to mjfisher and all about why we do ritual

[Guest guest]

mjfisher wrote:

It brings back the question to my mind, "Why do we do ritual?" Does the object of our devotion need the things we give and the rituals that we do? Or is it we human beings who need to sacrifice and give and do rituals for that object of devotion? My opinion is more the second, I need to do this, it is the right thing, the harmonious thing for me to do. And, wonderful thing is: I get a response, a loving response. I know this and yet I forget it all the time.

 

Dear mj and all ~ I agree with you that it is the second, that also, as someone else said (to paraphrase): we offer what She already has and yet She graciously (and I would add, as you have) lovingly accepts.

 

I have always believed, from early childhood, that we, the Universe, the inward and the outward, however we would refer to the totality of Being, are symbolic beings at our core. We respond on all levels of our being to symbols, whether it be a mantra read or said aloud, whether it be something we see or watch or participate in (like puja, like Shri Chakra Yantra), or whether it is just felt in our being. When we do any type of ritual, we open ourselves to this Totality of Being, in a sense becoming like tuning forks, from the most gross to the most subtle levels.

 

The Universe is symbolic. One only has to study, briefly, sacred geometry to see how Divine Mother has, to the smallest level, arranged "things" symbolically, like the sacred spiral, drawn from the "Golden Mean," and shown in the conch shell, as well as in the arrangement of galaxies. Why is it this way? I believe it takes us beyond our subjective, intellectual mind, beyond our ordinary human feelings, to a level that becomes attuned at gross and subtle levels with the Divine. Then we may even hear the "music of the spheres." Jai Maa!!!!!! ~ Linda Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com.