Jun 22, 20235 min read

The Role of Tradition in Spirituality

What is Traditions

Traditions are ideas and beliefs transferred from one generation to another. Traditions are not rules but rather guidelines that cannot be reformed. Traditions began with our ancestors and continue to practice throughout successive generations. Each family within a culture may have their distinct traditions. At the same time, they share other common traditions within the Nation. Traditions create a bond with the past that become identifiable to others. Traditions enable a person to honor their ancestor and pay respect to particular aspects of their culture.

Traditions define a group's, or a nation's beliefs and behaviors passed down from generation to generation. Genetically we carry our ancestors' DNA characteristics which make our identity. In the same way, traditions make the people's identity. To renounce one's practice is to become incognito.

“ To forget one’s ancestor is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root.” That is a Chinese proverb.

Traditions reveal the personality, color, and heritage of a culture. Traditions teach about history; they help you to know what to do given different circumstances; it is Divinely impossible for people to practice Spirituality and forget about their ancestors. For example, every January 1, New Year's Day in Haiti, most of the Haitian Nation prepares a dish called Soup Joumou.

The Soup Joumou dish has a story passed down from generation to generation. Soup Joumou is how the Haitian people as a Nation commemorate Independence Day, dated January 1, 1804. The Haitian people became free from the French Colonial when they started their revolution in 10 1791. During Haitian slavery, enslaved persons were prohibited from consuming the Soup Joumou. In comparison, the enslaved people were the ones who prepared and served it to their colonizers.

When the Haitians take their liberty, they also claim status. The Soup Joumou represents equality between the Haitians and their colonizers.

Another example is February 10, 2024, marking the Chinese New Year's Lunar Calendar. The Chinese will celebrate for seven days what they call the Spring Festival. Most of their non-essential establishments will be closed for a week of Holiday. On that New Year's Day, the people will visit their families and relatives, give presents, and visit their ancestors' graves. Note that there is a link between the past to the present. Many events will be happening during those seven Holiday Days. However, we will only mention New Year's Day and February 13, called the Day of Sheep, which is an auspicious day. The people will pray and give offerings or go to temples or fortune-tellers.

This Chinese Festival New Year’s tradition from a story tells that a monster named Nian ("Year") attacked villagers at the start of every year. Nian was afraid of loud noises, bright lights, and red. People used these things to chase the beast away. The story dates back to the 14th century BC when the Shang dynasty ruled. This festival represents Powers for the Chinese Nation. Dragon is the symbol of Power for the Chinese.

Spirituality in the Frame of Tradition.

Spirituality within the Context of Traditions is systems, practices, and beliefs that go beyond our ordinary senses and understanding. Yet we are mindful of them for our development and well-being. It involves connecting with the Universe by believing in a higher form of intelligence that our ancestors experienced. The Holy Bible tells the story of Israel and their God. Tradition is at the core of their Spirituality. Abraham is the ancestor of the Israelites and was the most blessed person in the Biblical allegories. Only because he was the chosen man to have a relationship with God, creator of the Universe and his descendants. In the New Testament, one apostle, Paul, expresses that the whole world is blessed because of Abraham when a person accepts Jesus Christ as their savior. Jesus Christ is a descendant of King David, a descendant of Abraham. King David is the fourteen generation of Abraham, and Jesus Christ is the fourteen generation of King David.

Abraham was the most blessed among all men because God chose him to be the father of a great nation. Let's take a look at Abraham's life. We will discover some practices and systems that the people of Israel, called Jews, are still practicing, the traditions and culture rooted in Abraham's Spirituality. Perhaps, the Feast of Pesach, which means to pass through or pass over, is a celebration of God freeing the Jews from slavery in ancient Egypt. Jews families are patriarchal, and the fathers are always the head of the family. However, A Jew family often includes a husband and wife, sons and their wives, and single sons and daughters and other assistants. This explains the Absence of Adam and Eve's mother but has an omnipresent Father ( See Genesis Chapter One). Israeli cuisine is mainly kosher protocols because of their Jewish culture and Spirituality/religion. They are prohibited from eating pork, shellfish, and other unclean meat ( Leviticus Chapter 11).

Spirituality in the Frame of Identity.

Humanity must be able to describe their spiritual selves. However, it is personal for each of us. Traditions and cultures are essential in forming the self. The Mitzvot D’oraita/ Commandments or Divine Principles in the Book of Torah/Exodus tells that the God of Abraham gives those Laws to the Jewish people to follow after deliberating them from slavery in Egypt. Those Principles are not mere laws like the common political laws but a way to identify the Jewish people from the rest of the nations. Therefore, the purpose of the Commandments, which are condensed in Ten Highlights ( Exodus 20 ), is to create an identity for the Jewish people. Christians also believe they become descendants of Abraham through Christ and that Jesus has eliminated those Mitsvot. What Jesus Christ has done is condensed all of them into one: Love. “ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (New International Version Holy Bible. 1 John 4:16, 2011). Hence, Luke in the New Testament focuses on Jesus' spiritual identity. Luke traces Jesus's lineage back to God ( Luke Chapter 3), unlike Matthew, who traces Jesus' ancestors back to Joseph though Joseph is not Jesus' biological father.

Conclusion

“ To forget one’s ancestor is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root.” That is a Chinese proverb. Tradition is the essence of one's Spirituality because one experiences and pieces of evidence that there is a higher Intelligence and our ancestors have encountered and made a relationship with. Therefore, pass down that knowledge and wisdom to the next generation. So they know who they are as spirits and continue to develop through forming their relationship with the Universe in the Diviniti(es). Religions are not equated to Spirituality; nonetheless, some terms and systems are standard between the two.

Works Cited

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-rpDxaxJ38/XlBKzBECjpI/AAAAAAACODk/zVh5vxxz0eAhTcFhVX5fjDIDfBbYDENxwCKgBGAsYHg/s1600/giraumon-2.jpg

Mossad, E. A. (2017, November 7). Israel: Culture and Tradition. Retrieved from gpi Globalization Partners International: globalizationpartners.com

New International Version Holy Bible. 1 John 4:16. (2011). Worldwide: Biblica Inc. Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205&version=NIV

Song Wanyuan & Howell Jeremy. (2022, January 31). Chinese New Year: What is it, and how is it celebrated? Retrieved from BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60153348

References