Landscapes of the Sacred 2

"It affirms that simply moving into an allegedly sacred place does not necessarily make one present to it." (Lane 29). I thought that this quote was interesting, and that it applied to my last post on this book as well. The first thought that comes to mind pertains to somebody from a different religious background entering a supposedly sacred setting for a differing religious tradition. If a Christian were to go into a Buddhist temple, I highly doubt that they would be present to the place in the same way a Buddhist would feel present to that same place. I also think that people can just enter into places that they consider to sacred without being present. I think the word present implies that one is actively engaged with their mind, spirit or a combination of the two, and one could easily enter into a spiritual setting disconnected in this sense. It is easy to get distracted on life and not be present to your current location. Both these instances considered, I agree with this statement from Belden Lane, that one can move into a sacred place without being present.

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