The Masonic Family

March 9, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Behavioral Science, Esotericism, History, Philosophy Tags: Auxiliary Bodies, Brother, Brotherhood, Co-Masonry, Craft, Different Paths, Eastern Star, Family, Fraternal Love, Fraternity, Freemasonry, God, Great Architect, Humanity, Improvement, Laughter, Lodge, Lodges, Loss, Love, Mason, Masonic, Masonry, Order, Road of Freemasonry, Self-Improvement, Service, Shriners, T.G.A.O.T.U., The Craft, White Shrine 4 Comments

Having been a Freemason for over twenty years, I have seen many people come and go in the Fraternity. There are people who were well-established when I first entered into the Order and are still by my side today. There are many members who have joined over the years and added to the sweetness and depth of this large family unit. Some people have come in for as little as one meeting, and others have stayed on and off over the years. The path of Freemasonry is an open road that may see many people branch off.

As a member of fifteen different Lodges of varying degrees, each one of them is, to me, a sacred family where I am safe, secure, and can be myself. I can breathe easily and feel the fraternity that comes with a real love and dedication to a common goal: the perfecting of humanity of which each of us is a part.

When we join, we join for different reasons. We join to find like-minded people, to find some sense of peace with the Architect of the Universe, to have that “A-ha!” moment, to have a group of people to converse with, to break bread and share hard work, or perhaps to share in aging and passing with authentic humans. The road of Freemasonry isn’t easy and many people fall off the track – some earlier, some later – but the journey towards the higher degrees becomes less crowded and in many ways, more intimate and sweeter for having shared the labors of self-improvement.

The act of accepting the different paths of different people is extremely difficult. These are people with whom you have shared life’s journey and striking moments. From marriage to the birth of children, the death of parents and friends, to their own old age and passing, it is in these moments of strife and hardship, joy and bearing that Freemasons are there with each other, supporting, sharing, and providing true fortitude.

These are not easy moments and they are intensified by the quickening that focused self-improvement provides. They are sticky and painful at times. I have had nights of tearful crying, angst over love and loss, and laughter until I got in trouble. Discipline does that. It breeds purer moments of real life.

It also creates the moments when we stop and think: what is a family?

The birth family has always been, to me, that group of people who take care of you from that early age and teach you how to move in the world. They teach you how to survive. They do the best they can, with the tools and experiences of their own lives, to provide that guidance to help the child thrive in a very unsure and chaotic world. We carry those lessons, for better or ill, with us into our own realms, creating new families from these seedlings of experience.

Like the leaf that drops into the still pond, the ripples of one family flow and collide with those of others, creating an intricate pattern of artful energies of creation. We create families, when we’re older, to find a sense of stability and continuance. We may have children, adopt children, foster children, foster animals, care for the aged, or create intimate ties with friends, neighbors, and community. We may pastor to a church where the family is quite large, or we may shepherd the town council, where our influence might be low. We all form a family of woven relationships in the creation of… something.

Masonic families, like all families, can be quite intense. My childhood father was not a Freemason but his father and mother were extremely active in not only Freemasonry but Eastern Star, The Shriners, the White Shrine, and other auxiliary bodies. For nearly forty years, they were caretakers of the temple building behind their house; their days were filled with card games, socials, dinners, and Lodge meetings, fancy affairs and day-to-day work of Freemasonry. They cleaned the Lodge room and scrubbed the bathrooms, repaired the kitchen equipment and planted flower beds. They only stopped when cancer and Parkinson’s slowed their activities.

When they passed, I took up the mantle of Freemasonry. While they lived, I had no idea a woman could be a Freemason and neither did they. Freemasonry was a hobby my grandparents did but never, ever discussed it with the larger family.

My father harbored a deep resentment toward Freemasonry; he felt that it took my grandfather from his side. It hardened my grandfather’s ideals in a way that he imposed on my father. Resentment and dislike were the crops my father harvested from that sowing. Even so, my father grew up a good man, hard working and shaped by the ideals my grandfather provided. He struggled though, with the idea of what it means to be a father and to provide that example for his children. It’s a shame because I think my father would have really found solace and inspiration and fraternity of brotherhood something to sustain him latter in life. Maybe even earlier in life.

It’s funny that my desire for like-minded people in my life, people striving to educate and improve themselves, was driven by the lack of that in my own blood family. I wanted more than blood connections; I wanted that connection that propels us to be better than we think we can be. I do not think it took me from my family; in truth, close friends and family members have joined because of the work they’ve seen me do, the joy I’ve found in being with intelligent, hard-working individuals. They have joined because of my self-improvement.

The cycle, I think, repeats. The Masonic family taught me how to live, how to be in the world, how to succeed, challenged me to think, to be better than I am, and to constantly work on being a better person. They took what blood started and propelled that into new realms.

There are some people who do not think it’s right that families should join Freemasonry together. This does not make sense to me. If you want good people in your life, people who you respect, want to spend time with, learn from and also teach, why would you not want to be on a similar journey?

Not everyone is cut out to be a Freemason, however, Not every family member has the capacity or wherewithal to step onto such an intense path. We need to assess each person independently and give credit where credit is due. The people who have joined Freemasonry with me, in my life, are all fantastic people and yes, some are family members. I get the double blessing of being able to speak about all sorts of subjects and delve into deep thought with people that I truly love and who have a head start on knowing me. It’s like perfect icing on a perfect cake. We’re trying to perfect humanity; that doesn’t mean everyone except the people you grew up with. Far from it.

Not everyone who comes to Freemasonry is looking for a family. We call each other Brother for a reason though. It’s not arbitrary. Whatever you goals in joining the Craft are, you will end up with a family – one that you’ve chosen with forethought and daring. Make it your own.

“Neither man nor woman is perfect or complete without the other. Thus, no marriage or family, no ward or stake is likely to reach its full potential until husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, men and women work together in unity of purpose, respecting and relying upon each other’s strengths.” – Sheri L. Dew

The Dionysian Artificers – Part 1

March 9, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Esotericism, History, Literature, Philosophy Tags: Art, Bacchus, Builder, Co-Masonry, Craftsman, Dionysian Artificers, Dionysus, Divinity, Freemason, Freemasonry, God, Greek Mythology, Makes Art, Mason, Masonry, Mystery Schools Leave a comment

A wise and elder Freemason presented a talk long ago on creation, and the term “Dionysian Artificers” was noted in the essay. Ears perked up. I had never heard of this, them, whatever they were. As an occultist, writer and researcher, there is always something delectable in the unknown. Mystery schools and Greek Mythology. What gets better than that?

The first stop in exploration is the god of wine’s name, Dionysus. He is most famously known for being the god of wine, but he is also associated with fertility, the theater, madness, cultivation, and religious ecstasy. It is the latter part which is fairly intriguing. Dionysus, or Bacchus for the Romans, was the instigator of drunken festivals and debauchery. Or so Hollywood and sensationalists would have us all think. While is is generally accepted that Dionysian festivals were revelries of drink, they were, for true adherents, a special ritual in finding personal boundaries, learning the joys of freedom and free nature, and knowing the limits of the psyche. There is a reason he is known as the “god of the epiphany.” In addition, being the inventor of theatre, there is a certain drama that is associated with Dionysus; this is important as we explore the part that Greek Tragedy and Comedy played in the morality teachings of generations of Greeks.

The word artificer comes from the Latin artificium, or one who “makes art. A craftsman.” This is more than what modern ears would typically associate with one who makes art. The artificer was a master craftsman; skill in making shoes and bread was as much an art as one who paints or writes. When the goods of everyday life were crafted, they were built by hands to last lifetimes. This takes a great deal of skill, or art. Anyone who crafts goods with care, detail, and skill is an artificer.

