Hindoo
Reminds me of Hindoo religious art, also the Buddhist paradises - check out the Pure Land Heavens. . . .
'When you have thus seen the water you should form the perception of ice. As you see the ice shining and transparent, you should imagine the appearance of lapis lazuli [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapis_lazuli].
'After that has been done, you will see the ground consisting of lapis lazuli, transparent and shining both within and without. Beneath this ground of lapis lazuli there will be seen a golden banner with the seven jewels, diamonds and the rest, supporting the ground. It extends to the eight points of the compass, and thus the eight corners (of the ground) are perfectly filled up. Every side of the eight quarters consists of a hundred jewels, every jewel has a thousand rays, and every ray has eighty-four thousand colors which, when reflected in the ground of lapis lazuli, look like a thousand million suns, and. it is difficult to see them all one by one. Over the surface of that ground of lapis lazuli there are stretched golden ropes intertwined crosswise; divisions are made by means of strings of seven jewels with every part clear and distinct.
'Each jewel has rays of five hundred colors which look like flowers or like the moon and stars. Lodged high up in the open sky these rays form a tower of rays, whose storeys and galleries are ten millions in number and built of a hundred jewels. Both sides of the tower have each a hundred million flowery banners furnished and decked with numberless musical instruments. Eight kinds of cool breezes proceed from the brilliant rays. When those musical instruments are played, they emit the sounds "suffering," "non-existence," "impermanence," and "non-self "; such is the perception of the water, which is the Second Meditation.
11. 'When this perception has been formed, you should meditate on its (constituents) one by one and make (the images) as clear as possible, so that they may never be scattered and lost. . . .
['Branching theory']
And yet. . . .
CONTACT
The imagery is sensual, almost to the point of being kitsch, and the symbolism generous. A very effective way of recruiting devotees during a time when the livin' must have seemed very bleak. This must have appealed greatly to the masses, who found abstract concepts too difficult to grasp. Ironically, it is this very sumptuousness that has made me cynical about "heaven/s", though of course it can be a panacea in times of hardship. Men and women continue to be attracted to this compensatory world, even today, and will chose martyrdom in order to achieve it. I do find the symbolism attractive through, and lapis remains one of my favourite stones - beyond diamonds. Those blues are incredible ...
Yes, this would be the fundamentalist level. Like all world religions need to do. (I cite haiku, also, as an example - entry level needs to be simple to start (pre-tadpole/tadpole), without compromising correct procedures.)
However, by meditating on any form the meditator begins to phase-shift into states of consciousness which the ritual symbolic constructs are designed -quite specifically- to engender.
We also note, that on the way to nothingness via Nirvanic levels, that the aspirant will experience exalted states of awareness and quite real (in their subtle domains) worlds. [These are to be passed through and not to become addicted to, not the new powers which come to the evolving seeker.]
All this is another subject (trans-frog), really. But, worth noting.
There is more to how things are than our cognitive filters, at any given state of development, can understand. Then, as we progress, we understand more. Then our faith grows stronger in our chosen methodologies. Then, we 'know'. [Gnosis kicks in, incrementially.]
William Halden said it well:
"Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine." http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._B._S._Haldane
I mention 'branching theory', as that is a very good concept to understand many, many things. It opens up the 'God helps those that help themselves' notion. That is to say, as we ponder closer and deeper to an object of attention, illumination comes in direct proportion (from the other side of the object, so to say) to our approach and our approach's clarity. The 'intelligent light' comes to meet us, as we go to meet it, via the object we contemplate, and according to that objects callibrations of design and function.
Any cultural deity is an example this. The cognitive form and it's built-in attributes, mediate specific coordinations of boundless numinosity. This references Haldene's astute statement - albeit from a little known point of view.
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[I'm not going to debate this. But, will simply state what I have found to be the case (after a lifetime of dedicated study and practice in universal transcendentalism). And this for what it may be worth, to any interested reader.]
jp