Question asked by Andrew
Hello,
My name is Andrew. I have a question that has been bugging me for a long time. I am a Buddhist. I consider myself an independent Buddhist. I enjoy watching the YouTube videos you guys have. My meditation practices only focus on breath or mantra. I do not have the ability to visualize. Does that mean I can never advance in my meditation practice? I can get feelings in meditation but never visualization. What can I do? Thank you for taking the time to read my message. A thousand blessings to you!
Dear Andrew,
Thanks for posting your question here. As a practicing meditator, I am sure you are aware that there are many variations of meditation, especially between various Buddhist schools and lineages. However, they all include breathing meditation or more specifically Shamatha meditation. In all traditions, the ‘object’ that is used for this type of meditation is breathing. However within the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, visualisation is used as the ‘object’ or the ‘device’ of meditation instead.
This is because of the power of the object, which in this case is the visualisation of the body of an enlightened being. You can also actually focus on the sound of mantras as an object of this type of meditation too.
According to the Lamrim teachings of the Gelug tradition, which we practice, the reason why visualisation is used, is because when you visualise or recall the body of a Buddha during your meditations, you are not just meditating, you are also generating merit. This occurs due to the power of the body of the Buddha figure you are visualising. Within our tradition, that is why visualisation or concentration on the sound of mantra recitation is focused on.
That is not to say that using the breath is not a powerful technique. It most definitely is and can lead to great spiritual advancement. There are many practices in Tibetan Buddhism that just focus on the breath as the object of meditation. Utilizing visualisation boosts our meditation, because it has the added benefit of generating merit. This is especially beneficial for those who aspire to engage in tantric practice, in which the visualisation process is quite extensive.
Visualisation however is not something that all people can do, but the Lamrim advises that it can be learned, slowly but surely, just like any other ability, whether secular or spiritual. We are advised to first learn the visualisations intellectually and slowly through our meditations to apply them. It will be hard at first but over time we can work on it.
Alternatively, if you are looking for another object to focus on, you can focus on the sound of mantra recitation if you engage in mantra recitation, this has the same effect to generate merit, as mantras are the energies of the enlightened beings in the form of sound. I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, please feel free to post here. Thank you.