DARSHANA (darśana), also darshan, Skt., lit. (1) “view, sight”; (2) “system.”
[Hinduism] (1) Paying respect to a holy man or a sacred site in order to receive blessings and purification from that presence. Every encounter with a guru or holy person can be regarded as darshana. (2) A name for the six doctrines (shad-darshana) that form the six schools of orthodox Hindu philosophy, namely Nyāya; Vaisheshika; Sānkhya; Yoga (Rāja-Yoga); Pūrva-Mīmāmsā, or Mīmāmsā; and Vedānta, also called Uttara-Mīmāmsā. All six doctrines have the same goal: to liberate the soul from the round of births and deaths and to bring about union with God or the Absolute. They are all represented in the Bhagavad-Gītā.
[Buddhism] (Pali, dassana); insight based on reason, which is capable of eliminating the passions (klesha) that are conceptual in nature, false views (drishti), doubt (vichikitsā), and clinging to rites and rules. The way of seeing (darshana-mārga), which leads from mere blind trust in the four noble truths up to actual comprehension of them, transforms a dharmānusārin or shraddhānusārin into a “stream enterer” (shrota-āpanna).
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
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External Links: Darshan / Darshan in Hinduism / Darshan in Mahayana Buddhism