Two different energy systems relating to wisdom and lightbody
One can cultivate energies and energetic states all day long but without wisdom insight one unavoidably falls prey to self-delusion and one-sided energetic development. Practically, that one-sidedness is to work on the meridian system that is closest to the body and leave the subtler channels in- and outside the body without attention but the fact is that we have both systems. Subtler system for wisdom/emptiness, meridian system for lightbody.
It
depends what you visualize and if there is empowerment to back it up
and to connect it with buddhanature. I agree that lots of
visualizations are nothing but waste of time but if we are talking
about genuine tantra, visualizations together with the other two main
tools of tantra, are "real", i.e. are very effective. But
again, most tantra is rubbish.
I get the criticism about
visualization and the praise about "bodily" methods and
"real" results. I get it completely but we shouldn't
confuse the two different energy bodies of cultivation, that made of
channels and chakras and the other made of meridians. Awakenings or
path attainments that Adam Mizner was talking about in the interview
happen mostly in the first type of subtle body which is also the
terrain of most tantric methods. All the methods that emphasize
"embodiment", physicality, sitting with one's body, working
with one's body, standing, tai chi and so on, work mostly with the
meridian system that is closer to the physical body than the
nadi-channel system. Also, path attainments or awakenings do not come
about with emphasis on physicality, except rarely. It is because of
the different in frequencies why work with meridians feels more
concretic and physical.
Baba, 1.1.23