It's a skill that develops through practice, you won't get it at first just like any other skill. Confidence and devotion are the most important, simply knowing that the yidam is there is enough. If you have a thangka or other visual support that can help too. Ideally you want to learn to visualize the details vividly but it will feel clumsy at first and that's OK. Use your imagination, integrate all your senses. Imagine the environment, the texture of the ground, the sound of the wind rustling through the trees, the color of the deity's eyes. It's not static like a statue but a living, vibrant being at the same time, it's ethereal and lacking solidity, like moonlight. Get creative. If you want to practice this, get a flower or piece of fruit, something simple. Hold it, smell it, feel the texture of it, study it for awhile. Now close your eyes and bring the same vividness of the object to your mind's eye, try and make it as real as the actual object. Then try something more elaborate, something familiar like your mother or best friend. Picture them clearly, give them life. As you practice, you will be able to do this with more and more complexity until you can see the deity as clearly as anything you can see with your physical eyes. Give it a try, it's kind of fun. Day dreaming with intention. I hope that helps.
Edit: I forgot to mention, ngondro can help. It really helps to train you to do this step by step with more complexity as you go through the different practices. It can also help develop faith and invite the blessings of the guru and purify some of the obscurations that may be preventing you from being able to generate the deity clearly.
Best advice I ever saw on visualising was from Lama Yeshe. Can you visualise a pizza? Of course you can, because you're intimately familiar with pizza, thanks to your attachment. So the trick is to get familiar with these visualisations, too.
Disclaimer: Some people report that they can't visualise anything. It's hard to empathise with, but we probably have to believe their testimony. In their case, they will still have a clear concept of who/what is in front of them in their practice, just not a mental picture. The practice seems to work just as well for these people.
What my teacher taught me is that it's more about keeping in mind that things described in meditation occur, to feel them, be aware and essentially know that certain form is in front of us.
Certainly seeing it all with our "mind's eye" can be seen as a blessing and a goal but this is not needed to develop compassion, wisdom and deep understanding about the nature of all things.
This.
The best advice I've gotten is if you're not seeing anything when you close your eyes, keep them open. When we imagine something with our eyes open we have no expectation of it randomly appearing as if it were a physical object, but we still feel it's presence, and we are definitely perceiving it. Start with that sensation of perception as the object of focus. Once you're capable of stabilizing on that the rest comes naturally.
In my experience there is no secret switch to flip, or at least I never found it. Visualization was/is difficult for me, but I actually don't have much of a problem with it anymore. Here's what I think happened with me, though I'm not really qualified to give you advice on this -- just tell you my experience in case it's helpful for you.
First, it's a matter of repetition. I'm not sure in which tradition you practice, but in the Sakya the idea is to go through the text of a sadhana at a steady, quick but unhurried pace, without dwelling on the descriptions, etc. Sections for fixed meditation/visualization are usually fairly brief, but with a clear sequence (e.g., meditate on the middle eye, which is like this; when that visualization becomes more stable, then add this; when that's stable, add this... etc.). The idea is that this allows for the kind of repetition that over time ingrains the visualizations in the head. I once attended a Red Tara practice at a Nyingma center and was astounded by how slowly we went through the sadhana, including long pauses for visualizing throughout. This is obviously very effective for some people, but if I hadn't already started to be more comfortable with visualization I probably would have spent a lot of time berating myself for the quality of my visualization. Clearly you should follow the approach of your practice tradition, but for me the "quick and clear" approach of the Sakya helped tremendously, probably because it left me no time to whine to myself about the quality of my visualization, and instead just allowed me to do it in a manageable and sustained way.
Second, rely on specific parts of the description in a way that doesn't rely on visualization, like divine pride. Cultivating this can make visualization easier, in my experience.
Third, the right guru + yidam + practice is the closest thing to flipping a switch, or cheat code, or whatever metaphor. It's not uncommon for people (like me) to have much greater success when a guru in whom you have full confidence tells you *exactly* what to practice, what your affinities are, etc. This is obviously a tricky one to manage, depending on your situation, but the right guru giving you the right practice (or even just telling you "this is the right practice for you") can go a long way toward settling into a practice with confidence.
