Visions and luminous appearances in tögal practice spring from the natural dance between mind’s innate clarity and the body’s subtle energy channels. It begins with sky-gazing or a focused inner gaze, allowing awareness to rest in open space. As breath and mind settle, prana (lung) starts flowing freely through the central channel, untying blockages. Tiny sparks or filaments of light flicker at the edges of vision—nothing short of breathtaking.

With steady practice, those flickers turn into balls of color and ribbons of light, eventually forming vivid landscapes, deities and mandalas. These unfold through the classic four visions: first, the “Crowd of Lights” where myriad points of radiance appear; next, celestial flowers bloom; then clear palaces and environments emerge; and finally, everything dissolves into the vast expanse of luminous clarity, where form and emptiness dance as one.

Physical sensations often accompany these stages—warmth, subtle vibrations or gentle tremors—signposts that channels have opened wide. Contemporary studies at places like the Mind & Life Institute hint at parallels between these deep absorption states and how the visual cortex processes imagery, though Western science is still catching up. Meanwhile, practitioners from Himalayan retreats to online sanghas share stories of that pivotal moment when the floodgates open, and ordinary sight transforms into direct perception of mind’s primordial radiance.

Visions in tögal aren’t flights of fancy but spontaneous unveilings of awareness itself. Each glowing form, each celestial hall, reflects the same ground—unshakable, boundless clarity. Over time, these appearances collapse back into nondual openness, leaving behind nothing but pure presence. In that luminous stillness, every glimpse of light becomes a mirror pointing straight to the heart of great perfection.