Do you see colors when you meditate?
Many people report seeing colors when they close their eyes and meditate.
Often, during moments of deep meditation, some people will see intense visions. Others will have feelings or sensations they are unfamiliar with. So what does it mean?
Don’t Get Too Distracted
The answer to this question is not so straight forward. In some cases, the meaning of the colors and visions you see relates to the meditation path or tradition you belong to.
In many traditions, seeing different colors in meditation is a sign of your progress. In other traditions, certain colors are a sign of healing.
However, there is near universal agreement on this point. Don’t get too focused on the colors. It can become a distraction and derail your meditation practice if you spend too much time focusing on the colors.
It’s best to let the colors come and let them go.
Remember, in the end, what happens between meditations—how you live your life—is the most important factor in evaluating your progress. After meditating, are you calmer, less reactive, and more compassionate with yourself and others?
These may be more important questions to consider when evaluating your progress.
But what do other meditation teachers have to say on the topic?
What The Meditation Teachers Say:
Deepak Chopra, in the “Ask Deepak” section of his Chopra Center website recommends that you don’t pay attention to the colors or shapes you see while meditating.
He says that they are a distraction and will dilute the effectiveness of your practice. The Chopra Center explains:
Seeing colors during meditation is a common, healing experience. According to Ayurveda and other Eastern healing systems, each color relates to a specific chakra or energy center in the body, so when you see a given color, it means that healing is taking place in that area of the body. If you see green colors, for example, your heart chakra is being rejuvenated and renewed. Visions of blue indicate that the throat chakra area is healing itself.
When Buddhist Spiritual Master, Anandmurti Gurumaa was posed with the same question, she responded:
When you sit and find this light coming to you, well… it is nothing very spectacular. It is a very normal thing. Many aspirants find these colors, see these colors. It is a sign that somehow the concentration level has gone to the occipital lobe in your brain and that is why these different colors can be seen by the person who is meditating.
In an article on the stages of progress in meditation, Bodhipaksa, a Buddhist teacher and author, says:
You may begin to notice unusual things – like a delightful sense of rhythm in your breathing, or the way in which your body subtly moves in response to your heartbeat. These are signs that you are developing more concentration and awareness in meditation, and you would be wise to pay attention to such experiences. Some of the things you might experience might seem a little odd. A common example is seeing patterns of moving lights. This is a good sign, in that you are moving into a deeper state of concentration. But it’s best not to pay much attention to those lights or they will turn into a distraction and slow your progress.
So, if you see colors when you meditate, don’t be alarmed. It is common and may signal that your body is healing.
Try not to be distracted by the colors. Instead, like everything else you experience in meditation, it’s best to accept them as they are and let them be.
deepak chopra…? The dalai lama…? Stedman…? Whitney…?…. Enjoy whoever it is…
Yes, i see colors that are so vibrant they bring me to tears.
Violet is most vivid with golden as a second. The warm golden yellow feels like it speaks of life and all of the experiences waiting with arms outstretched. Violet gives me the feeling of protection, knowingness and reassurance that I am held in a sacred place and meant for greatness. I am overwhelmed with emotion by the beauty I feel with the presence of these colors.
While meditating I heard 2 very different and soft one right after the other whispers in my right ear they only said one word “share”. Any thoughts? I also see colors when I meditate every single time. I also have been to places. For instance I was watching a man dressed in a casual suit and jogging up some stairs I could feel how he was feeling which was happy, and very content with himself. His essence was felt by me through meditation. Can you explain this for me? I feel that almost every time I meditate I have a profound experience. I also feel very calm which is why I started to meditate in the first place.
Hi Betsy, That’s really interesting. I try to ignore anything and everything that happens in meditation, whether they are colors, sounds, or anything else. That’s more related to the practice that I do, so I can’t really advise you on this point. I wouldn’t know how to interpret it. But that sounds really great that you have profound experiences ever time you meditate. That’s a blessing to be sure and it sounds like a good sign!
The sounds I’ve heard have usually been due to hypnagogia, which is a very deep stare of meditation and most people go through it when the sleep but their conscious mind is turned off. One time this occurred to me when I was totally conscious, and I felt a very strong vibration on my third eye. Sounds and feelings of presences surrounded my apartment but I was completely terrified.
When I meditate prayerfully, I see a beautiful magenta (vivid pink) fill the room (with my eyes open I see this), and lately is shot through with veins of blue. With my eyes shut, I tend to see purple, surrounded by green, and the purple area grows until it encompasses and pushes out the green, and then theta like squiggles and points of light (usually blue-white) appear. At all times, over the last couple years, in dim light, I can see a point/area of light when I blink, with one eye or two, and this point gets brighter when I meditate/pray. I frequently see sparks of various colored light if meditate with my eyes open.
Anyway, now working on astral projection mastery.
Any insight into these color schemes would be helpful. I have asked many people and they ignore me for some reason.
Hi James, Thanks so much for your comment. Truth is, I don’t know what these colors represent. The form of meditation I practice guides me to ignore everything that is happening and not to pay attention to anything one thing in particular. It’s called Free Awareness. In terms of colors, I know that often some models of the chakras have colors associated with them. Perhaps you could investigate that direction and see if there are some insights or corollaries to your experience! Good luck.
The different colors everyone sees intrigues me. I always see blue and purple, a friend of mine sees orange. But as always, it is best to ignore them, just like how you should let thoughts wash away with your exhaled
Blue colour represent that what you are thinking is true .Blue colour represent your soul thought.Red colour represent that you are in danger or grief will come in future . Yellow colour represent a problem is to solve difficulties whom you are neglecting.
During meditation this past weekend I saw white light coming down from left to right – there was a dark gray coming from lower right upward to left which eventually went away and left me with a blue gray color. There was a bright green that also appeared after the white and dark went away.
For a very brief moment I saw a triangle the color was tan brown and inside was an outline of a sitting buddha – no detail just an outline.
I was told to dismiss the buddha vision – not to hold on to it . . .your thoughts?
last week during first time open eye meditation the instructor turned a translucent/transparent bright purple after about 7 minutes into my meditation with some black swirling throughout. This was my first experience with any meditation, and it was Shambhala . Quite unnerving to say the least!