How to Visualize in meditation

3 steps to absolute focus

Table of Contents

How to visualize strongly in deity yoga practice

How to visualize in your mind

• Develop the skill to do basic meditation, sati:
  • sustained concentration on the chosen object.
• Understand each aspect of the object of meditation, without needing to refer to it.
• Go over the details in concentration.
• Develop meta-awareness – environmental immersion
• Develop the cognitive skill – cogitatio – to be absent of conceptual reification – don’t be distracted by thoughts

How to visualize effectively: Establish Motivation

Generate a strong motivation to practice deity yoga in Buddhism by doing the refuge and bodhisattva vows and supplications (or other motivational/aspirational chants). Remind yourself of the point and focus of the meditation.

For example, “I am meditating on Vajrasattva to purify faults so that I can attain wisdom and bring benefit to the world.” Clearly remind yourself why you are meditating at the beginning of the session and hold that motivation in mind.

Good motivation to benefit others gives the meditation true meaning and purpose. Without this, the meditator might abandon the meditation at the first sign of difficulty. Very strong compassion, really desiring to alleviate suffering, combined with the knowledge that the deity can grant the means to do so, will carry anyone for a very long time of effort without results. Results take a lot of effort and time.

Establishing good shamatha

Establish the best shamatha you can with various shamatha tools, such as the four foundations of mindfulness and the nine stages of resting the mind. Remember the key to good shamatha is focus, the ability to focus, to concentrate without distraction, on the object of meditation.

Recall the object of meditation. If you’re doing a text-based practice, it’s helpful to calm the mind and release emotional/mental distraction as much as possible. Go through one of the systems above – 4 foundations or 9 stages. Commit one, preferably both, to memory. (It’s only 13 words, with some ideas about each one.)

The 4 foundations will make the meditation much more inclusive of all aspects of your experience. The 9 stages will deepen your connection so that the object of meditation itself becomes stronger and stronger. The 9 stages are more suitable for visualization, but both work together.

These are sequential and additive. In other words, clarity sustains once stability comes. Meditation will first go through increasing clarity, then increasing stability, then increasing power. Clarity is a precise ‘knowing’ of the object. The mind knows each aspect of it and can instantly pull it out and examine it. Stability is steadiness of the meditation. It does not waver, it does not dissipate. It holds. Power is the ability to do whatever is wished with the concentration. It is a sense of unconstrained absorption, where mental obstacles no longer arise.

To attain this, give rise first to mindfulness, then to awareness of non-meditative mental activities – thoughts and emotions. These occur as distractions to meditation, so it is essential to spot them before the concentration degrades. By evenhanded bare attention, without grasping or pushing, these events subside easily by themselves.

This awareness is called sheshin, a generalized awareness of the mind’s processes. It gets a lift from the Four Foundations of mindfulness because they spread throughout all aspects. Developing both systems from memory, which is not hard, then you can determine what the particular obstacles are.

Generally, the main obstacles to meditation:

• Laziness
• Forgetting the object
• Torpor and Excitement
• Overexertion

To counter laziness (lack of motivation), refresh motivation by contemplating the four reminders and so forth. To counter forgetting the object, remind yourself of the object – apply mindfulness. This is the hard part and must be done with diligence. Most people never get past this stage, thus they never encounter real meditation. They then quit, thinking meditation is not for them. This is like saying I don’t like Ethiopian food after only hearing about it.

Is the mind unable to maintain focus because of fuzziness, cloudiness or something like that? Not emotional or turbulent, but more vague. In that case, the 9 stages is better. If there is some focus but some subtle levels of distraction, then the 4 foundations can help filter them out and clarify them.

At the 5th stage of resting the mind, the force of mindfulness tends to be stronger than distractions and mental/emotional resistance. At this point, meditation becomes pleasurable. As you progress through the stages, it becomes increasingly pleasurable, until it becomes simply equanimity in the 8th and 9th stages.

Establish the 3 Recollections

After opening the practice by reciting any requisite liturgy, and reciting the primary visualization text, establish the 3 recollections:

• Clarity
• Meaning
• Purity/suchness

Recollection of Clarity

Recollection of clarity means knowing the visual details of the yidam deity. White Tara (picture) has 7 eyes – 3 on her face, and one on each palm and foot sole. She wears a crown, is white, holds a flower in her left hand, open palm for the right, and sits on a lotus and moon disk in full vajra posture. She wears a necklace, earrings, bracelets, girdle, silk skirt and scarves. Know the deity’s clothes and posture.

It’s especially important to have clear visualization of the implements. For a very strong initial approach to attaining good clarity, focus on the key elements one session at a time. Develop a very strong, very detailed visualization of face, posture, hand implements, jewelry, clothing, seat, and retinue. Then work on any inner components.

Next, bring it all together in a few sessions. Develop an overall clarity. Move focus throughout the form onto various aspects while maintaining the overall visualization. Rest at times on the overall form. Balance it with relaxation so it does not become too tight.

Next, generate a strong image of any inner elements. The inner elements are especially important, so develop very strong clarity. They are often fairly simple, as well, so it’s not too difficult. Generate them as 3-dimensional, mental forms. Lastly, clearly visualize any activity the deity performs, such as light offerings and so forth.

