The Path Of Rituals And The Path Of Meditation

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Swamiji, while we are on the topic of rituals, can you please tell us something about the path of rituals and the path of meditation?

Yes...

See, with rituals, there is something definite about them. It is structured and you know when exactly it is going to start, when it is going to finish, where you are going to do it, what for you are doing it etc. With rituals, you go into them, and come out as the same person. There is so much of security in the whole process. That is why it has spread so much. Anything that is definite spreads.

But what happens in meditation? First of all, meditation seems too simple to produce any benefits when compared to rituals. People always ask me why I do rituals at the ashram. I tell them, if I tell people to simply come to the ashram and sit under the banyan tree and meditate, which is actually enough, will they listen?

If I did not have the Dakshinamurthy idol and the Nataraja idol, if they did not see these idols there, would they come to just see open space and a banyan tree? Probably only I will be sitting under the banyan tree and meditating!

To make people take the first steps towards their inner journey, I have to show them some of the complications that exist in their minds. Else I cannot lure them to it. I have to talk in their language.

Chat With The Devotees Of Paramahamsa Nithyananda