The area of conscious establishment of breathing and defensive Qi and the unconscious part of the contemplation which we call the Becoming of Consciousness and the introduction of the contempaltion "TASK" must be pre-programmed with finesse and efficiency. It is the quality of this pre-preparation and the frequency of its development that will make the contemplation effective. The success of the Contemplation depends upon the strength of this pre-programming.
What is pre-programming in the sense that it is used here?
It is the generation in one's imagination, as frequently as possible, on occasions which present themselves, of the experiences of actually "sitting in the meditation and concluding it perfectly."
It is not a visualization, but a situation in which one with imagination experiences oneself actually performing the meditation.
Everyone at some time or another has imagined themselves in a situation which is, for the Identity, perfect. It may be a romantic situation or some other flight of fancy, but what is common to all these flights of imagination is that everything flows perfectly without the slightest error.
During this imagined meditation one includes the sitting in meditation, the in and out breathing, the establishment of the defensive Qi, the introduction of the TASK and the discernment and eventual conscious recollection.
However, it is important that the TASK is not elaborated in detail and simply inserted like one might select a compact disc to be inserted in a player. The only thing one refers to is the label, which might in this case be Vacuity, Unity, Impermanence, Clear Comprehension or the Life Force.
The series then becomes a gradual imaginative flowing of the contemplation as:
Consciously imagine "sitting ready for the contemplation of VACUITY" and gently allowing the breathing in and breathing out perfectly.
Here arises the first difficulty of the pre-preparation. The natural rate of breathing during the pre-preparation is not linked to the pre-preparation... When one imagines the correct breathing there is a tendency to actually be breathing in and breathing out in the same rhythm as that imagined.
These must be divorced and the breathing in and out of imagination must occur as an independent event.
Imagine yourself with the usual tactile experiences, the pressure on the buttocks, the pressure of the hands on knees, the movement of the eyelids, all coming together to form one whole body experience with the breathing in and out continuing within the background.
Here you must imagine that you continue in this state in which there is no consciousness.
Now imagine that automatically the VACUITY TASK enters without any conscious presence.
It is important here not to imagine any of the details of the TASK which has already been developed in consciousness by the teachings.
Now imagine that in this state in which there is no consciousness the DISCERNMENT of the EXPERIENCE OF VACUITY, in and of itself, has taken place and then, slowly awakening from the contemplation, observe CONSCIOUS experience of that UNCONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE that was previously generated by the contemplation.
Here in the pre-preparation it is important to generate no preconceived ideas of the nature of either the unconscious or the final conscious experience, which is naturally a word-related experience.
Make sure that you understand the subtleties here, for a simple error will derail the contemplation and result in cognitive experiences which are of no value.