Of the many ways by which we perceive the world around us, colour is one of the most significant ones. The importance of colour in ordinary life cannot be overstated and in Preksha Meditation too, much significance is accorded to colour, particularly focusing on visualizing colours and attracting them for our benefit.

Science behind colours and Visualization

In our physical existence, there are four properties, viz., colour, smell, taste, and touch. Of these, it is colour that has the most profound impact on us. For instance, imagine being in a dark room for several hours on end. This darkness is nothing but a manifestation of black colour and when you emerge from it, your state of mind will be imbalanced, leaving you full of anger, because black is the colour of negativity. Similarly, if you were in a place full of bright white light, you will find yourself at peace, for white is the colour of peace; a green room will invoke feelings of happiness because green is the colour associated with happiness; and so on.

In broad terms, we can state that the world is made up of colour vibrations and all that we see around us is because of the solidification and intensification of colours. To this, let us add another assertion: whatever we think about, or visualize, we attract. This is the Golden Rule of the universe, where the infinite energy in our surroundings is attracted by visualizing them in our mind. Imagine something bitter without actually tasting it. If you keep thinking about this bitter food, after a while you will find that your mouth acquires a bitter aftertaste as if you actually tasted it. Similar is the case when one imagines something sweet and concentrates their thoughts on it; the secretions in our mouth are activated and salivate at the mere thought of the sweet. By inference, through visualization of a colour, we attract its energy, generating an impact that affects our being completely.

We have learnt earlier that any imbalance or distortion in the energy vibrations in our body causes disorders at the physical, mental, and emotional levels. In chakra meditation, this imbalance is corrected by focusing on the specific chakra along with its associated colour and mantra. In Preksha Meditation, colour meditation, also known as Leshya Dhyaan, is focused on the colour radiations in and around us. Our thoughts emit energy in the form of colour vibrations which is known as Leshya and this determines our mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Thus, Leshya is the state of mind which determines our overall well-being.

In Preksha Meditation, the focus is on correcting the physical, emotional, and spiritual disorders by correcting the imbalance of energy which occurs largely due to our emotions. Without neglecting the impact of the physical and mental aspects in our well-being, in Leshya Dhyaan, the aim is to rectify the imbalance of energy by visualizing colours and attracting the energy associated with them. Each colour is associated with a particular state of mind: green is the colour of happiness; white invokes peace; red is the colour of vibrant energy; blue is the colour of health. Correspondingly, an unhappy individual may visualize the colour green to invoke happiness; someone feeling depressed can visualize red colour to feel energized; a person seething in anger will find peace by visualizing the colour white; and a person battling poor health can attract good health by visualizing the colour blue, and so on.

The focus on emotions in Leshya Dhyaan in Preksha is no coincidence. It lies in the belief that all our disorders, physical, mental, spiritual, are rooted in the state of our emotions, our state of mind, or in Leshya. Addressing the state of Leshya in our being can lead us to a more balanced existence. Let us take an example to clarify this. A perfectly healthy person with no history of heart ailment may suddenly suffer a heart attack due to an intense emotional outburst or emotional trauma. On the other hand, another person with a history of heart ailments may be able to prolong his/her lifespan by sustaining a balanced emotional state. It is this emotional balance that Preksha emphasises in Leshya dhyaan or colour meditation by visualization.

To conclude, some advice is proposed for those battling stress and emotional disorders that arise from a variety of situations in our lives–focusing on improving only physical or mental health by spending time in the gym or meditating for a few minutes will not address the root cause of our problems which lie in our distorted emotional state. About this we shall learn in greater detail in a later blog.