New around here, been reading posts off and on as friends link them. Quite profound conclusions to come to.
I decided to make an account to ask for some advice since I'm in somewhat of an uncommon, though not unique, position. I recently saw this post: https://www.jrprudence.com/forum/questions-answers/what-do-your-senses-see?searchTerm=aphantasia and took the aphantasia test. It classified me with hypophantasia which means I have vastly reduced mental imagery.
I'll give an example of how it affects me. Imagine this: You are in a house looking at a glass of water sitting on a dining table.
For me I can "see" a low resolution image of a glass of water sitting on a wooden table. Nothing else. I cannot see the full table either, merely the part of the table top the water is sitting on. The rest of the table and the environment the table is supposed to be in is shrouded in utter darkness. This is with great mental effort.
I can recall what faces look like but only if I try to imagine the face only, full images of people look worse than ill-printed cardboard cutouts, and I can only do this with recent faces I've seen. A lot of things I literally just can't imagine visually.
On top of that I have dull physical senses. It's easy to forget I'm hungry or thirsty for example, and I can handle more pain than normal because I just don't really feel the body's feedback as strongly as it seems other people do.
The messages here have already helped me greatly, but I am still an angry and unhappy person inside. Contact and collective would be nice but I do not wish to expose any entities to the inner maelstrom as I don't see it being fair to them or sustainable at my current level of growth.
Void Meditation seems like a surprisingly good fit but I still feel like I need some advice for self cultivation with these things in mind. I'm open to any and all advice. It would also be good to know how other entities in the universe interact with humans with Aphantasia of some kind, does it not really matter or does it change how we have to go about things so to speak?
Thanks for reading, I wish all of you well.
I pose you a question. Why do you assume you need to see? Why can you not pay attention with your other sense? Can you hear? Listen. Can you feel? Feel. Can you smell? Sniff that shit. The problem is not that you can not, it's simply that you do not know how. This will be diffrent for everyone but here is a trick to this. Figure out what feels the most natrual to you, feels the most fun. That is where you will find it.
Very closely following this. Thanks for asking about it, I'm quite puzzled if I have it. I think I do. It's strange. I'll let you know if I find any more info that I find helpful!
I also have very extreme aphantasia, but have found success in quieting my mind using void meditation, like others' have mentioned. To go deeper, I've come to embrace the darkness and will myself to look as deeply into it as I can, and use a variety of sounds to help focus (binaural beats, pure solfeggio tones, white/pink/brown noise, etc.) depending on what my goal is at the time. Here's a source that starts touching on it for those like us: https://aphantasia.com/article/stories/meditation-with-aphantasia/ I've also worked through the first few Gateway Experience tapes, and the concepts of resonate tuning, and creating (visualizing) a secure box to place your distractions, concerns, doubts, trauma, etc. into while you meditate really was a great thing for me. However, since I can't visualize the box, I experimented and found it very useful to use my inner monologue voice to bring it into being—to literally (internally) describe it and explain how and what I'm putting in it. If I'm feeling a bit stuck, I'll even go so far as describing it out loud—somewhat mantra-like. Drawing a (physical) picture of something, even if very rudimentary, can also help in getting a better thought-grasp for you when you meditate, since you'll have a tangible image to think about, even if you can't visualize it in the moment. All best
Hi, and welcome!
I don’t have aphantasia myself, but, I have noticed an increased awareness of my mind’s senses since beginning The Gateway Tapes. I am sure that Void meditation would be helpful for this too.
I now see much more detailed images in my mind and can also feel things with my mind’s sense of touch. For example, I can “bite” a cold apple and feel how it would feel in the material.
I only began meditating two months ago. I wonder if you could see a similar leap of progress in that time. Try knowing that meditation is, in part, training your mind’s eye. You don’t need to focus on a mantra about it during your sessions. But hold that intent with you in your day to day life while you incorporate a meditation practice.
As someone whose "ability" has greatly diminished since I was a child, I am struggling in a sense to regain what I have lost. As I have been trying to reintegrate in this world I had a recent revelation. Basically we all have this ability to tap into "data streams" (knowingly or unknowingly) to which there appears to be a countless number of them. Thoughts pop into our head out of nowhere and I believe that is one of those streams coming to us. The recent revelation I had was about identifying where those streams are coming from. On my birthday a few days ago I was finally able to identify one of the main ones I needed to understand. (I have been able to identify others but one certain one carried more weight) I was able to finally get a "voice" for what appears to be a benevolent guide for me. It is a feminine energy that gave me a name, the name I was given was from a language I am unfamiliar with but I looked it up and it translated to "Inner-Peace". I seem to have a free flowing exchange with her and can ask for guidance. The more disturbing part of this is that other streams can mimic her, so I have to ask if it is her from time to time, she will answer accordingly. She has been the one that has been encouraging me to raise my love, understanding, compassion, consciousness etc... Sorry to go on about this but what I recommend is to identify this guide for yourself, as I believe that everyone has an energy trying to guide them on this greater path. Once you are able to be in contact with this energy or stream you will start to find your anger and negative emotions start to dull as they can help you work past this and keep you on the path of love. Getting their name is important, negative energies will be reluctant to give a name and will scoff at anything related to love. The benevolent energy will freely engage in love with you and all around you. I know some may disagree with me but this is what I feel in my heart is the needed connection for all. Sorry if this is a bit all over the place, if you have any questions or confusion I will try to clarify as best as I can with my understanding.