I'm looking for more information on visualization technique. Possibly mixing it in with my current practice.
I currently practice for 60 minutes per day doing a mixture of samatha (breath and piti as object) and vipassana.
I've been recently been getting into the idea of lucid dreaming. I'm reading a book called Dream Yoga by Andrew Holecek. It's been pretty fascinating so far. The author is Buddhist and states that practicing generation stage meditation can help one to become lucid in dreaming and also helps with dream yoga. His recommendation is to use the image of a red lotus flower and visualize it in your throat.
I've been trying to visualize for the past couple days with little success. I typically get into jhanas 1-4 during my daily sits. Besides unconscious imagery that arises and passes, I'm unable to really visualize things vividly. Perhaps I need to start the sit with visualization and not enter jhana with the breath as the object. I'm not sure. The image of a lotus flower in the throat is particularly abstract. I tried visualizing a VW Beetle today instead and had better success. I'm not sure if I could fit it in my throat though!
I'd appreciate anyone's wisdom here. Is visualization technique worth exploring? The idea of lucid dreaming and yoga while sleeping is fascinating and one that I'd like to explore.
Thank you for reading this!
-Kelly