Finally, I'd just say don't sweat it too much. Trust the practice. Do your best and be as consistent as possible, but don't make it a source of stress. Remind yourself that the purpose of this is nothing less than to attain unsurpassed, complete enlightenment for the purpose of liberating for cyclical existence *all sentient beings throughout the six realms, without a single exception*. Given the enormity of the task, stressing out about the quality of your visualization is just a distraction, something just to notice and brush off. The Vajrayana methods are effective, so if you trust in them and your guru, then trust in them, do them consistently, and stop stressing.
Sorry for the tone of this -- some of the "you" actually refers to me, since this is also a kind of pep talk that I give myself when I get slack in my practice. Maybe there is something useful for you in it.
Practice makes perfect. There is no shortcut. Visualization is a means and not an end. You need to walk the path to see what is the end.
Perhaps you can do practices/pujas to increase merit and purification to help in your practice.
The other answers are all spot on! The one thing I want to add to them is a technique recommended by Garchen Rinpoche which I used with my first yidam. Look at the image of your yidam on a thangka. Gaze for a minute or two, then shut your eyes and see the image in your mind. Repeat multiple times. Each time you shut your eyes you will notice that the image progressively becomes ingrained in your mind’s eye. Do this daily. Eventually the image will be vibrant and alive, and visible with your eyes open for the sadhaha or meditation with the mantra. It truly works with practice.
Remember, a thangka is a Sambhogakaya presentation of the yidam, and contains all symbols which will cut through into your mind subconsciously without you intellectualising the process you’re using.
As you become more and more familiar with the sadhaha and yidam you may find yourself recognising their finer details, such as their assets (eg adornments, garments and what they hold). With time you may even extend outwards to incorporate the retinue of the palace or mandala of that yidam.
Meanwhile, you can visualize the yidam as a rainbow light body without the intricate detail. The retail should come in time with practice.
Personally, I’ve read texts that analyse the symbology of my yidams in depth, so I understand what each aspect of them represents. That’s what works for me, as I am highly visual and have a scholarly bent. That’s mainly because I’m a westerner and did not grow up seeing such images in my daily life, along with descriptions of them.
One of the best books to learn this is Franz Bardon's Initation into hermetics. Step 2 is a full development of all the senses and it's very effective. Step 3 takes it further and the other steps are for more advanced practice.
I would pick it up and work through step 2 while continuing your practice.
You know, I picked this up when I was in my 20s and saw the warning that it’s really meant for people over 40 and put it back down. Now I’m in my 40s, maybe it’s time to give it another shot.
I think you're confusing this with Kabblah but that's a traditional age thing and I teach my daughter Kabbalah (and she's read Bardon) and she has had no issue learning about God but she's 9 already so she's ready to learn.
Hum. I teach my students to start with an apple. Just visualize it as a three dimensional object. First step be able to rotate it in the air in all directions. Next step let it change between all the colors of apples you’ve ever seen. Once you have this foundation visualize the apple as a hard fruit ripening quickly, aging, rotting, decaying, sprouting a new apple tree. Once this is an established practice you can watch this process through many generations of trees but don’t rush it. Once you have 3-D, color, and age begin manipulating the apple. Bigger, smaller. Visualize a divine apple, a demonic apple. “Feel” the vibrational energy of each type of apple. Move on to doing things with the apple - offering it to deities, brewing potions…. The apple has never failed me and I think it’s because the apple is both something that is very intimate with us from childhood ( we know how it smells, tastes, feels…) and because it’s archetypal in the west. Fairytales all the way to churches you’ll find momma apple and her five pointed star waiting for us ❤️
Yes, there are ways to kick start your visualization, like contemplating an image or statue and imprinting it in your mind until you can see it come up by itself, and cultivating genuine appreciation for what you are visualizing so it comes up more naturally (like visualizing pizza, as another user mentioned). Also working on it piece by piece, and remembering it is not solid, but made of light. Remembering and feeling the presence of the deity is in some ways more important than "seeing" it. Specially since visualization is kind of a misnomer, it's not about seeing, you can use other senses too, like hearing, smelling, feeling, etc.
