Table of content
By Roberto Assagioli and others. Excerpt from the book Creative Meditation.
Pictures (performances)
Visualization can be defined as a conscious and special use of images. In reality, it is a psychological reality that man lives in a world of images . The so-called objective world is by no means as we see it. Philosophers have said this for a long time, but only now is modern science proving it. Matter does not exist as the sense of sight sees it. Properties such as colors exist only in mental images. Objective reality is a sea of vibrations and energies of various kinds, which we cannot have direct knowledge of. The five senses transmit only a very limited picture of the world around us. The amount of vibrations that the eye can capture is, for example, only a small link in the great chain of vibrations.
Senses are many things
If humans had senses with different properties, they would experience the so-called objective world in a different way. It is known that animals see things differently. Dogs seem to have a rather weak sense of color, and that they probably see the world as gray and foggy, but as compensation they have a keen sense of smell, and they have a sensitive ability to track that humans do not have at all. Some animals are sensitive to ultraviolet vibrations, which they probably perceive as a color that is unknown to humans. Other animals have a particularly sharp hearing that is far superior to that of humans – for example, there are whistle sounds that only dogs can hear.
Exterior and interior images
In addition to the streams of images that invade from the external world, man is also surrounded by an ocean of inner images that the imaginative function creates or produces. Very few people live exclusively in the mental world of thoughts, ideas and concepts. Even those people who know how to use their thinking ability spend most of their time in the inner imaginative and emotional world, where feelings and desires constantly produce images that in turn produce the same feelings and desires. This often creates an unpleasant cycle, for example, when conceptual confusion or fear prevails, corresponding images are produced that further intensify the fear, whereby it can become a real phobia or at least a constant nervousness with many unfortunate effects.
Images encourage action
Images can stimulate man in two ways to an activity corresponding to the image – firstly, they can arouse various kinds of desire, and secondly, they can have a more direct effect. In psychological research it has been found that every image tends to create an activity corresponding to the image. It may not seem that this is always the case, because each image is matched by so many others that are constantly changing. But when all the images have been broken down, or when the concentration is exclusively on one image, then its activity becomes clear.
In the past, philosophers understood the power of images. Now, advertisers are using it on a large scale. This means that in addition to the two streams of images – those that penetrate from the outside through the senses and those that rise from the subconscious – there is now another powerful stream that penetrates and that tries to persuade the target group, such as industry, politicians and anyone who wants to influence and impress people with their ideas.
Television is responsible for another stream of images to which a very large number of people, including children, are exposed in a passive way. All this shows how important it is to understand this situation and to take steps to counteract it, so as not to become passive instruments of all these streams of images.
Well-considered visualization
The first task is to control the currents that rage, and to learn to replace, control, and produce images by means of the will . It is best to begin with the more insidious ones, which come from within and which are the result of the activity of the imagination. Certain techniques are helpful in developing this control, and the most direct and effective is deliberate visualization , for it means awakening and holding in the field of consciousness the well-chosen and desired images and excluding all others. This may seem simple, but when you try it you will soon realize how difficult it is, and recognize that to a great extent you are pacified by images and are their victims. Even when you are at rest, relaxing, and have reached a point where the flow of images subsides and you allow yourself to have relative peace, it is difficult, when a selected image appears, to hold it before your inner eye. It simply will not obey and tends to fade away, to become distorted, or to multiply into a series of similar images.
Visualization technique
As in the training and development of any other ability, the first step in the technique of visualization is entirely technical and mechanical. One begins by practicing the simplest and easiest form of exercise, which has no other value than that it trains the ability itself, before going on to the exercises, each of which has its own significance and utility.
The first of these exercises concerns the help that observation and concentration can provide. For example, one can concentrate on the details of a photograph or painting—as described in the first instruction on concentration—and then build up a mental picture of it. As the next exercise, one can develop a picture of something one knows but has seen for a long time. Then comes an exercise in creating a picture of something one has not actually seen, an imaginary picture. In all these exercises, the picture should be held clearly, accurately, and steadily for as long as possible, and whenever it blurs or fades, it should be developed anew or rebuilt.
The important repetition
Another point to be noted in the technique of visualization is that it is necessary to develop the images repeatedly and to renew them frequently. Visualizing something once or twice is not enough to make the image so dynamic and charged with life that it has the power to penetrate into objective cognition. Every image, metaphorically speaking, has difficulty surviving in the struggle with countless other images that already exist in the subconscious and that flow in from outside. Therefore, if you want an image to be effective, you must live it with special energy by often holding it for a while before the eye of the mind and nourishing it with attention. The joy of doing this work is a great help, and you should make the images as attractive as possible.
Shape and color
The two most important aspects of images are form and color . Some people have a greater ability to visualize forms, others to visualize colors, and there is a marked difference between the mental and the psychological types. Forms are more connected with thoughts, while colors are more directly connected with emotions, and therefore both types should work on what seems most difficult in order to develop the ability to visualize both form and color equally well from any given image. Visualization is also a preparation for the effective “as if” technique, which involves appearing in a way that you believe is right, regardless of the lack of a corresponding emotional attitude. A common example of this is when you do something you are afraid of, in a calm and courageous way, even though you feel fear in the current situation. The “as if” method requires a prior vivid visualization of the action you want to perform. This technique can be of great value to those who are about to take exams, and to lecturers, actors, singers, etc.
Visualization and willpower
It is obvious that these exercises require the use of the will . It is the will that makes it possible to focus attention on the image, to repeat the exercise and to keep the visualization stable. The relationship between the will and the imagination is interesting. Coué said that when there is a conflict between the will and the imagination, the imagination wins, and this is true in a way, because the will can only create external results or actions by means of images in cases where the imagination is not used. It has been found that prior to every physical movement there has been a conscious – or more often unconscious – visualization of it. Therefore, when the will is used, one can awaken and control images and act by means of them. The will has another function that should precede the evocation and retention of images, and that is choice. Choice is one of the specific functions of the will.
