Attention, memory, and the imagination: A cognitive analysis of tantric visualization

Tantric visualization practices based on specific images and sounds, as well as the philosophies behind these practices, provide a window for exploring the scope of attention, memory, and imagination in their intentional and extended forms. If ongoing research in the field of cognitive science can help us understand and contextualize these otherwise esoteric practices, then these exercises can also provide empirical evidence for extending the scope of research in these areas of cognitive research. Just as neural analysis can tell us more about a real physiological impact of extended visualization practices, the practitioners can give us their internal phenomenological account of specific experiences corresponding to those physiological states. Rather than simply understanding the neural correlates of everyday experiences, the benefit of focusing on the effects of sustained meditative practices expands the horizon of human consciousness by excavating the limits of the human mind in even its extended state.