It helps believers increase their spiritaul purity and get them to a higher level of spiritaul purity in the next life( i.e. are reborn cloer to Brahman). As the ultimate goal of a Hindu is to escape the cycle of samsara, it would seem that darshan is important to Hindus for that reason.
Additionally, darshan can be seen as Bhakti Yoga, whereby the worshipper tries to demonstrate their love for the deity at all times. By having darshan with that deity, the worshipper gains good karma by being loving towards that deity and therefore they move towards moksha.
Third, darshan is a direct appreciation of the aura or presence of a place or murti, which could link the believer more directly with significant events of the past and allow them to better appreciate both God and their religion.
Finally, the fact that darshan calls out the consciousness of the devotee and seems to take place on a higher spiritual level could be used to argue for the fact that it brings the believer closer to moksha (I think this is the same as the first point?)
Those are the only ones I can come up with at the moment, apart from one about the blessing brought on the worshipper by darshan as beneficial and a part of scripture and temple life, which I'm not sure is relevant.
Darshan means paying respect to a holy image to receive a blessing, and if you think of "paying respect" as offerings of food (and/or flowers, accompanying prayers), then naturally you'd come to the point that the food offerings become prashad - blessed food. This is important as it is shared out (particularly in mandirs) by the priest to the Hindu community in the mandir, and blessing may also be seen as a strengthening of faith, as well as earning good karma for moksha, thus leading to a personal relationship with Brahman (Melody's point).
Another point to add to that would be the fact that Hindus believe darshan is the most important aspect of temple worship, because the mandir is the abode of the deities, and if their presence is more strongly concentrated there, Hindus who worship in the mandir and experience darshan will gain more confidence in their personal or communal puja. Finally, this may make the deity or deities (their chosen personal one/ones) more powerful, and a greater need to be respected - therefore this makes the worshipper more dedicated to their faith, which again will lead to good karma, to escape samsara and achieve moksha.
It helps believers increase their spiritaul purity and get them to a higher level of spiritaul purity in the next life( i.e. are reborn cloer to Brahman). As the ultimate goal of a Hindu is to escape the cycle of samsara, it would seem that darshan is important to Hindus for that reason.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, darshan can be seen as Bhakti Yoga, whereby the worshipper tries to demonstrate their love for the deity at all times. By having darshan with that deity, the worshipper gains good karma by being loving towards that deity and therefore they move towards moksha.
Third, darshan is a direct appreciation of the aura or presence of a place or murti, which could link the believer more directly with significant events of the past and allow them to better appreciate both God and their religion.
Finally, the fact that darshan calls out the consciousness of the devotee and seems to take place on a higher spiritual level could be used to argue for the fact that it brings the believer closer to moksha (I think this is the same as the first point?)
Those are the only ones I can come up with at the moment, apart from one about the blessing brought on the worshipper by darshan as beneficial and a part of scripture and temple life, which I'm not sure is relevant.
I'm not sure if this will work.
ReplyDeleteDarshan means paying respect to a holy image to receive a blessing, and if you think of "paying respect" as offerings of food (and/or flowers, accompanying prayers), then naturally you'd come to the point that the food offerings become prashad - blessed food. This is important as it is shared out (particularly in mandirs) by the priest to the Hindu community in the mandir, and blessing may also be seen as a strengthening of faith, as well as earning good karma for moksha, thus leading to a personal relationship with Brahman (Melody's point).
Another point to add to that would be the fact that Hindus believe darshan is the most important aspect of temple worship, because the mandir is the abode of the deities, and if their presence is more strongly concentrated there, Hindus who worship in the mandir and experience darshan will gain more confidence in their personal or communal puja. Finally, this may make the deity or deities (their chosen personal one/ones) more powerful, and a greater need to be respected - therefore this makes the worshipper more dedicated to their faith, which again will lead to good karma, to escape samsara and achieve moksha.
Would these two points be valid?
I'm still kind of confused...but I think that helps :)
ReplyDeleteThanks :D