The Goal Is Not The Method
Visualizations assist us in the effort of reversing the Master-Slave relationship we seem to find ourselves suddenly within. It is almost as if we wake up one day and discover that the thoughts which emanate from our mind rule us and determine how it is that we feel, and will feel, about our environment, past, present and in the future. When this occurs it becomes quite a shock and marks the beginning of realizations which allow us to find out who we really are. In discovering that truth about ourselves, a lot of effect must be sown to reap rewards well beyond any thoughts we might have on the matter. Allowing ourselves to reveal ourselves requires that we confront the demons which we have placed in the way. Visualizations is one, among many ways that assist that endeavor.
In visualizing particular sensory data a clear separation becomes apparent between your willful decisions and that of the mind's tireless quest of fullfilling it's duties. Those duties, even though it is you who has created them, must be overcome in order to allow yourself to be free of yourself. Strange as it may seem, you must overcome yourself to be yourself. You are your own worst enemy. You are also your own best friend, remember that in all of your trials and tribulations.
In effect, what is being accomplished here is to gently allow yourself to discover yourself without beating yourself too badly in the process. In the process of visualization, you will face your evil self as well as your godly self. Please remember that these are merely the two sides of the same coin. If you do not become enraptured by either one, you will surely discover things about yourself that will be absolutely astounding, and at the same time these realizations will seem to be of no consequence whatsoever. As you progress in your journey of self discovering, you will discover paradoxical data that will make complete sense to you. When the mind is taken out of the equation, truth becomes self-evident and in trying to explain that truth to another guess what - you have to communicate that truth via the mind and you can be assured that it will never come out or be understood in the same way. From the Heart, Truth reveals itself. The mind is just a way of talking about it. :-) This is the reason for allegories, analogies and stories; they seek to impart a glimpse of the actual truth being addressed through ways of understanding which can be assimilated by the mind.
If you have ever just looked at someone and felt the love and compassion within, you have an idea of what occurs when the mind is bypassed. Truth reaches the Heart, everything else has to be thought about. :-)
Perhaps the idea of the separation between the mind and the one who observes the mind has been understood. If so, then please continue. If not, it may be more beneficial to search and discover additional information along those lines. If a clear picture is not made, the distinction between mind and observer will fuse and operating under the concept of you being the mind will place you in firmly in the control of your thoughts, emotions and attitudes as well as those by those who you surround yourself with. I cannot stress this enough. Without an idea of the separation of mind and 'you', no visualization, no process, no teaching, no method will do you any ultimate good in the process of discovering yourself. You are not your emotions, your thoughts or your attitudes. You are much, much more than than and at the same time you are none of those things and more. :-)
1. Who are you?
When someone tells you a joke, who is it that laughs? We hear something funny, and smile or laugh as a result. What is it that spurs this reaction? The minds creates wonderful sensations and feeds us daily in it's quest of fullfilling it's duties. To get a peek behind the purpose and the plans of those duties, simply be aware when you feel an emotion and ask yourself, "Who feels this emotion?". If you can observe the emotion then obviously, you are not that emotion but simply the recipient of it. It is ok to feel the emotion and it is also ok to ask yourself who feels it. You don't have to undertake a philosophic discussion with yourself in order to arrive at some sort of conclusion, that is not the purpose of your questioning. The purpose of asking yourself who it is that feels the emotion is to enhance the understanding of the separation and distance between 'you' and the mind which originates the emotion. Before you can come to grips with who or what you really are, you must first come to grips and understand what it is that you are dealing with. The mind provides emotional content for your enjoyment, this does not mean that you are that content.
When someone compliments you on your looks, do you swell up with pride and gloat in the emotional content? Does it make you really happy when someone does this to you? Who is it feels this pride and happiness in being acknowledged. If you can feel proud then obviously, you are not that feeling. Who is it that feels that emotion? Where does that pride come from? Emotional content are the underlying thoughts, concepts and ideas which only have a purpose of furthering additional thoughts, concepts and ideas. Do you wish to break out of that circular wheel and make a determination for yourself what emotional content you desire to contribute to? When you attempt to become the sensory data you receive who is it that makes that attempt? If you lose yourself in your thoughts, who becomes lost and who struggles to regain control? Understanding that we are not our thoughts creates the freedom to be ourselves, whatever that 'self' is.
Gaining the upper hand of our thoughts is not always an easy task. The mind, along with it's vast storehouse of thoughts, is quite resourceful in it's ways of ensuring that it's thoughts are assimilated. But that is the mind. It is not 'you'. 'Your' mind can tell you all sorts of things, convince you of all sorts of ideas, but these do not create reality no matter how hard the mind tries to make it so. 'You' create reality and if you do not have a clear understanding of the mind and 'you', then all sorts of wild and crazy things can, and do, happen. And many times they don't make a lot of sense, but without the mind's meddling, the Universe is truly a wonder to behold. It's hard to see that when the mind is busy, busy, busy, collecting, organizing and passing judgement on the sensory data is craves.
If you were to take a moment each day, a moment when no matter what you were doing, and ask yourself, "Who is doing this.", you would discover what waking up really means. The term 'being asleep' is many times used in reference to people who are at the complete mercy of the their thoughts. They become out of touch with themselves and begin to believe that their thoughts are, in reality, themselves. They cannot survive and make the 'right' decisions without their thinking constantly going on. They wake up in the morning and think, think, think. Think about the day, the past, the future, anything, as long as they have thoughts. They go to work, come home and the thinking process continues unabated. Is this being awake and aware? Of course not. Continuous thoughts are the drug which makes you groggy and lose touch of reality. The individual becomes asleep, the walking dead, or any other descriptive term you would like to come up with.
In order to 'wake up' you must slap yourself on the face by asking yourself, "Who thinks these thoughts?". "Who is it receives these constant thoughts?" Remember, the object is not to get a definitive answer, but to crack open the door of awareness. The process of awakening is not coming to conclusions about anything, that is an idea best left to the organic computers. We are not addressing the mind, but merely using it much in the same way we are already using it by being the effect of it's every whim and desire.
Please remember that there are many, many ways of uncovering ourselves and discovering who and what we really are. The importance does not lie in the methods, it lies only in where it is that we wish to go or 'be'. All the world's religions promote the singular idea of a spiritual nature to man and of the desire to attain that spirituality. This is why every religion, no matter the method of practice, is absolutely correct in it's application. The goal is not the method, it is the place where it is that you wish to be. Of course, the concept of 'being' anywhere is not a complete concept, but using the mind to uncover our true nature is just as valid as using the mind to cover up our true nature.
