Glancing: Visual Interaction in Hinduism

In Hinduism great emphasis is given to visual interaction between deity and worshippers. Devotees wish to see and be seen by the gods, and believe that they will be benefited by doing so. Underlying this belief is a conception of "seeing" as an extrusive flow-of-seeing that brings seer and seen into actual contact. Under the right circumstances devotees are thereby enabled to take into themselves, by means of vision, something of the inner virtue or power of the deity, including the deity's own power of seeing. Evidence in support of this thesis is drawn from three sources: two modern religious movements and a popular religious film.