 26. Ceremonies |
"Outward Ritual" cannot destroy ignorance because they are not mutually contradictors. Realized knowledge alone destroys ignorance . . . knowledge (insight) cannot spring up by any other means than inquiry. Who am I? How is the universe born? Who is its maker? What is its cause? This is the kind of inquiry referred to. The intellect has no answer for these questions, hence the Rishis evolved yoga (meditation) as a technique of spiritual inquiry.
-Shanka
Ceremonies cannot make a person "sane," they can only develop sincerity and piety. There the "proper use" of these virtuous traits or conditions lead to and develops into "sanity."
-Hua Ching Ni
Superficial practices only create duality in the mind. It is like telling someone who can't find his own feet to grow a second head so he can look for them better. Established worship and ritual make people blind to spiritual truth, and people lose their natural integrity when they expect or demand that an external authority, divine or otherwise, take charge of their lives and bestow blessings or good fortune on them. Spiritual power and daily blessings come from wholeness - from the integrity of one's own being and the wholeness of one's energy - as does the achievement of immortality.
