This book explores a dimension of mind that is only a potentiality at birth. This in itself is not as unusual as all adult capabilities are only developed with time and practice as we grow. The translucent imagination is different, however, in that it usually goes not only undeveloped but completely unnoticed throughout the entire course of life. It differs in how it functions once it is noticed and developed. The imagination we are all familiar with I call the reflective imagination. It functions at the confluence of memory and motivation, and allies itself with the self-promotional strategies of self-nature. It is reflective in that it configures or images the world in accord with the conceptual outlook of the ordinary mind. In this sense, it reflects the beliefs and fictions of our conceptual world view. By contrast, the translucent imagination at first appears subversive. It arises and allies itself with a dimension of mind that is not structured or limited by concepts. This dimension of mind is our pure and natural timeless awareness. Once the translucent imagination has been developed and is fully functioning through expert tutelage and disciplined practice, it functions to see through the conceptual fictions of the ordinary dimension of mind. It is subversive because it subverts the self-promotional strategies that ego would have us believe are in our best interest. The translucent imagination unites aspects of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions, and is a powerful tool that offers a way out of the chaos that contemporary consciousness creates for itself.