Visualization and reflection
This brings us to the subject of the right choice of images. First, during what can be called the “routine building” period, one should use images that show positive qualities and do not have a deeper or symbolic meaning, i.e. one should simply practice visualizing them without mentally considering their meaning. For example, one can visualize something that brings to mind a quality one wants to evoke or develop, such as strength, seriousness, and courage. Next, one should use meaningful symbols, and this involves combining the visualization with the reflective meditation meaning of the symbol. At first, the focus may alternate between visualization and reflection, but very soon one will discover that one can do both at the same time.
Examples of symbols
There are several types of symbols, so there is a large selection to choose from for the topics and purposes of the instructions. The largest group of symbols is: Nature (sky, earth, water, fire, mountains, etc.), human, mythological, imaginative, abstract (numbers, geometric shapes, colors, etc.) and technical. There are also symbols of the individual and personal character, which cannot be seen spontaneously, such as in dreams, or brought out by automatic writing/drawing or other techniques.
After a period of practice using simple static images that do not change, one can proceed to the more difficult visualization stage, which is a process in which an object or panorama changes or develops. One of the simplest examples of this is visualizing a rosebud slowly unfolding. An exercise in this process is provided later in the instruction.
The many image-creating senses
Another development in the image-creating function is to use other senses such as hearing, smell, and touch to evoke what psychologists call “images.” The word “image” may seem misleading in this context, but sensory impressions such as sound, smell, etc. are in reality images that are subjectively evoked without any connection to what caused them.
Self-created ideal character
Many other images, symbols and streams of images can be used. One technique that is of particular value is to create an image of oneself that expresses a certain characteristic or a characteristic that one needs to develop. That is, first a static image of oneself that illustrates a desired characteristic, and then the process can be extended to visualizing that one is participating in a process with certain situations that one wants to be able to cope with. But one must be aware that this exercise is not an end in itself, because if one stops in the middle of the process, the result may be the opposite of the end, and one may thereby transform the idealized image into an escape or a substitute for personal effort. Therefore, a passive expectation must not arise in connection with the image in question. The process should be considered as a pattern, a structure that will be an aid to bringing the ideal image to reality in outer life. It can actually be compared to the vision or structure that a sculptor has in his mind of the statue he is about to make.
There are several ways to visualize your ideal self. One way is to visualize a picture of yourself as you think you will look when the final goal is achieved. The other way is to visualize the process step by step, visualizing one characteristic and one situation at a time, and thereby arrive at the finished picture of the final goal. The latter way is recommended, as it is an easier and more effective method to work with, because it rejects any idealistic tendency to forget reality.
However, the visualization method should not be used on anyone other than oneself, at least only after mature consideration, because great damage has been done by using this method, especially by parents who more or less consciously project an image onto their children of what they want them to become. (It is often an idealized image of what the parents have failed to become). Such images rarely correspond to the real possibilities or to the right direction of development for the child, who rightly either rebels or feels forced to accept a wrong role. This has harmful consequences, and many psychological disorders can be traced back to such influences.
Symbolic images
The difference between symbolic and ordinary images is that a symbol contains a special meaning, as the symbol, in addition to the “drawing or external form” itself, represents an idea or a truth that is in itself formless and therefore must be “formulated” in order for oneself and others to understand the meaning.
Many images can be perceived both objectively and can be used to convey a symbolic meaning. An example of this is a mountain. A person with a completely objective mind, visualizing a mountain, sees only its external form and beauty, but a person who knows its symbolic meaning also sees that the mountain has a path up to higher levels and to places with a wide view, and this person will understand the analogy to the inner life that can reach higher levels of consciousness. This image has an uplifting spiritual effect.
Mountains are a clear example of the value of using symbols. That symbolism has been used in many religions, and throughout history, people have associated it with inspiration and with “higher places” to which one can retreat.
The imagination
The imagination is used quite consciously in all areas. For example, in research – even in the natural sciences, where one would not think so – it plays a special role. There is a very special connection between intuition and imagination. Abstract intuition tends to clothe itself or to make itself known in images, which can be called “bodies” of the original abstract intuition. Several great scientists have experienced this, and the French mathematician Poincaré wrote a book about using the imagination in research. Others have spoken of the way in which discoveries have revealed themselves to them in the form of a sudden image or pattern, such as the famous case of the physicist Kekulé, who “saw” atoms dancing around freely in the air, completely in accordance with his theory of atomic groupings, while he was sitting at the top of a London bus.
The form of imagination that is particularly suited to the tasks of this meditation group is to visualize various aspects of the new age that one wishes to build. These could be aspects of the new civilization, such as the new social structure, the new teaching methods, and the new art forms.
Passive or active imagination
In all work with imagination, a clear distinction should be made between using imagination and images as a substitute for reality – which is a passive imagination, an escape mechanism and an unhealthy approach – and using it actively and positively as an effective method of creation in both the inner and outer worlds. It thus depends on how one uses imagination. The difference between visualization and clairvoyance should also be mentioned. Clairvoyance is psychic reception , whereas visualization is positive projection. Clairvoyance is the result of passive reception, and visualization is always, or should be, creation by the will . Visualization, like other types of “inner activity”, should be combined with the other methods and techniques that have been described. This is described in more detail in subsequent instructions on invocation and creative meditation.
How to move forward
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Also read the article Psychosynthesis an Integral Psychology and the biography of Roberto Assagioli
Read the introductory article about energy psychology
Read the introductory article about integral meditation
