Absolutely can NOT visualize

[gommh]

So for the past few weeks, I've been creating a tulpa, I've been enforcing personality traits on them, narrating to them and on occasion heard them reply [albeit very briefly and erratically]; however hard I try, though, I just can't visualize anything. The 'minds eye' description of visualization doesn't help, as I can't seem to remember memories as visual concepts, rather strings of facts and statistics. I used to have a very good imagination, but it has dwindled in the past 5 or so years, however I am still good at meditation and I have very vivid dreams. My question is this - is there a way to visualize without a great imagination? I see nothing except distorted noise. Thank you in advance.

[QB2]

What do you see when you read a book?

[Pronas]

I see qb-chan snuggling me :3

[waffles]

If I said "What do you look like", could you see yourself now without actually looking? Can you rememember faces and appearances? What about if I asked you about your bedroom, or front door? Do you remember what they look like? Can you imagine what they look like?

 

You can do your tulpa like that. If you really, really suck at visualisation then you could cheat and use a pre-existing appearance, or draw / get someone to draw your tulpa.

 

If nothing else, then practice. If you want to impose, you're going to have to brush up on visualisation at some point anyway.

 

And I should add; no matter how much you think you can't visualise, it's extremely unlikely that you actually -can't-. It'd take a neurological disorder, one you clearly don't have if you could visualise well in the past and can dream vividly.

[Sands]

Imagine a fat, hairy neckbeard in a tub full of water. Or well, it was full of water but as the fatty got in, most of the water poured out and on the floor, at your bare feet. Warm, soapy water, but turned brown from all the dirt from the said neckbeard in that tub. Sweat is slowly being washed off by the little bit of grimy water in the tub full of lard and fat rolls. A bubbling sound can be heard from behind as the neckbeard farts with a smile of content on his acne-ridden face. Oh, actually, no. It wasn't a fart. You see a brown log emerge from under the surface and float on the bath water. Smell of manure fills the room.

 

What did you see, hear or smell?

 

That was me.

[Chupi]

What do you see when you read a book?

 

The book itself. I've been in this situation as well.

 

The fact that you have vivid dreams shows your brain is capable of generating really realistic and vivid images. Your problem is likely reality-refocus. The harder you try to see something, the more you focus your attention on the only place you're used to seeing things -- your eyes. And that just results in seeing the visual noise your eyes are actually seeing.

 

If your issue is like mine, part of your problem is that your mind is used to doing rather than watching. If you want your mind to do something, you make it do it. This is how we think normally. The polar opposite happens when we dream.

 

One thing that helped me was to let myself passively drift. Don't think about trying to visualize, just let go of that. Use your facts-and-statistics thing. Just be next to your tulpa in whatever way you can. Focus every last shred of attention you have on her, and nothing else. Meanwhile you're drifting and getting closer to sleep, but you're not falling asleep because you're so intensely focused on one thing. You should be holding as still as you can during this.

 

If you keep doing this, one of a few things will happen:

• By focusing on one thing, you absorb all of your conscious "doing" ability in that, and eventually let go of trying to visualize enough that what you're focusing on starts to form on its own in your mind's eye. If this happens, practice it and try to bring it into more and more waking states.
  
• You get close enough to sleep that you begin to truly see her vaguely, like in your physical sight. This will likely start out as shadows, fuzzy outlines or silhouettes. Again, you can bring this out into more waking states with practice.
  
• You fall into a fully vivid lucid dream. Apparently it's very easy for the start of one to jolt you awake. If you're drifting, get a very short bit of dream-level visualization and then you're just awake again, head over to Dreamviews for tips on stabilizing and controlling a lucid dream.
  
• You lose focus and have a nap. Keep trying.
  
• Nothing. Probably means you didn't last long enough. Maybe you got uncomfortable, had to use the bathroom, etc. Try different positions and different times of day. Keep in mind that doing it exactly the same and failing a ten times doesn't necessarily mean you're going it wrong. Some days it'll work better than others, and it's like working out in that you're training your brain over time.
  
• You abort because it's becoming hard to breathe, you feel a weight on your chest, perhaps some sort of buzzing. This is the start of sleep paralysis. You are still breathing just fine. If you can make it through this, your body will be asleep and you won't be able to move. At this point, you can try various things like falling through your bed, rolling out of your body, climbing out of it up a rope, etc. If you can get out, you've got an out-of-body experience, and it works basically the same as a lucid dream, but you start out in your room and can see yourself lying there. Teleport or fly to your wonderland or anywhere else if you like, or explore your fully vivid mental model of your own house.
  

[gommh]

What do you see when you read a book?

 

 

The book itself. I've been in this situation as well.

 

The fact that you have vivid dreams shows your brain is capable of generating really realistic and vivid images. Your problem is likely reality-refocus. The harder you try to see something, the more you focus your attention on the only place you're used to seeing things -- your eyes. And that just results in seeing the visual noise your eyes are actually seeing.

 

If your issue is like mine, part of your problem is that your mind is used to doing rather than watching. If you want your mind to do something, you make it do it. This is how we think normally. The polar opposite happens when we dream.

 

One thing that helped me was to let myself passively drift. Don't think about trying to visualize, just let go of that. Use your facts-and-statistics thing. Just be next to your tulpa in whatever way you can. Focus every last shred of attention you have on her, and nothing else. Meanwhile you're drifting and getting closer to sleep, but you're not falling asleep because you're so intensely focused on one thing. You should be holding as still as you can during this.

 

If you keep doing this, one of a few things will happen:

• By focusing on one thing, you absorb all of your conscious "doing" ability in that, and eventually let go of trying to visualize enough that what you're focusing on starts to form on its own in your mind's eye. If this happens, practice it and try to bring it into more and more waking states.
  
• You get close enough to sleep that you begin to truly see her vaguely, like in your physical sight. This will likely start out as shadows, fuzzy outlines or silhouettes. Again, you can bring this out into more waking states with practice.
  
• You fall into a fully vivid lucid dream. Apparently it's very easy for the start of one to jolt you awake. If you're drifting, get a very short bit of dream-level visualization and then you're just awake again, head over to Dreamviews for tips on stabilizing and controlling a lucid dream.
  
• You lose focus and have a nap. Keep trying.
  
• Nothing. Probably means you didn't last long enough. Maybe you got uncomfortable, had to use the bathroom, etc. Try different positions and different times of day. Keep in mind that doing it exactly the same and failing a ten times doesn't necessarily mean you're going it wrong. Some days it'll work better than others, and it's like working out in that you're training your brain over time.
  
• You abort because it's becoming hard to breathe, you feel a weight on your chest, perhaps some sort of buzzing. This is the start of sleep paralysis. You are still breathing just fine. If you can make it through this, your body will be asleep and you won't be able to move. At this point, you can try various things like falling through your bed, rolling out of your body, climbing out of it up a rope, etc. If you can get out, you've got an out-of-body experience, and it works basically the same as a lucid dream, but you start out in your room and can see yourself lying there. Teleport or fly to your wonderland or anywhere else if you like, or explore your fully vivid mental model of your own house.
  

 

This method actually works pretty well. I haven't tried the lucid dream thing, but I can see a fuzzy outline, and get what [irish, is it?] describes as an alien feeling. It takes a hell of a lot of energy out of me, but it's nothing a cup of coffee and an aspirin can't fix. Once again, thanks for the guide! :D

[mouse]

Take a look at this; http://lesswrong.com/r/discussion/lw/gq6/visual_mental_imagery_training/

There's a bit of information about what's going on in there.