What is Visualization?Visualization is the process by and through which everything comes into being in our lives, both good and bad. Visualization is in our nature; it's simply a quality that all human beings possess. We are doing it all the time.
Therefore, we need not worry about the mechanics of visualization. They operate automatically. The more salient concern is the service to which this wonderful, creative faculty that we possess is put. On this question there are two options. We can either use this tool in service to our own egos or in service to The Good (see The Philosophy of Success for a discussion of this assumption).
Visualization produces both good and bad results in our lives (from our perspective, but from a higher perspective it produces only good) because it works just as efficiently in service to the ego as it does in service to The Good.
As the Tao Te Ching: A New English Version
puts it:
puts it:
The Tao is called the Great Mother:
empty, yet inexaustible,
it gives birth to infinite worlds.
It is always present with you.
You can use it any way you wish.
Let's not work to hard at defining "the Tao." Understand it with your heart. It is always present with us and we can use it any way we want to--and you are using it, even when you don't realize it.
Visualization in Service to the Ego
Visualization in service to the ego produces a world that is a reflection of that ego. Because the contours of each ego are so widely varied from person to person, the worlds that they create are also widely varied.
In terms of material wealth, one ego lives in a mansion and finds no meaning in all it possesses. Another ego is driven to live in a trailer park so it can harbor a hatred of others that satisfies its obsession with uniqueness.
Some egos find their niche in a certain type of sexual behavior and visualization sets up a world based on that. Other egos set up a world based on religious rectitude, at varying levels of enmity with all who disagree.
These are just a few examples among a seemingly infinite supply. The ego can latch on to virtually anything, good or bad, to secure its sense of identity. (For a more exhaustive study, see Chapters 2, 3 and 4 of A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61),
by Eckhart Tolle, and a future post called "The Process of Identification" coming soon to a blog near you.)
by Eckhart Tolle, and a future post called "The Process of Identification" coming soon to a blog near you.)
Visualization in Service to The Good
Visualization in service to The Good is the acceptance of a new reality, not based on the circumstances that surround us, but based on a perception of alignment with the Universe--or Universal Intelligence or God, as you prefer--and whatever arises out of that alignment and within us to do. It is allowing Life to live us, as our friend Eckhart Tolle puts it in A New Earth, rather than us living life. It's feeling that impulse and getting on board with it.
Again this is not something you have to do. It is a mode of being. Visualization happens naturally. Align yourself with The Good and visualization in service to The Good happens automatically. Consequently, a reflection of The Good will begin to manifest itself in the world around you. And yes, that includes a bountiful existence, one free of lack.
How Do We Align Ourselves with The Good?
This is a big question, one that the two books by Eckhart Tolle I'm always recommending--The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
and A New Earth--do a thorough and concise job of addressing. It is also addressed in many, many other places using a wide variety of terminology.
and A New Earth--do a thorough and concise job of addressing. It is also addressed in many, many other places using a wide variety of terminology.
Basically, our awareness of the operation of the ego within us causes the ego to dissolve. This is a gradual process (for most) called awakening, which leaves behind an egoless being, at one with all that is, aware of him or herself as eternal, a state usually called enlightenment.
It appears that this is not a process that we can initiate ourselves. It seems to require a divine touch for its ignition. But once underway, it can't be stopped, though it can be delayed by the ego's persistence.
The good news is that, while it can't be initiated from our end, our seeking prompts the divine touch. As Jesus put it, "Seek and you will find." Another way of putting it might be: Seek and It will find you.
Where Do We Begin Seeking?
My advice is always the same: begin seeking in your own body. Start and end with inner peace and joy--which are physical phenomena--because The Good only works in concert with these states (see also The Pain-Body, and A Cure for Anxiety - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 elsewhere on this blog).
If you don't have these, you are not in alignment with The Good. The Good will still be working through you, but unfortunately for you, it will be in spite of you, and that will be quite painful. This would be another way of describing visualization in service to the ego.
Resources
As part of your search, I can recommend the following books, in addition to those by Eckhart Tolle, as good resources specific to visualization: The Secret,
by Rhonda Byrne, and Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life,
by Shakti Gawain.
by Rhonda Byrne, and Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life,by Shakti Gawain.
It's easy to take these books out of context, particularly The Secret,with its emphasis on accessing material wealth. But all of these efforts--Eckhart Tolle, The Secret,this blog--are vulgar efforts to nudge you in the direction of Something that is so grand and other-dimensional that none of us come close to reducing it to the simplicity of words.
with its emphasis on accessing material wealth. But all of these efforts--Eckhart Tolle, The Secret,this blog--are vulgar efforts to nudge you in the direction of Something that is so grand and other-dimensional that none of us come close to reducing it to the simplicity of words.Understand them all with your spirit, which is truly at one with That which is the object of description. And That will make Itself clear to you within the confines of your own body. It's not called a temple for nothing; inside your body is where you meet God.
The Last Word on Visualization
In his eloquent way, Lao-tzu has stated the entirety of the concept of visualization in just 11 words.
Next stop: The Anatomy of Success or The Philosophy of Success
Your comments are welcome! They will be helpful to others.
Well said, Todd. At the end of the day, it really is all about service to others, and being where you are.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Betty. Here's a question: If we are not in alignment with The Good as described above is it possible that even service to others can go awry? . . . Discuss amongst yourselves . . . Thanks again for the comment!
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