Then, what is a Dionysian Artificer? Well, one would think it could be a craftsman of mystery, a builder of ecstasy or theatre, ritual madness or wine-soaked festivals. However, for our purposes here, we are speaking of a real society of people, Greeks, who perpetuated the ancient mysteries as found in Eleusis and Egypt at least according to one 19th century author.

Hippolyto da Costa was a Brazilian journalist, author, and Freemason who, in 1820, published an essay entitled “The Sketch for the History of the Dionysian Artificers.” This essay was an attempt to prove that modern Freemasonry derived from ancient Greek philosophical and religious ideas. Da Costa (1774-1823) was imprisoned for being a Freemason by the Inquisition in Portugal in 1802; he escaped in 1805. “The Sketch” is a relatively short book, 104 pages, and no where in it does he specifically talk about Freemasonry. In fact, he never really discusses who the Dionysian Artificers really are. What I deduce is that they aren’t a single, unified “group.” The book starts off thus:

“When men were deprived of the light of revelation, those who formed systems of morality to guide their fellow creatures, according to the dictates of approved reason, deserved the thanks of mankind, however deficient those systems might be, or time may have altered them; respect, not derision, out to attend the efforts of those good men; though their labors might have proved unavailing. In this point of view must be considered an association, traced to the most remote antiquity, and preserved through numberless vicissitudes, yet retaining the original marks of its foundation, scope, and tenants.

It appears, that, at the very early period, some contemplative men were desirous of deducting from the observation of nature, moral rules for the conduct of mankind. Astronomy was the science selected for this purpose; architecture was afterwards called in aid of this system; and its followers formed a society or sect, which will be the object of this enquiry.”

In general, Da Costa states that the community that formed these rules created, via the vehicles of the local mythology, morality plays, symbolism, and a code of ethics that was transmitted to wider humanity via the mystery schools which worshiped the sun, most notably Eleusinian, Dionysus, Bacchus, Osiris, Adonis, Thamuz, and Apollo – again, in their forms as representing the sun. He goes on to explain his theory and where he derives his sources, which are numerous and intriguing. It’s almost difficult to track the speed at which he ties it all together, neatly discussing the death and resurrection experienced by the sun is to teach us all about the death and resurrection of all living things, and humans in particular. He talks in detail about philosophical ties to the mysteries and how, over time, these teachings have morphed. Of interest is his discussion of the procession of the equinoxes and the ties all these mysteries seem to have with Persia and its teachings.

“The emerging of the sun into the lower hemisphere, and its returning, was contemplated either as proof of or as a symbol of the immortality of the soul; one of the most important, as well as the most sublime tenets of the Platonic Philosophy.

The doctrines of the spirituality and immortality of the soul, explained by those symbols, were very little understood, even by the initiated; thus, we find some of them took those types to signify merely the present body, by their descriptions of the infernal abodes; whereas, the true meaning of these mysteries inculcated the doctrine of a future state of the soul, and future rewards and punishments; and that such were the doctrines of those philosophers show by many and indisputable authorities.

The union of the soul with the body was considered as the death of the soul; its separate as the resurrection of the soul; and such ceremonies and types were intended to impress the doctrine of the immersion of the soul into matter, as is well attested. “

Remember, this was written 1820. The Inquisition was still in full force in the Catholic Church and Da Costa was a Catholic, and knew full well the touch of the Inquisition’s force for the presumed crime of being a “Free-Mason” in Lisbon. Other than writing about his time in the Inquisition’s grip, and “The Sketch,” Da Costa is known mostly for his influence on Brazilian journalism. The worldcat.org website does have some references on him for anyone wanting to know more about him. Mackey, in his Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, briefly mentions him. He published several books in Portuguese about Freemasonry.

“The Sketch of the Dionysian Artificers” is a fascinating book for anyone interested in knowing about Freemasonry’s origins and it lays out, for Freemasons, a clear indication of the origins of many of the symbols and symbolic activities contained in its rituals. A copy of the essay can be had from http://sacred-texts.com – here. There is also an edition wherein Manly Palmer Hall wrote an essay about the Myth of Dionysis, which has some continued insights from a modern perspective. Even more fascinating is following the links to the primary texts and sources whence Da Costa draws his conclusions. In the next part, we’ll explore the text itself and encapsulate what Da Costa was proposing regarding the origins of Freemasonry.

With Passion

February 2, 2019 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Behavioral Science, History, Philosophy Tags: Action, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Mason, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Compassion, Discussion, Empathy, Eric Schliesser, Fraternal Love, Fraternity, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Kindness, Manners, Mason, Masonic Philosophical Society, Masonry, Masons, Passion, Sympathy, Sympathy: A History, The Chopra Center, Work Leave a comment

I recently attended a Masonic Philosophical Society discussion about compassion – what was it, what is it, and how did it get from there to here. In the course of the discussion, many people discussed kindness and manners but little discussion about compassion took place.

The word comes from the roots of ‘with’ and ‘passion.’ The modern, Webster’s version of the word means, “sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.” As language evolves, and many of the things that philosophers study are dusty with age and wear, it was important to see where the word began. From its Latin beginnings through Old French, the word actually meant “suffer with.” From the 14th Century C.E. backward, the word is associated with suffering. To look at meanings, suffering and sympathy/concern are two wholly different experiences. What is interesting is the the word “suffer” also comes from the Old French, in about the same time period as compassion, and the word originally meant “the be under the burden of something, to ensure, to hold up.” The word sympathy shows up much later in vocabulary, around 1570, and is of two Greek roots – “together” (sym) and feeling (pathos).

compassionrock In his book, “Sympathy: A History,” author Eric Schliesser puts the confusion between sympathy and compassion to rest. He breaks down, right in the introduction, the differences between sympathy, empathy, and compassion. Sympathy and empathy, which are often confused for one another, are different breeds. Empathy, a word from the 12th century C.E., was created, the author states, to describe the German concept of Einfuhlung, or the state of entering into someone else’s feelings. That is, in empathy, the person is actually “in” the emotions of others, whereas with sympathy, the person experiencing it is recreating what their imagination can create, from the building blocks of society, family, and learned experience. The person in sympathy is not actually feeling the same emotions as the person conveying the experience.

So, the question bears asking: are compassion and empathy related? How can one suffer without actually feeling the suffering?

The Chopra Center has an interesting distinction for the word compassion. They state:

“When you’re compassionate, you’re not running away from suffering, you’re not feeling overwhelmed by suffering, and you’re not pretending the suffering doesn’t exist. When you are practicing compassion, you can stay present with suffering.”

In other words, you need to have both empathy and sympathy to be able to motivate yourself to compassion. Compassion is also action; it is the desire to relieve the suffering of the other person with real and meaningful work.

pair The interesting difference between kindness and compassion is in the suffering. It is kind to hold the door open for people. It is compassionate to bring someone into your home and away from the cold. Kindness involves a gentle mindset and may be necessary for compassion; however, compassion demands more. It demands action that is substantial enough to relieve true suffering, a true burden. It’s not taking the burden off someone’s shoulders, or living the pain with the person. That achieves nothing. It is not only lifting the burden with someone but working on ways to bring the cause of the suffering to an end. The compassionate person has distance from the emotional weight and can therefore see more clearly what may be accomplished. In conjunction with the other, that clear-headed person can provide a guide through the suffering.

Compassion requires a higher thought, a higher attention to the greater good. It also seems to require an integrated person – someone who can truly see the person in all their different forms and deliver what is required. Compassion isn’t kindness.

