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`Duty' is a dirty word. If something is born out of love, good. If something is born out of duty, avoid it, never do it -- because that is dangerous. If you learn the ways of duty too much, you will forget the ways of love. Duty is against love. Duty is a false substitute for love.
Religion is not in the rituals. Of course, whenever there is religion there is ritual -- but that is a totally different matter. How can you avoid when Buddha walks amongst you, how can you avoid touching his feet? Impossible. You can do only two things and both are rituals: either you have to touch his feet, or you have to throw stones at him. Both are rituals -- one is that of the enemy and one is that of the friend, but both are rituals. You cannot neglect Buddha, you cannot be indifferent, that's all. The phenomenon is such that you cannot just bypass. Either you have to become a friend or you have to become an enemy; you have to choose. You have to have an attitude -- that attitude is ritual. But then it is born into your heart, not learned from somebody else. It simply arises in your being.
Religion, wherever it is, always brings rituals; but when the religion disappears, the rituals become dead. Don't carry the corpse. Yes, you loved your mother very much and now she is dead -- what are you going to do? Are you going to carry her corpse for your whole life? You have to burn it or bury it. You have to get rid of it, you cannot go on carrying it. But this same thing happens as far as religion is concerned. You loved the Buddha so much, and great passion arose in your soul, and great worship and great songs were born in his presence... now he is gone, you continue the song. By and by, it is a far away echo of the echo... goes on fading.
When the pope speaks in the Vatican, it is not Jesus' voice at all -- cannot be. When Jesus speaks, he speaks on his own authority. When the pope speaks, he speaks on the authority of Jesus. A real Master speaks on his own authority, he is his sole authority.
Religion is not in the tradition, not in the rituals, and NOT in the so-called religions -- Hindu, Christian, Mohammedan. Religion has no adjective to it. Religion
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