From the commencement of the world, we may trace the foundation of Masonry. Ever since symmetry began, and harmony displayed her charms, our Order has had a being. During many ages, and in many different countries, it has flourished. No art, no science preceded it. In the dark periods of antiquity, when literature was in a low state, and the rude manners of our forefathers withheld from them that knowledge we now so amply share, Masonry diffused its influence. This science unveiled, arts arose, civilization took place, and the progress of knowledge and philosophy gradually dispelled the gloom of ignorance and barbarism. Government being settled, authority was given to laws, and the assemblies of the Fraternity acquired the patronage of the great and the good; while the tenets of the profession diffused unbounded philanthropy.

When a whole population takes on the status of bystander, the victims are without allies; the criminals, unchecked, are strengthened; and only then do we need to speak of heroes. When a field is filled from end to end with sheep, a stag stands out. When a continent is filled end to end with the compliant, we learn what heroism is. And alas for the society that requires heroes.

~ Cynthia Ozick

In the past weeks, the word “Truth” has been bandied about in the wake of serious allegations of corruption in the country, not just in the realm of politics but also in business. Many sectors have called for out for truth, urging people to let it out. It is our duty to seek it out as individuals (and certainly as a nation). We should exhaust all peaceable means, searching for it high and low. This is a great time for truth-seeking, amidst all the untruths present in our lives and in society. It is a time to ask, what is my truth? What is my basic truth as a human being? What is the truth of the universe? These are basic questions that philosophers and mystics have pondered, since mankind has began to think. And now we seek it, urging it to come out, because Truth, like Light, eventually comes out and overcomes darkness. We pray that the Truth that we seek shines out in all its glory.

In Masonic circles, we say MAGNA est VERITAS, et PRAEVALEBIT. Great is Truth, and shall prevail.

To a person of character, the observation that “life is not always fair” is a challenge to do better – not an excuse to tolerate injustice.

~ Michael Josephson

I should clarify that I am not asking for the position of the Craft when it comes to political matters. Indeed, our masonic duties are distinct and separate from our political stands. But inasmuch as Masonry is a moral philosophy, I believe it should stand on the side of truth. Therein lies our duty: when the principles that we uphold are trampled upon by a government that has lost much of its credibility and moral authority, a government that covers up the truth with reckless imprudence and dirty politics, a government which has institutionalized corruption. I am not for or against civil disobedience, which this country has experienced many already. But I am all for it when all the constitutional and legal means for peaceful redress have been exhausted, and the reasons are as valid as the 1986 EDSA revolution, which many of our brethren in politics, military, and civil society participated in to overthrow a dictatorship. One brother laments that many of our brethren in politics seem to have forgotten loyalty to country, to people, and to democratic principles. He thinks duty to country has been replaced by political expediency. As a way of proceeding, maybe the Craft should send representatives to the various fora and discernment talks happening all over the country. Maybe it should join the calls for a different kind of revolution, a moral revolution where truth and justice reigns, as it should in any free country. This does not mean that we should drag the name of the fraternity into politics, but instead break our silence and social malaise, and speak out and join our people in seeking the truth. If we cannot do this as a group, I hope there are brethren who still consider it a masonic duty to contribute individually in condemning “evil”, in this case the unjust social structures perpetuated by a corrupt government.

When you recognize that all human beings are equal like
yourself in both desire for happiness and their right to
obtain it, you automatically feel empathy and closeness for
them. Through accustoming your mind to this universal
altruism, you develop a feeling of responsibility for others
and the wish to help them.

Dalai Lama

What is our mode of proceeding, our modo de proceder, in times like this, when we, as a people, are seeking truth and justice? I attended a Mass yesterday at the Ateneo’s Church of the Gesu, in solidarity to what is happening right now to our beloved Philippines. I joined the singing of “Bayan Ko”, together with a sea of clenched fists. The clergy has awakened from its slumber, is now mobilizing to gather support. Where is Freemasonry? Should it in good conscience stay away from this? I guess I am frustrated. Am I the only one asking these questions?

“The heart is the hub of all sacred places. Go there, and roam.”

Swami Nityananda

With the current political climate, what should we as Masons do? This is the hot topic on the e-groups. While politics in Masonry is forbidden, we are also enjoined to love our country and be good citizens. Support the civil authority, we are told. But what if that authority loses is moral authority? Being a good citizen means speaking against corruption and the injustices in our society.

