Lehal Library

8. Imagination Versus Visualization Let's face it, 99 percent of people can't visualize for peanuts. That is, 99 percent of people think they cannot visualize for peanuts. But, this is all wrong too, because 100 percent of people can visualize perfecdy — they do it all the time — but they just don't know they are doing it! This confusion comes about simply because visualization is generally so poorly explained and taught. Visualization is very easy and does not take any time at all to master. It is a natural ability everyone uses all the time. I have come across countless developmental problems relating to the issue of energy-body manipulation and development techniques. This problem significantly increases the difficulty encountered with any kind of serious energetic development, seriously lengthening development time. Consequently, most people give up before getting worthwhile results. Note: I use the term energy body as simply another way to describe the pure-energetic aspect of the etheric body. If you belong to a meditation or development group, ask people — one at a time and in private — how they really get on with visualization. Note the slightly worried and uncomfortable looks you get, especially from those teaching it. Most people, if they are completely honest, will admit they have a few problems with visualization, or that they just can't do it. You will find the occasional few who claim they have no problem whatsoever with visualization. These lucky few can easily see in their mind's eye whatever they visualize, just like watching TV behind their closed eyelids. The lucky few with this type of visual ability are unintentionally also a big part of this widespread and self-propagating problem. Mind's-Eye Visual Ability The commonly used term visualization is at the root of this problem. Many teachers tell their students that, with a little practice, they should be able to see what they are visualizing. Unfortunately, while this is partly true, it is not something that can be learned quickly, barring strong natural ability. To put it in a nutshell: visualization is not a visual skill. You are not supposed to actually see what you visualize. If you do see something, it is no longer visualization, but a mind's-eye vision type of ability. During any meditation or training exercise requiring deep physical and mental relaxation and visualization, a few people will develop partial clairvoyance, or an awake semilucid dream type of visual ability, or both. These mind's-eye visual abilities enable these people to actually see what they are visualizing, as in the lucid dream state — in which the conscious mind takes creative control of the dream environment. Clairvoyance and lucid dreaming are both very visual abilities. Now, there is nothing wrong with using this type of lucid dream-cum-clairvoyance type of ability to enhance visualization. It's very interesting and useful-but it is not an ability that most people can easily learn. The problem compounds when this type of creative visual ability becomes the accepted norm, and people think they must develop this visual ability to visualize properly. When one person, especially a group leader, tells the rest of the group that they can really see what they are visualizing, the rest of the group thinks they are doing something wrong or that they lack natural ability, and therefore cannot keep up. If they continue believing this, they never will be able to develop themselves to any significant extent. A similar problem can arise when neophytes are exposed to more advanced students, or to those who have realized that visualization is really the constructive use of imagination. These people, although they do not truly see anything when they visualize, use visual terms when describing their visualizations or nonphysical perceptions. Development groups and the New Age movement commonly use the visual terms I see, I saw, lam seeing. More accurate terms should be used instead, such as I sense, I perceive, I feel, I intuit, I am imagining, or lam imaging. But they are not. Now, here's the other side of the problem: The vast majority of energy work, energetic developmental exercises, and projection techniques taught today completely rely on visualization 44