Esotericism in Freemasonry

On October 22nd, I was finally raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in Damascus Lodge #10 F&AM of Utah. Anyone who has experienced the degrees knows that masonry is an ongoing experience. Just when you think you're comfortably situated with all of the instruction you've received, something comes along (in the same reading or lesson you've already heard) and smacks you in the face with something new. I stay busy with school, but I'm currently reading "Morals and Dogma..." by Albert Pike and I'd like to just share a few thoughts from what I've read.

"To understand literally the symbols and allegories of Oriental books as to ante-historical matters, is willfully to close our eyes against the Light. To translate the symbols into the trivial and commonplace, is the blundering of mediocrity."

This is a hard concept to grasp at first. When people find out I'm a Mason, they almost immediately want to know what the "meaning" of all of the symbols are. This is contradictory to the foundation of Masonry. Symbols are used in teaching to express a meaning deeper than words can portray. Religious and philosophical concepts were originally expressed through plays and allegory, and there was no explicit explanation given of the teachings. The student was always left to ponder and arrive at a conclusion of his own. This idea is summed up excellently in a later paragraph by Albert Pike.

"The Mysteries were a Sacred Drama, exhibiting some legend significant of nature's changes, of the visible Universe in which the Divinity is revealed, and whose import was in many respects as open to the Pagan as to the Christian. Nature is the great Teacher of man; for it is the Revelation of God. It neither dogmatizes nor attempts to tyrannize by compelling to a particular creed or special interpretation. It presents its symbols to us, and adds nothing by way of explanation. It is the text without the commentary; and, as we well know, it is chiefly the commentary and gloss that lead to error and heresy and persecution. The earliest instructors of mankind not only adopted the lessons of Nature, but as far as possible adhered to her method of imparting them. In the Mysteries, beyond the current traditions or sacred and enigmatic recitals of the Temples, few explanations were given to the spectators, who were left, as in the school of nature, to make inferences for themselves. No other method could have suited every degree of cultivation and capacity. To employ nature's universal symbolism instead of the technicalities of language, rewards the humblest inquirer, and discloses its secrets to every one in proportion to his preparatory training and his power to comprehend them. If their philosophical meaning was above the comprehension of some, their moral and political meanings are within the reach of all."

Wow. Just stop and chew on that for a second.

In a discussion I had with a religious friend of mine, she told me that she thought it was preposterous that men communicated at one point in time with grunts and pictures. What's wrong with communicating with pictures? Everyone will agree that art can make them feel something and convey an idea "better than 1,000 words". Maybe pictures and symbols are the language of the gods? Maybe philosophers and sophists are the inventors of words the way we know them today. Who knows?

I love what I've learned in Freemasonry thus far and will continue to explore it's subtle symbols and principles. If anything, it has taught me how to teach myself. Mankind is so reliant on mankind to explain every detail of every principle, that the original principles and truths have been distorted by the imperfections of man. When we learn from the Supreme Teacher - The Great Architect of the Universe - the truth will be revealed in it's rawest, truest form.

25% of the world wealth and 4.5% of its population

Silent Greed

Today, as I was listening to the radio, I heard a talk radio host talking about limiting the number of immigrants we could let into this country. I laughed to myself and thought it a silly idea. Can you imagine? Who would put a limit on how many people we would allow into this wonderful country of ours? To my astonishment, I discovered that this had become an issue of serious debate.

The law recently passed in Arizona was the spark that ignited the flame of this discussion. I won't go into details about the nature of the bill that was past, first because my opinion of it is irrelevant due to my lack of knowledge of its contents. But as I listened to the arguments on the radio today because of the bill that had been past, I had a revelation.

Why are we so concerned about letting others into our country? Is it language? Is it because of the expenses it may incur? Is it because of the effect it may have on our education? We have an eternity to transcend the bounds of language, and an eternity to learn everything we must know.

I think the real reason we don't want others here is because we know that a higher population means wider distribution of wealth. There is not a reason that's not self-centered for preventing others from having the same opportunities we have as Americans. Not one. If you loved your neighbor, you would do everything in your power to ensure the best for him - financially, physically, and spiritually - regardless of the effects on yourself.