Kindness is a quality of being gentle and generous. Empathy is the ability to actually feel the suffering of another, while sympathy is the ability to imagine that suffering. Compassion takes all of those facets and creates an action plan. We might equate kindness with the physical, empathy with the emotional, sympathy with the mental, and compassion with the spirit, if we were breaking this down in the sense of human experience. The highest emotion, in this human drama, then, is compassion. It requires the most energy, delivering the most gain. In other words, sometimes the kindest, and toughest act of compassion may appear to be harsh of difficult for the person to achieve. Saying “no” to the alcoholic is compassionate, as is saying “no” to the person who always wants the answer. Telling the intelligent person that their poor work is the result of laziness is kindness, empathy, and sympathy rolled up into a greater purpose – it is compassion. Enablement is not compassion: it is destruction. aroundcompassion

Freemasonry teaches you how to act but not how to think or feel. Freemasons are regularly taught to be kind and compassionate, yet subdue strong emotions in favor of thoughtful discourse.

Freemasonry also teaches you to act instead of standing on the sidelines and watching and simply thinking about a thing. Freemasonry provides opportunities for its adherents to be able to speak openly and view themselves authentically. Everyone requires a second set of eyes and experiences to become better, and it is in the bonds of fraternal love that compassion can be delivered. It requires different thought than the general society. It expects the Mason to not only learn to be compassionate but also to be able to receive that compassion. It becomes a true bond of fraternity, when honesty is the cement that not only binds us but supports us.

Are Freemasons perfect? Not by a long shot. It is in the compassion found in fraternal bonds that Masons can become better human beings and thereby better members and examples in the larger society.

Triangles Everywhere

November 21, 2018 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Formal Science, History, Philosophy Tags: Alchemy, Astrology, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Masonry, Euclid, Freemasonry, Geometry, Grand Triune, Mason, Masonry, Plato, Pythagoras, Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences, Thales of Miletus, The Pythagorean School, Triangle, Triangles Leave a comment

I was recently exploring the idea of the triangle – its form, function, stability, and meanings. In Freemasonry, as in many traditions, the triangle holds significant influence in symbolic meanings.

A triangle is a polygon with three sides and three vertices. There are many forms of triangles – right, equilateral, obtuse, acute, isosceles, and scalene. There are also oblique and degenerate triangles. Triangles may be multiple types. Triangles are generally believed to be two-dimensional objects whose interior angles, at least in Euclidean space, equal 180 degrees. They can be various shapes but the ones most often seen are right triangles and equilateral triangles.

Of the triangle knowledge from history, the famous philosophers Pythagoras, Plato, and Euclid are known best for theorems, ideas, and esoteric supposition surrounding the form. The form is so basic that it’s most likely older than written history. Ancient petroglyphs, such as those from Columbia, the Sierras in North America, and Mexico, show humans with bodies and heads in the form of triangles. This is a basic shape that mimicked the human form, with wide shoulders and narrow waist, or a wide head crown and narrow chin. There isn’t anything to indicate, in-depth, the symbolic meaning of the triangle other than it being incorporated into the human form.

The Egyptians used the triangle quite often, generally in the realignment of land plots after the Nile floods but also in architecture. In a 2000 thesis article regarding the “sacred triangle,” the author asserts that Egyptians knew and used, even in the Old Kingdom, the “sacred triangle” of 3:4:5. Indeed, the author goes on to state that using straight vertices, or a “simple, straight vertical pole,” to find location or identify specific time of day or days of the year. While this is a heavy-mathematics article, the reader might find some deeper, symbolic meanings in the geometry.

During the 6th C. B.C.E., the School of Pythagoras became known for its theorem regarding the formation of the ‘sacred triangle.’ Pythagoras left no mathematical writings of his own, while Euclid and Plato did. Thales of Miletus is really the creator of basic mathematics and geometry, and probably the first to give us theorems about the triangle. Pythagoras, who created the words philosophy and mathematics, is more well-known and did much to bring the form of the triangle into deeper meaning.

To Pythagoras, the number 10 was the holiest of numbers; the tetractys is a triangle form of 10 dots, created by interlinking the dots into nine triangles forming the 10th, larger triangle. It is used to symbolize the creative forces of the universe. From ancient-symbol.com, “In the figure, the first row has a single point that is representative of the Creator, the active principle, the divine power behind all creation and is associated with wisdom. The second row contains two points that represent the passive principle and are associated with friction, movement, impulse, strength, and courage. The third row with three points signifies the world coming out of the union of the above two, a union of physical and mental balance and is associated with harmony. The fourth row has four points that represent the four liberal arts & sciences that complete the world. These four points symbolize the four elements of earth, fire, air, and water.” This was, generally speaking, the first time that the philosophical meaning of a number, its holiness and perfection, being derived from pure mathematical reasoning rather than from inductive reasoning. It was more than the total of our fingers on our hands. Another interesting article on the triangle and tetractys, among other things, can be found here: http://www.projectawe.org/blog/2015/12/21/up-and-down-the-monochord-part-iii-triangle-trinity-unity. The author of this blog does a very good and thorough job of digging into these ideas, and I would highly encourage everyone interested in these subjects to read it.

In the alchemical writings of the Middle Ages, the classical elements of hermeticism were based off the form of the triangle, turned upward or down, with a line to denote the opposite or without to indicate the base elements. The conjoining of fire and water is indicative of balance and achieving perfection. The triangle is also seen in the “triangle of art” also known as Solomon’s Triangle. The circle in that triangle represents the space where spirits are called, with the triangle representative of the safe space from which the magician worked.

Triangles in astrology are seen as very positive, and a grand trine, or golden triangle, is seen as a creative, harmonious flow of energy in a person’s life; they generally are composed of the objects being in the same elements, in the form of an equilateral triangle.

Triangles are a form of stability, where two extremes are balanced by a third point. Triangles are everywhere in Freemasonry, overt and subtle, and have different stories surrounding each. These different stories speak to individuals differently even if the core remains the same; depending on the degree being worked and studied, the aspirant may find different aspects of the same truth. These truths are not much different than the ancient Egyptians and Greeks found and used in their daily lives. There are always extremes and balance is achieved by that third, divine point. One might also see that all emanates from the Divine, the single point, which may also turn into that point within a circle which is perfect balance. The perfect man may be the one who finds equilibrium during whatever storm shakes him. Taking this symbolism into our daily lives and applying it to our relationships with people is really the value of the study of symbol. We can work toward being the middle point between extremes, able to see both sides in equal measure. A more holistic view of those things that permeate our lives creates a better person.

Freemasonry and the Way of the Warrior [Part Two]

November 4, 2018 By Aksel Suvari in History, Philosophy Tags: Battle of Sekigahara, Buddhism, Bushido, Bushido: The Soul of Japan, Chivalric code of honor, Co-Mason, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Compassion, Courage, Emperor, Feudal Japan, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Honesty, Honor, Japan, Masonry, Masons, Minamoto Yoritomo, Miyomoto Musashi, Nitobe Inazo, Respect, Righteousness, Ronin, Samurai, Seppuku, Shoguns, The Book of Five Rings, Warrior Leave a comment

Freemasonry, with its diverse symbols, allegories and philosophical lessons seeks to build the individual into a mighty warrior of morality, an overwhelming, unstoppable force for good. In this, Freemasonry and the Way of the Warrior have a common goal. What follows is Part Two of the post on Freemasonry and the Way of the Warrior. [Part One of the post can be read here.]

