Rituals.

In India Sathya Narayan Vratha is celebrated every full moon day. On this day Lord Vishnu is worshipped as Sathya Narayana.
The traditional offering for this varatha is Milk and a choice of 5 fruits. The story of Sathya Narayana Vratha is read with devotion and these offerings are made and partaken.

Now in This village there was a family which celebrated the vratha very faithfully,but they had a problem. There was a black cat which used to come before the puja and slurp the milk. The milk became unclean and hence the puja used to suffer. So the father used to find the cat and put it under a basket and then go ahead with the puja. This happened for years. Parents died and the sons and daughters-in-law knew that this was the usual happening. So without understanding the reason behind why it was done they were doing it blindly to such an extent that when the cat died they used to roam around the village looking for a black cat to put under the basket! his is the beautiful story told by Sai .

This explains two things. Many rituals when they are formed had a logic behind it. Ritual by the force of habit survives the logic and becomes obsolete. Man in his ego of knowledge sometimes throws away the Knowledge behind rituals along with the rituals as the proverbial baby in the bath.
Krishnamachari Santhanam