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Post by antoninus9 on Nov 18, 2007 3:16:38 GMT
Brothers and Sisters,
The whole Halcyon/Euclid debate has led me to think more deeply about the root cause of these events. Some are saying that's its all about ego, but I know these guys and that just doesn't fit them very well. Of course this same argument could be made about Grand Masters. lol
The more I thought about it and my own experience here in Georgia I began to realize this whole thing is about happiness. It's about being happy and content with "Freemasonry".
As human beings we are not totally rational or logical creatures. We struggle with deep felt emotions that are not easily controlled. Surely everyone here remembers your first love as a teenager, or how full of joy you were at some significant event in your life?
Some people join Freemasonry out of curiosity and don't take it very seriously. To these folks Freemasonry evokes little if any emotional reaction. Others really believe in Freemasonry and its principles and make it a part of their daily lives. To these people Freemasonry evokes deep emotions.
Monolithic systems such as Grand Lodges are well suited for mass production operations where everything is the same, but poorly suited to address individual needs. This, I believe, is the true nature of the problem. It's not about the needs of the ego but the spirit of the human being.
If one truly believes in Freemasonry but the monolithic structure inhibits their spiritual growth they will become deeply unhappy and confused as to the nature of their unhappiness. Eventually the realization will come to them that it is the limitations of the monolithic structure that holds them back morally and spiritually in their quest for self-discovery.
This may not be true for all Masons but it is clearly so for some. This is most evident in European Freemasonry but is becoming more so in the United States.
As Masons we are taught to be tolerant of others but we tend to be very intolerant of other Masons. We view the world through the looking glass backwards.
If we are to grow and advance as an organization we must become more tolerant and understanding of the needs of others, and avoid assuming so much about others when their views don't agree with our own.
This means there has to be a kinder and gentler system established that is understanding of the many needs of the various brothers and sisters around the globe. It must recognize and acknowledge that what is good for one may not necessarily be good for all.
We must also recognize the value in diversity, and that this concept is written in the pages of the book of nature by the hands of G.A.O.T.U. All you have to do is look out of your window to see the great diversity in nature and the cosmos. The G.A.O.T.U. loves diversity and spreads it liberally throughout the universe. Even if you don't believe in the G.A.O.T.U. diversity is still readily apparent everywhere and in everything.
The question we must ask ourselves is...
Are we willing to allow others to discover happiness in their own unique way without passing judgment on them?
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Post by devoutfreemason on Nov 18, 2007 17:45:35 GMT
Brother, When more of us realize and accept that Freemasonry isn't and organization, isn't a fraternity, isn't a social club or charity but is an idea, a philosophy, a progressive science and a way of life. The better off we all will be.
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Post by lauderdale on Nov 18, 2007 19:17:50 GMT
"The pursuit of happiness"
This has always appeared to me as a very USA concept and doesn't come across easily to the UK or European mindset. It appears to be too frivolous to many this side of the Pond.
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Post by tws on Nov 18, 2007 20:17:15 GMT
"The pursuit of happiness"This has always appeared to me as a very USA concept and doesn't come across easily to the UK or European mindset. It appears to be too frivolous to many this side of the Pond. That is only because you are not looking at the underlying meaning. I would suggest reading the "Federalist Papers" for a more complete understanding of the thought that went into these concepts. The pursuit of happiness means that you are the one who determines your path in life, rather than having someone in "authority" determine that path for you. Is this so different than the UK or European model? www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/
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Tamrin
Member
Nosce te ipsum
Posts: 3,586
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Post by Tamrin on Nov 18, 2007 20:19:00 GMT
"The pursuit of happiness"
This has always appeared to me as a very USA concept and doesn't come across easily to the UK or European mindset. It appears to be too frivolous to many this side of the Pond. I hope everyone takes this in the spirit of good humour intended: I am reminded of the old joke, "No sex please, we're British."
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Post by maat on Nov 18, 2007 22:52:04 GMT
I think if we paid more attention to the happiness of others and less to the happiness of ourselves we would start to realise the basic lesson that Masonry is teaching us. Love and gratitude for the GA and love and gratitude for His reflections here on Earth, our Brn, inside the lodge and out.