The Book of Five Rings

After his near-death experience at the battle of Sekigahara, Miyomoto Musashi devoted his life to the mastery of martial arts. As a ronin, Musashi did not possess the full privileges of a samurai but was still respected as a fearsome warrior. In his travels throughout Japan, Musashi fought at least Sixty-six duels to the death against some of the most notable samurai of Japan.

During the Edo period, as this time in Japanese history is known, Japanese martial arts were extremely stratified, with each student claiming a lineage of teachers and students. The object of his journey was to test his own system against those of the most preeminent schools of his day. Upon arrival at a temple for a scheduled duel, Musashi was asked what style he practiced and who his teacher was. In characteristic fashion he is said to have replied, “The water, running in the river, is my teacher. The wind, blowing The Book of the Five Rings through the trees, is my teacher. The whole universe is my teacher and I am its student.”

The result of this quest to refine was Musashi’s book of strategy known as the Go Rin No Sho or The Book of Five Rings. In this book, Musashi explains his fencing techniques and strategies of combat through the metaphor of five “rings” or “spheres”: Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Void.

Though the book contains much technical information that relates specifically to Musashi’s techniques, it also contains many philosophical precepts that informed Musashi’s approach to both combat and life. Below are several of the most impactful quotes from the book:

“You should not have any special fondness for a particular weapon, or anything else, for that matter. Too much is the same as not enough. Without imitating anyone else, you should have as much weaponry as suits you.”

“Get beyond love and grief: exist for the good of Man.”

“Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.”

“There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.”

“The important thing is to polish wisdom and the mind in great detail. If you sharpen wisdom, you will understand what is just and unjust in society and also the good and the evil of this world; then you will come to know all kinds of arts and you will tread different ways. In this manner, no one in this world will succeed in deceiving you.”

The Dokkodo

In the last week of his life, Musashi, aware that he was soon going to die, began making Dokkōdō2 preparations for his departure from the earthly plane. He gave away his possessions and made arrangements for the conclusion of his affairs.

As part of this process he composed what is known as the Dokkodo or the Way of Walking Alone, Twenty-one aphorisms that summarized his philosophy and all that he had learned about the Way throughout his lifetime. It was dedicated to his most loyal student and shows us that Musashi was an extraordinarily deep thinker in the same line as the Stoics of the ancient Mediterranean who perceived much more in his life than mere sword fighting techniques.

The Dokkodo:

1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself or others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body, but you must preserve your honor.
21. Never stray from the Way.

Freemasonry and the Samurai Culture

Though the samurai culture has long since vanished from the Earth its influence can still be felt throughout Eastern and Western culture. In the East, the samurai – Miyomoto Musashi in particular – are the model of righteous character, virtuous conduct and a courageous attitude in the face of a hostile and adversarial Universe. In the West they are equally mythologized and provide the model of conduct for every student of the martial arts and the philosophy that informs their practices.

In the tenets of Bushido, we can recognize a simple and unwavering moral philosophy that any human being can use in their battles, both within and without. With the Samurai weapons of righteousness, benevolence, honesty and the armor of courage, honor, and duty, any challenge can be met, and any enemy overcome.

In the modern world, many of these virtues have become unimportant to us in an age of instant gratification and self-involvement. It seems now that our only duty is to ourselves and the idea of sacrificing one’s life for one’s principles seems archaic and absurd. But the samurai remind us that these principles, these virtues are the necessary companions of anyone who would achieve great feat of benefiting mankind and protecting species from the evil which lurks among us.

In this, Freemasonry and Bushido have a common goal. Freemasonry, with its diverse symbols, allegories and philosophical lessons seeks to build the individual into a mighty warrior of morality, an overwhelming, unstoppable force for good. Freemasonry understands, as the samurai did, that each and every one of us is engaged in a battle between good and evil. This battle is fought within ourselves, within our hearts and our characters and it is fought without against the tyrants of the material world who would enslave and destroy humanity. This is a battle worth fighting, and though the Way must be walked alone, the battle is fought side to side with all human beings.

Freemasonry and the Way of the Warrior [Part I]

October 28, 2018 By Aksel Suvari in History, Philosophy Tags: Battle of Sekigahara, Buddhism, Bushido, Bushido: The Soul of Japan, Chivalric code of honor, Co-Mason, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Compassion, Courage, Emperor, Feudal Japan, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Honesty, Honor, Japan, Masonry, Masons, Minamoto Yoritomo, Miyomoto Musashi, Nitobe Inazo, Respect, Righteousness, Ronin, Samurai, Seppuku, Shoguns, Warrior 3 Comments

In the days of feudal Japan, from the 12^th to the 16^th centuries, the small island was ruled by ruthless Shoguns, warlords who controlled fiefdoms and battled one another for control of the island’s resources. They were aided in these fights by Samurai, noble warriors who were trained extensively in every martial art, from mounted archery to sword fighting, bare knuckle boxing and grappling. Knights and generals, these warriors were more than mere soldiers. Their martial prowess was dependent on their mental and spiritual discipline, discipline that was carefully cultivated over a lifetime of training.

What is a Warrior?

Throughout human history, in every society that has ever existed, there have been warriors. In the literal sense, a warrior is an individual who is actively engaged in the Samurai_with_sword practice of warfare. More broadly however, we can think of warriors as those who are engaged in struggle. But what does it mean to be a warrior? In all interpretations of the word, a warrior is not a mere barbarian who uses brute strength to crush and dominate those weaker than himself.

The term “warrior” is used to describe an individual who has mastered their capacity for physical violence and yet abides by a code of discipline that regulates that capacity. This code of discipline is nearly always philosophical or religious in nature and governs every aspect of the warrior’s life. However, in our modern world, the necessity for familiarity with violence has diminished and along with it our need for warriors. Has that energy been lost or has it been re-directed elsewhere?

The Samurai and Bushido

The history of feudal Japan is an unending parade of warlords, known as shoguns, violently attempting to rule the fractured island. At this time, the 12^th through the 18^th century, Japan was not a united island but was instead divided among numerous clans, all competing for influence and control. This was the environment that gave birth to the samurai. The word “samurai” is derived from a Japanese word meaning “one who serves Minamoto Yoritomo 2 nobility” and was initially a general title for a civil servant. After Minamoto Yoritomo created the first permanent shogunate and established himself as Emperor, he codified the laws governing the samurai’s conduct.

Just as European knights of the same time period lived by a chivalric code of honor, so too did the samurai abide by a moral, ethical and philosophical creed. Known as bushido, or, the way of the warrior, this creed was heavily influenced by the emergence of Zen Buddhism into Japanese culture. Buddhism’s teachings on reincarnation and the immortality of the soul made death the focus of the samurai. A samurai was to meditate daily upon his own death, visualizing it in many forms and living through each one in his imagination so that, when the time came, he would be prepared to meet any form of death that came to him without fear or regret.

Because their teachings nullified the finality of death, the central tenet of bushido held that a samurai was to uphold his honor at all costs, including that of his life, in the performance of his duty. Duty and honor were sacred principles to the samurai, each dependent on the other. For a samurai to bring shame upon himself or his lord by failing to perform his duty with courage was an unthinkable shame that necessitated the ending of his life by his own hand, a blood atonement for his failure. The practice of seppuku – ritual suicide – is seen as barbaric by our modern culture but was the inevitable end of a disgraced samurai and was seen as the only way to reclaim his honor.

Bushido: The Way of the Warrior

Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, had 8 central tenets or virtues that were expressed by famed Japanese writer Nitobe Inazo in his book Bushido: The Soul of Japan.

(1) Righteousness – Be acutely honest throughout your dealings with all people. Believe in justice, not from other people, but from yourself. To the true warrior, all points of view are deeply considered regarding honesty, justice and integrity. Warriors make a full commitment to their decisions.

