Visual Images During Meditation

MaxH

Lately during meditation I have been experiencing random visual settings. Many of them are from locations that I experienced in early childhood as long as 40+ years ago. I am focusing on my breath when this occurs and do not experience any corresponding thoughts other than the rather vivid and detailed vision itself.

Once I notice them they usually quickly vanish but then often another seemingly unrelated vision will arise. Sometimes this cycle will repeat itself throughout most of a meditation session.

Have any of the fellow meditators in this forum experienced anything similar to this?

Deshy

I have not experienced visual images of the past but I remember this specific thing is talked about in my meditation handbook. The monk says that they are a major hindrance because the meditators get attached to these kinds of visual images and keep enjoying them but they are of no real value obviously. He said that this is not the "nimitta" which you are supposed to see in deep meditation but some people mistake this as a nimitta.

I don't really remember further descriptions on this but as far as I know these are merely mental perceptions. I once got a very real experience while meditating that my body was expanding horizontally and vertically as if I was becoming like a wall. A friend of mine once saw that she was in a beautiful lake with blue water and looking up at a huge statue of the Buddha.

So these vivid pictures are common I guess. Best thing is to ignore them altogether because they disturb your progress

MaxH

Deshy wrote: »

The monk says that they are a major hindrance because the meditators get attached to these kinds of visual images and keep enjoying them but they are of no real value obviously.

So these vivid pictures are common I guess. Best thing is to ignore them altogether because they disturb your progress

I don't enjoy these images. My feelings toward them are ambivalent and I don't feel any attachment to them other than they somehow have left a mental imprint.

Ignoring them seems counterproductive. It is usually recognizing the image that allows it to dissipate. I can no more ignore them than I can a sudden loud noise that may happen during meditation.

Deshy

Well I am not saying you enjoy them but that is said to be the usual reaction according to the book. As you say, these are disturbing. I also had to disturb my meditation and open my eyes because the feeling got really overwhelming to the point that I almost got scared. What I mean is, do not dwell on it a lot. It is best to ignore them and carry on with the meditation by taking your mindfulness back to the breath as much as possible because these mental perceptions are not getting us anywhere and they don't mean anything as far as I know

Recognizing them and concentrating on it didn't work for me. The more I recognized it the more powerful it grew. But it might work otherwise for someone else

Brigid

Yes, I've had similar experiences, Max. I treat them like any other mental chatter: I acknowledge them as 'thinking', allow them to pass on, and bring my attention back to the breath. That's all. No biggie.

Brxan

I've experienced this quite a bit. Sometimes I push it aside and get down to business. Sometimes I will explore these images. I find it amazing that my mind can remember details from the past so well, in the end though it means nothing.

shenpennangwa

Max H wrote: »

I don't enjoy these images. My feelings toward them are ambivalent and I don't feel any attachment to them other than they somehow have left a mental imprint.

Ignoring them seems counterproductive. It is usually recognizing the image that allows it to dissipate. I can no more ignore them than I can a sudden loud noise that may happen during meditation.

they will stop.
you dont have to ignore them either, recognize them as insubstantial and let them pass.
eventually they will stop all together.

kstep123

I too have similar mental images. I see them as free association, the mind is just sputtering from the sudden drop in activity. It doesn't make them mindless chatter though. I usually look them up on dreammoods.com, a dream interpretation site. The accuracy can be stunning or ignorable, depending on the openness of your mind.

I've actually gotten some useful information from these interpretations, but I know some people see it as astrology bs.

Peace and love