Tradition, Custom, Ritual etc., in the Indian Context

In our discussions, we often tend to dilute the difference between traditions, customs/practices and rituals. In the way the Indian society has evolved and withstood onslaughts it is very necessary to identify the elements of our society that can be categorized as such.

What is Philosophy?

Philosophy is an approach to life consisting of ideals that are worth pursuing in order to build a healthy and cultured life for self, society and generations.

What is Traditions?

At a very high level, traditions are a set of principles and organization elements that a society values for the well being of the society and the individual. This is the result of wisdom collected through experience and converted as a holistic philosophy. 

It further consists a set of customs/practices and rituals for the society and the individual in alignment with the traditions.

What are customs/practices?

Customs/practices are a set of performing frameworks aligned with the traditions through which the 

society strives to keep itself healthy, thriving in perpetuity.

What are Rituals?

Rituals are a set of performing actions that make a practice holistic and complete in the direction of the tradition in letter and spirit.

Let us give some examples so that we understand this very clearly.

Example: The Philosophy

Across India, people believe that the following 4 ideals are worth pursuing and steadfastly do so. 

1. Conducting one self in a path of sustainable dynamism

2. Creating a Secure Life

3. Fulfilling desires and fascinations

4. Seeking transformations that lead to liberation

Further, people believe that

• People believe that for the well being of the individual and the society a balanced pursuit of the same is necessary.
• Fulfilling of desires/fascinations and realizing a secure life should be guided by and undertaken in the paths of sustainable dynamism
• People are comfortable with any path (they are innumerable) that allows them to explore this and do constantly explore such paths. 
• These explorations are themselves unsustainable if we are not Seeker aspiring Liberation.

This is entirely in the realm of philosophy.

Example: The Traditions

India has a tradition of living in communities so that the above can be pursued through a unique set of practices/customs with efficiency and sustainability. Further, the wisdom of India has led it to believe that the people will find it difficult to pursue themselves in the balance of The 4 Ideals if they live in isolation - although a few can certainly achieve that. In the security of a community, the pursuit of 4 Ideals thrives. Hence, India has a tradition of organizing itself as communities.

Further, 

1. Indian communities establish clear interfaces to interact with other communities. India sees a risk in communities living in absolute isolation. This results in their pursuit of security, desires and fascinations growing in unsustainable directions that can often hurt the overall balance of the communities in the region. This is a unique aspect of the tradition of communities in India.

    Hence, each community is minimally connected to other communities in some ways. For eg., In the villages of South India where Muslims and Hindus, Hindus perform something at the time of Moharrum and the Muslims perform something in the festival of the Goddess of the Village. Such interactions result in a balanced pursuit of desires, fascinations and securities of different communities.

2. It is not in the tradition of India to create larger aggregations where focus on  the individual is compromised at the pursuit of an abstract - in the process of weakening the pursuit of The 4 Ideals.

3. India also has a tradition of allowing any community to establish itself anywhere as long as it creates some kind of an interface with other communities through a negotiated settlement and offers some services to the other communities. This is what resulted in a grand assimilation of a multitude of communities that came from Central Asia including the ultra-violent Huns. This is how India assimilated highly proselytizing communities and reduced their proselytization component.

Example: Customs/Practices

Since living and being together is a fundamental for Indian communities, they create practices that constantly reinforce the need for living together. Further, communities develop practices that help them pursue material ambitions together as well - these practices are related to isolated spiritual practices. Let us take the milkman community for example.

1. They develop a standardized practice to milk cows in a specific manner that does not disturb the sustainable dynamism.

2. They develop a milk-delivering practice to customers in a way that the customers appreciate the seriousness and sincerity of the vendor

3. An offering practice to a deity that leads them in the path of Liberation 

This means - these practices are also designed to create an experience in alignment with the ideals of being together and pursuing the path of Liberation.

Example: Rituals

Each practice then manifests itself through a set of rituals that delivers an experience in alignment with the ideal of the said practice. For  eg.,

Milking a cow involves

1. Bowing to the cow before and after milking.
2. Talking to the cow while milking in a soothing manner
3. Using special vessels only for milking
4. Offering milk to the family deity before proceeding to sell to the customers
5. Offering milk a bit more the customers than the measurement

All of them offer a unique experience but inline with the 4 Ideals. Hence, we see an enormous binding of philosophy, tradition, custom/practice and rituals in order to pursue the 4 Ideals which have been arrived through years of wisdom and reflection. Community Life is a strategic instrument turned into a Unique-experience in achieving the 4 Ideals - and that in itself is a tremendous wisdom and experience of the Indian life.