MEDITATIVE CONTEMPLATION/VISIONING
A process about which we have been hearing a great deal these days is what has come to be known, in the arena of New Thought churches and organizations, as Visioning. It differs from affirmative prayer in the following way:
Affirmative prayer (Spiritual Mind Treatment) is a proactive process where you move your consciousness to a place of acceptance of something you want to experience or acquire. It is a process for letting the Universe know specifically what you want. Important questions, however, are: “Do I even know what I want?” Or, “Is what I want always what is best for me at this time?”
Visioning, on the other hand, is just the opposite. In this process you becomes centered in your intuitive mind, opening to ever-present Universal Inspiration and Guidance, and ask to be enlightened with respect to some need or desire. This is a conscious act of being open to the best that the Universe has for you.
The visioning process has been around for thousands of years and, in fact, probably predates the process of affirmative prayer. It is that to which Ernest Holmes is referring when he said, “True prayer must be ‘Thy will be done.’” (Science of Mind, pg. 268) Or, where he encouraged us to daily say, “Perfect God within me, Perfect Life within me, which is God, come forth into expression through me as that which I am; lead me ever into the paths of perfection and cause me to see only the Good.” (Science of Mind, pg. 185)
Visioning, as we use the term, is similar to what many spiritual centers, nowadays, are calling Contemplative Prayer; and yogis, for thousands of years, have called Meditative Contemplation.
The word contemplation is defined as, “deep, reflective thought,” often associated with the act of focusing attention for a specific purpose.
Meditation is the practice of quieting thought, allowing the mind to become receptive to the realization of the pure essence of being.
Meditative contemplation (or visioning), therefore, is the focus of deep, reflective thought, done in a meditative environment, and with a specific purpose in mind. Meditation is context. Contemplation is content.
Roy Eugene Davis describes meditative contemplation in his book The Science of Self Realization (a commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras), page 50, as follows:
Two kinds of meditative contemplation can be practiced with benefit. (1) When the mind is calm, contemplate that with which you aspire to be identified until Samadhi [superconsciousness] is established. (2) Contemplate what you want to know until you have insight.
When contemplating to have knowledge revealed, clearly define what you want to know, examine it, and expect to have insight into it. You can then have knowledge of God, your true nature, the categories and processes of cosmic manifestation, or whatever else you desire to know. Insights may at first be unclear or incomplete. When your powers of concentration are developed, you may be pleasantly surprised by the many discoveries that emerge and the abilities that are acquired.
Following is a brief outline (adapted from the work of Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith) of one way for doing Visioning. It is simple, straightforward and enormously effective in helping you to gain clear direction for your life or the life of any endeavor in which you are involved.
Center yourself in the silence and know that the Universe, as Love, surrounds and infuses you. The practice of meditation is an excellent way to adopt this spiritual posture.
Acknowledge the continual in-flow of Spirit expressing Itself in your consciousness as knowledge.
Ask questions concerning that for which you are seeking knowledge, insight, inspiration or guidance. Some typical questions that might be useful to you are:
1. What is the highest vision the Infinite has for [my life, this project, event, situation, etc.]?
2. What must be released to empower this vision?
3. What must be embraced or changed to empower this vision?
4. What else needs to be understood right now to manifest this vision?
Silently and confidently wait for the answers to come to you.
End your session with a short affirmative prayer and declare that the vision is already manifested
It is useful to write down the insights, guidance and results you gain from this process, hold them in consciousness, and declare them completed. This is a simple, easy process that can help transform your life. All you need to use it effectively is to DO IT!
Visioning can be useful in cases where there are projects or purposes held in common by a group of people. Group visioning is essentially the same as when you do it on your own. However, for optimum effectiveness the group needs to:
Be clear on what is the focus of their visioning.
Know that participants in the visioning group are compatible.
Have a real desire to do this process.
Establish the frequency of the visioning meetings.
Determine what to do with the results of the visioning.
© R. Imprescia 2010