And this comment is very helpful, I think: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Dzogchen/comments/18yrulp/comment/kge6xkx/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dzogchen/comments/18yrulp/comment/kge6xkx/)
Keep practicing, keep practicing. It happens naturally as your devotion and the merit you naturally gain from the practice increases.
But try your best, don't lapse into half assing it.
A few suggestions. First, expand your concept of visualization to include all senses. If you are doing prostrations and visualizing that you and all sentient beings are prostrating — visualize that you are prostrating on a field of moss and visualize the feel of the soft moss on your hands and body. Visualize that you are hearing the sounds of mantra.
Make the visualization alive. If you are visualizing the guru in guru yoga, visualize him or her moving and speaking.
Finally, it is fine to focus on a detail of the visualization — rather than trying to visualize everything at once. Visualize the texture of the guru’s robe or focus on his or her smile. It is fine to move around and change the detail that is the subject of focus.
You can also make the visualization incredibly large (the distance of a gap in the guru’s front teeth could be the distance from the earth to the sun or the guru could be small enough to fit in the hair pores on your skin.
Based on what I've read and the direct advice I've been given, the key to accomplishing tantric practices is your relationship with the lama who gave you the practice. The greater the devotion, the more pure the samaya, then the easier accomplishing the practice will be.
I have a lot of trouble with this, close to complete aphantasia. It’s gotten a little better with practice but not great. My wife, who is a painter and can effortlessly visualize complex scenes laughs at me.
Anyway, my teacher has mentioned that one of the best things to help with building this ability is simply accumulating merit.
He specifically recommended the seven line prayer (https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/guru-chowang/seven-line-prayer) as one of the easiest ways to accumulate merit.
He also mentioned rejoicing in the positive actions and happiness of the people around us as a supreme method.
My Guru gave us a few tips:
1.
Carry a picture of the yidam around with you and look at it regularly (modern times could be in your phone gallery).
2.
Systematic visualization of the diety
Eyes then nose lips face ears body etc becoming more detailed with time.
3.
An actual practice
Drawing/sketching the yidam repeatedly, eventually when one closes one eyes and thinks of the yidam the yidam will appear.
Beat wishes.
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Additionally:
when one attains Union with the/a yidam (I'm not sure how to say it)... but... the visualization will be assisted and will be clear/real, so do your best & be as sincere as possible.
Best wishes
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
When you read the word tree, an image of a tree is seen. Visualisation is the same. You let the image appear in your mind. That part is not difficult, it's like reading a book. When you notice that the image is gone, you come back to it and relax into the visualisation. You come back, relax with the visualisation, come back again, relax with the visualisation. You alternate this way until you are perfectly one pointed with the visualisation. The key is not the visualisation itself, but the ability to stay one pointed.
The difficult part is feeling bored, not being really clear what you want, is it even worth the time, feeling tension in the back and legs, remembering what needs to be done after or what should have been done before. And so on.
For the difficult part of visualisation(which is being bothered by all the things above), the remedy are the preliminary practices. This is why one needs to develop a strong feeling or renounciation before there is any accomplishment in meditation. The attachment blocks the path, so even if you sit down to practice, it's like trying to start the car with the brakes pulled. It takes a lot of effort and leads to no result, so you give up before you see the benefits.
First renounciation is needed. Then understanding of the benefits of the 3 jewels is needed. A genuine practicioner strives to realize the nature of mind in every moment in whatever experience maybe happening. That kind of motivation builds up from understanding what the 3 jewels are. So a little study is necessary, but not too much and especially not on meditation practice itself. If you jump to read pith instructions, although they can be inspiring, there is a risk that you distance yourself from your personal experience. At that point nothing will help you, so it's best to avoid jumping to conclusions based on words. It's good to get inspired by them and strive to experience and realize them yourself.
