"The real Freemason is distinguished from the rest of mankind by the uniform unrestrained rectitude of his conduct. Other men are honest in the fear of the punishment which the law might inflict; they are religious in expectation of being rewarded, or in dread of the devil, in the next world.
A Freemason would be just if there were no laws, human or divine, except those which are written in his heart by the finger of his Creator. In every climate, under every system of religion, he is the same. He kneels before the universal throne of God, in gratitude for the blessings he has received, and in humble solicitation for his future protection. He venerates the good men of all religions. He disturbs not the religion of others.
He restrains his passions, because they cannot be indulged without injuring his neighbor or himself. He gives no offense, because he does not choose to be offended. He contracts no debts which he is not certain that he can discharge, because he is honest upon principle."
Farmer's Almanac 1823
As shared by Bro Bert Guiang
Anacapa 710, Oxnard CA
Monday, March 23, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Are We Truly Masons? By Jack R. Levitt, PGM
There continue to be emerging problems in our modern society. Changes are being effected improperly by violations of standards and rules.Changes are necessary but should be attained legitimately by legislation or other appropriate means.
When the foundation of trust is shattered by scorn for rules, the result is a fragmentation of trust of the basic fabric, which results in ultimate loss of values. Unhappily, pervasive dishonesty is prevalent, not only in society, but in our beloved Fraternity. An organization is known not only by its members' abilities, but also by their attitudes. The history of our Fraternity is the judgment of our Fraternity. The world judges us as they perceive us. To select those ordinances and tenets of Freemasonry we wish to comply with and violate others is not only a direct violation of our obligations, but is to continue a Fraternity built upon sand. Whether violations concern liquor or raffles or advertising or any other prohibited activity, the rules relating to them lose their force as a result. More importantly, our standards begin to crumble.
The most precious wealth in the world is that of established character. While not all of us can become famous leaders, each of us can be pure of heart and faithful to our principles. The greatest influence of Freemasonry is the eloquent influence of integrity.Our great Order has at all times religiously preserved the teachings of moral self-respect and fidelity to our trusts and ideals. It has endeavored to endow us with spiritual strength and moral fortitude. Our principles are the fundamental basis of our Fraternity. We have the right to demand deeds of principle and integrity rather than the negligence of indifference or the treason of violations.
If truth is truly a divine attribute and the foundation of every virtue, then to be good and true is more than a charge, it is a command. Our teachings of inflexible fidelity are so extensive that to make reference to them is to state a commonplace.
The first degree charge refers to our Order as honorable, as tending to make all men so who are strictly obedient to its precepts and that we are to manifest our fidelity by a strict observance of the Constitution of the Fraternity.
The second degree charge demands that our laws and regulations be strenuously enforced and that we should always be ready to assist in seeing them duly executed.
The third degree tells us that duty and honor alike bind us strenuously to enforce by precept and example a steady obedience to the tenets of Freemasonry. We are therein also told to caution the inexperienced against any breach of fidelity and that no motive should make us violate our vows.
The 1960's and the 1970's youth revolt against adult society and its rules produced weakened and off -beat standards. This may explain the permissive attitude of non-freemasons, but Freemasons themselves should remain unaffected by such lowered standards. To reason - I might as well cheat because others do", or sell raffle tickets when prohibited because it is for a good cause, or hold a special or stated meeting in a prohibited place, is to collaborate in the tearing apart of the fabric of trust and the dismantling of the basis of our structure.
The best hope of reversing the trend toward ignoring rules and to restore those standards which form the cornerstone of our nation and our Fraternity is to understand that we are indeed mandated to be inflexible in our fidelity and to familiarize ourselves with our rules, which we swear to uphold, and then to act in conformity with them. If we do so, we will not only be heeding the prompting of right reason and the voice of conscious, but we will be entitled to self-esteem and we will set a good example for others to emulate.
If we cannot justify them by abiding by Freemasonry' s moral and philosophical principles, how can we expect non-Freemasons to accept them or to join us to learn them? Individual wills or desires, and even those which are collective, cannot be imposed irrespective of lawfully enacted ordinances, because to do so is divisive and decline results. Remember, what we do today has a significant impact on our future.
To remain, or once again become, obedient to our rules cannot be accomplished solely by urging or by enforcement, but by our own self-control as well. To be unwilling to commit or tolerate a violation must originate from dislike of the violation, not from indifference or fear of the consequences of being caught. Motivation comes from within and is limited only by the mind. No law is real until it is inscribed in the heart.
Only when our pure principles and mandatory duties become the reigning reality of our thoughts and the inspiration or our acts can Freemasonry be the influence intended - to make us masters of ourselves.
Thomas Jeffersons's observation - "Always commit an act as though the world were looking at you" should be our watchword. To secure the inward blessing of our won consciences rather than submitting to the pressure of our peers or the expediency of the moment should be the guideline of our actions. Ralph Waldo Emerson suggested that the integrity of our own mind is the only thing that is sacred.
Whether it be in conjunction with a Lodge or a concordant or appendant body, or even independent of a Masonic setting, all of us must abide fully by the same high standards that are required of us as Master Masons by our Constitutions, ordinances and obligations. Intentional failure to prevent violations can be as corrupt as a direct violation itself. Our second degree instructs that we are not to palliate, condone nor aggravate the offenses of our brethern.
A Persian proverb reminds us that weakness is indicated by being silent when it is proper to speak. We must not continue to allow another enemy of Freemasonry to weaken us from within by the decadence of our own members. We must accept the burdens and responsibilities of our great Fraternity as well as enjoy its benefits and privilieges.
The Master poet said it well - "Keep the young generation in hail,bequeath to them no tumbled house".
Moderator's Notes: MW Bro Jack R. Levitt is a Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California and a foremost Masonic scholar.
MWBro Levitt discusses "...violations concern liquor or raffles or advertising or any other prohibited activity." A note not familiar with the Grand Lodge of California [GLC], and for the most part most [but not all] US Lodges are "dry". Meaning, any liquor is not allowed inside the Temple or Masonic Lodge even in its so-called social halls. This is the case even in my Lodge in the Philippines [Lincoln Lodge #34], which we know is generally hailed GLC as its mother Grand Lodge and not the Spanish Grand Lodges.
