The dominant culture encourages us to place a premium on
new experiences. We want surprise, fresh excitement, even unforseen revelations.We
toss out the phrase "been there, done that" as an easy dismissal of
anything we reject as old, outmoded, worn, unremarkable.
It's not surprising in the world of "been there,
done that" that ritual often gets a bad name. "Empty ritual";
"ritualistic": the repetition of the same action, the same words,
time after time, raises suspicion. We assume that sincerity and deep engagement
don't mix with what we do out of long, often habitual practice.
If you have a daily personal practice, even of the
simplest and briefest sort (and simple and brief are sometimes best) you
already know it's more complicated than that. It's true that repetition at its
worst can be meaningless and mind-numbing. But at its best it can build a strong, resilient container where new
experience and insight have secure space to grow and flourish. The same gesture
you've made a dozen times before means something different today because of
what's happening in your life. The words you know by heart feel like you're
hearing them, or speaking them, for the first time.
The positive side of repetition is if anything even more
powerful in shared practice. If you consistently perform ritual with a group,
you'll see the nuances that build up, not only for yourself, but in the outward
signs of how it's speaking to those around you. A turn of phrase that's a
little different from the last time these words were spoken; the quality of
someone's touch, or your touch, as you pass a ceremonial object between you;
the hand one man raises spontaneously in the middle of a chant or a procession--these
start to form a feedback loop into your own experience and understanding of
what's going on, and a whole group can find itself swept up into a kind of
spiritual jazz. Or less dramatically, subtle variations may speak in a still,
small voice. Familiarity becomes a platform from which you can dive deeper. The
ritual becomes a solid vessel that holds you all together, and yet gives you
each the space to be more completely yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment