Fears that are thus quantified and even measured by means of constant observation can then helps us to devise a strategy to overcome the fear. This is called an 'empirical' study or in simpler words, study by observation or experimentation. Thus, primitive humans might have observed or studied the movements of a predator and figured out the best time to overcome the predator so that they don't get eaten. Similarly, a child may observe for a while how the toy that it initially fears behaves and may even prod and poke it to test its danger level and eventually overcome the fear and start playing with it.
On the other hand, some fears are not exactly solvable because we do not know a way yet on how the unknown works. Such fears can be more complex to overcome due to a lack of understanding of all the issues that drive the unknown. This was probably the singular moment in history where humans surmised that there must be another entity that they don't know of yet that governs what they don't know and as a result, even what they know. This belief in an entity that governs the unknown, to me, is the birth of religion.
To make things more interesting, there could be two possible ways in which the entity (aka God) can now be addressed - one is not to question the validity of God, but simply perform certain actions (rituals) that by empirical observation, seems to appease certain unpleasant actions from God's side. Going back in history, I would surmise that offerings made to God were probably due to this thought process. The second possibility is to go a more philosophical route and question the existence of God in the first place and if God does exist, then analyze the relationship between God and humans, or for that matter, everything else.
Note that in both cases (rituals and spirituality), the fundamental driver is the fear or lack of understanding of the unknown and the inability to formally explain the unknown. Moreover, all these strategies are essentially to convince oneself that they can understand something that they did not comprehend earlier.In Hinduism, these two facets were well-defined and were known as Smriti (Ritual) and Shruti (Spiritual). The theory is that a person needs to follow both these aspects of the religion in order to attain moksha (or nirvana). To be more precise, it is my understanding that Smriti is a stepping stone towards Shruti, in a sense, easing the follower from a step-by-step structure to more abstract thought.
Rituals
Rituals have been around pretty much since the start of any religion. Probably it even predates more spiritual thinking. In a sense, rituals could have formed due to the same empirical observation. Our ancestors may have noticed that certain combination of events or actions result in favorable results and some that do not and potentially codified it as a ritual to follow in order to consistently get favorable results. This is neither surprising nor stupid. We do similar actions pretty much all the time. Even if we do not understand the underpinnings of certain objects, we still know that some actions will work and some do not.
What is more interesting is that some rituals have also morphed over time. While the origins of certain rituals were either for practical purposes or at times even symbolic, some of them got lost in translation over time. Such changes mostly happened either due to the whims and fancies of those who were the protectors of the rituals or just due to circumstances. Thus, today's rituals tend to be a mix of the original ones combined with ones that were added over time.
It would make sense to separate them and follow the ones that are still relevant and valid and archive the rest as historical. For example, surya namaskaram or "sun prayer" contains a number of asanas (poses) from Yoga that is now widely popular. Similarly there are a few others that are more societal or historical that do not apply to the modern world anymore (such as sprinkling water around your plate before eating - it was essentially a means to prevent insects from getting to your plate when sitting and eating on a mud floor).
Spirituality
To me, this is the essence of religious thought. This branch explores and ponders about the unknown and tries to personify what we cannot perceive. That's as abstract as one's mind can get to!
Most religions provide a delineation between the ritual and the spiritual as explained earlier. Some religions focus more on the ritual than the spiritual. For example, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam focus more on the ritual - here, I consider the importance and emphasis of day-today actions as rituals as well - the emphasis on "living now". These religions have a spiritual angle as well (nirvana in Buddhism and Sufi form of thinking in Islam) but probably not emphasized as much as the ritual portion.
Unlike rituals, spirituality is not driven by fear alone - it also involves a healthy dose of curiosity about the unknown as well, and probably that's why to me that portion of a religion is far more fascinating than the other aspects.
So, does this mean that rituals and spirituality are fear-driven and hence not to be pursued? Not so, primarily because we still don't know the answers to a lot of questions. As long as unknowns remain, this branch of the unknown will continue to exist.
Also, on the other hand, can we say that anything empirical is good? Not exactly, as we shall see when we expand this to the next step in my next post.
4 comments:
I liked this post very much. I have given a serious thought about this sometime back, but you explained it so very well. I would also recommend J,K's book on "Fear". We have lot to know just about fear itself.
Looking forward the nexts...
Too curious to read your subsequent post on this .. I hope you already know your final conclusion since it is a unknown mystery that many tried to solve earlier.. my dad was just like ur dad, and when i question him on God, he would say if you believe in god , no explanation is necessary and if you don't no explanation is possible.
on the lite note: remains me of LOST episode, will they ever solve the mystery island , atleast they are closer to in their final season.
I won't say I have come to a conclusion, rather what I feel is more of a framework that puts things in perspective.
I agree with your Dad's statement - far catchier than what I have come to conclude though! My conclusions are close, but not quite.
Finding the unknown via empirical or spiritual path is only a partial understanding of the whole process. There is another path which is revelation (not the revelation as in modern terminology) but through samAdhi. This is what happened to Ramana Maharishi (and several Rishis before him).
Also the "...such as sprinkling water around your plate before eating - it was essentially a means to prevent insects from getting to your plate when sitting and eating on a mud floor..." is simply not true. That is a post-facto poor explanation of that ritual. If insect prevention was the reason why could not women do it? Is it okay if insects get to their plates? The meaning of that act is completely different. But this is the classic example for what you have quoted - people who do not understand the ritual fill it up with something to convince themselves, albeit poorly. Cho in his Enge brahmanan mentions this.
The actual text is "satyam tvA Rtena parisinchAmi | amRtam astu | amruta upastharaNam asi svaahaa |"
Literally it means "(O Food) You are the truth. I sprinkle you with water. You are immortal/nectar. O immortality (amrutam or nectar)! You are the supporter of everything".
upastharanam literally means mattress.
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