But let it be known that other Grand Lodges permit the serving of alcohol inside the social halls [not inside the actual Temple or where Masonic meetings are held]. For example most English, Scottish and Australian lodges serve alcohol in their fellowships and the "toasts" are part and parcel of these fellowships.
When the foundation of trust is shattered by scorn for rules, the result is a fragmentation of trust of the basic fabric, which results in ultimate loss of values. Unhappily, pervasive dishonesty is prevalent, not only in society, but in our beloved Fraternity. An organization is known not only by its members' abilities, but also by their attitudes. The history of our Fraternity is the judgment of our Fraternity. The world judges us as they perceive us. To select those ordinances and tenets of Freemasonry we wish to comply with and violate others is not only a direct violation of our obligations, but is to continue a Fraternity built upon sand. Whether violations concern liquor or raffles or advertising or any other prohibited activity, the rules relating to them lose their force as a result. More importantly, our standards begin to crumble.
The most precious wealth in the world is that of established character. While not all of us can become famous leaders, each of us can be pure of heart and faithful to our principles. The greatest influence of Freemasonry is the eloquent influence of integrity.Our great Order has at all times religiously preserved the teachings of moral self-respect and fidelity to our trusts and ideals. It has endeavored to endow us with spiritual strength and moral fortitude. Our principles are the fundamental basis of our Fraternity. We have the right to demand deeds of principle and integrity rather than the negligence of indifference or the treason of violations.
If truth is truly a divine attribute and the foundation of every virtue, then to be good and true is more than a charge, it is a command. Our teachings of inflexible fidelity are so extensive that to make reference to them is to state a commonplace.
The first degree charge refers to our Order as honorable, as tending to make all men so who are strictly obedient to its precepts and that we are to manifest our fidelity by a strict observance of the Constitution of the Fraternity.
The second degree charge demands that our laws and regulations be strenuously enforced and that we should always be ready to assist in seeing them duly executed.
The third degree tells us that duty and honor alike bind us strenuously to enforce by precept and example a steady obedience to the tenets of Freemasonry. We are therein also told to caution the inexperienced against any breach of fidelity and that no motive should make us violate our vows.
The 1960's and the 1970's youth revolt against adult society and its rules produced weakened and off -beat standards. This may explain the permissive attitude of non-freemasons, but Freemasons themselves should remain unaffected by such lowered standards. To reason - I might as well cheat because others do", or sell raffle tickets when prohibited because it is for a good cause, or hold a special or stated meeting in a prohibited place, is to collaborate in the tearing apart of the fabric of trust and the dismantling of the basis of our structure.
The best hope of reversing the trend toward ignoring rules and to restore those standards which form the cornerstone of our nation and our Fraternity is to understand that we are indeed mandated to be inflexible in our fidelity and to familiarize ourselves with our rules, which we swear to uphold, and then to act in conformity with them. If we do so, we will not only be heeding the prompting of right reason and the voice of conscious, but we will be entitled to self-esteem and we will set a good example for others to emulate.
If we cannot justify them by abiding by Freemasonry' s moral and philosophical principles, how can we expect non-Freemasons to accept them or to join us to learn them? Individual wills or desires, and even those which are collective, cannot be imposed irrespective of lawfully enacted ordinances, because to do so is divisive and decline results. Remember, what we do today has a significant impact on our future.
To remain, or once again become, obedient to our rules cannot be accomplished solely by urging or by enforcement, but by our own self-control as well. To be unwilling to commit or tolerate a violation must originate from dislike of the violation, not from indifference or fear of the consequences of being caught. Motivation comes from within and is limited only by the mind. No law is real until it is inscribed in the heart.
Only when our pure principles and mandatory duties become the reigning reality of our thoughts and the inspiration or our acts can Freemasonry be the influence intended - to make us masters of ourselves.
Thomas Jeffersons's observation - "Always commit an act as though the world were looking at you" should be our watchword. To secure the inward blessing of our won consciences rather than submitting to the pressure of our peers or the expediency of the moment should be the guideline of our actions. Ralph Waldo Emerson suggested that the integrity of our own mind is the only thing that is sacred.
Whether it be in conjunction with a Lodge or a concordant or appendant body, or even independent of a Masonic setting, all of us must abide fully by the same high standards that are required of us as Master Masons by our Constitutions, ordinances and obligations. Intentional failure to prevent violations can be as corrupt as a direct violation itself. Our second degree instructs that we are not to palliate, condone nor aggravate the offenses of our brethern.
A Persian proverb reminds us that weakness is indicated by being silent when it is proper to speak. We must not continue to allow another enemy of Freemasonry to weaken us from within by the decadence of our own members. We must accept the burdens and responsibilities of our great Fraternity as well as enjoy its benefits and privilieges.
The Master poet said it well - "Keep the young generation in hail,bequeath to them no tumbled house".
Moderator's Notes: MW Bro Jack R. Levitt is a Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California and a foremost Masonic scholar.
MWBro Levitt discusses "...violations concern liquor or raffles or advertising or any other prohibited activity." A note not familiar with the Grand Lodge of California [GLC], and for the most part most [but not all] US Lodges are "dry". Meaning, any liquor is not allowed inside the Temple or Masonic Lodge even in its so-called social halls. This is the case even in my Lodge in the Philippines [Lincoln Lodge #34], which we know is generally hailed GLC as its mother Grand Lodge and not the Spanish Grand Lodges.
But let it be known that other Grand Lodges permit the serving of alcohol inside the social halls [not inside the actual Temple or where Masonic meetings are held]. For example most English, Scottish and Australian lodges serve alcohol in their fellowships and the "toasts" are part and parcel of these fellowships.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Public Installations: Guidance for Family Members and Friends
Public installations of Lodge officers are rarely done in some parts of the world, namely the United Kingdom, Australia and Europe. But in the US and those Lodges influenced by the US "brand of Freemansory" it is common occurance to give non-Masons [both male and female] the chance to have fellowships with Masons in the Lodge.
Below is an article outlining the protocols and raison d'etre of such occassion. This particular article was issued on the 56th public installation of WBro elect Teodoro Kalaw IV of Teodoro M Kalaw Memorial Lodge No 136:
"On the occasion of the public installation of a Lewis as Worshipful Master of a Worshipful Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, and particularly when the Worshipful Lodge concerned shares strong ties with the clan of the Lewis who will be installed, it is a privilege for the brethren of such Worshipful Lodge to celebrate the occasion not only with their own family members and fellow Freemasons but also with the clan members and friends of their incoming Master.