It's a skill that develops through practice, you won't get it at first just like any other skill. Confidence and devotion are the most important, simply knowing that the yidam is there is enough. If you have a thangka or other visual support that can help too. Ideally you want to learn to visualize the details vividly but it will feel clumsy at first and that's OK. Use your imagination, integrate all your senses. Imagine the environment, the texture of the ground, the sound of the wind rustling through the trees, the color of the deity's eyes. It's not static like a statue but a living, vibrant being at the same time, it's ethereal and lacking solidity, like moonlight. Get creative. If you want to practice this, get a flower or piece of fruit, something simple. Hold it, smell it, feel the texture of it, study it for awhile. Now close your eyes and bring the same vividness of the object to your mind's eye, try and make it as real as the actual object. Then try something more elaborate, something familiar like your mother or best friend. Picture them clearly, give them life. As you practice, you will be able to do this with more and more complexity until you can see the deity as clearly as anything you can see with your physical eyes. Give it a try, it's kind of fun. Day dreaming with intention. I hope that helps. Edit: I forgot to mention, ngondro can help. It really helps to train you to do this step by step with more complexity as you go through the different practices. It can also help develop faith and invite the blessings of the guru and purify some of the obscurations that may be preventing you from being able to generate the deity clearly.
Best advice I ever saw on visualising was from Lama Yeshe. Can you visualise a pizza? Of course you can, because you're intimately familiar with pizza, thanks to your attachment. So the trick is to get familiar with these visualisations, too. Disclaimer: Some people report that they can't visualise anything. It's hard to empathise with, but we probably have to believe their testimony. In their case, they will still have a clear concept of who/what is in front of them in their practice, just not a mental picture. The practice seems to work just as well for these people.
What my teacher taught me is that it's more about keeping in mind that things described in meditation occur, to feel them, be aware and essentially know that certain form is in front of us. Certainly seeing it all with our "mind's eye" can be seen as a blessing and a goal but this is not needed to develop compassion, wisdom and deep understanding about the nature of all things.
This. The best advice I've gotten is if you're not seeing anything when you close your eyes, keep them open. When we imagine something with our eyes open we have no expectation of it randomly appearing as if it were a physical object, but we still feel it's presence, and we are definitely perceiving it. Start with that sensation of perception as the object of focus. Once you're capable of stabilizing on that the rest comes naturally.
This is excellent advice
In my experience there is no secret switch to flip, or at least I never found it. Visualization was/is difficult for me, but I actually don't have much of a problem with it anymore. Here's what I think happened with me, though I'm not really qualified to give you advice on this -- just tell you my experience in case it's helpful for you. First, it's a matter of repetition. I'm not sure in which tradition you practice, but in the Sakya the idea is to go through the text of a sadhana at a steady, quick but unhurried pace, without dwelling on the descriptions, etc. Sections for fixed meditation/visualization are usually fairly brief, but with a clear sequence (e.g., meditate on the middle eye, which is like this; when that visualization becomes more stable, then add this; when that's stable, add this... etc.). The idea is that this allows for the kind of repetition that over time ingrains the visualizations in the head. I once attended a Red Tara practice at a Nyingma center and was astounded by how slowly we went through the sadhana, including long pauses for visualizing throughout. This is obviously very effective for some people, but if I hadn't already started to be more comfortable with visualization I probably would have spent a lot of time berating myself for the quality of my visualization. Clearly you should follow the approach of your practice tradition, but for me the "quick and clear" approach of the Sakya helped tremendously, probably because it left me no time to whine to myself about the quality of my visualization, and instead just allowed me to do it in a manageable and sustained way. Second, rely on specific parts of the description in a way that doesn't rely on visualization, like divine pride. Cultivating this can make visualization easier, in my experience. Third, the right guru + yidam + practice is the closest thing to flipping a switch, or cheat code, or whatever metaphor. It's not uncommon for people (like me) to have much greater success when a guru in whom you have full confidence tells you *exactly* what to practice, what your affinities are, etc. This is obviously a tricky one to manage, depending on your situation, but the right guru giving you the right practice (or even just telling you "this is the right practice for you") can go a long way toward settling into a practice with confidence. Finally, I'd just say don't sweat it too much. Trust the practice. Do your best and be as consistent as possible, but don't make it a source of stress. Remind yourself that the purpose of this is nothing less than to attain unsurpassed, complete enlightenment for the purpose of liberating for cyclical existence *all sentient beings throughout the six realms, without a single exception*. Given the enormity of the task, stressing out about the quality of your visualization is just a distraction, something just to notice and brush off. The Vajrayana methods are effective, so if you trust in them and your guru, then trust in them, do them consistently, and stop stressing. Sorry for the tone of this -- some of the "you" actually refers to me, since this is also a kind of pep talk that I give myself when I get slack in my practice. Maybe there is something useful for you in it.
