformation Promise
Through this guide, you'll learn how to:
Shift from an ego-centered viewpoint to expansive awareness.
Dissolve perceptual boundaries between self, space, and other.
Rest in boundless awareness, leading to freedom and inner peace.
2. Core Principles
1. Awareness Is Always Present
Explanation: Awareness doesn’t come and go—it is timeless and changeless, always right here.
Practical Application: Begin each meditation by affirming that this field of awareness is already present and accessible.
2. Boundaries Are Mental Constructions
Explanation: Edges and divisions are imposed by the ordinary mind; they don’t exist in direct experience.
Practical Application: During meditation, explore any “edge” you sense—mentally move into it and watch it dissolve.
3. Awareness and Space Are One Field
Explanation: Awareness and the physical space perceived are not two separate entities; they are a seamless field.
Practical Application: Practice mixing awareness with space—feel how awareness saturates and is saturated by space.
3. Most Powerful Methods
1. Space Gazing
Description: Gazing into open space to destabilize the default boundaries of perception.
Step-by-Step Process:
Sit with relaxed eyes open.
Look into the space in front of you with soft focus.
Begin to “see” the space itself rather than objects.
Best Practices: Use early morning light or dim settings; avoid over-focusing on any object.
Common Mistakes: Straining the eyes or trying to “see” something special.
Expected Results: Initial calm, followed by an expansive, edge-free sense of presence.
2. Mixing Awareness Into Space
Description: Mentally dissolve the line between internal awareness and external space.
Step-by-Step Process:
Acknowledge awareness as formless and present.
Imagine pouring awareness into the space around you.
Simultaneously, invite that space into your awareness.
Best Practices: Use visualizations of mist or light merging with air.
Common Mistakes: Keeping awareness inside the body.
Expected Results: A shift from “I am in the world” to “I am the world.”
3. Boundary Dissolution Walkthrough
Description: A technique to actively dissolve sensed spatial boundaries.
Step-by-Step Process:
Sense an edge—your skin, the walls, or a horizon.
Mentally move your awareness to that edge.
Observe it as it dissolves into openness.
Best Practices: Use eyes-open; feel into boundaries like fog, not walls.
Common Mistakes: Forcing or expecting visual fireworks.
Expected Results: Expansiveness, peace, and non-separateness.
4. Ocean and Wave Practice
Description: Awareness as the ocean; perceptions as waves.
Step-by-Step Process:
Rest in spacious awareness.
Let perceptions arise like waves in the ocean.
View each wave without grabbing.
Best Practices: Let sensations be vivid but ungrasped.
Common Mistakes: Trying to stop waves or make them uniform.
Expected Results: Perceptual fluidity, stable freedom.
4. Advanced Strategies
1. Edge Saturation
Purpose: To reinforce the direct experience of edgeless awareness.
Methodology: Continuously pour awareness into every perceived edge until it fades.
Tools Needed: Quiet space, possibly a dark room.
Implementation: 20-minute sessions, 2–3 times weekly.
2. Nonduality Practice
Purpose: To recognize awareness and space as one field.
Methodology: Use metaphors like “mirror and reflection” or “sky and cloud” while observing phenomena.
Tools Needed: Eyes-open meditation, subtle sensory attention.
Implementation: Incorporate after 10–15 minutes of spatial dissolving work.
3. Tonglen with Space
Purpose: To extend spacious awareness into compassionate practice.
Methodology: Inhale suffering into the boundless space of the heart; exhale light back into the world.
Tools Needed: Visualization, intention, breath.
Implementation: Daily 10-minute add-on to space meditation.
5. Integration Protocols
Daily Routine
Morning: 10-minute space gazing.
Throughout Day: Notice spatial edges and pour awareness into them.
Evening: 15-minute mixing practice before bed.
Weekly Intensive
1–2 longer sessions (30–45 mins) with full boundary dissolution + ocean and wave practice.
Monthly Assessment
Reflect in a journal:
What boundaries still feel “solid”?
Are you identifying more with space or self?
Any changes in reactivity or perception?
6. Obstacle Mastery
Common Challenges
1. Mental Distraction: Use breath as a stabilizing anchor.
2. Fear of Losing Self: Affirm presence remains even without boundaries.
3. Visual Fixation: Soften gaze; focus on space, not objects.
Troubleshooting Guide
If nothing dissolves: You're trying too hard—relax and soften.
If space feels blank: Feel into it emotionally, not just visually.
7. Acceleration Factors
1. High-Speed Awareness
Explanation: Rapid detection and release of boundary imposition.
Applications: Use during transitions, thoughts, emotions.
Implementation: Moment-to-moment mindfulness.
2. Emotional Integration
Explanation: Emotions signal boundary reactivation.
Applications: Stay with emotions as spatial waves.
Implementation: 3x/week, work with reactivity and boundary-sensing.
3. Non-Meditation Mode
Explanation: When awareness stabilizes, no “practice” is needed.
Applications: Let awareness self-recognize.
Implementation: Let go and allow—especially after sustained practice.
8. Measurement and Tracking
Progress Indicators
Internal: Spaciousness, peace, lack of clinging.
External: Less reactivity, deeper presence in relationships.
Tracking Methods
Meditation journal
Daily self-inquiry prompts: “Where are my boundaries right now?”
Milestone Timeline
1 Week: Initial spaciousness glimpses
1 Month: Stable dissolving in formal practice
3 Months: Boundlessness spilling into daily life
6 Months: Automatic emptiness with high consistency
1 Year: Nonduality and non-meditation states available
9. Specialized Applications
Working with Emotional Reactivity
Enhancing Creativity via Spacious Perception
Transcending Performance Anxiety
Overcoming Social Separation
Spiritual Insight and Awakening Practices
10. Evidence and Validation
Research Foundation
Aligned with findings on nondual awareness and DMN (default mode network) quieting.
Supports neural integration and reductions in stress-related activation.
Expert Perspectives
Dustin DiPerna: Emphasizes ocean-and-wave and nonduality frameworks.
Susan Mickel: Integrates embodiment, emotion, and emptiness insight.
Case Studies
Practitioners report a dissolution of inner/outer divide.
Many experience reduced anxiety and increased empathy.
Theoretical Framework
Draws from Dzogchen, Mahamudra, and Mind-Only (Yogacara) schools.
11. Resources and Next Steps
Essential Reading
The Radiance Sutras by Lorin Roche
A Treasure Trove of Scriptural Transmission by Longchenpa
Streams of Wisdom by Dustin DiPerna
Practical Tools
Timer apps (e.g. Insight Timer)
Journaling apps (e.g. Day One)
Learning Opportunities
Online courses in Dzogchen or Mahamudra
Retreats like POGW or with qualified teachers
Community Connections
POGW sanghas
Open Awareness forums
Online meditation groups
Expert Guidance
Teachers certified in nondual or awareness-based lineages
Somatic therapists trained in mindfulness for deeper integration
12. Conclusion
Key Takeaways
Boundaries are not real; they are mind-imposed.
Awareness is already free, boundless, and here.
You can dissolve boundaries to rest in your true nature.
Immediate Next Steps
Begin with a 10-minute space gazing session today.
Journal your experience: Where did you feel most “edge-less”?
Long-Term Vision
Practicing this technique opens the door to stable nondual realization, freedom from suffering, and living from a place of wholeness and compassion.
Final Motivation
Remember: You are not the contents within the container. You are the space that contains all things, boundless, bright, and beautifully free.