Developing strong clarity in a piecemeal fashion will greatly facilitate the full visualization later. Fuzziness and vagueness will be extremely persistent if you omit this critical step.

Recollection of Meaning in yidam meditation

The recollection of the meaning connects the form to what it represents. Visualizations are only useful if we know what meaning they convey. Each aspect carries its own meaning. Tara’s multiple eyes indicate she is always looking for suffering to alleviate. The moon seat is compassion. The lotus is the arising of purity from the impure world. The open palm indicates generosity. The flower in the left hand shows that wisdom arises as compassion and gentleness. Overall, Tara protects from fear. That is her ultimate symbol.

We visualize to purify ordinary conceptions of ourselves. That is a key meaning of deity visualization. Currently, we see ourselves as ordinary, but the deity is fully enlightened. In keeping with the Vajrayana principles, we see ourselves, and all others, as fundamentally enlightened. We simply need the deity to remind us, to bring us back to ourselves as we actually are.

It is very helpful to establish a feeling tone for the visualization. Tara might be warmth, safety, and love. Manjushri might emanate intelligence, clarity, and wisdom. Vajrasattva would have an aura of purity, Vajrayogini desire, and Vajrakilya wrath.

Is it acceptable to add meaning or symbols to a visualization? With reservations, yes. Don’t change any fundamental aspects – inner forms, hand implements, extra arms, etc. Don’t seek worldly aims like wealth or fame. Don’t add things frivolously. Don’t add too much or more than one thing at a time. Request permission from the deity to add something.

Clearly, the meaning must align with dharma and with the particular deity. For example, it would be distorted to add wrathful symbols to White Tara. You must properly maintain the view. Then it is reasonable to add meaning.

An example: on some deities, I place a jewel in setting at the clasp of the neck or in the crown ornament. This jewel has a specific purpose: it represents meditative stability, clarity, and power, the accomplishment of the 9 stages, and confers that ability on me. When the meditation is weak or distracted, I focus intently upon this jewel and it helps to strengthen concentration.

You can use this to request the deity to strengthen meditation by conferring mastery of the 4 foundations and the powers associated with the 9 stages. Using the power of the deity to increase meditative skill is a potent technique.

Recollection of Suchness

Suchness, of course, is the profound essence of reality. Equated with emptiness in the Mahayana, the meaning of suchness, the deepest truth of the deity, differs depending on the yana. It generally conveys the meanings of awareness emptiness, luminosity emptiness, buddha nature, wisdom mind, and many other expressions. Arising out of suchness is critical to mentally release false concepts about the self. Dissolving into emptiness/suchness, then arising out of that is an almost ubiquitous first step in generating the deity.

Resting in suchness during visualization is extremely beneficial, though not all teachers consider it feasible for beginners. Trying to unite creation and completion can create a false concept. Thus it should not generally be cultivated actively, but allowed to arise in an organic fashion. However, recollection of suchness could be done by simply remembering that the deity is wisdom-emptiness in its most essential form.

Following the meditation, the deity is dissolved into light, then emptiness. This would be a direct (to the extent one is capable) meditation on suchness. Deepening and strengthening this, while moving back and forth from Creation to Completion stages, allows the organic arising of unified visualization and suchness meditations.

Flow, the profound mental state, also called Peak Performance, can be attained with meditation and can be ‘triggered’ at will, with enough discipline. Guide to Flow Mastery will teach you how.

Learn about Flow Here

Generate the form out of light

Important: Visualize the deity as made of light. The deity is NOT a physical form. The deity is a mind emanated form and the mind cannot create physical objects directly. It will only frustrate you and defeat the overall purpose if you miss this key point. The body is translucent and hollow inside which allows you to see inside of it. Sometimes things go on inside of the deity’s body, seed syllables, mantras, jnanasattvas (wisdom beings), and retinue forms, for example.

Along these lines, the deity is as much felt and heard as seen. Engage all the mental senses – sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Do not ‘see’ the deity with your eyes. See it with your mind. This tactic will relieve most of the struggle you may experience in visualization.

Arising Insight

Sometimes, when meditation is very strong, new meanings will arise as insight. The best approach is: go with it. Gently energize it while severing attachment. The mind will tend to grasp at such things. They can be false gods, ideas that serve ego. Strengthen pure motivation as a check against such problems. Allow the insight to arise strongly, penetrate deeply, leave its merit, and vanish without a trace. Do not try to recall it. It’s job is done, so let it go.

FAQ

Conclusion

The point of visualization is to perceive the mandala of the deity as reality. That reality should supplant your current reality, transforming normal perceptions into enlightened perceptions. It takes sustained, powerful meditation to accomplish this. These methods allow a stepwise approach to that goal.

Establishing clear, strong meditation is the first key element. Without that, nothing happens. Good motivation makes it inherently meaningful, gives it a powerful purpose, and overcomes discouragement. Recollect clarity, meaning, and suchness, generating a light-based form in the mind. Allow insight to arise organically without grasping. Release any temporary experiences that arise. Do not grasp at anything.

May all beings be happy

May all beings be peaceful

May all beings be safe

May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature

May all beings be free