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The Action of Imagination in the Manifestation of Thought into External Circumstances · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  There are several points worth considering with respect to
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  utilizing imagination and some of the unanticipated issues that
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  are based primarily in the lag between formulation and
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  accomplishment of the imagined form.
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  Visualization and use of the imagination can act to turn a
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  vague idea or sense into something that can realize
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  itself in action. Every thought form moves out
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  into the world and tries to effectuate itself.
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  If it is weak and transient, the impact may be slight.
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  But if an individual has worked to organize the thoughts,
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  visualize their effectuation, harness the will and the
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  emotions in support of this process, the likelihood of
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  eventual success is much higher. With the proviso, of course,
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  that there are cross currents in the world that can distort,
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  delay, or otherwise prevent effectuation.
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  Sri Aurobindo in his epic poem Savitri, a legend and a symbol,
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  states quote. A moment sees the ages, toil to
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  express. End Quote.
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  This puts the imagined and visualized thought into a
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  context of time and circumstance.
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  Depending on the strength of the organized thought form, the will
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  attached to it, and the situation in the world which may
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  at the time of its release be opposed or even defiant to that
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  formation, it may take a considerable time and persistent
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  effort to bring it to full fruition.
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  Some of the more significant and vision changes could take
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  hundreds of years to manifest fully.
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  For most people who are not necessarily working on major
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  structural changes, the time of manifestation may be much
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  shorter and the result may be much more aligned with the
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  formation. Yet, given the variability of
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  focus and mind, many people may not attribute the result when it
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  comes to the formation when it was shaped and loosed into the
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  world. Further, many people may
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  actually not want the originally desired result when it actually
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  shows up as they have changed their circumstance, situation or
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  focus in the meantime. This comes under the proverb, be
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  careful what you wish for because you may get it.
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  The mother writes. Quote how many times you sit and
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  become aware that the thought is beginning to form images for
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  itself, to tell itself a story. And so when you have become a
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  little expert at it, not only do you see unfolding before you the
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  history of what you would like to happen in life, in your own
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  life, but you can take something away, add a detail, perfect your
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  work, make a really fine story in which everything conforms
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  with your highest aspiration. And once you have made a
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  complete harmonious construction, as perfect as you
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  can make it, then you open your hands and let the bird fly away.
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  If it is well made, it always realizes itself in the end, and
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  that is what 1 doesn't know. But The thing is realized in the
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  course of time, sometimes long afterwards, when you have
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  forgotten your story, can no longer remember having told it
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  to yourself. You have changed much, are
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  thinking about other things, making other stories, and the
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  first one no longer interests you.
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  And if you are not very attentive, when the result of
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  the first story comes, you are already very far away from it
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  and no longer remember it all, that this is the result of your
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  own story. And that is why it is so
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  important to control yourself. For if within you there are
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  multiple and contradictory wills, not only wills but
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  tendencies, orientations, levels of life, all this causes battles
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  in your life. For example, at your highest
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  level you have fashioned a beautiful story which you send
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  out into the world. But then perhaps the next day,
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  perhaps on the very same day, perhaps a little later, you have
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  come down to a much more material level.
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  And these things from above seem to you a little fairy like
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  unreal. And you begin to make very
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  concrete, very utilitarian formations which are not always
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  very pretty. And these two go out.
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  End Quote. Reference Sri Aurobindo and the
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  Mother powers within chapter 3. Imagination, pages 29 to 30.