Sight is a two way street

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Chapter 5 The Physiology of Human Vision
The act of seeing something is almost always depicted as an action taken by the observer on the item being see. To me, it was always about one person fixing their gaze upon something. When I thought about it, I know that it is just our interpretation of different wavelengths entering our eyes, but intuitively it seems more like an active thing on our part. 

In Diana Eck's Seeing the Divine Image in India, I got a sense that "seeing" is about much more than just what wavelengths the rods and cones in our eyes are detecting. The Hindu idea of darśana is a much more passive concept than the way I usually think of sight. Instead of something getting looked at by the observer, it is more like the sight is getting broadcast by the thing being seen. To quote Eck, "The deity presents itself to be seen in this image". 

I really enjoyed this concept, because it can be applied to more than images of deities or people. One thing I have always tried to do is to connect myself to nature and the world around me. When I go on a hike I would sometimes stop and observe the world around me. Now, I think I will understand it to be nature revealing itself to me and showing me what to think about. The spirituality of nature will be much clearer to me. 


5 ways to enhance your spirituality and connect with nature
I think it is time for me to go on a hike.

Comments

  1. TroyMay 10, 2020 at 11:51 AM

    I find this to be very intriguing. It is a completely different way to think about the sensation of sight. In some way it is almost like thinking about sight in the complete opposite way. You are not thinking about how you are seeing something, but rather how something is projecting itself for you to see it. It's almost mind boggling in a way to think about it like that. But I love how this abstract idea really creates a completely different view of sight, than the average person would think about.

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