Challenging Traditions

Tags

challenges, heritage, legacy, letting go, traditions

As one holiday season comes to a close (my inherited Indian traditions) and another one draws nearer (my adoptedm American traditions), I find myself in a somewhat unique positon to compare and contrast the two. At every major Indian festival, I am reminded of some of the traditions of my parents, grandparents, friends and extended family that I grew up with before I moved to the USA. I do have to admit that their color fades ever so imperceptibly over the years.

Over the three decades that I have lived in the USA, I have created a few (holiday) traditions (of my own), to blend with the ones that I inherited. I do have to admit that it is a lot of work to create new, sustainable and meaningful traditions. Only time will tell how these newly created traditions will stand up to the test of our increasingly mobile and fluid landscape of friendships and relationships.

Traditions need not be exclusively associated with holidays, festivals and celebrations. As I evaluate the traditions that have stuck with me the longest, a few salient qualities come to the fore. The ones that have stood the test of space and time are those that promote simplicity, purity, cleanliness and respect in action. I observe them not for tradition’s sake, but because they make a meaningful, positive impact on the quality of my everyday life.

The tradition of silence with which my grandparents went about their daily business, without any fuss or complaint, inspires me to do the same. The reverence that my mother held for cleanliness in all her actions was often the subject of friendly banter – nobody could drink from her mug of tea, use her pillow or blanket, bring shoes into her kitchen, or… you get the idea – and yet it became a tradition in purity that many of us now observe with a smile. Have you inherited any ‘quirks’ of your parents and grandparents that have now become ‘traditions’ for you?

Perhaps the greatest value of traditions is in their ability to lend some measure of consistency and stability to our life-systems. As we face new, and often unforeseen, challenges, we can lean on our traditions for support. At the same time, it is prudent for us to ask questions of, to challenge those traditions that may be past their ‘use-by’ date in our life. How is any meaningful social, economic and spiritual change going to be effected if we calcify our hearts in the name of ‘tradition’?

Hence, the notion of ‘challenging traditions’. They create some challenges. The need/want to pass on and share as many of our inherited traditions. The need/want to let go, with love, of the ones that create more problems than they solve. The need/want to create some new ones with our new neighbors, friends and family. Can you think of any more challenges associated with ‘traditions’?

In closing, I invite you to share your thoughts on ‘challenging traditions’ with us in #SpiritChat on twitter – Sunday, November 12th at 9amET/2pmUTC/730pmIST. We will continue our ‘tradition’ of conversation over tea and cookies in the virtual world. Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. As I write this, it is a beautiful Saturday afternoon in November. November 11th, to be exact. Armistice Day. Remembrance Day. Veterans Day. A day that marks a traditional, solemn observance of respect and gratitude for those who have fought and served to preserve, promote and promulgate the freedom(s) of many. This is one tradition that is surely worth keeping. Thank you, Veterans!

My walks in the forest are developing into a newly created ‘morning’ tradition for me…

On Traditions and Spirituality

Tags

practices, spirit, spiritchat, traditions, values

What is a tradition? The classic dictionary definition is

Tradition is the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way… To transmit, to hand over, to give for safekeeping.

Traditions have symbolic meaning or special significance, with some of them being more special to us than others. Traditions can help add color, light, sound, taste and flavor to our occasionally mundane lives. As we go and grow through life and spend time with different cultures, and their ways of doing certain things, we may also have an opportunity to absorb their traditions and enhance our own.

However, there are hurdles that face our traditions. For instance, when crossing national boundaries, the desire of immigrants to preserve traditions can become a challenge. This is particularly true when the cultures of the immigrant and the host country are vastly different. One choice is to compromise – to bend but not break, to allow the tradition to flex, and be infused with the fragrance of the new culture. Some of us may be resistant to assimilate the traditions of the societies we live in – for fear of losing our past traditions. We may choose to be hard, non-compromising and rigid in our attitude. This may keep the tradition(s) pure for a little while, but invites the inevitable conflict(s) within families and communities.

Religion and its practices are well-known for their affinity for tradition(s). Holidays, celebrations and festivals are opportunities to renew old traditions, and, on occasion, establish some new ones. The memories and records of these traditions in our lives become intertwined with, and may even surpass the religious significance of these celebrations! The traditions can hence become the means with which to preserve those specific values which the particular religious community wants to nourish and grow.

A traditional Rangoli decoration for ‘Diwali’ – India’s ‘Festival of Lights’

Photo by S. Majumdar / CC BY 2.0

In a spiritual context, we my inherit certain practices, and we may develop some of our own as we weave our way through life. How can we decide which of these practices will eventually become traditions which we may want to preserve? How do we preserve our own traditions, while remaining open to the traditions of others? Do you feel that this need to preserve traditions is a ‘red-herring’, a distraction on our spiritual journey? Or do you feel that this is part of our purpose, our mission, our legacy?

I invite you to reflect on this topic, and then join us in our weekly #SpiritChat on Sunday, November 3rd 10th at 9amET on twitter. Share your thoughts, and some of your traditions with us. These Sunday morning conversations on spirituality have almost become a tradition for many – I hope you will get to meet some of these good folks! Namaste.

Kumud

P.S. I invite you to test out the special chat site developed by @tchatio for #SpiritChat at http://chat.spiritchat.org – we hope to ‘filter’ the displayed chat stream of any ‘non-traditional’ visitors during the live chat 😉