Ritual

He told me about one of the first times he'd been to an orthodox church.

When the minister came to him for participation in some ritual of the service, he declined, saying that he didn't believe in the aspects of the ritual and it didn't mean anything to him. Oh, that doesn't matter. Just do it, the minister said. And maybe after 20 years or so it'll start to mean something.

Now he is orthodox.








I heard about how he questioned his motivations to their very foundation, and found no compelling reason to either sit or stand, to eat or not to eat. No action or thought had any particular meaning of its own, and so he entered a state of philosophically-induced physical paralysis.

But as his friends urged him to do something, he remembered that there was a time when certain actions made him happy, and though this also did not necessarily mean anything, it was at least reason enough to eat, to see friends, to move and accomplish various things.

I heard that he seemed more accepting of the usefulness of religion to people after this.



So,
Is there something, some structure that must go before the yi?