Clearing Apertures: The Alchemy of Form and Formlessness

Eleven questions. Nine of eleven passes, and you can take it again as often as you like.

How does this module define clearing apertures?

Forcing the body open through strong and sustained stretching Creating space for the flow of reality to pass, letting what is present manifest Removing everything unwanted from one's life, one piece at a time, until little remains Emptying the mind of all thought until nothing at all remains
In the story of Eli the gardener, what did Eli realise about the garden's resistance?

It was never resistant; it was waiting for an aperture to be cleared It only grew for other gardeners who had tended it before him It needed stronger tools and more effort before it could be tamed It was dying slowly and could no longer be saved by anyone
What did Eli see when he leaned over the pool in the garden?

The face of an ancestor who had tended the garden long ago His own tired and weathered reflection looking back at him The stony bottom of the pool and nothing more than that A vast, shimmering landscape, a mirror of himself in miniature
The module says clearing apertures is not a metaphor. What does it call it instead?

A symbol A superstition A mechanism A mood
Which examples does the module give of apertures?

Gaps in a fence, pauses in speech and stillness within movement Rules, laws and contracts that bind people together Deadlines, schedules and targets set for the week Walls, locks and closed doors that keep things firmly apart
According to this module, what does Lila follow after as the third factor?

Attraction and repulsion Information and energy Mind and body Past and future
What role does humility play in clearing apertures here?

Humility means refusing to attempt anything that might not work Humility means letting a teacher open them for us Humility is unnecessary once the method is known We can't force apertures open; we can only create the conditions
In the 'Breath as a Lens' practice, what do you imagine on each exhale?

Counting slowly backward from ten to one with each breath Holding a candle flame perfectly steady in the mind's eye Pushing all tension out of the body through the soles of the feet Clearing a small aperture, like a crack in a door letting light in
In the advanced 'Silent Reflection Pool' exercise, how do you move through the imagined thicket?

By calling out loudly for help from other people By cutting through it as fast as you possibly can By gentle persistence, like sunlight dissolving fog By turning back and choosing an easier path instead
Which aphorism from this module captures the nature of formlessness?

Formlessness is the absence of all value and meaning Formlessness is not emptiness; it is the womb of form Formlessness must be filled as quickly as possible Form always overcomes and defeats formlessness
What does this module say the work of clearing apertures is ultimately about?

Leaving the body behind in order to reach a purer spiritual state Becoming someone entirely new who has left the old self behind for good Remembering who we are: beings made of apertures the cosmos flows through Acquiring special powers that other people do not and cannot possess