The second tribe forgot the art and worshipped instead the instruments (Tales of the Dervishes, p.39)
While the priests of the first tribe highlight social differences, here, we turn to objects and procedures. The outcome is neglected.
What if people forgot that matches were for striking or that lighters need fluid to produce fire? If we kept the habit of carrying them around, but they lost their purpose, why keep them? What are you holding on to that no longer has a purpose?
It is really easy to see how people can get trapped in this viewpoint within the realm of religion. Comparing buildings, statues, altars, chairs and chalices can lead away from the real purpose of a gathering. Having a more beautiful (whether simple or ornate) object does not necessarily impact the result of using that object. Moving back into the secular world, let’s consider cars. If the purpose is to get us from point A to point B, there may be some minor advantages to having one car rather than another, but does it really matter if we have heated leather seats and satellite radio? We can ooh and aah over a sleek model car that can do 0-60 in under 5 seconds, but if we are going to follow the speed limit and have 200 miles to go, aren’t there many other suitable choices?
I place following procedures in this tribe as well. Procedures are developed to produce an outcome consistently. When the outcome is forgotten, the procedure can take precedent over the result. This is the tribe that cries out, “We’ve always done it this way.” The production of fire has been forgotten or neglected for following the rules and regulations about rubbing two sticks together. While it can be useful to identify steps and criteria to create consistent results, losing sight of the purpose loses the power of fire. What procedures are you following that have lost or overtaken their purpose?