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From a Candle Visualization to Seeing the Flame in My Heart

seraphim
Experience submitted by Seraphim

For a period of time, I was practising regularly some of the spiritual practices I had learned from taking courses based on the work of Belsebuub. One of these was the visualization of a candle.

Learning How to Consciously Visualize an Object

I had learned in Belsebuub’s works that spiritual practices were best done in a conscious way to get the most benefits out of them.

During that period of time, I noticed that when I managed to visualize the candle with a more conscious approach, I was also surrounded by a sense of control over myself.

Seeing the Fire in My Heart

In one of my meditative visualization, I was trying to visualize the flame of the candle, and to imagine myself inside the flame but without losing the sense of myself.

Public domain photo found here. (Image has been modified)
Public domain photo found here. (Image has been modified)

When I felt my visualization was good enough, I then began to try asking questions to get answers about the flame, such as, “What is fire and how does it work?” I then waited for an answer to come to me while I was in this meditative state.

In order for the questions to be genuine and meaningful, I tried to realize what I really knew about the flame. I realized that I knew nothing.

After some time though, an image appeared in my visualization. I could see the flame burning and moving in a natural way inside my heart. My heart looked like it was made of glass and inside of it was the flame, a glowing light, like a flame would look like on its own in a dark place.

This image of the flame inside my heart touched me very deeply. It was so clear and vivid and it came to me so suddenly and without any warning. It was there for perhaps less than a second but because it took me by surprise when I least expected to see something like this, I lost my concentration, and with it, I lost that image.

The Outcome of Seeing the Flame in My Heart

This mystical experience left me with a very pleasant feeling, and since I still had time before my practice was due to end, I tried to repeat this short experience many times during that particular meditative practice, but I didn’t manage to see the flame in my heart again. I was left with a desire to try this exercise again every day.

Learning about the nature of the flame of a candle was much more interesting and meaningful to me this way, as compared to depending exclusively on what my mind would have understood from a book.

11 comments
  • Someone may say that fire and warm feeling automatically go together, but I have done this practice, visualizing the flame in my heart quite a few times and the feeling even warm is something more than that.
    Your experience Seraphim though sounds like l I haven’t felt, like you astral project. As others said there must be something special on that combination fire/flame and heart. Remind me this practice https://www.spiritualsun.com/practices/texts/hindu/concentration-on-the-heart-an-astral-projection-exercise-from-the-mahabharata for astral traveling.

    Thank you for sharing Seraphim

  • A very beautiful experience. Thank you Seraphim for sharing it, you inspired me deeply. The flame and fire always have a way to touch my heart and turn my attention inwardly. Many times after coming to the end of a practice, I turn to my heart sensing fire and pray. Reading your story I too have rekindled my interest in doing this practice again and from the begging. Thank you everyone for sharing, gave me much inspiration.

  • It sounds you had a very gentle and warm experience with the flame Seraphim. I had some very nice experiences when visualising a candle/flame and they always left me with so much strength and inspiration to carry on.

  • Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience Seraphim. It is incredible whenever such little moments occur within practices, like miniature visions. It is really inspiring.

    There seems to be a similar gentle but powerful feeling and mystery about the heart and the fire. Like Ella, I feel the same about heart practices, the number one practice I come back to when I need guidance and connection with the divine.

    By the way, when I first felt that concentration was literally like a power I could use, I was very surprised. As an idea I had thought it would be a bit mechanical and boring, but that opened a new dimension and understanding to it. Goes to show how much ideas, about spirituality especially, and reality can differ, and how much you need experience to truly understand it.

  • That’s a beautiful experience to have had Seraphim. It’s incredible that through something as simple as concentration and inquiry we have at our finger tips the means to penetrate into the depths of reality and the true nature of things. Fire seems to be a very spiritual substance at its core – I have read Belsebuub connect light, fire, and the heart many times before, but it’s great to hear you got to that understanding independently.

    I always seem to come back to heart practises – there’s so much wisdom, strength, understanding and nourishing light found from within the depths of the heart.

  • Thank you for sharing your experience, Seraphim. It’s quite inspiring.

    From Geraldine’s comment, I, too, remember those paintings with a flame in the heart region. Maybe you tapped into that esoteric relationship between the heart and fire!

    I haven’t done a candle visualization in a while, but your experience has rekindled my interest in doing that practice 🙂

  • Hi Seraphim,
    What a really touching and meaningful experience you’ve shared! I had always wondered why there are so many ancient paintings that depict a flamme in the heart of divine beings such as Jesus, or light coming out from the heart. How neat was it that you were able to see this for yourself in yourself – it seems like such a beautiful and inspiring gift.
    I know personally when I’ve done meditation on the heart, I’ve often intuitively imagined a source of bright light coming from inside my heart – it always felt right since the first time I tried to meditate on my heart 🙂

  • Thanks Seraphim!

    Your story is so familiar, but at the same time I also got a lot out of it because you took your investigation so seriously and got experiences from it.

    I have also had that exact moment where I asked myself what I really knew about the flame and the nature of fire, first my mind started saying this and that, but it was obviously so empty and I also came to the same conclusion I also knew nothing about it haha! 🙂

    What I personally like most from what you recounted is “I was surrounded by a sense of control over myself. “ Thanks for sharing that, it helped to remind me of those pure moments of concentration, where the strength of concentration just keeps all the thoughts etc. far away, so enjoyable actually. But not so easy to get to.

    I agree about such learning being so much more fulfilling than intellectual knowledge. It’s like a food for the consciousness when we experience something directly like that.

    • Hi Karim,

      Yes, this sense of control over myself is so enjoyable. It is also very precious and food for the consciousness, but not so easy to get to, as you mentioned.
      I think, It depends on what we really search and want.

      • I agree Seraphim.
        For me the times when I’ve been able to reach that level of concentration, it was due to how seriously I set out to do the practice.

  • Thank you for sharing this experience Seraphim! I have read about a spiritual practice of seeing a flame inside our heart, but how beautiful you experienced this first-hand, without expecting it at all! The concentration on a candle/fire is one of those practices on my “list” that I would like to get deeper into.

Belsebuub

Belsebuub is a British-born author who writes about out-of-body and other types of mystical experiences. He withdrew from public life in 2010. Read more here.

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