VR Color Kasina Meditation

Kasina refers to a class of visual objects of meditation used in buddhist concentration meditation (samatha). Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, and White are five of the kasinas mentioned in buddhist scriptures.

Traditionally, Color Kasina meditation was done using a colored circle that the meditator affixed in front and stared at. This app enables color kasina meditation using a Google Cardboard-like Virtual Reality (VR) Headset.

In color kasina meditation, one focuses on the chosen color and initially repeats the name of the colour (e.g. “blue, blue, …”) for a short while. After initial focus is established, verbalization is abandoned and one focuses exclusively on the color (e.g. redness) itself.

As one advances in the practice, the mind stabilizes and is able to maintain a lucid attention on the color for longer periods. At one point the retinal image will be so strongly infused by such attention that it will start to “overlap” with the direct visual perception of the physical image resulting in the effective disappearance of the physical image – even while one continues, open-eyed, to stare at it. This will give rise to a new kind of image which is actually dark black (a dark shadow; the “eclipsed” image).

If one is able to sustain one’s effort, the “eclipsed” image will eventually disappear, giving rise to a bright image (known as the “counterpart sign”). In this state of concentration the mind will be temporarily free from the mental hindrances and will experience a level of stability, calm and satisfaction superior to the ordinary waking state. One must strive to sustain this concentration state for as long as possible.

When the color kasina object is mastered completely, the meditator will be able to generate the counterpart sign without requiring the use of a physical object. At the stage of mastery the meditator will also be able to modulate the size of the image at will. With such mastery of the kasina the meditator can remain in the stillness of the concentrated state for long periods of time and pursue further progress in the development of serenity. At the next stage all discursive thought will cease and volitional impulses will be almost entirely suppressed. The profound stillness this engenders will offer the practitioner suitable conditions to attempt, in a systematic manner, to gain insight knowledge.

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