The most senior Freemason of the subject clan and his wife, or in the absence of such; the widow of the most senior Freemason who has passed on, is usually charged on behalf of their or her clan with the privilege of inviting their or her clan members and friends to the celebration after the public installation.
As such, invitation is also sent jointly with the formal invitation to the public installation issued by the brethren of the Worshipful Lodge concerned, such family members and friends are very much welcome to witness the ceremonies of installation before the celebration, as detailed in the formal invitation of the Worshipful Lodge.
As the public installation of a Worshipful Master is one of the few exceptions to the general rule that ceremonies and meetings of the fraternity be held privately, such therefore offers clan members and friends a unique opportunity to personally witness for themselves the real work of Freemasonry as applied by its practitioners. Other than an ecumenical invocation at the start of the ceremonies, the proceedings are purely secular in nature.
Please note that the installation is a formal proceeding. Like the celebration after, dress for family members and friends attending is formal [much so for brethren attending such installation- Moderator].
At certain times during the ceremonies, doors to the hall where the installation will take place will be closed for various reasons, as will be understood by those already seated inside. Guests arriving during the course of the event when the doors are closed will be provided temporary seats by ushers in the reception hall until the doors are again opened."
Notes:
*"Lewis is traditional English for a man who is the son, grandson, or direct male descendant of a Freemason. The term comes from the device traditionally used by operative masons, consisting of two wedge-shaped side pieces fit together by a straight centerpiece, to raise heavy blocks of stone into place; symbolizing the utility and strength of family heritage in building Masonic character."
*"Installation is traditional English for the ceremonies relating to the formal assumption of an office and the undertaking of a charge on behalf of others."
*"Worshipful is traditional English for "Respectful" and is used byFreemasons in precisely the same manner as the term is still used to address certain judges in common law jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom."
*"Lodge refers to a chapter of Freemasons, who usually meet in meeting halls known as Temples, the latter term being used in much the same manner as the traditional Inns of Court in London known as the "InnerTemple" and "Middle Temple" are used as office chambers for lawyers."
*"A lodge of Freemasons is led by a Master, who generally must first prove himself through a succession of subordinate offices, particularly that of the Junior and Senior Wardens, before being elected to the Master's chair by his peers. It thus often takes several years before one is deemed both competent and fit to be installed as a Worshipful Master of one's Lodge. Masters and Wardens are traditional English terms for officers still very much in use by some organizations, such as the livery companies for specific professionals and traders recognized by the City of London."
Below is an article outlining the protocols and raison d'etre of such occassion. This particular article was issued on the 56th public installation of WBro elect Teodoro Kalaw IV of Teodoro M Kalaw Memorial Lodge No 136:
"On the occasion of the public installation of a Lewis as Worshipful Master of a Worshipful Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, and particularly when the Worshipful Lodge concerned shares strong ties with the clan of the Lewis who will be installed, it is a privilege for the brethren of such Worshipful Lodge to celebrate the occasion not only with their own family members and fellow Freemasons but also with the clan members and friends of their incoming Master.
The most senior Freemason of the subject clan and his wife, or in the absence of such; the widow of the most senior Freemason who has passed on, is usually charged on behalf of their or her clan with the privilege of inviting their or her clan members and friends to the celebration after the public installation.
As such, invitation is also sent jointly with the formal invitation to the public installation issued by the brethren of the Worshipful Lodge concerned, such family members and friends are very much welcome to witness the ceremonies of installation before the celebration, as detailed in the formal invitation of the Worshipful Lodge.
As the public installation of a Worshipful Master is one of the few exceptions to the general rule that ceremonies and meetings of the fraternity be held privately, such therefore offers clan members and friends a unique opportunity to personally witness for themselves the real work of Freemasonry as applied by its practitioners. Other than an ecumenical invocation at the start of the ceremonies, the proceedings are purely secular in nature.
Please note that the installation is a formal proceeding. Like the celebration after, dress for family members and friends attending is formal [much so for brethren attending such installation- Moderator].
At certain times during the ceremonies, doors to the hall where the installation will take place will be closed for various reasons, as will be understood by those already seated inside. Guests arriving during the course of the event when the doors are closed will be provided temporary seats by ushers in the reception hall until the doors are again opened."
Eva Estrada Kalaw,
Former Senator of the Republic of the Philippines &
Past Worthy Matron, Kalaw Chapter No. 9 of the Order of the Eastern Star
On behalf of her Clan and in memory of her late Father-in-Law,
Teodoro M. Kalaw (1884-1940)
Grand Master of Philippine Freemasons, 1928
late Husband, Teodoro Kalaw Jr. (1913-1984)
Grand Master of Philippine Freemasons, 1975
and
late Son, Teodoro Kalaw III (1947-1973)
Entered Apprentice Mason, Teodoro M. Kalaw Memorial Lodge No. 136
Requests the Honor of Your Presence at the Celebration
immediately following
the Installation of her Grandson
Teodoro Kalaw IV
As Worshipful Master
of Teodoro M. Kalaw Memorial Lodge No. 136
On Saturday, the Twenty-First of February, 2009
At Seven o'clock in the Evening
Wack Wack Golf & Country Club, Mandaluyong City
Formal Attire
R.S.V.P. Cathy
Notes:
*"Lewis is traditional English for a man who is the son, grandson, or direct male descendant of a Freemason. The term comes from the device traditionally used by operative masons, consisting of two wedge-shaped side pieces fit together by a straight centerpiece, to raise heavy blocks of stone into place; symbolizing the utility and strength of family heritage in building Masonic character."
*"Installation is traditional English for the ceremonies relating to the formal assumption of an office and the undertaking of a charge on behalf of others."
*"Worshipful is traditional English for "Respectful" and is used byFreemasons in precisely the same manner as the term is still used to address certain judges in common law jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom."
*"Lodge refers to a chapter of Freemasons, who usually meet in meeting halls known as Temples, the latter term being used in much the same manner as the traditional Inns of Court in London known as the "InnerTemple" and "Middle Temple" are used as office chambers for lawyers."