I believe that our brethren who became national heroes and martyrs were guided by Masonic principles, and acted out of it. Where are the masonic heroes today? It has been suggested that we should wait until the issue cools or dies down, because there are masons on both sides of the political fence. We have brethren in the high echelons of police, military, and judiciary, and we also have those brethren (albeit few) who oppose the current government. Ironically, they are from the military too: from the Marine commanders who were implicated with rebellion, I know there are two Masons. We have brethren from civil society groups, and from business groups as well, who are clamoring for change. What to do with this scenario? Where should we stand? We cannot in good conscience just be fence-sitters: we have to make a stand, no matter which side of the fence we take. We should do our duty as patriotic and loyal citizens, according to the dictates of our conscience, and where we see fit.

Perhaps it is time that we, as individual citizens, as MASONS, search for the truth behind all these issues, and when the truth is found out, we should take action. Masons are never known to be apathetic…or are we? I hope not. Ultimately, this is not politics: it is love of country. We are not dabbling with political issues, we are fighting against injustice and inequality, whenever these are found to exist.

It is unfortunate that many brethren are silent and unconcerned, and choose to be on the safe side. Why should we care, they ask. Perhaps they do not want change because they are not affected. Maybe it is because too many brethren have vested interests in the status quo. Whatever the reason, I hope there are still those of us who care for our country.

What should we do as Masons, in instances of massive cover-ups, cheating, and corruption? Where are the modern-day Masonic heroes? What should we do to contribute to the search for truth and an end to injustice? Where is the Craft and it’s power to effect change in the social and moral order? These are not rhetorical questions.

Let us ask these questions, first within our hearts and then among ourselves, not only as Masons but as concerned citizens. Perhaps the Craft is still relevant in this day and age to effect change on a wider level. Or perhaps our collective wisdom would point to other creative ways of fighting injustice. Whatever answers we may find among ourselves, we should commit to these, always keeping in mind and heart our tenets and principles that guided many of our Masonic heroes.

As is water in a dish,
Be it square or round,
Shaped according to that form,
By that nature bound;
So is man by those with whom
Keeps he company
Shaped and moulded
good or ill
For eternity.

- Imperial poem of the Meiji Era

Every Mason is urged to “make a daily advancement in Masonic knowledge“.

How do we fare in this obligation? As Fellowcrafts, we were commended to the highest intellectual efforts, as part of our duty to the Deity. To the study of the arts and sciences we were directed, not just to improve ourselves, but also to inspire us to the highest reverence to the Source of all Being, the Great Architect of All.

Masonic education is a huge undertaking, but to one who is dedicated, this will be time well-spent. How do we go about educating ourselves? The avenues for advancing in Masonic knowledge are everywhere, available for everyone to use. The Internet is a wonderful resource. Where should we start? Bro Pound outlines five points of study: Ritual, History, Philosophy, Symbolism, and Jurisprudence. We can start with the Ritual, since it is the basis and foundation of all Masonic education.

How do we find time? We can use the lesson of the 24-in gauge. Even our leisure hours is sufficient time to read a thing or two, or to converse masonically with a learned brother. There is no end to the search for Light.

The important thing is to read, a point stressed by Bro Mackey in his essay Reading Masons (1875), and still no less relevant today. Read and think, critically.

And we shouldn’t end there. After all this learning, Masonry has to be lived. It is, after all, a Way of life. A brother wrote in his blog that he threw all his books after realizing that he was not living what he knew. Genuine learning should bring about a radical change, and this also holds true for Masonry.

The Light that we receive is the same Light that we shine on. We are always changed by this Light, and afterwards we are no longer the same person as before. Each time we study, we leave as a new person, changed for the better.

May we keep our Light shining bright!

A SIGNAL FROM THE OUTER GATE
by Benjamin B. French,

late of Washington, D. C.,

a pillar of Masonry
in the last generation.

A signal from the outer gate
Has passed within the wall,
The Master from his Orient throne
Surveys the Brethren all ;
Each, duly clad, is in his place,
Where truth stands ever by. —
Falsehood would quail beneath the frown
Of the All-seeing Eye.

The Tyler stands with naked blade,
To guard the sacred door;
None but true men must ever tread
The tessellated floor.

