Michael Beckwith distinguishes visualization from visioning: visualization uses known images/goals and can be limiting, while visioning is a spiritual practice of receiving the universe's idea for your unique destiny by asking questions (e.g., 'What is the universe's idea of my life?'). He outlines a hierarchy—problem→question→answer→action→way of life—and describes stages of human awareness progressing from believing life happens to you, to controlling life, to surrendering and listening for inspiration.
Chapters
Everyone pretty much knows about creative imagination or visualization. You know, you see what you want, you feel that you have it, you bring it into manifestation. There's nothing wrong with visualization at all. It's a wonderful evolutionary stage in an individual that's walking this spiritual path. The only thing about visualization is that it has a level of limitation because you can only visualize what you know already. You can take a picture out of a magazine and do a vision board. You can look at somebody else's life and visualize that for yourself. You know, so it's within a certain paradigm. Visioning is catching an idea outside of your present paradigm so that you're making yourself receptive to the spiritual idea that the universe wants to birth through you that you may not know about. In other words, you may be enculturated by your society, by your religion. In the Western world, we have all these models of success. You're successful if you have a house, two kids, pick a fence, two cars. You know, people get that and they're not happy. But someone could visualize that and manifest it and realize, oh, my God, I'm still unhappy. Visioning is different. Visioning begins with a spiritual idea that there is planted within each and every one of us a powerful destiny, a powerful, unique way that the universe wants to express itself. So instead of telling the universe what we want, we instead ask a question. What is the universe's idea of my life? We begin to catch that idea. You know, what is my growing edge? What must I become to manifest that vision? What do I already have in my house that I can use to serve the vision? What must I let go of? Here's a hierarchy of questions. Behind every problem, there's a question trying to ask itself. The universe being progressive. Behind every question, there's an answer trying to reveal itself. Behind every answer, there's an action trying to take place. And behind every action, there's a way of life trying to be born. Because the universe is progressive, the universe wants you to ask a question. So if you have a problem, you have to ask a question. What is the nature of reality? What is the nature of prosperity? What is the nature of love? The universe will start to answer that. After it answers that, it will start to give you an action to take. And then it will birth itself into a way of living. So visioning begins with the question. So then if you look at the evolution of human awareness, there is the stage where you believe life is happening to you. All the problems, all the crap happening, happening to you. You evolve to a stage where you realize that you, to some degree, can control life. Coincidences, synchronicities, manifesting, creative visualization. But the stage above that, the next stage you awaken to, is where you realize you don't have to control life. Life is so friendly. The universe is so in support of you. All you got to do is sit back and listen. Yes. And so, in a way, you go from intention to inspiration. Yes. And surrender. And surrender. Sa.
