{"id":2329,"date":"2018-12-24T14:14:49","date_gmt":"2018-12-24T14:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/?p=2329"},"modified":"2018-12-28T07:00:54","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T07:00:54","slug":"the-good-ritual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/open-religion\/the-good-ritual","title":{"rendered":"The Good Ritual"},"content":{"rendered":"

What constitutes the concrete appearance of a \u2018good ritual\u2019? According to me, the answer lies more in the deeper \u2018why\u2019 and in the deeper \u2018how\u2019 of the \u2018what\u2019 than in the \u2018what\u2019 itself.<\/h3>\n

[please first read: \u2018Rituals<\/a>\u2019]<\/p>\n

In religion(s), rituals mostly grow quite organically.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What if one would want to \u2018make\u2019 a new ritual to serve for instance in \u2018Open Religion\u2019 [see: \u2018What is Open Religion?<\/a>\u2019]? What would be important characteristics of a \u2018good ritual\u2019?<\/p>\n

Or likewise: what if one would want to change the rituals of an existing\u2026 organization?<\/p>\n

Direction<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Shortly put: a ritual is a sequence of actions that, as a whole, have a \u2018deeper\u2019 \u2013 this is: more than purely conceptual \u2013 influence on people.\u00a0 Since such influence may deeply change a person, the direction is important. It\u2019s important towards ethics as well as towards efficiency.<\/p>\n

In a good ritual, these two goals are achieved together, as one, into a worthy direction.<\/p>\n

Actually, I see only one worthy direction: towards wholeness\u2026<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

being the complete person that one has always been. \u00a0Note that in this of course one also finds the etymology of holy-ness. Thus, a good ritual has a very deep basis. [see also: \u2018Depth is Formless Meaning<\/a>\u2019]<\/p>\n

One has forgotten. One forgets it again and again. One should be reminded.<\/p>\n

A good ritual is a good reminder.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It reminds people that they are who they are, deeply.<\/p>\n

In togetherness, a good ritual thus aligns people into the same direction, namely the vertical one. In my opinion, it is less important to \u2018superficially do \/ attend to the same thing\u2019. The collective connection is preferably \u2013 therefore not exclusively \u2013 laid at a deeper level. What is being done, has a deeper quality of striving.<\/p>\n

A good ritual is a deep invitation<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

being a suggestion to change-from-inside, this is: by oneself. The change needs to be highly congruent. A good ritual should not change someone into a different person. Yet, the end result can be a feeling of fundamental <\/em>change from inside.<\/p>\n

A good ritual is inviting = openness. As in a very nice dance. As in a very good coaching. It\u2019s the invited person who makes the move, or at least initiates how he wants to evolve as-complete-person. In a dance or a coaching, the \u2018leader\u2019 or \u2018coach\u2019 can at any moment be attentive to the invitee and adjust. Contrary to this, in a ritual, continual adjustment is not possible. So, does this make the good ritual itself impossible?<\/p>\n

I think it is possible, but in order to be so:<\/p>\n

A good ritual is as simple as feasible without losing anything essential.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In simplicity lies openness. As little as possible is standing in the way. A minimalistic design (of the ritual) may be a good thing. Then again, minimalism by itself may also<\/em> stand in the way if it is imposed, thus deemed more important than authenticity.<\/p>\n

A good ritual is authentic. It comes from inside and only<\/em> from inside.<\/p>\n

To accomplish this, in any case, the striving should be a search for dynamic keys: keys that change (in meaningful paths, at least) according to direct needs: inter-individually and also intra-individually.<\/p>\n

How can a ritual be a dynamic key?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Important is the quality with which ritual actions are experienced, the depth and open attention of the one who performs as well as the one who attends.<\/p>\n

In short: the involvement of the subconceptual.<\/p>\n

In this, the ritual serves its cause: connecting to one\u2019s own depth, connecting one\u2019s depth to that of others. Thus, being together in depth and as such, forming a community that thrives in internal and external openness.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, a ritual may be very closing.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A ritual gets strength in a community through seeing others within that community perform the same action. This may be anything, as long as people are in line with each other.<\/p>\n

OK? Hmm.<\/p>\n

Rigidly stepping in line potentially heightens us-them in many aspects. [see: \u2018In-Group Creates Out-Group?<\/a>\u2019] It may \u2018feel good\u2019 but this feeling is brittle: the energy being \u2018summoned from depth\u2019 may turn out very negative. It may also crack the group itself, from inside, in visible as well as invisible ways.<\/p>\n

Rigidness kills the ritual.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I mean: the good ritual. This is primordial. A \u2018perfectly\u2019 performed ritual is (cheaply) robot-like and has no deeper meaning. Striving towards perfection in this is not a good thing if the goal is merely this perfection by itself.<\/p>\n

The quality of the striving lies in how<\/em> and why\u00a0<\/em>one strives. Not robot-like, but human-like, in openness and towards inner strength and peace\u00a0and\u00a0eventually love, the most beautiful goal, the only one worthy of rituals.<\/p>\n

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What constitutes the concrete appearance of a \u2018good ritual\u2019? According to me, the answer lies more in the deeper \u2018why\u2019 and in the deeper \u2018how\u2019 of the \u2018what\u2019 than in the \u2018what\u2019 itself. [please first read: \u2018Rituals\u2019] In religion(s), rituals mostly grow quite organically. What if one would want to \u2018make\u2019 a new ritual to Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n

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