The first three units of this program were meant as an introduction, aimed especially at showing what TSK inquiry is like, and how we can activate it. With this unit, we turn more directly to investigate the three facets of the vision. This unit focuses on space.
Given this shift in emphasis, I am expecting that people will have more to say about the readings; until now, comments have mostly focused on the exercises.
The whole discussion of space in the first TSK book could be seen as an attempt to get us to look at space directly, something we don’t know how to do. From an ordinary perspective, there is really no way to look at space, because space is “nothing at all.” In fact, space has to be like that, because if it were “something,” it would not be able to “contain” or accommodate the kinds of objects or things that show up in it.
So what is the response to that problem? The readings take the approach that every kind of object, every kind of perception, involves space, and that the nature of that space changes. By varying the objects we focus on, we vary the space available to us. That is the basic point of the Giant Body exercises.
You might ask: Why not do this exercise by looking through a microscope (practical difficulties aside)? The answer is that if we were dealing with a real-life body, we would stay on the level of the objects, rather than space. But when we visualize, we necessarily bring in space. After all, suppose you imagine your car. When you do, you necessarily also imagine (visualize) the space within your imagined car appears. So now you have something to look at.
The remarks in When It Rains remind you not to be discouraged if you can’t visualize the giant body with much clarity. As I write there, remember that the point of the exercise is not to get clear on the body, but to learn something about the availability of space.
This unit is actually condensing six exercises into two, so the likelihood that we will have two weeks to work on this unit is especially helpful. My strong suggestion is that you take advantage of this by doing the practices every day, even if just for ten minutes or so.
I look forward to hearing about your experience, not only with the exercises, but with engaging this very non-standard view of space.
Jack