Why do visualization and breathing require practice?

Visualization and breathing both require practice. Keeping an image clear, stable, and sustained first requires the ability to settle and concentrate. An occasional image flashing through the mind differs from focused use during practice. Skill still needs accumulating.

Breathing is one foundation. Singing taught me that inhaling and exhaling for high notes and using the dantian have much in common with spiritual exercises. Singing can offer a way to experience what initially feels like dull breathing practice. Still, understand the method and build foundations with suitable guidance.

When easily distracted, first attend to breathing. Discussing an anime's total-concentration breathing with Dao Xuan, I introduced breath counting. Count one inhalation and exhalation as a cycle, from one to ten and back down. Alternatively, count one on inhaling, two on exhaling, and repeat. Such practice helps focus attention on present breathing.

Imagery can also develop gradually. Positive anime helped my own visualization. Animation faces fewer physical filming limits and can portray imagination concretely, making some unseen concepts easier to grasp. Recitation, intention, and visualization need coordination during practice, allowing imagination developed regularly to be put to use.

If unsure what to imagine, actual pictures can help. During prayers for Taiwan, we displayed a map so everyone understood that the visualized strength was dedicated to this land and those living here. A clear object makes direction easier to grasp.

A fellow practitioner who struggled to imagine described first viewing a Bodhisattva or Three Pure Ones image on the back of a scripture card, then closing the eyes to visualize while reciting a sacred name, hoping to strengthen connection with the deity. Beginning with a visible image was that practitioner's regular method.

Teaching visualization, I have used the example of requesting Guanyin Bodhisattva's white light. Imagine light entering through the crown and what you feel is harmful leaving as dark vapor. Within practice, this coordinates prayer, intention, and imagery. Caring for the body, settling the heart, and attuning recitation to the deity invoked are also learned together.

Besides meditation, you can begin with inner dialogue. I have suggested becoming quiet after a shower, when physically comfortable and mentally well, to ask what your heart is thinking and truly wants. People unfamiliar with meditation can begin understanding themselves through such conversation.

People also ask how visualization differs from fantasy. I first consider why the practice is undertaken: settling oneself and seeking blessings, or simply chasing mental images? Purpose still needs suitable methods, practical training, and a teacher's guidance. Setting an image does not mean it has actually been accomplished. Visualization can slip into fantasy, so seeing something is not grounds for a rushed conclusion. Other suitable teachers and groups can also be explored. Learning need not be limited to Sheng Zhen Men.