(2) Heroic Courage – Hiding like a turtle in a shell is not living at all. A true warrior must have heroic courage. It is absolutely risky. It is living life completely, fully and wonderfully. Heroic courage is not blind. It is intelligent and strong.

(3) Compassion – Through intense training and hard work the true warrior becomes quick and strong. They are not as most people. They develop a power that must be used for good. They have compassion. They help their fellow men at every opportunity. If an opportunity does not arise, they go out of their way to find one.

(4) Respect – True warriors have no reason to be cruel. They do not need to prove their strength. Warriors are not only respected for their strength in battle, but also by their dealings with others. The true strength of a warrior becomes apparent during difficult times.

(5) Honesty – When warriors say that they will perform an action, it is as good as done. Nothing will stop them from completing what they say they will do. They do not have to ‘give their word’. They do not have to ‘promise’. Speaking and doing are the same action.

(6) Honor – Warriors have only one judge of honor and character, and this is themselves. Decisions they make and how these decisions are carried out are a reflection of whom they truly are. You cannot hide from yourself.

(7) Duty and Loyalty – Warriors are responsible for everything that they have done and everything that they have said, and all of the consequences that follow. They are immensely loyal to all of those in their care. To everyone that they are responsible for, they remain fiercely true.

(8) Self-Control – A Warrior’s strong foundation.

The Legendary Samurai Miyomoto Musashi

Miyomoto Musashi is perhaps the most legendary samurai to have ever existed. Like all legends, concrete details about his early life are difficult to verify, as we must rely on feudal Japanese sources which are incomplete as a historical record. What is known is that, at age 7, Musashi was taken from his home by an uncle and raised in a Buddhist monastery, practicing extreme physical discipline and meditation. Monasteries and Miyamoto martial arts schools were indistinguishable in the days of feudal Japan as it was believed that physical conditioning and martial skill would enhance the meditative practice of the student. At the age of 13, Musashi fought his first duel to the death against a grown man and was victorious, swiftly ending the contest.

At the age of 16, Musashi participated in the Battle of Sekigahara, a pivotal battle between the forces of Western and Eastern Japan, as the country was split at the time. Musashi fought on the losing side of the battle and was severely wounded. Left for dead on the battle field, Musashi survived the ordeal. However, as his lord had been killed in the fighting, Musashi was no longer considered a samurai and instead traveled Japan as a ronin, a warrior with no allegiance to a master.

To Be Continued…

The Real Reason a Masonic Temple is Called a Lodge

October 7, 2018 By Majesty Montanez in Esotericism, History, Philosophy Tags: Ancient Egypt, Experts, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, God, Goddess, Great Architect, Holy Bible, I Corinthians 3:16, Lodge, Lovers of Wisdom, Mason, Masonic Temple, Masonry, Masons, Mother Nature, Philosophers, Philosophy, Symbol, Symbolism, Symbols, The Bible, Universal, Wisdom 2 Comments

Why is a Masonic Temple called a Lodge? This is a very good question; and the correct answer to this question is full of valuable wisdom that is of great and essential importance to Freemasons in particular, and to Philosophers in general. So, let us begin to unravel this mystery so that we can discover some of the useful life lessons that it has in store for us as Philosophers, or as lovers of wisdom.

All students of Freemasonry know that Freemasonry is of a symbolic nature, and that most of the foundational customs and symbols of Freemasons are derived from the work of the stone masons of ancient Egypt and other ancient countries. The universal masonic custom of referring to our temples or meeting places as “lodges” is an example of one of these foundational customs and symbols of Freemasonry that come from ancient stone masonry. Unfortunately, too many students of Freemasonry fail to realize that the soul or spirit of Freemasonry is essentially religious, philosophical, and spiritual. This causes these students to lack knowledge of the true and intended meaning of most of our masonic symbols, and to unknowingly give a false interpretation to not only our symbols, but to Freemasonry as a whole.

This is most often a result of the student limiting his studies to a trash heap of purposely misleading books and articles on the history and subject of Freemasonry that have been published by unqualified, overly pretentious, and overtly biased, self-proclaimed “authorities” on the subject.

However, this lack of a true understanding of Freemasonry is primarily due to the student making the costly mistake of overlooking the significance of the simple fact that the work of ancient stone masonry, which Freemasonry uses as an analogy or symbol of its own work and teachings, was centered around religion and philosophy, which is to say, the worship and study of Mother Nature, ourselves, and the divine.

As the old saying goes, “the true nature of a tree can be known by the kind of fruit it produces,” and the ancient stone masons (not to be confused with brick masons), who were of many different cultures, nationalities, and religions, were the builders and creators of all of the most important buildings of the ancient world, which were the temples and monuments dedicated to the Gods and Goddesses of ancient religion. By overlooking this aspect of the nature of the work of ancient stone masonry, the non-co-masonic student of Freemasonry usually misses the point that Freemasonry is likewise centered around God, the Supreme Architect of the Universe.

The religious, philosophical, and spiritual nature of Freemasonry is the reason as to why the meeting place of any group of Freemasons is called a temple, which is defined in everyday language as being a building devoted to the worship, or regarded as the house or dwelling place, of a God or Gods.

On the other hand, a masonic temple, as was already mentioned, is also called a lodge, and this is because ancient stone masons (who were literally travelers, or “traveling men” and “traveling women,” due to the nature of their work, which often required them to leave behind their families and homes for long 220px-Schwind_-_Sabina_von_Steinbach periods of time as they traveled from place to place and worked on various building projects all throughout the country) would always build several temporary houses, called “lodges”, near their work site, which they used as both shelters and workshops.

Although this obviously gives us the superficial reason for which we symbolically call our temples “lodges”, it would be very unwise of us to automatically conclude that this is the reason for this ancient universal custom in its entirety, since we know that Freemasonry is essentially philosophical and spiritual, and uses its symbols as its main method of teaching and expressing important life lessons that are based on timeless philosophical principles and truths. It is therefore very highly likely that the word lodge is a masonic symbol that indirectly expresses a very deep and fundamental lesson for us about the true nature of our existence.

Since the word lodge is synonymous with the word temple in the symbolic language of Freemasonry, we must logically conclude that they both symbolically refer to the human body as the “house” that God lives in. As is said in I Corinthians 3:16 of the Holy Bible, asabovesobelow which is another one of the many symbols of masonic philosophy and spirituality: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God lives in you?

By applying the masonic and hermetic principle of correspondence* (“As within, so without”), which is a universal law of Nature, to the human body, we discover that the human body can be symbolically and very accurately described as being a miniature replica of the Universe, or existence as an infinite whole. This lets us know that the masonic temple, or the masonic lodge, is a symbol of both the Universe and the human body; and this is very powerfully hinted at us in the symbolic description of the lodge in the ritual of Freemasonry’s first degree. Now that we know that the masonic lodge is symbolic of both the Universe and the human body, and that Freemasonry thereby likens or compares the Universe and the human body to a lodge of ancient stone masons, all that remains is for us to figure out why this is so.

Once again, a lodge, by common definition, is a temporary house or home, as opposed to a permanent house or home, which would make a lodge a very fitting symbol of the Universe, since the Universe is not only “the house and home of humanity,” but a temporary house and home for us, as we will not be living in this world forever. We will all, one day, die. But until then, we must continuously come together and unite as luxorskeletonschwallerdiagram Freemasons to do the work of Freemasonry (which is to evolve and perfect humanity) within the “lodge” or “workshop”, meaning within the Universe or world of everyday life. This is perhaps the most basic of all of the valuable life lessons that we are indirectly taught by the masonic lodge being a symbol of the Universe or the macrocosm (the “big Universe”).

