Imagination As the Key to Reality

"Gifted people are able to use their imaginations to create new things; both wonderful and terrible. Some people come to this earth with their powers of imagination already well developed, and I saw that some of them misuse that power here. Some people use negative energy to create harmful things--items or words that can destroy. Others use their imaginations in positive ways, to the betterment of those around them. These people truly create joy and are blessed. There is a literal power in the creations of the mind. Thoughts are deeds."

"I understood that life is lived most fully in the imagination--that, ironically, imagination is the key to reality."  Betty Eadie - Embraced By The Light

As a healer, one of my favorite modalities is therapeutic guided imagery. I guide the client into a peaceful, safe, trance state and then invite “images” to come. The journey is semi-guided. I am only the facilitator and I make sure the journey stays safe, healing and elevating. Sometimes we invite a guardian angel, an inner guide, or Jesus Christ himself, and the client describes what they are seeing so I can guide them to a therapeutic outcome. Sometimes we find a person’s inner control room and they go in and move some dials that control happiness, or physical pain. These imagery “journeys” as I call them, are in truth, visions. And anyone who has ever taken one with me or a similar facilitator, can vouch for this.

 When I was young I used to think that the visions Nephi or Abraham or Moses had were different than my own personal revelation. I used to think that when they were “carried away” on top of a high mountain, that they really were taken to the top of a mountain. The truth is, they were “carried away in the spirit,” and their bodies were usually still laying on their bed.

Examples:
The Book of Mormon Prophet Lehi - "And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem; and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen. And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a avision, even that he saw the bheavens open…." (Read the whole story in 1 Nephi 1)

Lehi's son Nephi, also a great prophet - "For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot." (Read the whole story at 1 Nephi)

Lamanite King Lamoni - Fell to the earth and seemed dead for 3 days. When he came to he shared his vision and was a totally changed man and changed his whole kingdom. (Read the whole story in Alma 18-19)

Book of Mormon Prophet Alma - Fell to the earth and seemed dead. When he came to, he had seen a vision of Jesus Christ and was a totally changed man. Became one of the greatest leaders and spiritual teachers in the Book of Mormon. (Great story. Mosiah 27)

Biblical Prophet Abraham - “…the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision…” [this is when God promises him offspring like the sands of the sea.] (Gen 15:1)

Moses - Moses was caught up on “an exceedingly high mountain” and sees God “face to face,” God says “look and I will show you the workmanship of mine hands….” God shows Moses world without number. (Amazing vision: Moses 1)

Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Aaron, Miriam, Hannah, Mary....The list goes on. 

If you look up Visions in the Topical Guide, you will also see many references to Dreams. While some of these scriptural visions that are called dreams may have occurred during REM sleep, many likely didn't, but dream was the best way they could describe it. Visions, like imagery journeys, often have a dreamlike quality—in that you are totally engaged in all of your senses, and it feels real.

The truth is, you are not engaged with the five senses of the physical world—or the natural man. There is a yogic saying that the five senses will always lead you into the illusion (or maya, as the yogis call it). But when you close your eyes and “imagine” using all of your senses, you access higher senses--which leads one closer to reality.

Many people get their best revelation when they are between sleep and wakefulness because it is only time they are quiet and restful and when what they know as "reality” is already blurry. A friend recently had a horrible fever that lasted for days, and she told me that when she was delirious she saw two angels standing beside of her taking all the bad stuff out of her and putting in sparkly stuff. (Her words.)  She wasn’t sure if it was real or if she was dreaming. I told her it was totally real. Angels are always around us doing the will of the Lord in answer to our prayers. She was just detached enough from this reality to see them. So if you have ever had an experience that you wondered if it was real, the answer is probably YES. (Unless you were smoking weed or something else, and then I can't vouch for your experience.)

The good news is that you don’t have to be delirious or even have your eyes closed to have a vision:

“And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Iseral, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness [meditation!].. and the spirit of God came upon him…[and he] saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open.” (Num 24:1-4) 

When I guide my clients through an imagery journey, we are consciously choosing to leave the known world and enter a different state. This trance state is sometimes called “hypnosis,” named after Hypnos, the Greek God of sleep. This is a relatively new term for a state that has existed for eons--but it is a misnomer, because although a person in this state may look asleep, it is more of an awakening or enlightening that is happening. Some mystics called this state religious ecstasy.