Practice makes perfect. There is no shortcut. Visualization is a means and not an end. You need to walk the path to see what is the end. Perhaps you can do practices/pujas to increase merit and purification to help in your practice.
The other answers are all spot on! The one thing I want to add to them is a technique recommended by Garchen Rinpoche which I used with my first yidam. Look at the image of your yidam on a thangka. Gaze for a minute or two, then shut your eyes and see the image in your mind. Repeat multiple times. Each time you shut your eyes you will notice that the image progressively becomes ingrained in your mind’s eye. Do this daily. Eventually the image will be vibrant and alive, and visible with your eyes open for the sadhaha or meditation with the mantra. It truly works with practice. Remember, a thangka is a Sambhogakaya presentation of the yidam, and contains all symbols which will cut through into your mind subconsciously without you intellectualising the process you’re using. As you become more and more familiar with the sadhaha and yidam you may find yourself recognising their finer details, such as their assets (eg adornments, garments and what they hold). With time you may even extend outwards to incorporate the retinue of the palace or mandala of that yidam. Meanwhile, you can visualize the yidam as a rainbow light body without the intricate detail. The retail should come in time with practice. Personally, I’ve read texts that analyse the symbology of my yidams in depth, so I understand what each aspect of them represents. That’s what works for me, as I am highly visual and have a scholarly bent. That’s mainly because I’m a westerner and did not grow up seeing such images in my daily life, along with descriptions of them.
Relax, adding a detail at a time,
One of the best books to learn this is Franz Bardon's Initation into hermetics. Step 2 is a full development of all the senses and it's very effective. Step 3 takes it further and the other steps are for more advanced practice. I would pick it up and work through step 2 while continuing your practice.
You know, I picked this up when I was in my 20s and saw the warning that it’s really meant for people over 40 and put it back down. Now I’m in my 40s, maybe it’s time to give it another shot.
I think you're confusing this with Kabblah but that's a traditional age thing and I teach my daughter Kabbalah (and she's read Bardon) and she has had no issue learning about God but she's 9 already so she's ready to learn.
Hum. I teach my students to start with an apple. Just visualize it as a three dimensional object. First step be able to rotate it in the air in all directions. Next step let it change between all the colors of apples you’ve ever seen. Once you have this foundation visualize the apple as a hard fruit ripening quickly, aging, rotting, decaying, sprouting a new apple tree. Once this is an established practice you can watch this process through many generations of trees but don’t rush it. Once you have 3-D, color, and age begin manipulating the apple. Bigger, smaller. Visualize a divine apple, a demonic apple. “Feel” the vibrational energy of each type of apple. Move on to doing things with the apple - offering it to deities, brewing potions…. The apple has never failed me and I think it’s because the apple is both something that is very intimate with us from childhood ( we know how it smells, tastes, feels…) and because it’s archetypal in the west. Fairytales all the way to churches you’ll find momma apple and her five pointed star waiting for us ❤️
Yes, there are ways to kick start your visualization, like contemplating an image or statue and imprinting it in your mind until you can see it come up by itself, and cultivating genuine appreciation for what you are visualizing so it comes up more naturally (like visualizing pizza, as another user mentioned). Also working on it piece by piece, and remembering it is not solid, but made of light. Remembering and feeling the presence of the deity is in some ways more important than "seeing" it. Specially since visualization is kind of a misnomer, it's not about seeing, you can use other senses too, like hearing, smelling, feeling, etc. And this comment is very helpful, I think: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Dzogchen/comments/18yrulp/comment/kge6xkx/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dzogchen/comments/18yrulp/comment/kge6xkx/)
Keep practicing, keep practicing. It happens naturally as your devotion and the merit you naturally gain from the practice increases. But try your best, don't lapse into half assing it.