We need to think of others before ourselves. The greed that has taken America's hearts may not be obvious - and it may be easy for many of us to call those more wealthy than us greedy. But look at the big picture. We, as Americans, consume much more than the rest of the world.

Let's stop debating about how many people we should allow to have an american experience. Let's stop arguing over whether or not we should even let people in. Stop and think, before you speak, not about language gaps or cultural differences, but about a hungry child, a father struggling to make ends meet, or an old man unable to rest from the labors of his hard-earned life because of low wages. Think of human beings.

Initiation

On March 17, 2010 I was initiated as the newest member of Damascus Lodge #10 in Provo. I have been contemplating joining the organization known as Freemasonry for some time now and I finally decided to act. So far, I am loving it. The very first meeting I attended was so full of symbolic instruction and moral allegories that I already cannot wait to attend another meeting. Everything that is taught in Freemasonry inspires to do good and promote brotherhood throughout the world.

There are those who would oppose Freemasonry on the grounds that it is "cultish, secretive, or elitist". What's interesting about these arguments is that no God-faring citizen is denied membership, no matter his social status or religion.

I'm very excited to continue growing and following a path of virtue and honor, primarily through dedication to the church, and secondarily as a member of the greatest fraternity in the world.

It's Time to Act

Technology is great. I just recently signed up for a LinkedIn account, hooked it to my new Twitter account, linked my Facebook and my blog to those and I have effectively created a visible online person. I love the online community because there are no boundaries. There are no visas or passports and I am free to be a citizen of the world and not just a member in a country.

We talk about America as being the most charitable nation in the world - and I believe it. I am proud of that fact. But I don't think money and supplies build bonds between nations. Material things don't promote peace or show sympathy and affection. People do.

For the greater part of history plane tickets, travel documents, hotel costs and patriotism have done a pretty good job of isolating men into individual countries - something we are all comfortable and familiar with. Because of inconveniences, we don't allow ourselves to really get to know individuals all over the world. We've been concerned with only our neighbors and communities because that is what's convenient.

I say it's time we got past the inconveniences - technology has made it possible. For years, governments have been the only institutions capable of communicating on a large scale and coordinating efforts to send soldiers over seas to wage war. Let's coordinate a greater effort. I am going to set a personal goal, and invite all of my readers to set the same goal.

Before the end of February I am going to extend a digital hand of friendship to someone overseas and who is preferably caught in the middle of the war we are waging. Maybe you say my individual efforts to promote friendship and brotherhood on a global scale won't make a difference. Maybe it won't to you - but it will to me. Who knows? Maybe if more people tried to befriend the world, it WOULD make a difference.

Speak Up

I have a confession. Almost every day I go to school, I find myself eavesdropping on other people's conversations. I am an eavesdropper. Most conversations I listen to aren't really important or even worth hearing, but occasionally I will listen in on a conversation that I am interested in. Usually these conversations are involving politics. Listening to what other people say to their friends about issues, I've decided, is much different than actually talking to a stranger face to face about what they believe. People are willing to open up to their friends and share all of their thoughts. Some ideas from different individuals are very interesting such as - global warming is not real, capitalism is evil, the United States is becoming socialist - these are just a few of the things I overhear every day.

Democracy is an interesting thing. An educated, well informed populace can make for an extremely powerful and effective force working together. Over the last few months, I have found myself thinking about other people's ideas and actually being afraid knowing that they were also contributing to the vital decisions that the US faces every day. To put it in the words of an anonymous savant, "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers." Thinking of that saying can make Democracy seem a little scary at times, I know; but much to my surprise, I've recently developed a new state of thinking.

I'm glad there are so many opinions in the world. It keeps things in balance. As long as people have bad ideas, there should exist good ideas and vice versa. My biggest worry now is that many people don't have an opinion. Many of us don't care what is going on in our country and we would rather let someone else make decisions for us. We have mentally elected kings and rulers over us. The beautifully scary thing about Democracy is that as the people making the decisions, we can choose to not decide anything. We can choose to do away with Democracy all together if we like.

I am going to redouble my efforts to get involved in our nation's affairs and at least be informed on important matters, and I can only hope that more of us will do the same. After all, the only difference between you living in a Democracy and you living in an Aristocracy is your own voice.