In some of the above examples, the prophets were not seeking a vision. For example, Lehi was exhausted and was casting himself on his bed. Others were seeking revelation, and believed they could get it--like Nephi. Boy did he get it, and more.

Not only is it okay to seek for and ask for visions/revelation, but according to Joseph Smith, and the Bible Dictionary it is essential for our progression and “Without revelation, all would be guesswork, darkness, and confusion.” (BD)

….Continuous revelation from God to His Saints, through the Holy Ghost or by other means, such as visions, dreams, or visitations, makes possible daily guidance along true paths and leads the faithful soul to complete and eternal salvation in the celestial kingdom. The principle of gaining knowledge by revelation is the principle of salvation. It is the making known of divine truth by communication with the heavens… (Read full entry here.) 

When you go on a therapeutic imagery journey, it begins with the simple act of imagining. Imagination is sometimes thought of as child’s play. Indeed, we are commanded to become as little children. In my experience, it is through this relaxed and submissive state that we gain access to the higher self and higher realms.

As the journey progresses, the “images” that form and the communication that happens, ultimately does not come from your own imagination, but from a higher source. Clients feel this. And they want more. The truth is, we all need more of this.

The best thing about therapeutic imagery is that you don’t have to wait for morning. You don’t have to worry that they might be nightmares (they are always awesome and uplifting), and the interpretations/implications, are much more available to your conscious mind. They also change you. That is what the Holy Ghost does. It is a game changer.

It is through the power of the Holy Ghost that people are “carried away in the Spirit.” There are a few scriptures in 2 Nephi 32 that I love. The first one says "feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." A verse later it says “For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.”

Seems redundant, but it’s not. The words of Christ will tell you what you should do. The Holy Ghost will show unto you what you should do. It is a perfect balance between what we can do (study the scriptures/words of Christ) and what God give us through grace and by the power of the HG which can communicate to us through our spiritual senses in vision, or in auditory visions, or whatever way we will understand.

Science has proven that we see less than 1% of reality. Prophets have also more or less told us this. So, for a year now I have been praying to see things as they really are, and my ability to see has grown exponentially. My daytime normal average is now 2-5% of reality but this is nothing compared to when I am in deep meditation or in a hypnosis imagery state, where I see about 40%+ of reality. (For real! And it's nothing like this reality.)

As I mentioned earlier, you don’t have to be on your death bed to have visions. You don't have to be suffering. You just have to be in an open and receptive state where you mind has let go of control and is basically like a child. Most people don’t know how to get to that state without going to sleep (or dying).

But I know how. And I know how to help people into that state easily. It begins, always, with imagination. Our imaginations are the key to so many things, not just revelation, but also to creation, and causation (causing things to happen). We are divine beings, whether we believe it or not and as such, whatever we create mentally, becomes reality—spiritually first, and then it manifests into physical reality later, in some form. (Many people use their powers of imagination for worrying. Worriers have great imaginations.)

The power of the mind and the ability to imagine is the basis for all energy/faith healing and the key to lasting change. For those who need help letting go of the distraction of the dishes in the sink, the background noise, the temptation of brownies baking, there are several things that can help. Meditation is one. Another is to have a trained guide or facilitator.

Unfortunately, not enough people have this skill or training. I think that it is more powerful than any of my other tools, except meditation, because it gives the power to the client and lets them have an experience all their own.

Ojai Valley

This has been gestating for a year, but I am now officially announcing that I will be offering a therapeutic imagery facilitator training in July of 2014. It is open to anyone who wants to learn. There are no pre-requisites required, only an open heart. I would also love to invite all licensed therapists and others already working in the healing arts to do this training and become a therapeutic imagery facilitator. 

Training will be one week in July 14-18, 2014 and it will be held in Ojai, California, convenient to many beautiful vacation spots if you want to bring the whole family. My colleagues and I have both taught at an accredited college of hypnosis and trained all kinds of people in imagery from gang members to large groups of therapists. I have a payment plan and early bird pricing, so be an early bird.

If you have never taken an imagery journey and would like to try a good basic special place journey, you can download a free MP3 when you subscribe to my hypnotherapy newsletter. This will give you just a small taste of that trance state and what is possible in it. (Never listen while driving!)

Here is the link to register for the upcoming class. This will be a live class and there will be no recordings or virtual participation. In person practice with partners and is highly essential. If you are already in love with this modality and can't get enough, the answer is yes, you will get loads of personal journeys and probably work through a decade of your own stuff, too. Space is limited, so register as soon as possible.