Darsana - to be seen by the divine

People in relationships do not always need words to communicate. Lovers stare into each other's eyes; a suckling baby looks contentedly to its mother. There is the silence of bodily communion.

This is what contemplative prayer is like. Prayer is to see the Beloved and allow the Beloved to see you. Hindus have a word for this - darsana - to allow yourself to be seen and beheld by God.

There is something about looking into the eyes of another - to see and know you are seen - which is one of the deepest experiences of human existence. It even works with a statue or image, if you look directly into its eyes - you can see it looking at you.

This is part of the practice of Christian icons, who are always looking directly at you. The experience of praying with icons is darsana - it is being seen by God.

I do this a bit, I have an icon that I tend to have there when I pray, but it's not particularly my practice. The practice that I stumbled across really by accident, and use from time to time, is simply to look in a mirror.

If you stare into a mirror for long enough, into your own eyes, you begin to see God looking back at you. Your own image reveals the Someone in all things. You see God and God sees you. You experience darsana - the loving eyes of God beholding you. In this intimacy with God you can stare into the Beloved's eyes, and speak only when there's something that needs to be shared with the Beloved.

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