*"A lodge of Freemasons is led by a Master, who generally must first prove himself through a succession of subordinate offices, particularly that of the Junior and Senior Wardens, before being elected to the Master's chair by his peers. It thus often takes several years before one is deemed both competent and fit to be installed as a Worshipful Master of one's Lodge. Masters and Wardens are traditional English terms for officers still very much in use by some organizations, such as the livery companies for specific professionals and traders recognized by the City of London."
Friday, January 23, 2009
The Hidden Lessons from Ritual Work by Michael Mayer
So many times we seem to look at Ritual Work as not being that important, and that it doesn't have to be done that well. We feel that just need to have more Masons for our Lodges. If we fail to share the teachings properly, who do you think looses?
I would like to have you think back to that first night, it could of been a warm or cool night, that we all share. That night we were so apprehensive, or for the sake of better words, confused as to what was going to happen.
Those first words you heard said at the Lodge door, asking questions and wanting answers of you, and how you were treated was only the start of your Masonic life. That life that leads most of us on a continuous journey of Masonic travel the rest of our lives.
For some of us, who had to memorize the Degree and Obligations, we share something that no one else can understand. This task of learning them, that we choose to do, and we did. This struggle teaches us what we all can do with hard work and a true desire to accomplish things.
So many times I have listened to the lectures, and still I find them as interesting as the first time I heard them. Every time I hear them, I find a new perspective that I have missed before. I fear for those that do not choose to listen to them in this way, as they will never find the lessons that are taught there in Masonry.
And as for those that give those grand lectures, they learn as well. They learn how it feels to give that perfect lecture and also when they don't get it perfectly right! Most of the time just stopping for a moment to think or to taking a breath. I think we can all learn hidden lessons here too. How we should overlook everyone's little mistakes that we all make in life. Also to remember
sometimes the best intentions go wrong by accident.
"Value Your Word" For What Worth Hath a Liar!
I would like to have you think back to that first night, it could of been a warm or cool night, that we all share. That night we were so apprehensive, or for the sake of better words, confused as to what was going to happen.
Those first words you heard said at the Lodge door, asking questions and wanting answers of you, and how you were treated was only the start of your Masonic life. That life that leads most of us on a continuous journey of Masonic travel the rest of our lives.
For some of us, who had to memorize the Degree and Obligations, we share something that no one else can understand. This task of learning them, that we choose to do, and we did. This struggle teaches us what we all can do with hard work and a true desire to accomplish things.
So many times I have listened to the lectures, and still I find them as interesting as the first time I heard them. Every time I hear them, I find a new perspective that I have missed before. I fear for those that do not choose to listen to them in this way, as they will never find the lessons that are taught there in Masonry.
And as for those that give those grand lectures, they learn as well. They learn how it feels to give that perfect lecture and also when they don't get it perfectly right! Most of the time just stopping for a moment to think or to taking a breath. I think we can all learn hidden lessons here too. How we should overlook everyone's little mistakes that we all make in life. Also to remember
sometimes the best intentions go wrong by accident.
"Value Your Word" For What Worth Hath a Liar!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
An excerpt from "Greetings to all Masons" By MWBro Nicolas G Ricafrente
"We Masons have long held the proud belief that Masonry has existed since time immemorial and that it is the oldest fraternity in the world. It is universal. But consider the proposition that it is not the number of Lodges and the existence of various Grand Lodges in the world that make it universal but the fundamental principles and tenets which Masonry promotes.
Masonic organizations are but the vehicles for propagating Masonic thoughts and philosophies. Lodges and Grand Lodges are but the venues to administer them.
Masonry is a way of life hence it knows no territorial boundaries or barriers. Its teachings were culled from age old philosophies and moral beliefs transmitted from generation to generation. [And] so enlightening are its lessons that people from all walks of life have been attracted to it.
It is like the music of Mozart and Sibelius; two great composers of all time whose works are still being played and appreciated all over the world. Can you imagine these two masons or their music being barred from another lodge because of self proclaimed territorial boundaries?"
An excerpt from "Greetings to all Masons" Philippine Masonry web site.
By Nicolas G. Ricafrente, GM
Past Master, Bagong Ilaw Lodge No. 6 IGLPI
Masonic organizations are but the vehicles for propagating Masonic thoughts and philosophies. Lodges and Grand Lodges are but the venues to administer them.
Masonry is a way of life hence it knows no territorial boundaries or barriers. Its teachings were culled from age old philosophies and moral beliefs transmitted from generation to generation. [And] so enlightening are its lessons that people from all walks of life have been attracted to it.
It is like the music of Mozart and Sibelius; two great composers of all time whose works are still being played and appreciated all over the world. Can you imagine these two masons or their music being barred from another lodge because of self proclaimed territorial boundaries?"
An excerpt from "Greetings to all Masons" Philippine Masonry web site.
By Nicolas G. Ricafrente, GM
Past Master, Bagong Ilaw Lodge No. 6 IGLPI
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Unite Now!
"History repeats itself in cycles.
A diligent study of history makes it possible for us to perceive the things yet to come that our progress through the ages might wisely be controlled. Viewed as such, history becomes a useful, living covenant between the past and the future.
History is not, as some people want to believe, a chronology of persons and events from which one may read and derive “a priori” principles supporting the claim to superiority, as if superiority, is measured by the height of a family tree.
Unfortunately for Masonry – and for the Philippine family in particular – there are still those who share this view of history going about us with superior air about them. The present chaotic condition of Freemasonry in the Philippines is not new in the long history of the fraternity. No Brother, much as he desires to bridge the gap, entertains the sincere belief that any historical and legal pronouncements alone, however erudite can bring the much needed order into the chaos.
However, it cannot for a moment be doubted that in the heart of every Brother is the supreme desire to bring harmony and peace to the present melancholy condition of Masonic affair. The history of Freemasonry in the Philippines from the time the first American Mason landed in Manila until the present, has a faithful counterpart in the early history of Masonry in England from 1717, when the four Lodges met and formed the Grand Lodge of England, until 1813, when the Grand Lodge of the “Moderns” and the Grand Lodge of the “Ancients” united to form the United Grand Lodge.
In 1751 a group of Irish Masons ceded and established their own Grand Lodge in the Southern part of England and called themselves the true Ancient Masons. It was from this body that the biggest and most influential jurisdictions in the United States were warranted. These are the so-called York Masons in the United States and in the Philippines today, and who were called "irregular Masons" then, although many of them were Masons from Ireland.
