To really go into the question of what religion actually is, to find out deeply, not according to temperament or idiosyncrasy, culture or conditioning, but actually find out if there is such thing as God, as truth, one must set aside all belief, all rituals, because they are merely repetitive meaningless stimuli, as any other stimuli. One must also set aside the authoritarian hierarchical outlook. To find out, this must be totally, completely set aside; the mind must be free. Freedom is absolutely necessary because without a free mind, a mind that is not distorted, not crippled by cultural conditioning, such a mind that is not free cannot possibly perceive truth.