Visualization is easy for most people, but difficult for some. Here are a few keys to effective practice. Try to see whatever it is you are trying to visualize with as much detail as possible. See it in vibrant color and clear detail. Look in the forehead, in the darkness behind closed eyes, and imagine whatever scene you are trying to visualize as if it were being shown on a screen. The more clear your visualization, the more powerful will be its effect.
Your visualization should be both beautiful and expansive, since its purpose is to uplift the mind as well as focus it. Some people have difficulty forming visual images, so it is helpful to involve more of your senses than just sight. If you are visualizing a lake, hear the wavelets lapping on the shore, feel the breeze blowing over the water, even smell the wildflowers on the banks. Above all, immerse yourself in the scene to the exclusion of all other thoughts.
There are many images that can be visualized, but three types are especially helpful for meditation. The first helps calm and focus the mind, the second expands our consciousness, and the third attunes us to a saint or spiritual guide.
A visualization that involves movement becoming progressively more still will calm the mind. Here’s an example:
Imagine a meadow filled with tall grass and flowers. The sun is shining brightly and a gentle breeze blows, stirring everything into motion, swaying the plants back and forth. You hear the sound of crickets and smell the gentle aroma of the flowers. Gradually, the breezes cease and the meadow becomes calm. All movement stops. Everything becomes completely still, as if waiting. Your thoughts, like the grass, become silent and you become aware of an overwhelming sense of peace and well-being. Feel the warm, gentle massage of the sun releasing every vestige of restlessness. Bathe yourself in this feeling for as long as possible.
A second type of visualization expands our consciousness, allowing it to reach outward to infinity:
Visualize a deep blue or golden light in your forehead. When you can see it clearly, feel as if it filling your entire brain, expanding gradually to fill every cell of your body. Imagine the light to be conscious and wise without a need for your direction. Simply allow it to reach into every fiber of your being. Now, let this light expand beyond the boundaries of your body. See it filling the room, bonding you to all others who are there with you. Feel as if the light is energizing every atom it touches, awakening every particle of matter. Let the light expand into your town and spread gradually over your state, your country, and the whole planet, uplifting and healing all that it touches. Now, see the light expand beyond this planet into the solar system and the galaxy, ultimately bathing the entire universe in its glow. Float in the vast ocean of light, releasing all sense of separation until you and the light are one. Feel your body as space with no beginning and no end. Remain in this expanded state as long as possible.
A third very powerful technique is to visualize a saint or spiritual guide. At Ananda, we regularly visualize Yogananda or one of the others in our line of gurus. This attunes us with the divine consciousness manifested those who have attained the high states we yearn for.
Start by looking at a photo of such a saint until you have their image clearly in mind. Then, close your eyes and clearly visualize their face. Try, especially, to see their eyes clearly. The eyes are the windows of the soul and convey the consciousness residing within the form. Magnetically draw the saint’s attributes—wisdom, love, joy—into your own consciousness. Ask wordlessly for grace and guidance. Know that in your higher self, you and that saint are one.
Generally, you should try to hold your visualization for as long as possible. When you feel ready, release the image but retain the state of peace or expansion it has given you.
