| But the greatest
danger of ritualism is that it leads to Pharisaism against which all great religious
prophets have raised their indignant voices. When ritualism be comes strongly entrenched
in a powerful priesthood who are intellectually contemptible and morally depraved and yet
most punctilious with regard to rites and cere monies, it becomes a horrible travesty of
religion. We all know the harsh terms in
which Jesus addressed the Pharisees of his day. Even such a tolerant teacher as the author
of the Bhagawat Gita pours out vials of wrath on those that make a parade of their
adherence to the letter of the law and ignore the spirit. Lastly, ritualism with its great
insistence on form is likely in modem times to stand in the way of recognition of the
unity of all religions.
In the present century, as explained in the introductory
chapter, a systematic study of the lives of the mystics and saints of all religions has
convinced us that underneath every religion there lies like a steel frame, the common
mystic path or the path of spiritual development.
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