Yesterday, I was having a discussion on the existence of rituals with a friend of mine.
Every community follows certain rituals and most people do not know why they follow. The tragedy is that they do not even try to seek answers or explanations or rationale behind them following those rituals...and sometimes superstitions!
In fact, etymologically, rationale is what distinguishes a ritual from a superstition. If the practice is backed by logic and is rational then you call it a ritual else a superstition. But then, rationality itself is something very abstract and subjective, so, I would not like to enter that territory of discussion.
I simply call it a belief system. And for most souls, either convenience or fear is the driving force behind their belief system. So, rationality and logic takes a back seat when people start following things based on what they've seen their ancestors doing and their priests preaching, without introspecting or questioning.
Here's a nice and apt story about how we start following certain rituals...GURU AND THE CAT
When the guru sat down to worship each evening the ashram cat would get in the way and distract the worshipers. So he ordered that the cat be tied up during evening worship.
Long after the guru died, the cat continued to be tied during the evening worship. And when the cat eventually died, another cat was brought to the ashram so that it could be duly tied during evening worship.
Centuries later learned treatises were written by the guru's disciples on the essential role of the tied cat in all properly conducted evening worship.
So, what do we call it - a ritual or a superstition? And where and how do we strike the right balance (as the picture depicts)?
