Firstly, it's important for us to acknowledge that imagination is a nebulous thing, that can difficult to read about- just do your best.

If some people are better than others at imagining things, it means that imagination is a skill that can be developed. Or maybe some people are just better than others at imagination because they were born with a more capable mind, in the same way that some people are better than others at the long jump because they have longer legs... I don't know.

Prerequisites for a mind capable of prolonged, vivid and on-demand imagination

Chaotic mind-activity is a difficult environment for prolonged, vivid, on-demand imagination. It would be difficult to paint a picture in the eyewall of a hurricane. Stay in the centre of the hurricane, and prolonged, vivid and on-demand imagination becomes easy. 'Stay' is an important word here, because as we know, hurricanes move, and will absorb us into their chaos if we don't stay in the calm centre. Meditation can be thought of as the practice of staying in the calm centre.

TBC