Purposes of Traditions or Rituals - Essay Example

Purposes of Traditions or Rituals In writing his article, “Tradition (Part Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati”, Math, Sivananda believes that the essence of all traditions practiced in every community is continuity. It is due to this factor that the birth of tradition exists. Although the tradition was made to pass knowledge, scholars believe that the idea has taken a new direction, making modern life unstable. The meaning of a tradition as derived from Shah-Kazemi Reza is a belief or an object passed down within a society maintained in the present but originated from the past (41). Some common practical examples of traditions include holidays and clothes with social meaning like lawyer wigs or military officer spurs. A ritual on the other hand is a solemn or religious ceremony comprising of performed series in accordance with prescribed order. Traditions are places of comfort; touchstones as are in good times while during difficulties they are a place of mooring. In a Reith lecture said a tradition has several core elements. To begin with, it has a ceremonial ritual or ritualistic behavior, it involves a group of people; social in nature and it is collective and finally it has traditional guardians such as historians that have access to knowledge or the truth of tradition’s sacred rituals. Researchers have made quiet a number of attempts to put down so many different types of traditions practiced and still are in place until present. Categorized into current and historical, they include Chinese, horary, Indian, natal, and Hellenistic, Celtic, judicial and Burmese astrology respectively. Recently Western countries have made some developments to these traditions hence coming up with more of them. Some are, cosmobiolgy, evolutionary, astrocartography, sun sign astrology, and others. Aspects relating to spiritual functions of a tradition, the direct means by which the separate religious traditions breaks up spiritual realization, making real within oneself and at times religious tradition of the whole world. An example of such aspect is boldly prevalent in Thailand where many traditions and customs which include the respect for the elders, strong religious faiths and beliefs and above all loyalty to His Majesty the King. Traditions and rituals extent presence and function to the Roman Catholic Church. The church has “Catholic Mass” a service in a divine and consecrated area by an authorized minister (Jones 60). That central act is a sacrament of the performance of Eucharist. Such is an example of weekly church service whereby the reason for this regular ritual is much the same. In addition, a tradition or a ritual is purposeful in families since it promotes a sense of belonging, sense of purpose, identity, connection, and acts as a role model and develops stability and continuity in a fast-paced and hectic world. While a ritual is like a spiritual instruction book, complete with blueprints, it can have a specific reason for any one, or all people assembled to perform it. They include the rite of healing, passage or a ritual focused on helping crops to grow. Arguably, some critics have gone ahead to analyze the presence of Christmas on the twenty-fifth day of December every year. Some say it is a ritual commemorating the birth of Jesus. Others, although irreligious people, according to Skeptical play entitled purpose of a ritual, do not really get the function of a ritual or tradition (Strathern 14). After he carefully examined Jesus’ life and words, he came up with a startling conclusion and altered his course of life then posed a question, “could Jesus have been just a great teacher?” Scholarly arguing Christmas celebrations are a ritual to some while others do not even recognize its presence like those who go to church on Saturday. Another old tradition is that of the “best man” in a wedding. His purpose in old days was to; because people fought for brides, do the fighting while the couple said their vows Ritual actions are hardly limited to any form of actions that may be incorporation in societies as they have typically involved special gestures and words, performance of special music, songs, or dances, use of special dresses, manipulation of certain objects and many others (Vansina 5). They all have meaning and performing them went hand in hand with the occasion. When a person died, people sang sooth music while crying during burials. They believed such action would give the deceased soul a nice sent off. Furthermore, scholars working with oral tradition which include epics and sagas, prose stories, lyric poems, ritual songs, panegyrics and genealogies, accord definitive functions to such rituals and traditions. Epics and sagas serve as stories of heroes or warriors who create the culture of a society, of the origin of their civilized behavior, of the creation of earth and heaven and the people living in it. People talk of traditions because their roots are in tradition. When someone apologizes for his/her past he/she can have no worthwhile in the present to even contemplate the future. Pride and joy must be there in the past, as we do not ask ourselves to be ritualistic. Thereby accept only those rituals, which bring us joy. However, traditions or rituals have undergone some noticeable and confirmed changes. This is prevalent in places where feminine energy has taken over the role and plays long held by male energy. This was encouraged by amendments made on (CEDAW). For it is easy to be lost in this blind chase of appearing to be modern, believe in free uninhibited, lack of attached strings sex, unconditional, is on the verge. The thought of money as exhibited by she compared to he is different. In the past, women chores comprised of only tending homesteads, firewood collection, bearing children and looking after them but that is history since twenty-first century. They have assumed the will to seek employment to raise money, a habit only believed to be the responsibility of a man (Jones 62). Today, tradition is an indispensable survivor in the present (Piotr 4). A good person in reference to the modern world does not make others suffer but the effort causes suffering. Christians who are civilized westernize people in accordance with the principle that effort is an essential condition for dignity and self-reliance. Abolishing good in all effort fields, does in fact, deprive life of key values, which does not make it worth living. Does not, if asked, this deformed “goodness” become the worst of all male chauvinism? Attitudes like spontaneity, naturalness, and sincerity were norms in the old days and everyone all expected to uphold them in their endeavors. The much silence about the fundamental or rather important values of culture and those spiritual will lead them to desert earth for good. The much-reduced refinement will make it disappear while mini-clothing will have it vanish. In conclusion, sometimes play with the traditions by dressing traditionally, eating traditional food, dancing traditional music and finally let traditions dwell in you and in so doing you will not be living in the past but you will be living in a stronger future. This does not have to be formal in nature but can be put into practice within institutions like schools, churches, offices, hospitals, and in many others. Although critics have extensively criticized the passing of traditions from generation to the other, it is essential to note that revival of tradition can be spontaneous whenever the situation is friendly for its revival. However, it is crucial to uphold traditions that are beneficial and meaningful discarding every imperfect, irrelevant, and useless belief. Works cited Jones, Rhidian. The Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England: A Handbook. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011. Math, Sivananda. Tradition (Part 1): Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati. Web 24 Nov. 2011. Piotr, S. The Sociology of social Change. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2003. Print. Shah-Kazemi, Reza. Tradition as Spiritual Function: A ‘perenialist’ Perspective. Web. 24 Nov. 2011. Vansina, Jan. Oral Tradition “A study in Historical Methodology”. Piscataway: NJ. Aldine Transaction, 2006. Print. Read More