From this short account, a historical cycle becomes apparent and one may perceive at once that the present members of the Gran Logia Nacional de Filipinas [GNLF] are the mirror-images, historically speaking, of those Ancient Masons. These Brothers seceded also from the Grand Lodge of the Philippines for reasons both honorable and sufficient, and they, too, were Freemasons even before the American “Yorks” came to the Philippines.
It is not necessary here to give a detailed story of the very heated arguments that went on and on both in England and America between the Moderns and the Ancients from 1751 until 1813, a period of over sixty years. The important event worthy to be recalled was the final union of the two Grand Lodges made possible by two blood-brothers - the Duke of Kent and the Duke of Sussex, Grand Masters both, of the Ancients and the Moderns, respectively.
The Ancient Masonic history in England as well as the history of the Order both in the continent of Europe – especially in France – and in America, teaches one simple cardinal lesson, and it is this:
The forward march of Freemasonry, from diversity to unity is irresistible.
We, of this generation, whether we like it or not, cannot prevent the final union, under one United Grand Lodge of the Philippines, of all Filipino Masons. And if we of this generation, cannot, and will not, UNITE NOW, the next generation will, without doubt, do that enviable labor of love for us. I say “enviable” because no one conscious of the working of history can fail to see that Masonic niche now prepared and ready to receive a modern Duke of Kent and a Duke of Sussex, and brothers all with big hearts and bigger understanding.
The cold logic of Masonic history demands the completion of the Temple. With the impossible we should disagree, with the probable we could compromise, to the inevitable we must acquiesce.
UNITE NOW!"
New York, New York TALIBA (PRINTED IN SOLIDARIDAD 25th anniversary PUBLICATION, ENGLISH EDITION)
Adapted from the Magdalo Lodge No 79, GNLF site (click here.)
A diligent study of history makes it possible for us to perceive the things yet to come that our progress through the ages might wisely be controlled. Viewed as such, history becomes a useful, living covenant between the past and the future.
History is not, as some people want to believe, a chronology of persons and events from which one may read and derive “a priori” principles supporting the claim to superiority, as if superiority, is measured by the height of a family tree.
Unfortunately for Masonry – and for the Philippine family in particular – there are still those who share this view of history going about us with superior air about them. The present chaotic condition of Freemasonry in the Philippines is not new in the long history of the fraternity. No Brother, much as he desires to bridge the gap, entertains the sincere belief that any historical and legal pronouncements alone, however erudite can bring the much needed order into the chaos.
However, it cannot for a moment be doubted that in the heart of every Brother is the supreme desire to bring harmony and peace to the present melancholy condition of Masonic affair. The history of Freemasonry in the Philippines from the time the first American Mason landed in Manila until the present, has a faithful counterpart in the early history of Masonry in England from 1717, when the four Lodges met and formed the Grand Lodge of England, until 1813, when the Grand Lodge of the “Moderns” and the Grand Lodge of the “Ancients” united to form the United Grand Lodge.
In 1751 a group of Irish Masons ceded and established their own Grand Lodge in the Southern part of England and called themselves the true Ancient Masons. It was from this body that the biggest and most influential jurisdictions in the United States were warranted. These are the so-called York Masons in the United States and in the Philippines today, and who were called "irregular Masons" then, although many of them were Masons from Ireland.
From this short account, a historical cycle becomes apparent and one may perceive at once that the present members of the Gran Logia Nacional de Filipinas [GNLF] are the mirror-images, historically speaking, of those Ancient Masons. These Brothers seceded also from the Grand Lodge of the Philippines for reasons both honorable and sufficient, and they, too, were Freemasons even before the American “Yorks” came to the Philippines.
It is not necessary here to give a detailed story of the very heated arguments that went on and on both in England and America between the Moderns and the Ancients from 1751 until 1813, a period of over sixty years. The important event worthy to be recalled was the final union of the two Grand Lodges made possible by two blood-brothers - the Duke of Kent and the Duke of Sussex, Grand Masters both, of the Ancients and the Moderns, respectively.
The Ancient Masonic history in England as well as the history of the Order both in the continent of Europe – especially in France – and in America, teaches one simple cardinal lesson, and it is this:
The forward march of Freemasonry, from diversity to unity is irresistible.
We, of this generation, whether we like it or not, cannot prevent the final union, under one United Grand Lodge of the Philippines, of all Filipino Masons. And if we of this generation, cannot, and will not, UNITE NOW, the next generation will, without doubt, do that enviable labor of love for us. I say “enviable” because no one conscious of the working of history can fail to see that Masonic niche now prepared and ready to receive a modern Duke of Kent and a Duke of Sussex, and brothers all with big hearts and bigger understanding.
The cold logic of Masonic history demands the completion of the Temple. With the impossible we should disagree, with the probable we could compromise, to the inevitable we must acquiesce.
UNITE NOW!"
New York, New York TALIBA (PRINTED IN SOLIDARIDAD 25th anniversary PUBLICATION, ENGLISH EDITION)
Adapted from the Magdalo Lodge No 79, GNLF site (click here.)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Chapter 1: The Eternal Quest by Bro Manly P. Hall
The average Mason, as well as the modern student of Masonic ideals, little realizes the cosmic obligation he takes upon himself when he begins his search for the sacred truths of Nature as they are concealed in the ancient and modern rituals. He must not lightly regard his vows, and if he would not bring upon himself years and ages of suffering he must cease to consider Freemasonry solely as a social order only a few centuries old. He must realize that the ancient mystic teachings as perpetuated in the modern rites are sacred, and that powers unseen and unrecognized mold the destiny of those who consciously and of their own free will take upon themselves the obligations of the Fraternity.
Freemasonry is not a material thing: it is a science of the soul; it is not a creed or doctrine but a universal expression of the Divine Wisdom. The coming together of medieval guilds or even the building of Solomon's temple as it is understood today has little, if anything, to do with the true origin of Freemasonry, for Masonry does not deal with personalities. In its highest sense, it is neither historical nor archaeological, but is a divine symbolic language perpetuating under certain concrete symbols the sacred mysteries of the ancients. Only those who see in it a cosmic study, a life work, a divine inspiration to better thinking, better feeling, and better living, with the spiritual attainment of enlightenment as the end, and with the daily life of the true Mason as the means, have gained even the slightest insight into the true mysteries of the ancient rites.
