The function of tradition

I’ve said before that tradition arises when someone does a thing, find it useful and helpful, and either writes it down or passes it on to the next generation. Rather like writing down a recipe. And tradition changes and evolves as people find new ingredients, or when tastes change. But what is the purpose and function of tradition?

When we are following a spiritual path, it is very easy to ignore “difficult” practices in favour of the easy ones. No-one wants to spend three days hanging u...