Dear J,
I am a Vaishnavite and have been performing my religious duties and rituals ceremoniously for the past 35 years because my father was very particular about them and insisted on their importance throughout his life. I continue this practice out of a sense of responsibility toward my father and the tradition I once embraced.
However, I have deep doubts about these rituals. I feel that they belong to an era that is no longer relevant to our current reality. These practices stem from an ancient tradition of feudalism, while we now live in a postmodern world with an entirely different culture and lifestyle. Connecting these two worlds is a major obstacle for me.
I discover myself in a continuous compromise regarding these rituals. I perform them as a blind activity, without attributing any emotion or meaning to them. Such an approach is the only way I can engage with them, but it leaves me with a deep sense of guilt for participating in what feels like meaningless actions every day. I can only carry out these rituals if I can dissociate their significance from myself.
However, after listening to your video, I realized that these activities actually symbolize an ancient wisdom. If we view ourselves as a continuation of that wisdom, we can attribute meaning to these rituals. We should approach them as symbolic activities, rather than seeing them merely as duties or with direct meaning. Only then can we perform them with intention and mindfulness.
This is the key takeaway from your talk.
Thank you.
Ram