The age of the Masonic school is not to be calculated by hundreds or even thousands of years, for it never had any origin in the worlds of form. The world as we see it is merely an experimental laboratory in which man is laboring to build and express greater and more perfect vehicles. Into this laboratory pour myriads of rays descending from the cosmic hierarchies. These mighty globes and orbs which focus their energies upon mankind and mold its destiny do so in an orderly manner, each in its own way and place, and it is the working of these mystic hierarchies in the universe which forms the pattern around which the Masonic school has been built, for the true lodge of the Mason is the universe. Freed of limitations of creed and sect, he stands a master of all faiths, and those who take up the study of Freemasonry without realizing the depth, the beauty, and the spiritual power of its philosophy can never gain anything of permanence from their studies. The age of the Mystery Schools can be traced by the student back to the dawn of time, ages and aeons ago, when the temple of the Solar Man was in the making. That was the first Temple of the King, and therein were given and laid down the true mysteries of the ancient lodge, and it was the gods of creation and the spirits of the dawn who first tiled the Master's lodge.
The initiated brother realizes that his so-called symbols and rituals are merely blinds fabricated by the wise to perpetuate ideas incomprehensible to the average individual. He also realizes that few Masons of today know or appreciate the mystic meaning concealed within these rituals. With religious faith we perpetuate the form, worshiping it instead of the life, but those who have not recognized the truth in the crystallized ritual, those who have not liberated the spiritual germ from the shell of empty words, are not Masons, regardless of their physical degrees and outward honors.
In the work we are taking up it is not the intention to dwell upon the modern concepts of the Craft but to consider Freemasonry as it really is to those who know, a great cosmic organism whose true brothers and children are tied together not by spoken oaths but by lives so lived that they are capable of seeing through the blank wall and opening the window which is now concealed by the rubbish of materiality. When this is done and the mysteries of the universe unfold before the aspiring candidate, then in truth he discovers what Freemasonry really is. Its material aspects interest him no longer for he has unmasked the Mystery School which he is capable of recognizing only when he himself has spiritually become a member of it.
Those who have examined and studied its ancient lore have no doubt that Freemasonry, like the universe itself, which is the greatest of all schools, deals with the unfolding of a three-fold principle; for all the universe is governed by the same three kings who are called the builders of the Masonic temple. They are not personalities but principles, great intelligent energies and powers which in God, man, and the universe have charge of the molding of cosmic substance into the habitation of the living King , the temple built through the ages first of unconscious and then conscious effort on the part of every individual who is expressing in his daily life the creative principles of these three kings.
The true student of the ancient Craft realized that the completion of the temple he was building to the King of the Universe was a duty or rather a privilege which he owed to his God, to his brother, and to himself. He knew that certain steps must be taken and that his temple must be built according to the plan. Today it seems that the plan is lost, however, for in the majority of cases Freemasonry is no longer an operative art but is merely a speculative idea until each brother, reading the mystery of his symbols and pondering over the beautiful allegories unfolded in his ritual, realizes that he himself contains the keys and the plans so long lost to his Craft and that if he would ever learn Freemasonry he must unlock its doors with the key wrought from the base metals of his own being.
True Freemasonry is esoteric; it is not a thing of this world. All that we have here is a link, a doorway, through which the student may pass into the unknown. Freemasonry has nothing to do with things of form save that it realizes form is molded by and manifests the life it contains. Consequently the student is seeking so to mold his life that the form will glorify the God whose temple he is slowly building as he awakens one by one the workmen within himself and directs them to carry out the plan that has been given him out of heaven.
So far as it is possible to discover, ancient Freemasonry and the beautiful cosmic allegories that it teaches, perpetuated through hundreds of lodges and ancient mysteries, forms the oldest of the Mystery Schools; and its preservation through the ages has not depended upon itself as an exoteric body of partly evolved individuals but upon a concealed brotherhood, the exoteric side of Freemasonry. All the great Mystery Schools have hierarchies upon the spiritual planes of Nature which are expressing themselves in this world through creeds and organizations. The true student seeks to lift himself from the exoteric body upward spiritually until he joins the esoteric group which, without a lodge on the physical plane of Nature, is far greater than all the lodges of which it is the central fire. The spiritual instructors of humanity are forced to labor in the concrete world with things comprehensible to the concrete mind, and there man begins to comprehend the meaning of the allegories and symbols which surround his exoteric work as soon as he prepares himself to receive them.
The true Mason realizes that the work of the Mystery Schools in the world is of an inclusive rather than an exclusive nature, and that the only lodge which is broad enough to express his ideals is one whose dome is the heavens, whose pillars are the corners of creation, whose checker-board floor is composed of the crossing currents of human emotion and whose altar is the human heart. Creeds cannot bind the true seeker for truth.
Realizing the unity of all truth, the Mason also realizes that the hierarchies laboring with him have given him in his varying degrees the mystic spiritual rituals of all the Mystery Schools in the world, and if he would fill his place in the plan he must not enter this sacred study for what he can get out of it but that he may learn how to serve.
In Freemasonry is concealed the mystery of creation, the answer to the problem of existence, and the path the student must tread in order to join those who are really the living powers behind the thrones of modern national and international affairs.
The true student realizes most of all that the taking of degrees does not make a man a Mason. A Mason is not appointed; he is evolved and he must realize that the position he holds in the exoteric lodge means nothing compared to his position in the spiritual lodge of life. He must forever discard the idea that he can be told or instructed in the sacred Mysteries or that his being a member of an organization improves him in any way.
He must realize that his duty is to build and evolve the sacred teachings in his own being: that nothing but his own purified being can unlock the door to the sealed libraries of human consciousness, and that his Masonic rites must eternally be speculative until he makes them operative by living the life of the mystic Mason. His karmic responsibilities increase with his opportunities. Those who are surrounded with knowledge and opportunity for self-improvement and make nothing of these opportunities are the lazy workmen who will be spiritually, if not physically, cast out of the temple of the king.
