Reconciling Form with Essence, Anachronisms with Truths that should be cherished and preserved

Even the greatest spiritual forms -- shastras, methods, rituals -- eventually lose their inner meaning and become dead anachronisms which prevent or retard further progress. Sri Aurobindo explains Human Cycle how the great spiritual discoveries of the Vedic rishis converted into symbolic exoteric rituals eventually became divorced from their true inner meaning, and the degenerated into fixed forms and even false conduct contrary to the truths that originally inspired them. Mother explains [Feb7, 1914 P&M] how all rules and principles can be helpful but once one has come in contact with the Divine Truth, Thy Will, they must be abandoned because they are only limited, generalize formulas that can never precisely answer to the infinite variety of life situations. Therefore, principles and rules can help us avoid errors and problems but they can never be a substitute for direct spiritual experience and knowledge which is the goal.