Call Me Socialist

Over the last few days, I have been bursting at the seams with thoughts about our country and who we've become over the last few decades. I am appalled to see our true american colors revealed in just the last ten years with two big issues that have arisen - The War in Iraq (which I'll probably write another note about), and National Healthcare Reform. Maybe no one person is to blame for the issues at hand but, then again, no single rain drop believes it is to blame for the flood.

Healthcare Reform - Some things need to be regulated or controlled by the government and healthcare is one of those things. I know what you are thinking (and I promise this won't be a religious note - just bear with me): "But Mick?! Haven't you read what President Benson said about Socialism?!" Yeah, I've read it. Have you ever read what Christ said about taking care of the poor and needy? Have you ever thought that maybe President Benson feared Socialism because it would mean that someone would have to force us to take care of others? It would mean that we couldn't do it by our own will. Just a thought. Let's not make this a religious discussion though. There's a problem with our system - anyone can tell you that. Congress's solution? Give everyone insurance... I hate to break it to you, but handing out insurance to everyone isn't going to solve the problem, because insurance companies don't control the price of care. If you give everyone insurance and put a cap on how high premiums will go, it will drive insurance companies into the ground. They base their premiums on the prices that HOSPITALS are charging them. If hospitals up the price, insurance companies have to up premiums - that's easy. Let me relate a story passed forward to me by an acquaintance recently to reiterate my point:

A number of hospitals in California decided that they were going to increase prices (of course nobody knew it because everything is so transparent in healthcare, but that's a different discussion). Insurance companies couldn't cover the new costs without raising their premiums, so instead of charging their insured customers more, they sent out mass letters to everyone explaining the situation and giving a list of alternative doctors and hospitals that their customers could still visit. You should be able to guess what happened next. The hospitals reacted with a massive campaign (which I'm sure appealed to peoples' pathos more than a commercial for an orphanage) with the slogan "Don't let insurance companies stand between YOU and YOUR doctor." Those big, bad, evil insurance companies...

Insurance companies aren't the problem here people. Hospitals are the problem. We're focusing all of our efforts on the wrong industry. Until someone can regulate prices in hospitals, healthcare will always be unaffordable. But where will socialized medicine lead us? Won't the quality of care go down? Maybe. I won't refute that because nobody knows. We can look at other countries as an example... Maybe if I put socialism in terms we can all relate to, it suddenly won't look so bad to everyone.

Have you ever called the police before? When you called, did you have to negotiate a price with them before they would come help you? Have you ever received a bill from your local police station? No? So, who pays for them? You do, with your taxes. We all pay for them. Our police force is built on a socialist system - Surprise! I would be willing to bet that our police force would be the most incredibly effective force in the world if it were privatized. Can you imagine how advanced the police would be if your insurance paid them every time they showed up on the job? Or if they made 250k a year? If we are so anti-socialism, why aren't we pushing for privatized police? Isn't it nice to be able to call for help when someone breaks into your house without having to worry about the bill you'll have to pay afterward? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to call your doctor when you've been seriously injured without having to worry about going bankrupt? Some things need to be socialized. Why are we so afraid of doing it with medicine?

So call me a socialist - go for it. If you want to look at it from a different point of view, the only difference between socialism and consecration is your WILLINGNESS to give. If we just willfully took care of the poor and needy, we wouldn't have this mess. Idealistic, I know, right? Most of the arguments I hear against socialized medicine are sickening - the quality of MY care will go down, I can't choose MY doctor, I don't want to wait for MY treatment. Me, Me, Me, My, Mine, I, I, Mine. Why don't you think about someone else for once?

In conclusion, I should say that I am NOT closed to anyone's ideas. If you've got something to say, then say it. I think everyone's opinion is worth careful consideration - I believe in Democracy. Were it not so, I wouldn't waste my time putting my own opinions out there. Hit me back if you've got something to add or if there's one of my ideas you'd like to refute. I don't think I'm always right - nobody should. So if you think I'm wrong I want to hear about it. I'm just as prone to error as anyone else. Thanks for your feedback. And thanks for reading.

Here We Go

I've never been a big blogger, but I'm sick of using Facebook notes to share what I'm thinking with everyone. Whether you choose to read my posts or not, I'm putting them on here for lack of a better place to share them. Here we go!