The Masonic order is not a mere social organization, but is composed of all those who have banded themselves together to learn and apply the principles of mysticism and the occult rites. They are (or should be) philosophers, sages and sober-minded individuals who have dedicated thernselves upon the Masonic altar and vowed by all they hold dear that the world shall be better, wiser, and happier because they have lived. Those who enter these mystic rites and pass between the pillars seeking either prestige or commercial advantage are blasphemers, and while in this world we may count them as successful, they are the cosmic failures who have barred themselves out from the true rite whose keynote is unselfishness and whose workers have renounced the things of earth.
In ancient times many years of preparation were required before the neophyte was permitted to enter the temple of the Mysteries. In this way the shallow, the curious, the faint of heart, and those unable to withstand the temptations of life were automatically eliminated by their inability to meet the requirements for admission. The successful candidate who did pass between the pillars entered the temple, keenly realizing his sublime opportunity, his divine obligation, and the mystic privilege which he had earned for himself through years of special preparation. Only those are truly Masons who enter their temple in reverence, who seek not the ephemeral things of life but the treasures which are eternal, whose sole desire is to know the true mystery of the Craft that they may join as honest workmen those who have gone before as builders of the Universal Temple.
The Masonic ritual is not a ceremony, but a life to be lived. Those alone are truly Masons who, dedicating their lives and their fortunes upon the altar of the living flame, undertake the construction of the one universal building of which they are the workmen and their God the living Architect. When we have Masons like this the Craft will again be operative, the flaming triangle will shine forth with greater lustre, the dead builder will rise from his tomb, and the Lost Word so long concealed from the profane will blaze forth again with the power that makes all things new.
In the pages that follow have been set down a number of thoughts for the study and consideration of temple builders, craftsmen and artisans alike. They are the keys which, if only read, will leave the student still in ignorance but, if lived, will change the speculative Masonry of today into the operative Masonry of tomorrow, when each builder, realizing his own place, will see things which he never saw before, not because they were not there but because he was blind. And there are none so blind as those who will not see.
THOUGHTLESSNESS
The noblest tool of the Mason is his mind, but its value is measured by the use made of it. Thoughtful in all things, the aspiring candidate to divine wisdom attains reality in sincere desire, in meditation, and in silence. Let the keynote of the Craft, and of the Ritual, be written in blazing letters: THINK OF ME.
What is the meaning of this mystic maze of symbols, rites and rituals? THINK!
What does life mean, with the criss-crossings of human relationship, the endless pageantry of qualities masqueradin g in a carnival of fools? THINK!
What is the plan behind it all, and who the planner? Where dwells the Great Architect, and what is the tracing board upon which he designs? THINK!
What is the human soul, and why the endless yearning to ends unknown, along pathways where each must wander unaccompanied? Why mind, why soul, why spirit, and in truth, why anything? THINK!
Is there an answer? If so, where will the truth be found? Think, Brothers of the Craft, think deeply; for if truth exists, you have it, and if truth be within the reach of living creature, what other goal is worth the struggle?
--------------------------------
From the publication: "The Lost Keys of Freemasonry or The Secret of Hiram Abiff by Manly P. Hall
Freemasonry is not a material thing: it is a science of the soul; it is not a creed or doctrine but a universal expression of the Divine Wisdom. The coming together of medieval guilds or even the building of Solomon's temple as it is understood today has little, if anything, to do with the true origin of Freemasonry, for Masonry does not deal with personalities. In its highest sense, it is neither historical nor archaeological, but is a divine symbolic language perpetuating under certain concrete symbols the sacred mysteries of the ancients. Only those who see in it a cosmic study, a life work, a divine inspiration to better thinking, better feeling, and better living, with the spiritual attainment of enlightenment as the end, and with the daily life of the true Mason as the means, have gained even the slightest insight into the true mysteries of the ancient rites.
The age of the Masonic school is not to be calculated by hundreds or even thousands of years, for it never had any origin in the worlds of form. The world as we see it is merely an experimental laboratory in which man is laboring to build and express greater and more perfect vehicles. Into this laboratory pour myriads of rays descending from the cosmic hierarchies. These mighty globes and orbs which focus their energies upon mankind and mold its destiny do so in an orderly manner, each in its own way and place, and it is the working of these mystic hierarchies in the universe which forms the pattern around which the Masonic school has been built, for the true lodge of the Mason is the universe. Freed of limitations of creed and sect, he stands a master of all faiths, and those who take up the study of Freemasonry without realizing the depth, the beauty, and the spiritual power of its philosophy can never gain anything of permanence from their studies. The age of the Mystery Schools can be traced by the student back to the dawn of time, ages and aeons ago, when the temple of the Solar Man was in the making. That was the first Temple of the King, and therein were given and laid down the true mysteries of the ancient lodge, and it was the gods of creation and the spirits of the dawn who first tiled the Master's lodge.
The initiated brother realizes that his so-called symbols and rituals are merely blinds fabricated by the wise to perpetuate ideas incomprehensible to the average individual. He also realizes that few Masons of today know or appreciate the mystic meaning concealed within these rituals. With religious faith we perpetuate the form, worshiping it instead of the life, but those who have not recognized the truth in the crystallized ritual, those who have not liberated the spiritual germ from the shell of empty words, are not Masons, regardless of their physical degrees and outward honors.
In the work we are taking up it is not the intention to dwell upon the modern concepts of the Craft but to consider Freemasonry as it really is to those who know, a great cosmic organism whose true brothers and children are tied together not by spoken oaths but by lives so lived that they are capable of seeing through the blank wall and opening the window which is now concealed by the rubbish of materiality. When this is done and the mysteries of the universe unfold before the aspiring candidate, then in truth he discovers what Freemasonry really is. Its material aspects interest him no longer for he has unmasked the Mystery School which he is capable of recognizing only when he himself has spiritually become a member of it.
Those who have examined and studied its ancient lore have no doubt that Freemasonry, like the universe itself, which is the greatest of all schools, deals with the unfolding of a three-fold principle; for all the universe is governed by the same three kings who are called the builders of the Masonic temple. They are not personalities but principles, great intelligent energies and powers which in God, man, and the universe have charge of the molding of cosmic substance into the habitation of the living King , the temple built through the ages first of unconscious and then conscious effort on the part of every individual who is expressing in his daily life the creative principles of these three kings.
