Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

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 Interesting preface to the second edition, with the mythological importance of and connection between sight and existence. Also interesting how darshan contrasts with typical western expectations of what constitutes worship: “in India, pilgrimage is the natural extension of the desire for the darshan of the divine image, which is at the heart of all temple worship” (5), where sight of something considered especially sacred is the main goal, while (and, this is just personal experience) western worship is more concerned with being metaphysically close with divinity, with sacred images serving as a means to ‘get worshippers in the mood,’ as opposed to the end as in India.  Additionally, the association between sight and touch (page 9) isn’t found in western tradition, and instead the opposite occurs: sight is considered one of the least ‘connective’ senses, possibly the least, with a ‘look, don’t touch’ from parent to kid being one of the most frequent things I’ve overheard working in retail.

But, to get personal, in my experience at least, I’ve never seen an actual idol, in that people were worshipping it instead of God, and I never really ‘got’ idolatry, only ever seeing the visual depictions of God, Jesus, saints, angels, and what have you, as props that served to ‘set the mood’ for worship. Yes, anybody can theoretically kneel anywhere and start praying, but for me (back when I was still the kind of guy who prayed) the images were focus points for prayer: it was easier to talk to God when His symbols and the faces of His agents were right in front of you, and you could look at stained glass windows or paintings and direct the words through it: it was never about praying to the picture, but to whatever was behind the picture. Or, when I was the kind of guy who prayed but hated churches, going out in the woods and talking out loud as I walked was more effecting than quietly sitting somewhere with my eyes closed, because I could see the beauty as proof of God, and pray through it as opposed to praying to it (my neo-druidic phase notwithstanding). 

Doing another song for this post, and I’ll admit it’s a bit of an odd one (especially since I think the original song sucks and that Skald does a much better cover that, unfortunately, you apparently need YouTube premium to view), but the lyrics are what really sell me on this one’s relevance: the visual metaphors are astounding, ‘following the dot,’ seeing the depth and scope of the ‘emotional landscapes’ or all the ‘nerves that hurt’ that ‘no-one else sees,’ combined with saying ‘you don’t have to speak,’ all resonate weirdly well with the reading, in my opinion: sight (or in this case, the sight metaphor) is necessary to fully appreciate something special, something which words aid in but ultimately fall short of. 


 

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