Experience of the Energy Body (image emerges from the felt experience).
Spontaneous images arising out of a samadhi state. Where the perception of things, of body, of world, et cetera, is a bit less substantial, it’s more fertile for images.
Images can arise from experiences of strong emotion – hold the experience of the emotion in the being (primarily the body)
Deliberately imagining (dream, figure, archetype, memory that felt imaginal)
Opening a gateway of the imagination. – walking down a flight of stairs in one’s imagination… an open field etc.
Daydreaming and then catching an image with resonance.
Tips for relating to images
Don’t make demands of / kill the image – Don’t ask it give you something or explain something to you – Don’t demand it have a clear or fixed meaning – Don’t demand it be “nice” or “spiritual”. Taboo, ugly, scary is fine.
Stay sensitive to the energy body / emotional body and trust a sense of aliveness above all else
If you feel connected, a sense of aliveness, thats all you need.
Remember images can arise in any sense modality: visual, sound, taste smell, kinesthetic (sense of movement). Or a combination.
Be sensitive to whether you are actively pushing/analyzing/coaxing the image through evaluation or planning. If so, try to pivot towards listening/receiving.