Visualization in the Occult Sciences

This paper explores a meditation practice that involves forms of visualization. It is a Theravādan practice that was researched ethnographically. The analytic focus of this report concerns the practical work of meditation. Meditative visualization is placed in the context of a broader literature on visualization practices. The paper commences with a comparative consideration of ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ approaches to mind. Meditation practice is introduced as a means of the meditator working with mind and learning from that experience. It is a controlled, purposeful, and imaginative exploration of states of consciousness. Visualization within meditation practice comprises a means of exploring certain meditative objects. A case study of a meditation practice that employs visualization is considered, and certain conclusions are drawn. In the overall conclusion, the results of this study of visualization in meditation are placed in the context of the broader literature on visualization.