When we look at the masonic lodge as being a symbol of the human body or the microcosm (the “little Universe”), we learn an equally valuable life lesson. In the same way that the Universe is a temporary house and home for humanity, so is the human body for the Spirit of God. And just as we must continuously come together and unite as Freemasons to do the work of Freemasonry within the workshop or lodge of the Universe collectively, so must we also do the work of Freemasonry on an equally constant basis individually, within the secret, inner lodge or workshop of ourselves as individuals, thereby achieving balance and harmony between the two opposite poles of selflessness and selfishness within us.

As we can now see, the use of the word lodge as a symbol of Freemasonry contains some very useful and valuable life lessons for us, indeed. So let us take heed. And let us continue to work both collectively and individually, but most important of all, unceasingly, toward the evolution and perfection of humanity.

For a deeper understanding of the masonic and hermetic principle of correspondence, which is mentioned in this article, and to help expand the Great Work of the Masonic Philosophical Society, purchase the book, The Kybalion.

PRISONERS OF THE MIND: Shining Masonic Light on the Mysterious Meaning of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

September 19, 2018 By Majesty Montanez in History, Philosophy Tags: Allegory, Chains, Co-Masonry, Fire, Freedom, Freemasonry, Liberty, Light, Mason, Masonry, Plato, Shadows, Socrates, The Allegory of the Cave, The Republic, Universal Co-Masonry 7 Comments

What is the meaning of Brother Plato’s Allegory of the Cave in Book Seven of his immortal work, The Republic? And why is this allegory so widely read and studied in the world of “higher education” today, over two thousand years after it was first published? The purpose of this short labor of love is to explore the possible answer to the first of these two vital questions for the mutual benefit of myself and the reader, leaving the answer to the second question to the reader to explore and find independently, if he or she so chooses, as such an intimate journey into the depths of one’s own heart and mind will be sure to reveal to him or her just how important, beautiful, and fulfilling it is for each of us to discover the true meaning and purpose of human existence for ourselves, as common, yet unique, individuals.

Fortunately, for us, Plato explains the gist of the meaning of his allegory of the cave within The Republic itself. This should make things a little bit easy for us. Unfortunately, for some, the fact is that Plato was a mystic and a philosopher– a lover of wisdom— which means that he wrote all of his timeless dialogues for the sole purpose of sharing and examining the nature of wisdom with other philosophers through the interrelated philosophical principles of epistemology, dialectic, metaphysics, ethics, The Republic contemplation, and meditation.

In other words, the genuine and intended meaning of Plato’s allegory will forever remain an incomprehensible mystery to any reader of it who is not a true wisdom lover. Furthermore, the meaning of all of Plato’s sublime wisdom that has come down to us in written form through the ages, can only be captured by one who pursues true and ancient philosophy in the manner of the immortal philosophers of antiquity, who were known Initiates of the Ancient Mystery Schools such as Freemasonry. Such a noble pursuit demands nothing less or more than an open heart and mind that are both truly focused and desirous of knowing ultimate reality, as well as the true meaning and purpose of living in this world as a mortal– as a human being. From this we can understand that no matter how clearly and eloquently Plato may have briefly explained his allegory’s hidden meaning through the wise lips of Socrates within the pages of The Republic, it can only begin to be even vaguely understood by the man, woman or child who deeply loves wisdom.

And there is more: The meaning of the allegory of the cave will not unfold and reveal itself deeply within one’s soul if we overlook the importance of the philosophical concept of justice. This is due to the resplendent fact that The Republic is a philosophical lamp whose light is centered around the mystical oil of the search for the true meaning of justice and the heart’s burning desire to know what it truly means to be Plato Cave justor virtuous. We must therefore keep the mystery of justice firmly in heart and mind as we proceed. Now, let us step into the Light.

A QUICK SUMMARY OF THE ALLEGORY

There is a group of chained prisoners in a cave, who have been prisoners there since they were born. They are chained in such a way that they can only see a low stone wall in front of them, and they have never seen anything else in their entire lives. There is also a fireplace constantly burning at a short distance behind them, which allows for the shadows of people outside the cave, who walk past it, to be casted upon the low wall in front of the prisoners. The prisoners, who have never seen anything else in life but themselves and these shadows, believe that these shadows are real things, and that there is nothing much more to life than the appearance of these shadows. One day, however, one of the prisoners in the cave breaks free and escapes from the cave. Upon seeing the world outside of the cave for the very first time, he quickly realizes that his former perception of life was limited, and all wrong. He has seen the light of the Sun and now knows that the shadows in the cave were not what they appeared to be. He then returns to the cave in an attempt to enlighten his former prisonmates about the true nature of the shadows, but they do not believe him. Instead, they threaten to kill him when he offers to set them free so that they can see the truth for themselves.

THE SECRET AND INNER MEANING OF THE ALLEGORY

The prisoners in the cave, as Plato vividly points out in The Republic, are us, or “you” and “I”. They are the symbolic personifications of the popular but mistaken notion that there really is such a thing as a separately existing “you” and “I”, as it is the crown jewel of true plato-allegory-of-the-cave and ancient philosophy that there is really only one I or self that exists, and that this authentic I exists eternally as the infinite Universe in its entirety.

According to Plato, the underground den or prison within the cave is symbolic of the “world of sight”, by which he means the objective world as perceived by a non-discriminating and irrational mind through the five outward-focused senses of sight, taste, touch, sound, and smell. This prison is therefore a philosophical symbol of the mind itself, which lets us know that the cave, which contains this prison, and which, like the mind, is a secret dwelling place, is likewise a philosophical symbol of the mind, so that there is essentially no difference between the cave and the prison described by Plato. More precisely, the cave symbolizes the human mind in general, while the prison within the cave symbolizes the human mind or ego that is delusional and out of touch with reality.

The fire and light that are both inside and outside of the cave are symbolic of the “light” and life of both individuated consciousness and cosmic or universal consciousness, which are ultimately interconnected as One Mind. Plato states this darkly through the symbolic character of his wise teacher, Socrates (whose name means master of life), by having Socrates explain to Plato’s brother, Glaucon (whose name means owl-eyed), that, “the light of fire (in this allegory) is the Sun, which, when seen, is inferred to be the universal author of all things that are beautiful and right. It is the parent of light and the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual world. It is the power which he who wants to act rationally in public or private life must keep his eye fixed upon.” Now, ask yourself, does it sound like these alleged words of the enlightened Socrates are referring to the Sun in a literal sense, or to the Sun as being an ancient symbol of the “light” and life of consciousness which constitutes the The-Allegory-of-the-Cave-by-Plato-1-1024x761 mind? Isn’t it true that you can close your eyes and still see things through the “light” of your mind, even while you are sitting or lying down alone in the dark?

What about the shadows in the cave? And what about the wall in the cave that serves as the screen upon which these shadows are seen? This wall and the shadows casted upon it are symbolic of the various objects, or people, places, and things, that the individual mind perceives as the objective world, or the world “outside of”, and “separate from”, one’s own relative self or ego-personality. Like shadows, these objects or forms that collectively make up the objective plane of life are merely the fleeting reflections of something that can be said to be real. They are nothing more than transitory effects that are caused by the obstruction and limitation of the light or illumination of consciousness. These philosophical shadows are what Plato would call relative and substantially illusory or unreal “forms”, while the metaphysical objects of which they are merely the reflections and imperfect revelations are what he would call the absolute, eternal, and perfect “ideas” behind these phantom-like forms.

