Eric Shulman on Lane's 3 Approaches

In defining a sacred place, Lane discusses the ontological, cultural and phenomenological approaches. From the ontological perspective, a sacred place is set apart from everything profane; it is a site recognized as manifesting its own inherent power. An advantage of grasping this perspective is to look at sacred place from within. Doing so the “power” will captivate imagination. I loved how “Cold Fever” was able to address the ontological perspective. It didn’t matter how long Hirata waited to finally see the resting place of his parents. The ritual he was meant to perform to his parents made him realize what the meaning of life is. An imagination of spirituality was a necessity for him. From the cultural perspective, a sacred place is defined as a site over which conflicting parties disagree. It is a place about which people are willing to fight and even die. The conflictive character of sacred sites is ideal to their identification. However, I don’t like how this approach discounts the significance of “place” itself. To an individual, that is the whole point. One should not view sacred sites as neutral or as indifferent objects. The final approach Lane discusses is the phenomenological approach, which began to emerge as a way of giving a voice to another participant in the process of experiencing sacred places. To me, visiting a sacred site is amazing, but truly understanding the meaning of that site and how it came about is most important. A secondary source, such as a touring guide, relates well to this approach.