Smells and Bells

Unlike Abrahamic religions, Hinduism does not view idol worship as a sin. In fact, idols are an important part of Hindu traditions. Many Hindus feel like their gods can see them through the idols and in turn while they look at the idols they are looking at the gods. The act of seeing a deity (through an idol) and being seen in return is called Darsan. Darsan promotes connection between people and the divine. This reminds me of the way looking at portraits or statues of people throughout history often feels, as it allows the person viewing the artwork to connect with a person that lived centuries ago. I think a good example of this that I personally connect with are the Fayum mummy portraits. These portraits, painted on wood, adorn the tombs of upper class Romans in Egypt and depict the deceased person. These portraits likely date to the early 1st century AD, and are therefore the faces of people who lived two thousand years ago. When I look at these portraits, knowing they depict a rea...

Being Seen and Being Known Religious sight and the human need for recognition      Darshan is the Hindu worship practice of seeing a deity typically in the form of a murti (a sacred image or statue). This practice involves an exchange where the practitioner is also seen by the deity. Darshan offers a jumping-off point for comparative religious discussions of divine-human relationships. Humans have a need to be seen, recognized, and known by the divine as well as one another.     Mutual recognition is an essential piece to understanding the practice of darshan. Deities a believed to be truly present in Murtis and must be seen for a Hindu to receive the deities blessing. Deities must also see the practitioners to know them. The visual and experiential components seen in Darshan are essential aspects of Hindu devotion.     Some other religious traditions encourage practitioners to train their eyes to see the divine in ordinary life. Seeing the divine in n...

  I read Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi, almost a year before its film adaptation was released — and I remember really liking it, despite only understanding some of its key themes. At 11, any notion of spirituality or metaphysics flew over my head, but I recognized the weight of these discussions when they appeared within the book. It meant something when Pi converted to Christianity and Islam while still practicing as a Hindu. It meant something when Richard Parker, Pi’s Bengal tiger companion, did not say goodbye after they survived 227 days at sea together. And it meant something when Pi told two (very different) versions of his story to the Japanese transport officials and allowed them to choose which one they wrote in their report. But I couldn’t understand what.  The story compelled me in a way few books previously had. It itched in the back of my mind and made me feel like I had stones in my heart. My hands shook with nervous energy every time I turned a page. For a ye...

     One thing I found interesting in Diana Eck’s reading was the differences between Western monotheistic religions and Hinduism, specifically in their views of images in worship. In the West, the use of images is often seen as idolatry, that is, the worship of an object or something other than God as if it were God. As Dr. Dale Tuggy points out in his video lecture on Eck’s book, Western ideas and beliefs are often applied to Hindu devotion, claiming that the use of images, or idols, is wrong or bad. As mentioned in the video, the term idolatry is actually an outsider term, meaning that it has been used to describe Hindu practices from a Western viewpoint. I would argue that this goes against the concept of cultural relativism, the idea that a person's beliefs and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture, norms, and values From a comparative religious perspective, I think it’s important to keep cultural relativism in mind and try not to compare ...

Image from Dreamstime.com Reading about darsan reminded me a lot of my experience with Adoration. According to Christian tradition, Adoration is defined as "a​​ sign of devotion to and worship of Jesus Christ who is believed to be present in body, blood, soul, and divinity, under the appearance of the consecrated host, that is, sacramental bread" (wikipedia.org). It was and is difficult for me to understand how a piece of bread (a wafer, really) is supposed to encompass all of this. Additionally, adoration didn’t make me feel great because it is actually pretty awkward. Typically, people sit or pray in silence which can make it hard to think. I still have trouble looking at Jesus on the Cross in church even though I was an altar server because, in my upbringing, this statue was neither defined as a visual tool nor as an embodiment of the divine, so it really never “did” anything for me during mass, and I just looked at the priest.  The current and common view/thought/reactio...

I love religious art. I think that there's a quality to it which cannot be explained. It doesn't stir feelings of faith in me, but I feel the weight which people's faith and devotion lend the piece. I've been struck by the beauty of Hindu devotional art and architecture for a few years now. I love looking at the richly decorated Shiva Linga , the revered statues of gods and goddesses, the rainbow-adorned temples, and the massive Ratha chariots (which I had always thought were called Juggernauts). However, my appreciation for devotional Hindu art had been only surface-deep. Until I read Darsan  by Diana Eck, I never knew the significance of these things, especially the statues. It was easier for me to associate the "aniconic" manifestations of the gods, like the Linga , than it was for me to imagine a deity in a statue, and I'm still unsure why. Shiva Linga (center left, near crack) being worshiped by Gandharvas c. 100 BCE Crucif...

Getting some inspiration from other blogs, I thought it was interesting to see the many different ways that churches either decorate their environment or try to display God to the members of the church. Whether it's through the functional approach of using stain glass windows to present an image or through a statue at the front of the church, we are provided with all sorts of imagery of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, God, or the saints and angels. It's comforting to be able to see Him in some form. I think that this enables a stronger belief in those who practice the religion. I'm sure that this is something that is extremely beneficial for children when growing up in the church. How would we grow to believe in something if we could not see it? Diana Eck expresses the importance in "seeing the divine image", specifically in Hindu worship. The power and importance in the simplicity of having eye contact with the gods is one that allows religious members to form a deep...

When I saw that Diana Eck's book seeing the divine image in India 's book had pictures, I found myself sucked into looking at them! I was especially drawn to the images of art in the book because during my senior year of high school I took AP Art History (mostly to have my favorite teacher one more time) and I was shown this whole world of art that I was unaware of and unappreciative of. I will say I did not spend a ton of time looking into Indian art because there was not a ton of that on the exam, but we did talk about the religion represented in art and the Hindu religion did come up. From the Eck Book When I was in this class we took a field trip to the MFA in Boston (you should go if you haven't yet!).  While we were there we looked around for the pieces we were studying, but we were able to check out the whole museum since we had the whole day. While I was there, there was a whole Asian art exhibit and I remember distinctly looking at a piece of art that looked ...