SEEING IS BELIEVING

By Anonymous -



Disclaimer: some statements may not apply to visually imparied persons.

 When you are prompted to close your eyes and think of God what comes to mind?  What image do you see? When it comes to seeing, our sight plays a very essential role. As we enter religious spaces, our eyes catch the vibrancy of colors, the texture of fabrics, and the shape of furniture. 

In Diana Eck’s work, Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, she reveals the important role of sight and physicality in Hinduism. For Hindus, sewing and physicalness are intertwined. There’s time and effort given to provide gifts and to take care of the Divine. As a result, there’s an expectancy of their God appearing in a physical form for their faithfulness. 

 To possess the ability to see, it allows one to develop another way to connect to one’s religion through their senses. The sighting cements their faith since there is a mental imagery that reminds one of one’s faith as they think back to it from time to time. Without visual representation, yhe struture of one's faith may have to be altered. This isn't to say that one can't connect with one's God in the absence of a visual, but it is to say that visual has a strong hold on defining one's religion.

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