Funny thing is, that what we give - we receive. So in the long run we will find that long lasting and profound happiness, the pursuit of which we thought we had sacrificed for others.
Sacrifice first, then happiness.
Maat
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Post by penfold on Nov 19, 2007 11:58:47 GMT
Freemasonry encourages its members to work on controlling their passions, not inflaming them. It teaches patience and humility, not strife and agitation. It speaks to the humble heart and gives strength and succour. It is bigger than man, and shall endure forever.
Thats my thoughts on it.....
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vtmason
Member
Running Dog Lackey
Posts: 251
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Post by vtmason on Nov 19, 2007 23:50:34 GMT
These are both great points and very difficult.
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Post by maat on Nov 20, 2007 3:56:50 GMT
Just a thought ... maybe happiness is something we must allow ourselves to be.
Good health is a bit like a crown, we can't see it when we are wearing it. I think happiness or contentment is a bit like this for most people.
Maat
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Post by Ziggy on Nov 20, 2007 5:27:29 GMT
THE MEANING OF SUFFERING "We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed. For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one's predicament into a human achievement. When we are no longer able to change a situation - just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer - we are challenged to change ourselves.
Let me cite a clear-cut example: Once, an elderly general practitioner consulted me because of his severe depression. He could not overcome the loss of his wife who had died two years before and whom he had loved above all else. Now, how could I help him? What should I tell him? Well, I refrained from telling him anything but instead confronted him with the question, "What would have happened, Doctor, if you had died first, and your wife would have had to survive you?" "Oh," he said, "for her this would have been terrible; how she would have suffered!" Whereupon I replied, "You see, Doctor, such a suffering has been spared her, and it was you who have spared her this suffering - to be sure, at the price that now you have to survive and mourn her." He said no word but shook my hand and calmly left my office. In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.
Of course, this was no therapy in the proper sense since, first, his despair was no disease; and second, I could not change his fate; 1 could not revive his wife. But in that moment I did succeed in changing his attitude toward his unalterable fate inasmuch as from that time on he could at least see a meaning in his suffering. It is one of the basic tenets of logotherapy that man's main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in his life. That is why man is even ready to suffer, on the condition, to be sure, that his suffering has a meaning. But let me make it perfectly clear that in no way is suffering necessary to find meaning. I only insist that meaning is possible even in spite of suffering - provided, certainly, that the suffering is unavoidable. If it were avoidable, however, the meaningful thing to do would be to remove its cause, be it psychological, biological or political. To suffer unnecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic.
Edith Weisskopf-Joelson, before her death professor of psychology at the University of Georgia, contended, in her article on logotherapy, that "our current mental-hygiene philosophy stresses the idea that people ought to be happy, that unhappiness is a symptom of maladjustment. Such a value system might be responsible for the fact that the burden of unavoidable unhappiness is increased by unhappiness about being unhappy."4 And in another paper she expressed the hope that logotherapy "may help counteract certain unhealthy trends in the present-day culture of the United States, where the incurable sufferer is given very little opportunity to be proud of his suffering and to consider it ennobling rather than degrading" so that "he is not only unhappy, but also ashamed of being unhappy."
There are situations in which one is cut off from the opportunity to do one's work or to enjoy one's life; but what never can be ruled out is the unavoidability of suffering. In accepting this challenge to suffer bravely, life has a meaning up to the last moment, and it retains this meaning literally to the end. In other words, life's meaning is an unconditional one, for it even includes the potential meaning of unavoidable suffering. "-Victor Frankel "MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING"
A person can pursue happiness all they want, there's no guarantee that they'll ever get it. However, a person can derive meaning at any given moment. Life best lived with meaning, rather than chasing after happiness.
M King.
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Post by maat on Nov 20, 2007 5:51:45 GMT
What an amazing and wonderful post!!!
Thank you so much.
