Reply To: Post on “Rupa and Rupakkhandha, Nāma and Nāmagotta”

#33951
TripleGemStudent
Participant

“That is what I thought too.
– But it would be good to see comments from those who don’t have Aphantasia (i.e., those who CAN see memories in color) whether it is a hindrance to meditation.”

– I believe it depends on the person and as well what the goal of the meditation is for. For instance, there’s meditators out there that meditates on Kasina objects. Some athletes might meditate (or visualize) repetitive motions or techniques, while others have their own goals and objectives when it comes to meditation. In my opinion, there is really no correct answer to this question because what might be a hindrance to one person, might not be for the other person.

For example, I believe Aphantasia can be beneficial for us Pure Dhamma meditators, but it could be a hinderance for artist, athletes, etc . . .

When I reflect back to when I first started meditating, I would say being able to visualize and recall sensations such as taste was a hinderance to my meditation because I would start to do sankhara and kamma those thoughts. But now since I understand what they are, it doesn’t really hinder with my meditation. But for some, having Aphantasia would hinder their meditation, since some people want to visualize (in color, shapes, etc.) and feel (sensations) on whatever that their meditating on.

Now that I think more about this, having Aphantasia can possibly be a hinderance for those who does Metta bhavana trying to recall people’s faces or past events. Or trying to recall a Buddha statue.

So I believe there’s really no correct answer to this question. It really depends on the person and the objective of their meditation. It can also go both ways for the same person, hinderance and non-hinderance/beneficial or both depending on their meditation objective.