While I realize that this blog is in a more contemplative vein, let me hasten to add that there is more to Freemasonry than mere navel-gazing and introspection. Remember the Charge. Remember one of the cardinal virtues, Justice. Remember Charity, the greatest of the principal rounds in our spiritual ladder.

As Freemasons, we are enjoined to aid and assist our fellow man. Our fellow man is not just a brother of the Craft, but all people who are part of the larger humanity. Thus, the moral and social imperative to do good to others, which should flow out naturally from the teachings bestowed upon us by Freemasonry, and by our own individual inner work.

It has been debated: which should come first, Charity, or the inner work? Granted, Freemasonry is a charitable institution. But should we stop there? I would like to think that Charity comes after inner work, and should flow from it. More than being a social club, Masonry is an initiatic order. Thus, we work on ourselves, and the good works that we do are an outward manifestation of the work we have done within ourselves. Sometimes it’s easy to judge a person by his acts, even if his motives are not good. We should consider not just the act itself, but also one of the lessons of the lambskin apron: purity of intention.

It has also been said that Freemasonry is a moral philosophy. It teaches us to ponder, like Socrates, “how we ought to live”. It gives us a moral code and teaches us how to be conscientious moral agents. Are we using these teachings in order to be agents of change, in a world beset by evils and injustice?

Finally, the Charge given to Entered Apprentices admonishes us to “let Justice be the guide of all our actions”. May we always work towards social justice, and fight injustice in all its forms.

So mote it be!

In this Great Work of spiritual building, we are no longer co-workers. We are companions, friends, brothers. We labor not with grim seriousness, but we do our happy part each to our own abilities. No tool of iron or any metal instrument is heard, only laughter and happy industry. This company of free men and accepted masons, this company of good men and true, is brotherhood in the full sense of the word.

“But we in it shall be remembered -

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers”

A Filipino Jesuit novice once wrote a few beautiful lines which captures exactly what our mystic tie is all about, and I hope he won’t mind if I adapt his words to Freemasonry:

“Many an unforgettable line spoken

Many a laughter shared

Many a heart opened and broken

Many a soul bared

Now brother is friend

and friend brother

And to part is pained

But not without much to treasure

For these so-called friends

in Freemasonry we have gained.”

 

So mote it be!

It surprises many that prayers are an integral part of Freemasonry. Sometimes even Freemasons forget the importance of prayer.

The rituals teach us that when all else fails, our hope is in God. Thus, we pray.

In times of trouble, we are taught that divine Providence is always assured of us. Even in times of abundance and plenty, we are taught that everything in the universe is created for our enjoyment.

Do you still pray? Do you pray not just in times of need, but also in times of comfort?

Try to enter the Sanctum Sanctorum, and meet the Grand Master there in our daily supplications, in imitation of Hiram Abif. There, make your daily offering of life, talents, strength, to the Great Architect, and ask Him to direct the work being done in your soul.

If Freemasonry is supposed to be work done in the heart, then we could say (with apologies to Martinists) that Freemasonry is also a Way of the Heart.

Ponder the deeper meaning of our great work of building. We work not in stone but in the quarries of our own deep selves. What we find there may not be to our liking, will likely be all ruble and rubbish, but we take what we have and build according to plan. The Plan for mankind. What Martinists call reintegration we call building.

As in my previous posts, I will be a bit contemplative here, as this question needs some turning in our minds, in order to elucidate an answer.

What is a mason? Many would say that the obvious answer would be any man initiated, passed, and raised into a lodge of Freemasonry. And that is true. We are Masons because of our initiatic experience, having walked into that path “as brothers and fellows have done, who have gone this way before”.

But it is oft repeated that the taking of degrees does not make a man a Mason.

So what is a Mason? We take a look at our ritual, which states that we are made Masons in our heart FIRST, and in a regular lodge second.

Thus, it seems that being made a Mason first in our hearts takes precedence over that of physical initiations. Have we been made Masons in our hearts?

Who is more of a Mason, a 33rd degree who has not taken our lessons to heart, or a non-Mason who nevertheless practices the lessons of Freemasonry in his own sphere of life? The answer is really easy.

Let us be made Masons in our hearts first, before we can even begin to call ourselves Masons. Let us meditate upon the ritual, and let it be done again and again in our hearts, until it penetrates and infuses into our being.

You may want to recall everything that happened and everything that you felt when you were taking the degrees. What impressed you most? What shocked you? What did you not expect?

Experience your rituals with new eyes.