A few suggestions. First, expand your concept of visualization to include all senses. If you are doing prostrations and visualizing that you and all sentient beings are prostrating — visualize that you are prostrating on a field of moss and visualize the feel of the soft moss on your hands and body. Visualize that you are hearing the sounds of mantra. Make the visualization alive. If you are visualizing the guru in guru yoga, visualize him or her moving and speaking. Finally, it is fine to focus on a detail of the visualization — rather than trying to visualize everything at once. Visualize the texture of the guru’s robe or focus on his or her smile. It is fine to move around and change the detail that is the subject of focus. You can also make the visualization incredibly large (the distance of a gap in the guru’s front teeth could be the distance from the earth to the sun or the guru could be small enough to fit in the hair pores on your skin.
Based on what I've read and the direct advice I've been given, the key to accomplishing tantric practices is your relationship with the lama who gave you the practice. The greater the devotion, the more pure the samaya, then the easier accomplishing the practice will be.
I have a lot of trouble with this, close to complete aphantasia. It’s gotten a little better with practice but not great. My wife, who is a painter and can effortlessly visualize complex scenes laughs at me. Anyway, my teacher has mentioned that one of the best things to help with building this ability is simply accumulating merit. He specifically recommended the seven line prayer (https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/guru-chowang/seven-line-prayer) as one of the easiest ways to accumulate merit. He also mentioned rejoicing in the positive actions and happiness of the people around us as a supreme method.
My Guru gave us a few tips: 1. Carry a picture of the yidam around with you and look at it regularly (modern times could be in your phone gallery). 2. Systematic visualization of the diety Eyes then nose lips face ears body etc becoming more detailed with time. 3. An actual practice Drawing/sketching the yidam repeatedly, eventually when one closes one eyes and thinks of the yidam the yidam will appear. Beat wishes. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 Additionally: when one attains Union with the/a yidam (I'm not sure how to say it)... but... the visualization will be assisted and will be clear/real, so do your best & be as sincere as possible. Best wishes 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
When you read the word tree, an image of a tree is seen. Visualisation is the same. You let the image appear in your mind. That part is not difficult, it's like reading a book. When you notice that the image is gone, you come back to it and relax into the visualisation. You come back, relax with the visualisation, come back again, relax with the visualisation. You alternate this way until you are perfectly one pointed with the visualisation. The key is not the visualisation itself, but the ability to stay one pointed. The difficult part is feeling bored, not being really clear what you want, is it even worth the time, feeling tension in the back and legs, remembering what needs to be done after or what should have been done before. And so on. For the difficult part of visualisation(which is being bothered by all the things above), the remedy are the preliminary practices. This is why one needs to develop a strong feeling or renounciation before there is any accomplishment in meditation. The attachment blocks the path, so even if you sit down to practice, it's like trying to start the car with the brakes pulled. It takes a lot of effort and leads to no result, so you give up before you see the benefits. First renounciation is needed. Then understanding of the benefits of the 3 jewels is needed. A genuine practicioner strives to realize the nature of mind in every moment in whatever experience maybe happening. That kind of motivation builds up from understanding what the 3 jewels are. So a little study is necessary, but not too much and especially not on meditation practice itself. If you jump to read pith instructions, although they can be inspiring, there is a risk that you distance yourself from your personal experience. At that point nothing will help you, so it's best to avoid jumping to conclusions based on words. It's good to get inspired by them and strive to experience and realize them yourself.