Worship becomes recognition.
When blessings mature,
One glimpses the source.
When one is young in Tao, all practices begin as external procedures. Sometimes, it is difficult to understand their significance -- we don't know what to expect. This is proper : Not daring to interfere with growth and discovery, those who follow Tao hesitate to go beyond technical instruction.Take worship, for example. At first, an invocation is something external. You repeat it, but really, it means very little. You kneel down at the altar because you need something on which to focus. Once you realize that the true Tao is to be found within yourself, you shift your attention. Then worship becomes recognition. Your own spirit arises, and you learn to tap into it on your own. If someone had told you what to look for, you might never be sure of your experiences. What comes from outer suggestion is not the true Tao.
Glimpsing the source leaves no doubts.
Personal Interpretation
Practice is important in the beginning, but with time, the truth we feel when conducting our various rituals can be internalized. This does not invalidate our conducting said rituals. We are a million different people in our lives. Progress is a beautiful thing. We cannot be told that we should believe a certain way or that we ought to hold to a certain faith. We must learn it on our own, or, conversely, come to accept that what is true for others may not be true for ourselves. We imbue our acts with meaning. In time, the meaning remains even when the act to which it is attached is taken away. This is the way of things. It is how children learn, and how we, as children of the Universe should view our relationship with all that is.
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