Of all five senses, the sense of sight is perhaps the most powerful. Indeed many of our most vivid memories are visual - containing with them associated feelings and emotions. When we close our eyes, we will still see pictures, though not with our physical eyes, but with our inner eye, which abides in and oversees the realm of our mental world, the world of thoughts, memories and projections, which all seem to come from a great ocean of space.

The practice of the flow of consciousness onto one object, picture, image or vibration is called dhyaan in Sanskrit. In a condensed form, this is visualization. We choose the object, image, colour, or feeling that we wish to contemplate and we hold the attention there without force. This is different than concentration because during the time of contemplation we are not only knowing the object but we are also knowing that we are aware that we are knowing the object. If both aspects of knowledge are there, then this is a heightened state of awareness above ordinary concentration.

The benefits of such a practice are that (a) we unfold the ability to direct an effortless stream of attention and (b) we unfold the quality of the object or image that we are attending.

So if we visualize the locality of our heart say with a rosy colour in any shape or form and the meaning we associate with our creative image is openness and love, then we are performing dhyaan on our heart. After some time we acquire the fruit of our visualization, which is openness and love. We acquire this fruit in a proportion to (a) our ability to hold the attention on this ‘image with feeling’ without wavering, without force and (b) the subtlety of awareness during our visualization. Ultimately if we become really good at this process, we begin to perceive the background space, the place from where the image is appearing and manifesting, which in turn, takes us to a whole new level of conscious visualization.

The practice of visualization yields great benefits. One that immediately comes to mind is healing. With the proper visualizations we can change our rate of vibration and effect changes in our bodies and the bodies of others around us. In fact, many healers use visualization to heal. There are many simple practices that we can do ourselves without a lot of formal training. For example, if there is a particular tension or pain in our body, we may isolate the area and visualize warmth or ease and/or with a particular color or feeling. If we have a recurring emotion that we find disturbing, we may visualize an image, feeling or scenario that brings about the opposite effect: a peaceful, soothing feeling that by nature ‘heals’ or 'purifies' the problematic seed.

Visualization also provides us with the ability to manifest things in our lives – like prosperity, health, happiness, the ability to create positive, long-lasting liaisons with the people in our lives, and to clear painful emotions from ourselves and others.

Simple geometric shapes make easy images to start with -  like a circle, square, ball, heart, diamond, or hexagon.  Holy objects or figures also make good entry points.  Gradually as we delve deeper into the visualization, the shape may become more ethereal, more subtle, like as if it were transparent, or half-invisible or of non-descript color.  After a while, our images may evolve into new shapes and meanings.  We may find our attention naturally changing into abstract images like clouds, vapour, mist, or washes of colours, feelings, or pin-sized points.  The subtler the imagery, the deeper or more profound the visualization, because there we are closest to the nature of Spirit, which is the epitome of subtlety itself.

The key point to observe is that the power is not in the image itself - rather the power resides in our own being.  The imagery merely acts as a catalyst in creating a feeling within us, perhaps of love, of admiration, of beauty, of compassion, of healing.  Our energy rises, assumes a different signature, allowing different openings and manifestations to occur.  Because life is a universal energy field, changes that can be felt in our own body can be felt in the bodies of others.

Visualization is not only tagged to visual images, but really any vibration at all: sounds, ideas, concepts, emotions, subtle senses or qualities. For example, we may try to ’visualize’ the sweetness in sugar or the water in ice or the ‘sound’ in thought. True, these visualizations are more abstract but yet it is not beyond us to attempt to grasp these objects at a deeper level by creating a picture or image of them and refining our knowledge of them with dhyaan.

September 2001