Ask yourself again what made you enter the portals of Masonry. Did you have the purity of intention? Did you really want to become better? And did you become a better man afterwards? Remember the clichéd motto: Freemasonry makes good men better. It does not say Freemasonry makes bad men good.

It is hoped that the rituals indeed made such an impact on us, that we became better afterwards. If not, we ask ourself why. Also, we take in mind that the smoothing of rough ashlars is a lifelong process. That is the lesson of our working-tools.

It is also hoped that we continue with that labor towards perfection. No one enters Masonry perfect, and no one reaches it in this lifetime. But this gift of Masonry is such a precious gift from above, that gives us hope to work into such a perfecting. We do our best to labor to this end: that we should be fit to each become a living stone in the spiritual temple of the Supreme Architect.

A Mason is one who desires perfection in his deepest being – his heart – and labors toward that end.

So mote it be.

“That Masons do not live up to the teachings of their Order proves only that they are men; that, like other men, they are weak with the frailties of feeble human nature; and that in the never-ceasing struggle with their passions and the mighty circumstances that environ us all, it is often their lot to be discomfited. If the doctrines of Masonry are good, they of necessity have their effect, and are never taught in vain. For not in vain are the winged seeds of Truth ever sown; and if committed to the winds, God sees to it that they take root somewhere and grow.” — Bro Albert Pike

 

This Is Truth About The Self

0. All the Power that ever was or will be is here now.

1. I am a center of expression for the Primal Will-to-Good which eternally creates and sustains the Universe.

2. Through me its unfailing Wisdom takes form in thought and word.

3. Filled with Understanding of its perfect law, I am guided, moment by moment, along the path of liberation.

4. From the exhaustless riches of its Limitless Substance, I draw all things needful, both spiritual and material.

5. I recognize the manifestation of the Undeviating Justice in all the circumstances of my life.

6. In all things, great and small, I see the Beauty of the Divine Expression.

7. Living from that Will, supported by its unfailing Wisdom and Understanding, mine is the Victorious Life.

8. I look forward with confidence to the perfect realization of the Eternal Splendor of the Limitless Light.

9. In thought and word and deed, I rest my life, from day to day, upon the sure Foundation of Eternal Being.

10. The Kingdom of Spirit is embodied in my flesh.

— Bro. Paul Foster Case

Alas, Freemasonry will never fit into a single definition. Is it a secret society? A social club? An esoteric science? An initiatic order? I will leave it to the learned brethren to make a more formal definition, and surely there is no shortage of Masonic authority in this matter.

This does not prevent us, however, to define Freemasonry for ourselves.

I have often thought about what Freemasonry is for me. If I were to boil it down to a single word or phrase, a single descriptor, which in itself is representational of the whole, what would it be? Like a diamond, Freemasonry is multi-faceted; in defining it, what facets would I choose that would speak to my heart?

Certain images come to mind. I invite you to take your pick, and see which images evoke a sense of recognition and knowing.

Freemasonry is… a pathway… a door opened… a closed portal… a light at the end of a tunnel… an atelier… an unbroken chain…. a circle closed… a Temple… a laboratory…. a shaft of light… a garden… a blossoming rose… boundless space… a deep well… an oasis… cold water… a hidden spring…. a finger pressed to the mouth… an arrow… intoxicating drink… a salve… a balm… smoke from the incense… a Key… an armor…. a dove…. a skull and bones… a finger pointing upwards… feet forming an angle of a square… the volumes of sacred Law… a beehive… a grip… a whispered Word… and so on.

Although not authorities on Masonic matters, each of us need a personal definition of Freemasonry. We have been taught extensively by allegories and symbols, and so we can define Freemasonry in terms of these symbols.

A definition emerges: Freemasonry is all its symbols taken together, indiscriminately. It is everything that it stands for, that it teaches, that it asks us to do. There is no single symbol that can define Freemasonry, but it is a fabric taken as a whole, because of the rich tapestry of symbols woven into it.

Let no one considering to define the whole of Freemasonry pick it apart, piece by piece, symbol by symbol, because no definition will ever come close. We can do this for purposes of education, as we do, but not for contemplation.

And while I’m at it, perhaps I should include myself in the definition. I too am part of this organic whole. Taking it further, I am it. Mystically speaking, I am Freemasonry. You are Freemasonry, too.

Declare it for yourself…say it aloud or in your mind, and believe that it is so.