What is imagination and how do you use it?

It's hard for me to pass up a meta-experience. I love them so.

"What is imagination?"

I believe that imagination is a pre-conscious reflex of the brain and nervous system that reacts to stimuli from the senses (UR). It is not so much limited to a visual or a picture as it is lacking language. These are different things. It is unlikely that imagination can be halted completely, indefinitely, and I believe that it is unwise to try. It can, however, be observed from the outside so that the self is not identified with it.

As someone studying Magic, I am being informed by the images of imagination which the various esoteric schools teach. The one I am currently using (answers the next question) is that the Moon is the "planet" which bestows Imagination on humanity. Each planet bestows different gifts, and this is the gift of the Moon. From this starting place, one begins the journey to enlightenment. The reason it marks the beginning is because it was the last gift given which grounded us here in the material realm and made us completely identify with our animal natures (answers the last question).

Imagination is the glue which holds us to the pre-conscious reactions of the animal in us. I saw a video the other day on TED which offered an interesting suggestion: that the ancient cave paintings of animals and hunting were not about hunting magic, but were nostalgic pictures of our relatives that we no longer talk to and relate with. When we pulled away from the herd, we missed our parents, so we drew pictures of them on the walls. This idea is a unit of imagination. It may be right, it may be wrong, but it makes sense to us in some way.

While animals may not imagine things in the details that we do, nor have language to add to these units, they too project meaning into events. This is how they can anticipate things such as an enemy approaching or a mate or friend returning after being gone. At some point, we expanded on that theme, and we realized that there was so much more going on that we could interact with, but the beloved animals could not.

But we could not see ourselves imagining yet. We only saw things out there that were not self and we saw those things being either malevolent or benevolent. And we identified with our reactions to those things. We were scared, we were hurt, we were angry, we were happy, we were jealous, etc. These were elements contained in our self - our being. There was no separation. We were carried by these units of imagination from act to act slavishly for good or ill. Our gods reflected our need to be carried to the Good.

"Is it useful?"

Yes. I am learning how to use it with intention as a Therapeutic Healing Technology. 

"...and if so, how do you use it?.."

Just last night I used a thought form that I created to go to sleep. I call her "Mum" and she is the Mother that soothes and reassures you and greets you as you fall asleep and arise from sleep. The soul was designed to be carried by such a being into and out of the act of sleep, but in the absence of that being in my material life, I had to make one up. I wish I could quantify the degree to which this has helped me. My mind quieted and my heart rate and breathing slowed and my body relaxed within seconds. The lower animal mind does not know or care about the difference between a "real" Mum and an imagined one, because as The Matrix taught us "Real is just electrical signals interpreted by your brain." To the lower mind, she is a Savior. To my higher mind she is an imaginary being. Both are true.

Today, before I started my day, I spent some time at my Altar and talked to Quan Yin. She is my "Goddess" of choice. She has helped me, along with others, to learn from my body and lower mind and use the torment as a stepping stone to healing. I created her to do just this. And I chose her because if there ever was such a bodhisattva, the tradition says she offered herself for this exact purpose.

So, since I have put so much work in creating her Presence and Intention, the image now gives back to me by teaching me immediately as I give her my attention. I don't have to wait for her Presence to emerge or separate out or develop as I sit. She is there immediately. I came to her with pain, and she sorted it out wordlessly and showed me exactly what must be done. I had the solution within seconds. And as soon as I acted on this information, a ten-ton weight was lifted off my shoulders.

"...and/or can it be a hindrance?"

Yes. As I mentioned above, the imagination is the bridge or the hand-cuffs which attaches us to our animal nature. When understood and turned to serve the intention of the self, it is an incredibly powerful force which serves the self. If not understood and left to it's own devices it can destroy the self - as it has done to me for most of my life so far. For people with PTSD the imagination victimizes them day in and day out, torturing them in the hell of the living. One is carried this way and that, from one nightmarish memory to the next, compelled to act for good or ill or to dissociate. The original images are hard-wired in and cannot be removed. They must be enveloped by larger images - as Keith Witt talked about - which make better sense of them and free the self from their grip.

The imagination will continue to generate images and stories until we're dead. We're stuck with it. But we can turn this to our advantage if we study what the ancients have learned about this process. With our added rational, higher thinking mind along for the ride, we can only improve on this process and make it even more efficient.

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[has that already been done?]

--I am sorry to see this dialogue simmer down, because I think it is a good one.  Setting all traditional definitions of imagination aside, for me, imagination is the creation of form in consciousness.  The engine of creation, the mechanism that creates, is imagination.  By form, I mean everything from image to word to idea to self image.  As soon as who we are creates form, whether in mind or being or self, we are using our imaginations.  The degree to which we are aware of our imaginations and how to use them is individual to each of us.  With our imaginations, we create for ourselves, our experience, our world, distractions, fears, hopes, identities, homes, families, everything in our lives.  The more we understand our role in this creation, the better we understand the workings of our imagination and our selves.