it seems that the source of the video's concept is from a lecture by Alan Watts from the out of your mind collection disc 6 track 7 about half way through the track. this is available at amazon.com as a download and may be of interest to tool fans. I'll put the track on myspace for a day or two. http://www.myspace.com/defiesanalysis
i think Vicarious is about the fear of death (constantly reinforced through TV), the power and control this terror gives things like government, organized religion, three pronged monsters or whatever, and the potential to overcome this fear by some sort of self exploration or exploration for the self, which in turn would not only destroy this power and control, but would also result in enlightenment of some kind. that terrifying empty void burning in the sky is just the other-side. perhaps a closer look would help
