The Meaning and the Essence of Religious Rituals and Symbols: Part Two: Rituals

It is obvious to anyone, how much ritual plays a part in the practicing of religion. It is important for us to understand however, that these actions, whether minor and small sights to our eyes, or elaborate and gargantuan rituals, are each extremely meaningful to their practitioners. As with religious symbols, the rituals of a faith are a form of communication and connection to something. It is a connection to the world which transcends the physical, literal world.

First when we think of ritual we often think of the Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church. But it is worth remarking that even the simplest form of religious service involves ritual, in the sense of some form of outer behavior (such as closing one's eyes in prayer) coordinated to an inner intention to make contact with, or to participate in, the invisible world. (Smart)

The gestures are more than gestures. It is a potent expression of love and gratitude to the faithful. And their expression, is directed toward something in the realm that we cannot see. Each small act is done with tremendous importance, one that is both historical and spiritual. If not, as the author of The Religious Experience of Mankind, Ninan Smart writes: "If people go through the motions of religious observance without accompanying it with the intentions and sentiments which give it human meaning, ritual is merely an empty shell." However, to the people that understand the purpose of those small and big actions, it is more than a mere an empty shell, but an act that changes their lives forever.

These acts range from a silent prayer, to: a structured Greek Orthodox wedding, the ritual bath (mikvah) in the Jewish faith, the intensely sensory puja offerings in Hinduism, the mudras and meditation in Buddhism, and the activity of Tai Chi to the Taoist. They can be life-cycle rites of passage- marking the various transformations of life, self-training rituals, or activities done out of a significant crisis, but no matter their form or their element, each is healing to its practitioner.

Whichever form it takes, it is done in order to embrace an element of the universe which is outside of our typical view and to reinforce sacred ideals, as is the case with each element of the symbolism that takes place in religion. To this point, with Ninian Smart I agree once again:

Nevertheless, the techniques of self-training have an analogy to ritual: the adept performs various physical and mental exercises through which he hopes to concentrate the mind on the transcendent, invisible world, or to withdraw his senses from the usual immersion in the flow of empirical experiences. (Smart)

Sarah

Works Cited

Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions. Upper Saddle River: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.

Livingston, James C. Anatomy of The Sacred: An Introduction to Religion. Upper Saddle River: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.

Smart, Ninian. The Religious Experience of Mankind. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1984. Print.