Visualisation
The Face of Wisdom
We are each a container for the eternal truths of what it means to be a human being. These are deep intuitions of who we are, beyond the superficial labels we give to each other, and why we are here. Listening to our inner tutor (in-tuition) and learning to trust it again is an essential aspect of awakening to the true spirit that we are. This visualisation may help you to begin the process of awakening.
Find a quiet spot in a quiet corner of wherever you are...
Close your eyes and visualise yourself on the edge of a thick wood ...
You can see a path leading into the wood and you decide to take it...
The wood is thick and as you progress it becomes darker and darker until you can hardly see anything...
Then a shaft of light appears up ahead...
Your approach it, and as you come close you can see there is a small clearing in the wood...
You feel you have been in this dark wood for so long the light makes you squint your eyes...
You sit and look into the clearing for a few moments, adjusting to the light...
The world falls totally silent as you make your way into what is an open space...
You stand basking in the light...
The grass beneath your feet is lush and soft...
You can see the entrance to a small cave about ten yards away...
You approach the cave and you are aware of a face looking out at you...
You are not scared as the face id gently smiling the softest of smiles, as if to say, "I've been waiting for you"...
It is the face of a warm and wise old woman...and while her features are worn and craggy with age, pure kindness and gentleness radiate from her eyes...
You instantly feel she is your friend...
As if you have known her all your life...
You sit down in front of her and with total attention you are ready to hear what she has to say to you...
You know she has some sound personal advice...
And you know you have some questions you would like to ask her...
You ask your question and then fall silent, waiting...
After what is only a moment, but seems like a lifetime, she begins to talk to you and she says......
....listen and hear what she has to say......
(take a pen and paper and write down what she said)
|
Why Practice Visualisation?
The most powerful energy in the universe is the energy of the mind. Everything we create, from the simplest of objects, to the most complex philosophies, are formed in the human mind. The images and thoughts which you create at each moment directly influence your emotional and physical well being. Imagine yourself eating a lemon and you will begin to salivate, picture yourself fall from a cliff edge and you will generate the feeling of falling along with tremendous anxiety, possibly terror.
The key to relaxation lies in what you do with your mind. Like an inner television screen or an artists blank canvas, your mind is ready to display any idea or image which you choose. While meditation tends to have one point of mental focus (an idea, insight, icon or mantra) creative visualisation is the purposeful use of the mind to create positive images and therefore has a number of beneficial uses:
- 1 Simple Relaxation
When you create peaceful and positive mental images you invoke and awaken feelings of inner peace, releasing tension and dissolving anxieties.
- 2 Generate Healing
There are now many documented cases of patients visualising their return to good health, or using symbols and images to visualise how their immune system fights and defeats physical disease.
- 3 Invoking Inner Wisdom
We all have a deep resource of wisdom and truth at the heart of our consciousness – sometimes referred to as intuition or conscience. Creative visualisation opens and quietens the mind, so we may clearly hear this inner voice and allow it to guide us.
- 4 Goal Setting
When you set a goal for yourself you will create an image of its achievement, sometimes known as a preferred future state. (goals are not desires) The vision then helps you to discern what is useful to achieve the goal, and if the vision is sustained with the right quality of energy it begins to attract towards you the necessary resources.
- 5 Restoration of Creativity and Concentration
Our modern world has encouraged us to become dependent on others creativity and most of us have lost our awareness of the importance of mental concentration. The media and entertainment industries present us with the clever and calculatingly impressive ideas of a few. As we, the many, sit and allow ourselves to be entertained, we can easily become dependent on the creativity of those few, and in so doing lessen our own creative capacity through lack of practice.
Daily visualisation restores our ability to focus and concentrate the energy of our consciousness and become masters of our own minds. If we are not able to do this for ourselves, we allow others to capture our attention and influence our creation. We then become slaves to others imagery, and wonder why we are not able to relax at will, and why we feel drained after a particularly emotional movie.
Learning how to visualise, and develop the breadth and depth of 'inner vision', is the art and the heart of all creativity.
While the weekly visualisations are designed for your practice it is important that you generate your own visualisations - otherwise it can become yet another dependency, and lazy thinking continues. So we would encourage you to use the visualisations which you find here as a template for creating your own.
Any Questions?
|
