Apparently it is quite common for us to see visions when we meditate, but is it a good thing or a bad thing?
Most people say that it is awesome, it means you’re opening up the third eye or are getting closer to the higher-self. Some argue that visions in meditation are nothing but pictures our minds cook up, or they’re simply just (lucid) dreams.
I had my first extremely vivid vision today, it looked like a dream but I knew I was seeing things with my eyes closed and I was completely awake. The whole vision was like a Chinese ink and color art painted on silk.
I was doing a 15 minutes meditation. About 10 minutes in, I felt and saw myself in Hanfu (漢服) I think (I don’t have much knowledge in this regard, so I can’t be sure). It was a gown in Morandi blue, it had wide sleeves with embroideries. I had handmaidens and guards around and behind me. I was walking through a hallway in an ancient building, or it could be one of the galleries that connects the garden to the main house. There were white sheer curtains hanging on the arched doors. I flipped one open and walked through the arched door.
It appeared in front of me a hand-dug well in the ground, it could also be a pond I suppose. It was lined with laid-stones in the shade of a dark greenish blue, like the color of the Terra-Cotta Warriors or jade. There were engravings and patterns on the stones, but I couldn’t tell what they were. The water in the well was quite dark, I stirred it with my left hand and a vortex was formed. I could see my own vague reflections in the dark water, in the meantime I kept thinking about dragons.
The timer went off and I lost the vision.
I was fascinated by the vision and I couldn’t help but wonder, what doe it all mean?
If I was to believe the more spiritual side of the argument, the girl wearing the blue Hanfu in the vision could be me in the past life, it could also be my higher-self. The vortex would mean that I’m activating my third eye and the dark water could symbolise that I need to get rid of negative emotions, like stress or anxiety. Water is also the symbol of transformation, since water never stays the same, which could mean something in my life needs changing.
My thoughts about dragons could signal the Dragon Energy, which stands for great divine will and self-empowerment. Of course a more common interpretation would be that the dragon is my Spirit Animal, which associates with transformation, fulfilment of potential and metaphysical or magical knowledge. However I was only thinking about the dragons, not actually seeing one, so there’s a desire to obtain fulfilment of higher purpose and knowledge from the higher realm, but I’m not quite there yet.
From a more skeptical point of view, visions are one of the distractions that prevents us from doing our inner work during meditations. The things we see usually are deeply connected to the things we are “obsessed” with, whether consciously or subconsciously. Just like most dreams are the fulfilment of a wish, no matter how twisted or disconnected the dreams may appear.
We have visions because of greed, because we want to see something special, we want to be the chosen one to experience something extra spiritual, like seeing the past or the future. Visions are illusions our brains create for us as a response to our desire or a reward. Essentially they should serve as reminders that we still have yearnings, and that our mind wonders. What we need to focus on in a meditation is to break all the illusions, by bringing the attention to the breathing.
I do believe some part of the more spiritual version to be true, but the skeptics have some good points too. I think it all depends on the reason why we meditate to begin with, and it’s entirely up to ourselves to feel which interpretation is the correct one.
Some of us meditate to control emotions, see the future or receive messages from another realm; my main goal of meditation is to understand, accept and then finally being able to live with all of me or to let certain part go.
In the end, to me, it is all about seeing ourselves with clarity, having honest conversations with ourselves, loving ourselves with all our beauties and flaws and being kinder to the world. Of course if I get to connect with Source and the higher-self in the meantime, it would be perfectly splendid 🥰.
What about you, which version do you resonate more with?
Inner Orbit 