The experiences we have of life—our thoughts, bodily sensations, and emotions—make up a view of the self. This sense of self often ends at the boundary line of the body. However, more boundaries can be drawn within the mind and emotions. For example, we may repress certain aspects of our personalities and consider these not to be a part of the self. Ken Wilber states in No Boundary (1979), "The most common boundary line that individuals draw up or accept as valid is that of the skin-boundary surrounding the total organism. This seems to be a universally accepted self/not-self boundary line." (5) When describing the self from this framework, we hear people saying, "I'm a woman or man. I am from this area and do this line of work." People identify with the qualities of their bodies, minds, emotions and the actions that they carry out.

A life purpose in this framework of being revolves around the individual. We can see this in the North American culture with the focus on individual happiness as a common life purpose. "I want a job that makes me feel good. I want a beautiful house and family because I believe these will create a fulfilling life for me." In cultures such as that of the United States, there is certainly a focus on the doing aspect of life rather than the being. This is seen in how people work over forty hours a week, focus on material possessions, and are not happy with their lives. To address this issue, other people choose to focus on the qualities that they want to bring into their lives, rather than tangible objects or events.