Maat
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Post by Ziggy on Nov 20, 2007 15:45:27 GMT
What an amazing and wonderful post!!! Thank you so much. Maat Thank you. I would recommend Frankel's book to anyone Mason or non-Mason, it has been one the most powerful and gripping books that I have ever read. For a the Jewish psychologist that came up with the fundamental basis for all existential psychology in the middle of a concentration it's a pretty amazing book. I saw the happiness post and I felt the need to point out that life is not about happiness, but meaning. There are a few sad memories that I have that are very meaningful and dear to me, and they are not happy ones, but nevertheless they are meaningful. As I was thumbing through my cheap $7 paperback copy, I was reflecting a back upon how I've acted on this group, and I apologize if I've offended anyone, if I've the interfered with anyone else's ability to make meaning, I will curve my bitter tongue in future posts, and try and post in a most sincere and respectful manner in the future. Trying to create a more perspective of synergy, which is derived from the Aristotelian concept of synergos, in which we get the term synagogue. M King
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Post by penfold on Nov 20, 2007 16:00:36 GMT
You know what they say, to err is human, to forgive is divine, I'm forgiving you so guess that puts me one more step up the divinity ladder.....(joke!) The theory mentioned above sounds similar to Assagiolis' Psychosynthesis, www.psychosynthesis.edu/psychosynthesis.html
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Tamrin
Member
Nosce te ipsum
Posts: 3,586
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Post by Tamrin on Nov 20, 2007 19:04:53 GMT
... I was reflecting a back upon how I've acted on this group, and I apologize if I've offended anyone, if I've the interfered with anyone else's ability to make meaning, I will curve my bitter tongue in future posts, and try and post in a most sincere and respectful manner in the future. Trying to create a more perspective of synergy, which is derived from the Aristotelian concept of synergos, in which we get the term synagogue. Happily I greet you as a Brother and meaningfully I acknowledge that which is divine within you. Namaste
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vtmason
Member
Running Dog Lackey
Posts: 251
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Post by vtmason on Nov 20, 2007 20:49:47 GMT
What an amazing and wonderful post!!! Thank you so much. Maat Thank you. I would recommend Frankel's book to anyone Mason or non-Mason, it has been one the most powerful and gripping books that I have ever read. For a the Jewish psychologist that came up with the fundamental basis for all existential psychology in the middle of a concentration it's a pretty amazing book. I saw the happiness post and I felt the need to point out that life is not about happiness, but meaning. There are a few sad memories that I have that are very meaningful and dear to me, and they are not happy ones, but nevertheless they are meaningful. As I was thumbing through my cheap $7 paperback copy, I was reflecting a back upon how I've acted on this group, and I apologize if I've offended anyone, if I've the interfered with anyone else's ability to make meaning, I will curve my bitter tongue in future posts, and try and post in a most sincere and respectful manner in the future. Trying to create a more perspective of synergy, which is derived from the Aristotelian concept of synergos, in which we get the term synagogue. M King Not to side track, but the day I stopped believing in coincidences was the day that I got this book. I was at B&N in the used book section, and it quite literally fell on me while I was going for a top shelf DC comic book. My wife looked at me and said something to the effect of, "I guess you are getting that huh?" I devoured that book
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Post by maat on Nov 20, 2007 23:12:09 GMT
I read Viktor Frankl's book when I was 20 - I blame it for my ability to joke at funerals, not a quality that goes down well with some Wonderful book - a should read for everybody. ".... if I've the interfered with anyone else's ability to make meaning, I will curve my bitter tongue in future posts, and try and post in a most sincere and respectful manner in the future." OK - I see a challenge for myself as well here ... (hmmnnn this might be harder than dieting... ) Maat Ever noticed that when it gets dark in one section of the forum, the Light rises in another??!
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vtmason
Member
Running Dog Lackey
Posts: 251
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Post by vtmason on Nov 20, 2007 23:21:38 GMT
I'll tell you though kid, reading some of these post has me pondering. Was this recent bickering and whatnot really darkness? I think a lot has been resolved in various areas. I for one have stretched some muscles, and have worked some things out that I might not have done so otherwise
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Post by billmcelligott on Nov 20, 2007 23:50:04 GMT
I have to agree with old Bobblehead.
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Post by maat on Nov 21, 2007 0:02:44 GMT
Was this recent bickering and whatnot really darkness? No - but 'bitchy' just wasn't fitting the picture I was painting ;D Maat
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Post by penfold on Nov 21, 2007 10:43:29 GMT
I find my head bobbling along in agreement, not darkness, but maybe the fierce heat of the crucible of light and truth refining new material?
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