Questions about Visualization.

[Oneironaut]

My right brain visualization abilities are weak. I seek to improve it and don't know where to begin. The Tibetan visualizations can be rather intimidating and I'm also very skeptical of Image Streaming (I have yet to try it).

 

Can anyone recommend techniques where one can learn to visualize vividly in all 5 senses?

 

For those that have tried Image Streaming, does it even work? 

 

 

[Kar3n]

I know this is not what you want to hear, but...

 

It will come on its own as a result of practice.

 

Keep sitting...

[Oneironaut]

How is it that vipassana/samatha or zazen of any kind help in the development of such clarity of mental imagery in all 5 senses?

Edited April 18, 2018 by Oneironaut

[Try]

Vipassana, insight into true nature of reality.

 

IMO, that's exact opposite of mental imagery because mental imagery is made from your value and perceptive. That's why they encourage you not to close your eyes when doing vipassana so.

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Oneironaut]

In Vipassana it's encouraged to keep your eyes closed as anything in the outside world is considered a distraction. Imagery of any kind isn't exactly forced away but it's encouraged to acknowledge it for what it is and allow it to gently pass like clouds in the sky. Same goes for mental noise or emotions of any kind. In Soto Zen posture is heavily emphasized and shikantaza is done with your eyes opened. Half opened eyes is also okay. Like in the Theravada tradition Zen places zero importance on visualization skills. I could also be wrong in my generalizations but this seems very consistent with my limited experiences in both.

Edited April 18, 2018 by Oneironaut

[Try]

I don't mean about imagery to be forced away but  it's harder to get the imagery when eyes are not closed. If it comes, just let it come, then just don't cling. After that, back to your original purpose.

 

After searching tid bits, I found this

https://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?t=15338

So, you choose which kind of meditation you want. Imagery or not.

 

About close eyes or not, there are different interpretations, like here which says mindful about tip of the nose or your version about closed eyes. 

From my experience, if you want to get distracted fast closed eyes seems the way to do it, but if you want to be mindful about your body/breath, half closed eyes and see tip of nose is just harder to get distracted by those. 

[thelerner]

I was interested in image streaming years ago, but never got it to work well.  Switched over to guided hypnosis.  I've found Anna Wise's Series Higher Performance Mind has a guided meditation early on that works nicely with improving the sense recollection. 

 

One practice that stayed with me was filling up a glass with coca cola.  Visualizing the classic shape of the glass, thicker on top, curving down.  The ice, the sound, the dynamics when its first poured into the glass, the foam, the waves, the bubbles, the smell.  For some reason that was always my go to visualization. 

 

That and at the end of the day trying to recall detached and in detail what occurred that day, things.. meals  etc. 

Edited April 19, 2018 by thelerner

[Apech]

Ideally visualisation should be unforced and also not 'serial' except in the build up phase.  The purpose is not to produce an abstract mental image but more a whole living picture.  It is more of a heart/intention projection than a 'head' thing.

 

the best way I have found to practice is to have an actual photo or picture of the image and also a text which you repeat.  For instance in a Buddhist sadhana it might be some thing like 'on the crown of my head, on a lotus, on the moon seat is Chenrezig, white in colour with one head and two hands, in the left hand is a flower and in the right a rosary ....' by repeating the words your mind naturally builds up the image without any other effort.  Holding the image should be natural and with little effort - gradually the image becomes more and more vivid - and you should be able to build quite complex scenes with presence and hold them indefinitely.

 

It should be born in mind that this is specific to certain practices and in fact only stages of that practice.  If the process is not used correctly it can just be a block and not so helpful - forcing and effort makes this worse.  The best version is the same as if you think of someone you know well (or indeed love) and an image springs naturally to mind.

[Oneironaut]

On 4/19/2018 at 11:39 AM, Apech said:

Ideally visualisation should be unforced and also not 'serial' except in the build up phase.  The purpose is not to produce an abstract mental image but more a whole living picture.  It is more of a heart/intention projection than a 'head' thing.