As for the chains that keep the prisoners locked up and divested of mental and spiritual freedom within the cave of their own dim consciousness, they are a potent symbol of our closed-minded concepts and selfish ways of thinking, as these counterproductive mental constructs keep us mentally binded, blinded, and unable to behold the light of metaphysical and philosophical enlightenment. When we succeed in breaking these chains by freeing our minds through true education, which involves philosophy and meditation, we discover the greatest secret of life and existence, which in turn gives us insight into the true meaning of justice, the main subject of Plato’s Republic. Platos - Cave This most valuable secret of all secrets is that all life is One Life, all minds are One Mind, and all things are One Thing.

Not only does Plato’s Republic teach us that the mind can be, and that it all too often is, the worst kind of prison that we can ever find ourselves locked up in, this golden dialogue also teaches us, perhaps paradoxically, that the mind is also the key that we must use in order to free ourselves from that prison:

The mind is the prison

And also the key

And as Freemasons

We have chosen to be free

Obligation in Modernity

August 29, 2018 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in Behavioral Science, Philosophy Tags: Buddhists, Christianity, Co-Freemasonry, Co-Mason, Co-Masons, Collective Effort, College, commitment, Contract, Creation, Creators, Divorce, Duty, Emotional Work, Epictetus, Esoteric, Esoteric Path, Esotericism, Failure, Freemasonry, Gospel of John, Grateful, Heraclitus, High School, Individual Path, Jews, Life, Logos, Marriage, Masonry, Mental Work, Middle English, Obligation, Obligations of a Freemason, Oblige, Operative Masonry, Philosophy, Physical Work, Pietre-Stones, Plato, Spiritual Work, Strength, Suffering, Taoists, The Wizard of Earthsea, The Word, Ursula K. Le Guin, Will, Work 1 Comment

Freemasonry is built on the idea of obligating yourself to perform certain tasks, with a specific set of goals in mind. The word “obligation” comes from the roots of Middle English, from the verb “oblige,” which means to formally legally or morally bind someone to a promise. North Americans are used to hearing the phrase “much obliged,” in a sort of archaic sense, which means “to be indebted or grateful.” This is a derivation of the word; the more archaic form, from where the word “obligation” comes from is “to bind (someone) by an oath, promise, or contract.” The current 21st century definition is “an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment.”

The most common obligation people run into is that of marriage. Divorce rates in the United States are down, possibly because marriage rates are also down. A shift? What about other obligations we make during our lives, especially the ones to ourselves? Upwards of 25% of current high school Freshmen will never complete high school. College drop out rates are the highest they have ever been, even with the highest enrollments ever. Even fraternal and social groups suffer from those who start and, for whatever reason, drop out.

To be fair, there are many reasons for giving up the path; financial, health, and family issues may cause problems for the student or spouse. Yet, we find little effort being made to surmount those challenges; we see the heroes as ones who complete school against all odds – but those odds are sometimes no greater than odds we all face. Everyone has challenges in their life. Completing or dedicating yourself to an endeavor takes will and strength, a desire to go against the easy life and really work hard to achieve your own success, whatever that might be. In an age of “Alexa” and “Siri,” doing things for yourself is seen as too much effort.

Molecular Thoughts

People who choose an esoteric path have put themselves on an extremely hard working journey. It’s not easy. As Buddha said, “life is suffering.” Enlightenment is not found in simple meditation. Physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual work are all necessary. Freemasonry, an esoteric and mystery path built on the foundations of “operative masonry,” is perhaps the epitome of working esoterically and externally.

An excellent article on the “Obligations of a Freemason” can be found on Pietre-Stones. In this article, the author expounds on the obligations of the individual as well as the collective. As Freemasonry is an “individual path worked in a group/collective,” it’s very right that we also look at not only what our obligations to ourselves but also to the group. In fact, from the very onset, in our application, we are promising certain actions that are considered obligatory.

Why all this emphasis on obligation, promises, and commitment? Is there some deeply esoteric meaning in obligating yourself to someone or something? Perhaps.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” ~ (John 1:1)

Much has been said about the divine logos, or, according to the Greeks, “The One Great Reason.” It’s representative of the unseen force of the universe that links us all together, whether we call it God, Love, the Divine, the Force, or whatever. Our ideas about “the Word,” and I suspect John’s as well, came from the Greek philosophers – Heraclitus, Plato, and Epictetus. Where Plato defined logos as an archetype, an idea representation of the divine in an independent-of-physical world, the Stoics refined the idea of logos to impart to it an active principle, and one which incorporated “the Reason” for all being into the function of “The Word.” It’s clear that The writer of the Gospel of John, as well as Buddhists, Jews, Taoists and others have also integrated this idea of the logos into the active Divine in the function of speaking the Word.

The divine Logos is the divine purpose, plan, or word that is the ultimate reason for the cosmos, which orders the universe and gives it meaning. That is, the sound or word has meaning, weight, in creation. As noted above, the Stoics defined logos as the law of generation in the Universe, which was the principle of the active reason working in inanimate matter. Humans, too, each possess a portion of the divine logos. That is, we humans, through our actions and words have generative power. The act of committing ourselves, or creating a binding agreement to complete work has power over us, either consciously or subconsciously. It also has the power to affect other individuals and other groups. This is a ripple effect; what we achieve has a lasting effect on the world around us, and flows out from us in a physical and metaphysical wave.

LOGOS-Greek Thus, in giving our “word” or “bond,” we are creating. We create not only the superficial matter – such as our place in a Lodge or our status as spouse in a marriage, but we are creating an unseen, immaterial ripple that will create an effect throughout time. We create – it’s what humans do – and through our words, we create more than just simple relationships. Each word is a spoken manifestation of divinity.

Thus, promises, obligations, and commitments have weight – perhaps even more weight than we realize – when it comes to our overall spiritual life. It is important that we chose and use them carefully.

It’s funny that some individuals see their obligations as infringements on their time, or resources, or futures; funny because most, if not all commitments, promises, and obligations are solely made as the choice of the individual. We think the promise we make to ourselves and others is somewhat disposable, minimal, with little effect on others and perhaps not even ourselves. Divorce and breakups, broken familial relationships and school dropouts – these are the failures of not understanding ourselves and our words. Failure is always an option and do-overs are necessary – but in order to achieve relief from the suffering, we have to be willing to be honest with ourselves. Pain is inevitable, and suffering doesn’t arise from pain but from our resistance to it – from our resistance to honesty and careful thought; it comes from our resistance to speak “the Word.”

I’ll leave you with a quote from a children’s fantasy book, one which understands and captures the essence of “the Word” in a very real sense – The Wizard of Earthsea.

“It is no secret. All power is one in source and end, I think. Years and distances, stars and candles, water and wind and wizardry, the craft in a man’s hand and the wisdom in a tree’s root: they all arise together. My name, and yours, and the true name of the sun, or a spring of water, or an unborn child, all are syllables of the great word that is very slowly spoken by the shining of the stars. There is no other power. No other name.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea

Freemasons, Political Awareness, and Voice

July 4, 2018 By Kristine Wilson-Slack in History, Philosophy Tags: Arbitration, Archer H. Shaw, Benjamin Franklin, Bro. Franklin Roosevelt, Bro. Theodore Roosevelt, Citizen's United, Co-Masonry, Co-Masons, Corporations, Corporatocracy, Democracy, Freemason, Freemasonry, Freemasons, Grand Lodge, Henry A. Wallace, James Fenimore Cooper, Jeffrey Sachs, Lodge, Mason, Masonic, Masonry, Masons, Master, National Arbitration Act of 1925, National Labor Relations Act of 1935, New Deal Era, Oligarchy, Politics, President Abraham Lincoln, President Eisenhower, President John Adams, President Thomas Jefferson, Supreme Council, The American Democrat, The Lincoln Encyclopedia, The Price of Civilization, Today Explained, U.S. Supreme Court, Voting, Workers Rights Leave a comment

In a recent “Today, Explained” podcast, the narrators were discussing the recent Supreme Court decisions involving arbitration and the American worker. In essence, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a 1925 law that stated that Corporations have the right to force arbitration (Federal Arbitration Act of 1925 is the name of the law) clauses into many, if not all, types of contracts, including those that involve a contract to work. What this does is overturn a New Deal-Era law (National Labor Relations Act of 1935) that stated that employees had the right to work in concert with each other for their mutual benefit.

