Gallen,
Your response suggests we might enjoy a long discussion on a lazy afternoon someday! The stuff about visualizing alone could go on and on.
I do visualize, however it is not my primary representational system. Plus it doesn't meet my desire for how it "should" be. I want and expect it to be like a dream experience. I have experienced that vision like quality as a conscious choice but it is very rare and not something I can will.
I love the gateway concept for the dantien. I have been playing with that and have found it much more powerful. I think of it as an energy portal. A way for consciousness to leave my conceptual world and directly experience the energetic universe. Which is all I'm really after anyway. :^)
I have also taken your advise and made changes in my practice. Unstuck myself. So far the best has been outside at night with the stars, the trees, the breeze, the river, the sounds, and they all merge...
Michael
