From the standpoint of the realities of inner life, the life of external conformity may often be spiritually barren; and a life that deviates from such rigid conformity may often be spiritually rich. In seeking conformity with established conventions  and formality, one is almost always prone to slip into a life of false or illusory values rather than a life based upon true and lasting values. What is conventionally recognized need not always be spiritually sound. On the contrary, many conventions express and embody illusory values since they have come into existence as a result of the working of average minds that are spiritually ignorant. Illusory values are mostly conventional because they grow into that matrix of mentality which is most common. This does not mean that conventions necessarily embody nothing but illusory values.
– Discourses 7th Ed. p351