The true student of the ancient Craft realized that the completion of the temple he was building to the King of the Universe was a duty or rather a privilege which he owed to his God, to his brother, and to himself. He knew that certain steps must be taken and that his temple must be built according to the plan. Today it seems that the plan is lost, however, for in the majority of cases Freemasonry is no longer an operative art but is merely a speculative idea until each brother, reading the mystery of his symbols and pondering over the beautiful allegories unfolded in his ritual, realizes that he himself contains the keys and the plans so long lost to his Craft and that if he would ever learn Freemasonry he must unlock its doors with the key wrought from the base metals of his own being.
True Freemasonry is esoteric; it is not a thing of this world. All that we have here is a link, a doorway, through which the student may pass into the unknown. Freemasonry has nothing to do with things of form save that it realizes form is molded by and manifests the life it contains. Consequently the student is seeking so to mold his life that the form will glorify the God whose temple he is slowly building as he awakens one by one the workmen within himself and directs them to carry out the plan that has been given him out of heaven.
So far as it is possible to discover, ancient Freemasonry and the beautiful cosmic allegories that it teaches, perpetuated through hundreds of lodges and ancient mysteries, forms the oldest of the Mystery Schools; and its preservation through the ages has not depended upon itself as an exoteric body of partly evolved individuals but upon a concealed brotherhood, the exoteric side of Freemasonry. All the great Mystery Schools have hierarchies upon the spiritual planes of Nature which are expressing themselves in this world through creeds and organizations. The true student seeks to lift himself from the exoteric body upward spiritually until he joins the esoteric group which, without a lodge on the physical plane of Nature, is far greater than all the lodges of which it is the central fire. The spiritual instructors of humanity are forced to labor in the concrete world with things comprehensible to the concrete mind, and there man begins to comprehend the meaning of the allegories and symbols which surround his exoteric work as soon as he prepares himself to receive them.
The true Mason realizes that the work of the Mystery Schools in the world is of an inclusive rather than an exclusive nature, and that the only lodge which is broad enough to express his ideals is one whose dome is the heavens, whose pillars are the corners of creation, whose checker-board floor is composed of the crossing currents of human emotion and whose altar is the human heart. Creeds cannot bind the true seeker for truth.
Realizing the unity of all truth, the Mason also realizes that the hierarchies laboring with him have given him in his varying degrees the mystic spiritual rituals of all the Mystery Schools in the world, and if he would fill his place in the plan he must not enter this sacred study for what he can get out of it but that he may learn how to serve.
In Freemasonry is concealed the mystery of creation, the answer to the problem of existence, and the path the student must tread in order to join those who are really the living powers behind the thrones of modern national and international affairs.
The true student realizes most of all that the taking of degrees does not make a man a Mason. A Mason is not appointed; he is evolved and he must realize that the position he holds in the exoteric lodge means nothing compared to his position in the spiritual lodge of life. He must forever discard the idea that he can be told or instructed in the sacred Mysteries or that his being a member of an organization improves him in any way.
He must realize that his duty is to build and evolve the sacred teachings in his own being: that nothing but his own purified being can unlock the door to the sealed libraries of human consciousness, and that his Masonic rites must eternally be speculative until he makes them operative by living the life of the mystic Mason. His karmic responsibilities increase with his opportunities. Those who are surrounded with knowledge and opportunity for self-improvement and make nothing of these opportunities are the lazy workmen who will be spiritually, if not physically, cast out of the temple of the king.
The Masonic order is not a mere social organization, but is composed of all those who have banded themselves together to learn and apply the principles of mysticism and the occult rites. They are (or should be) philosophers, sages and sober-minded individuals who have dedicated thernselves upon the Masonic altar and vowed by all they hold dear that the world shall be better, wiser, and happier because they have lived. Those who enter these mystic rites and pass between the pillars seeking either prestige or commercial advantage are blasphemers, and while in this world we may count them as successful, they are the cosmic failures who have barred themselves out from the true rite whose keynote is unselfishness and whose workers have renounced the things of earth.
In ancient times many years of preparation were required before the neophyte was permitted to enter the temple of the Mysteries. In this way the shallow, the curious, the faint of heart, and those unable to withstand the temptations of life were automatically eliminated by their inability to meet the requirements for admission. The successful candidate who did pass between the pillars entered the temple, keenly realizing his sublime opportunity, his divine obligation, and the mystic privilege which he had earned for himself through years of special preparation. Only those are truly Masons who enter their temple in reverence, who seek not the ephemeral things of life but the treasures which are eternal, whose sole desire is to know the true mystery of the Craft that they may join as honest workmen those who have gone before as builders of the Universal Temple.
The Masonic ritual is not a ceremony, but a life to be lived. Those alone are truly Masons who, dedicating their lives and their fortunes upon the altar of the living flame, undertake the construction of the one universal building of which they are the workmen and their God the living Architect. When we have Masons like this the Craft will again be operative, the flaming triangle will shine forth with greater lustre, the dead builder will rise from his tomb, and the Lost Word so long concealed from the profane will blaze forth again with the power that makes all things new.
In the pages that follow have been set down a number of thoughts for the study and consideration of temple builders, craftsmen and artisans alike. They are the keys which, if only read, will leave the student still in ignorance but, if lived, will change the speculative Masonry of today into the operative Masonry of tomorrow, when each builder, realizing his own place, will see things which he never saw before, not because they were not there but because he was blind. And there are none so blind as those who will not see.
THOUGHTLESSNESS
The noblest tool of the Mason is his mind, but its value is measured by the use made of it. Thoughtful in all things, the aspiring candidate to divine wisdom attains reality in sincere desire, in meditation, and in silence. Let the keynote of the Craft, and of the Ritual, be written in blazing letters: THINK OF ME.
What is the meaning of this mystic maze of symbols, rites and rituals? THINK!
What does life mean, with the criss-crossings of human relationship, the endless pageantry of qualities masqueradin g in a carnival of fools? THINK!
What is the plan behind it all, and who the planner? Where dwells the Great Architect, and what is the tracing board upon which he designs? THINK!
What is the human soul, and why the endless yearning to ends unknown, along pathways where each must wander unaccompanied? Why mind, why soul, why spirit, and in truth, why anything? THINK!
Is there an answer? If so, where will the truth be found? Think, Brothers of the Craft, think deeply; for if truth exists, you have it, and if truth be within the reach of living creature, what other goal is worth the struggle?
--------------------------------
From the publication: "The Lost Keys of Freemasonry or The Secret of Hiram Abiff by Manly P. Hall
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