Rituals

Rituals Shrikant Vasudeo

A ritual is a set of procedures to be performed in specified manner with specific material intended to produce the desired result. We are concerned herewith a spiritual ritual. It will be advantageous for a modern man to understand the science of ritual so that he can apply its underlying principles for achieving his objective in everyday mundane life – be it management, business, social or household. One should not discard the rituals as ‘mumbo-jumbo’ or ‘blind faith’. It is true that many who follow rituals do not understand it, apply it wrongly, do not get any result out of it, and still none-the-less have strong belief in them. This results in skepticism in the minds of rationalists. However this should not result in under-estimating its power or altogether scrapping the ritual itself as some ancient junk.

We have seven levels of existence. Each object on the physical plane has within it the appropriate substance of each of the other six planes of manifestation. Thus it can be seen that every material object is ‘connected’ with other six planes in a direct manner, though invisible to the common man. Symbols do the function of connecting to other planes through appropriate representation on the material plane. This enables to ‘tap’ the energy of other planes for results to be obtained on the material plane. To understand the power of symbols, let us take the analogy of sign language used to communicate with deaf and dumb persons. The sign language has been derived from the gestures we commonly use in our every day life. When we do ‘thumbs up’ to indicate our approval and appreciation and encouragement, there is no reason that the deaf and dumb person will not get the same meaning when we do the same gesture with him. The symbols serve in a similar manner as a sign language of communicating and connecting with the unseen world.

Symbols are an essential ingredient of any ritual. The ritual is designed by a Master who has been able to transcend our physical consciousness and rise himself up on higher planes. Depending on the level of plane which a Master is able to raise his consciousness, he is able to make appropriate ritual to tap the power of planes upto that level. The founders of religions have generally ascended to very high level of the plane. This is the reason they are able to exert great influence on humanity and establish the religion. The formation of religion is not just the function of the uniqueness, effectiveness and usefulness of the teaching the Master. Many of us can do it, and perhaps in a much better way than our Masters ! It has lot to do with the ‘level’ of the Master and his access to the vast reservoir of energy on higher planes. The rituals designed by the Master are often transmitted to his disciples in a secret manner. This is done in order to safeguard against the misapplication of the principles behind the rituals. This is the reason the ancient rituals have a very great value in them – even if we may not understand them clearly. The pre-requirement for effectiveness of the ritual has to be observed meticulously. Even if due to passage of time the secret behind these rituals has been lost to humanity, their effectiveness is not totally lost. They may still be effective. The Master may still be ‘active’ on higher planes and ready to guide and ‘channel’ the energy from his higher level to the deserving disciples.

Each material object of the ritual is a symbolic representation of the different nature of force functioning upon the plane to which it is connected. It is essential in order to raise the consciousness of the person performing the ritual to that appropriate level. When we create in our mind the image of a particular symbol, it establishes a point of contact with the force it is intended to represent. Form, movement, color, incense and sound strike to the physical sense organs. These sense organs in turn are connected to the subtle senses. This results in the symbol getting direct connection to the subtle world and tapping the energy therein.

Colour and sound have a special application in the ritual. There is a physical law of vibration. All colours are a vibration and can he ‘heard’ by certain sensitive people. This is called ‘Synaesthesia’. It is a form of chromesthesia. Some people may even perceive a ‘smell’ when they see color. If we spread sand on a plain surface and a violin bow is drawn across its edge, the sand will assume a particular pattern consisting of geometrical forms. Similarly light is a vibration of ether. Some people can ‘taste’ the shape. There is mathematical relationship between the air-vibration of sound and the ether vibration of the colour which it evokes in the consciousness. Every force on every level is having its own specific vibration-rhythm. If we are able to discover the specific formulae of these vibration-rhythm and get at its ‘root’ level of the sound (beeja mantra) and apply these roots in a specific sequence, we start a chain of events at subtle planes resulting in the manifestation of a particular symbol at that level. This manifestation is then ‘mirrored’ on the physical plane through the application of the rituals. All our sacred names and other words of power have this secret behind them. Same principle is in operation in the case of geometrical forms. They connect to the lines of force on higher planes.

Rituals involve an intelligent application of the science of force of the higher planes to the physical plane. The Latin root of the word ritual is related to the numbering or counting the different ways in which a thing can be done. Ritual is a sequence of events.

We can much profit from learning the science of rituals in our practical life. We are employing the secret laws of ‘energy in action’ for manifesting the desired result. We need to define the goal, design the method, establish the pre-requisites, decide upon the sequence of events, have clarity of objective, attain the required proficiency, apply our energy and most importantly, lay down the system comprising the above factors. This is the ritual. If we establish this ‘business ritual’ meticulously and follow it faithfully, we will be sure to reap bumper profit. What applies in the spirit world, equally is true in the material world. When any act, be it an act related to religious practice or a business venture, is done in a ritualistic manner as explained above, it carries the force from the unseen world and becomes as effective as an arrow on its path to hit the target. Many of the success stories of the business ventures have this secret behind it, whether the initiator is aware of this aspect or not.

We should also be careful in disdaining our ancient religious rituals. We may not have people who understand the secret principle behind these ritual. However, the effectiveness of these rituals may still be valid due the ‘ingraining’ the channel of energy through the ages of actual practice of this ritual by our ancestors who had the necessary knowledge of the secret behind these rituals. We can profit from this ‘readymade’ machinery of profit if we follow the rituals laid down by our ancestors with full faith, dedication and with attention to smallest details. However, this can not be taken for granted. One has to take his call after due process of study and insightful meditation.

Having graduated from the initial preparatory knowledge and understanding of the science of rituals, one is free to design his own ritual suited to his particular temperament, resources and the objective. Then one truly becomes the Master of his own world and starts a new religion of his own for his private world. This is another subject involving many other elements of life.

Shrikant Vasudeo