 

the best way I have found to practice is to have an actual photo or picture of the image and also a text which you repeat.  For instance in a Buddhist sadhana it might be some thing like 'on the crown of my head, on a lotus, on the moon seat is Chenrezig, white in colour with one head and two hands, in the left hand is a flower and in the right a rosary ....' by repeating the words your mind naturally builds up the image without any other effort.  Holding the image should be natural and with little effort - gradually the image becomes more and more vivid - and you should be able to build quite complex scenes with presence and hold them indefinitely.

 

It should be born in mind that this is specific to certain practices and in fact only stages of that practice.  If the process is not used correctly it can just be a block and not so helpful - forcing and effort makes this worse.  The best version is the same as if you think of someone you know well (or indeed love) and an image springs naturally to mind.

 

May I ask where these practices can be found? Sounds very practical and effective. I would like to learn more about it. 

[Apech]

13 minutes ago, Oneironaut said:

 

May I ask where these practices can be found? Sounds very practical and effective. I would like to learn more about it. 

 

Vajrayana Buddhism 

[Nungali]

On 13/04/2018 at 7:04 PM, Oneironaut said:

My right brain visualization abilities are weak. I seek to improve it and don't know where to begin. The Tibetan visualizations can be rather intimidating and I'm also very skeptical of Image Streaming (I have yet to try it).

 

Can anyone recommend techniques where one can learn to visualize vividly in all 5 senses?

 

For those that have tried Image Streaming, does it even work? 

 

 

 

 

Start simply and build your way up ... and practice often .

 

 

Eg;

 

V
Dharana - Control of Thought

1. Constrain the mind to concentrate itself upon a single simple object imagined.
   The five tatwas are useful for this purpose; they are: a black oval; a blue disk; a silver crescent; a yellow square; a red triangle.
2. Proceed to combinations of simple objects; e.g. a black oval within a yellow square, and so on.
3. Proceed to simple moving objects, such as a pendulum swinging, a wheel revolving, etc. Avoid living objects.
4. Proceed to combinations of moving objects, e.g. a piston rising and falling while a pendulum is swinging. The relation between the two movements should be varied in different experiments.
   Or even a system of flywheels, eccentrics, and governor.
5. During these practices the mind must be absolutely confined to the object determined upon; no other thought must be allowed to intrude upon the consciousness. The moving systems must be regular and harmonious.
6. Note carefully the duration of the experiments, the number and nature of the intruding thoughts, the tendency of the object itself to depart from the course laid out for it, and any other phenomena which may present themselves. Avoid overstrain; this is very important.
7. Proceed to imagine living objects; as a man, preferably some man known to, and respected by, yourself.
8. In the intervals of these experiments you may try to imagine the objects of the other senses, and to concentrate upon them.
   For example, try to imagine the taste of chocolate, the smell of roses, the feeling of velvet, the sound of a waterfall or the ticking of a watch.
9. Endeavour finally to shut out all objects of any of the senses, and prevent all thoughts arising in your mind. When you feel you have attained some success in these practices, apply for examination, and should you pass, more complex and difficult practices will be prescribed for you.

 

- LIber E .

 

[Fa Xin]

Initiation In Hermetics by Franz Bardon has some good exercises too. The first few steps can really help with visualization, if that’s what your after. 

Edited April 26, 2018 by Fa Xin

[voidisyinyang]

My experience with Jim and Chunyi is they work on the Emptiness level - so I feel the center of my brain get very hot - the pineal gland - or the heart get very hot.

So with Chunyi - the healing is a kind of laser holographic energy from the Emptiness. He described once - how someone was bleeding internally and so he created a kind of sac of material - that then when the doctors did the surgery they discovered this sac, exactly as he had visualizing - that had stopped the internal bleeding. He said other healings - the doctors had x-rays - the Mayo Clinic doctors have promoted him. I cite the study by Mayo Clinic Dr. Ann Vincent but there have been several others on record. Chunyi cowrote a chapter with a Mayo Clinic doctor - for a textbook - on complementary healing - Nisha Manek was the doctor. Then a few doctors from the University of Minnesota have also worked with Chunyi.

Anyway so when I did intensive meditation - then the bones got soft and pulsated with qi - but that was in 2000 - a long time ago. I was young and did not know what I was getting into. So then I studied the books - and the best book is "Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality" -