What does this mean? No Class-Action lawsuits for employees when wrongfully treated by their employers. For the nitty-gritty details, the podcast is recommended. In general, it means that arbitration clauses can now be put into nearly any contract and are binding. Employees who have been sexually harassed, been denied wages, or otherwise wrongfully treated during employment must now seek arbitration for grievances rather than a lawsuit. Where this has the most implication is when there are many injured in the workplace but have little ability, financially or otherwise, to stop ongoing wrongful acts.

Many people and corporations think this is a good thing; law suits are a burden on more than just the plaintiff or defendant. They are a burden on the taxpayers and the court systems – sometimes causing far more difficulties than they solve. However, taken in the context of several court decisions in recent years, it should give the people of the United States something, perhaps, to consider. This decision, by the Supreme Court, in effect provides corporations with a great deal of power and the individual, the worker, with very little.

Like Citizen’s United, this is an example of corporate legal power leveraging the judicial system of the country to produce vast corporate influence on the American political and img_0218-1 social landscape; in essence, corporations are circumventing the executive and legislative branches of government, and using the judicial system to create a very corporate-forward, individual-backward landscape.

People are often fond of saying that the United States is becoming an oligarchy, where government is the hands of a few people. What they are really trying to say, though, is that America has become a Corporatocracy. Economist Jeffery Sachs, in The Price of Civilization, stated that America is, in effect, a corporatocracy in which “powerful corporate interest groups dominate the policy agenda.” He gives four reasons for this being the case: 1) weak national political parties, 2) strong political representation of individual districts, 3) globalization weakening the power of employees, and 4) large corporations financing political campaigns for their own agendas.

A moment of reflection will give one enough fodder to at least question corporate influence in America. From sports arenas to libraries and entertainment centers, corporations have lent their funding, as well as views, to what we consume in America. From Citizen’s United ruling (see this well done video on the decision) to the fact that some companies are “too big to fail,” our government has come a long way from its roots of “We the People…”

Is a corporatocracy in keeping with the values of Freemasonry?

One might ask, what would our Masonic forefathers thought of the idea of Government by a small group of corporate entities? John Adams said, “Let us disappoint the men who would raise themselves upon the ruin of our country.” Yet, Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying: “No nation was ever ruined by trade.”

Presidents over the centuries, Freemasons or not, have had something to say. U.S. President and Freemason Franklin Roosevelt stated, “No business is above Government; and Government must be empowered to deal adequately with any business that tries to rise above Government.” President Eisenhower said, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”

One might equate the “military-industrial complex” as perhaps a single, corporate power.

President Abraham Lincoln wrote –

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. …corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.

~ (U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864, letter to Col. William F. Elkins, in The Lincoln Encyclopedia, by Archer H. Shaw)

Others throughout history have weighed in on the idea of corporations, from writers to inventors to even businessmen themselves.

Commerce is entitled to a complete and efficient protection in all its legal rights, but the moment it presumes to control a country, or to substitute its fluctuating expedients for the high principles of natural justice that ought to lie at the root of every political system, it should be frowned on, and rebuked.

~ James Fenimore Cooper, The American Democrat, 1838.

Great corporations exist only because they are created and safeguarded by our institutions; and it is therefore our right and our duty to see that they work in harmony with those institutions.

~ President and Freemason, Theodore Roosevelt, 1901, first annual message to Congress.

And finally, regarding Jefferson –

Thomas Jefferson, the man who wanted an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting monopoly, would be aghast at our billion-dollar corporations. Jefferson, who abolished primogeniture and entail in Virginia in order to prevent monopoly in land, would be appalled by our high percentage of tenancy. Jefferson as the man who dreaded the day when many of our citizens might become landless, would perhaps feel our civilization was trembling on the brink of ruin, if he were to find so many of our people without either land or tools, and subject to the hire and power of distant corporations. If the Jefferson of 1820 could see his name used by men crying `States’ rights!’ in order to protect not individual liberties but corporate property, then he would shudder.

~ Henry A. Wallace, November 17, 1937, former populist U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Vice-President of the United States.

The United States is a democratic republic, or a representative democracy, a sordid mix of Greek and Roman ideals, thrown together in some kind of weird experiment that has yet to play itself out. Yet, the overt goal in the foundation of this country was that the people themselves should have a say in the government of it – true individual representation – not the boards of directors of a few, extremely large and wealthy corporations. Corporations are not structured to be democratic nor a republic; they are in truth, oligarchies.

So, what is the United States? Is it any better or worse off than anywhere else in the world? Has the grand experiment worked to the satisfaction of our founding fathers, some of whom held the ideals of Freemasonry? The experiment is still very much a living organism.

Freemasonry itself is not a democracy; it is not a dictatorship, nor a republic. Each Master Mason has a vote, but not all Freemasons have a vote. Majority rules, not plurality. However, the Master of the Lodge is the voice of the Lodge, the final “say,” when it comes to matters of some Masonic jurisprudence – a sort-of dictator.

However, the Master of the Lodge does not always have the final say. He may be a tie-breaker in votes but he typically does not have a vote on general matters. But each Lodge is not an independent body; they tie back to either a Grand Lodge, Supreme Council, or other Supreme body governing the rules and regulations of their order. Each individual Lodge is represented to their Grand Lodge by a single vote made up of the votes of the Lodge. Therefore, the Lodge is a representative to the Grand Lodge for the individual, ergo a republic. If we’re not sure what the United States’ Government is, we may be just as confused as to the government of the system of Freemasonry.

Why bring all this up in a blog on philosophical debates of interest to Freemasons? This is not to stir the passions of partisanship or state that Freemasonry itself should be political. It is simply because Freemasons, especially within the United States, are inextricably linked to government. The motto of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity’ are on the lips of every Freemason at one time or another, whether spoken in rote repetition or with true feeling. Freemasons should ask these hard and difficult questions in order to shape the world we live in as well as the groups to which they belong. We should be unafraid to discuss the ideals of government, religion, and all aspects of life.

While it is not within the purview of Freemasonry as an institution to take a political stance, should the Freemason make his individual voice heard, in representation of what he or she feels is liberty, equality, and fraternity?

Global governance is shifting, perhaps trying to find a new way of being. It behooves us, no matter what we believe in keeping, be it a corporatocracy, oligarchy, plutocracy, theocracy, democracy, or republic, to be the voices of what the future holds. This is something that perhaps Freemasons should discuss, in educated, philosophical terms, and let the debate ensue. No one creates in a vacuum and no one creates change without speaking up. New ways of thinking evolve from educated, passionate, and respectful debate. If Freemasons are working to be leaders within humanity, these discussions should be on their tongues and not remain in the shadows of their hearts. If those who are working toward the perfecting of humanity don’t speak up, and take responsibility for shaping their nations, then who?

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Category Archives: Philosophy