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Post by middlepillar on Feb 17, 2005 14:25:24 GMT
Spiritual Regeneration
This short paper is a product of a question that I was asked with a view to joining another Masonic order, the question is indeed so open ended I felt it would not only be a great topic of debate after a meeting, but the basis of a short paper on which I could write.
When first asked the question what do you understand by the term ‘Spiritual Regeneration’? I immediately thought, when a person dies his body may die with him but his spirit does not. I have always believed the spirit moves on to a higher place thereby it regenerates in a new form at a higher level.
However having spent more time thinking over the question, I would answer in this manner; as we take our journey through life, we of course take many paths, some of these paths naturally come to a brief end others last a lifetime, one of the paths I took was obviously the Masonic one. And I would say that at my ceremony of Raising I had my first personal experience of spiritual regeneration, which enabled me (or more importantly inspired me) to look differently on certain aspects of life, indeed ‘lifting me to a different level spiritually’. And as I have continued this path, there have been certain Masonic ceremonies, which I could argue, have had an effect of spiritual regeneration on myself.
Therefore I suppose what I understand by the term ‘Spiritual Regeneration’ is this; it is a moment in life that uplifts the spirit to a higher level, renewing your own zest for and a feeling of getting closer (maybe) to understanding the meaning of life, a contentment of feeling at one with your God, indeed a basic feeling of elation. This of course does not have to happen just once but by continuing to expand your knowledge of life and the use of the tools you have chosen to help you, (in my case Masonic teachings and symbolism) you may yourself experience personal spiritual regeneration several times.
Although I have used my own personal experience of Freemasonry as an example, I believe there are many ways you can experience spiritual regeneration personally, using whichever tool you find works for you.
I also think it would be interesting to expand this statement in as much that away from the personal experience, it must be very exhilarating to witness this in someone else and indeed in a group of people sharing the same experience. As I have said the basis for this paper was the question, I am sure everybody in this forum has their own interpretation of what they understand, indeed some of you may have joined the Masonic order in question and have had to write your own observations, if so I apologise for producing a repeat, however it is a great question isn’t it?
This was written a few years ago and I was re reading it and thought I would of probably changed the content if I had written it today, so before I recycle it I thought it could provide a topic for discussion, apologies to the scholars present if it seems naive.
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Post by whistler on Feb 17, 2005 18:49:39 GMT
Now this is a topic, which a One Liner will not do - Needs a bit of thought... Good one Middlepillar I will return
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staffs
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Post by staffs on Feb 21, 2005 20:58:10 GMT
maybe like a snake we have a skin a spiritual one which sheds and regenerates as we grow and develop our spiritual awareness and understanding.we are moving to a higher plane each time and death just puts us on a nother level. Maybe our final position we achieve in our earth life dictates to what level our spirit ascends at the time of death. I am aware that in my present state i am about to embark on something very special (being raised) and for some you have already attained this level.i am hoping this when it happens will help me understand more in this area and assist in my journey of spiritual development to yet another plane.
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Post by Thegnostic on Mar 21, 2005 18:58:11 GMT
All,
Been busy but here is my two penny`s worth of Spiritual Regeneration :-
We may enter into the heart of God and make God`s heart enter us, there to form an indissolubile marrige, which will make us the Friend, Brother and spouse of our Divine Redeemer. There is no other mystery to arrive at this Holy Initiation, than to go more down into the depths of our being, and not let go until we can bring forth the living, vivifying root, Because then all the fruit which we ought to bear, according to our kind, will be produced within us, and without us, NATURALLY....
Gnostic
A man`s worth is not measured by his actions - but by the spirit by which he carries it out...
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ruffashlar
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Post by ruffashlar on Mar 22, 2005 14:12:27 GMT
All these terms and relationships are illusions.
We cannot approach or approximate human situations and interpersonal relationships to that indescribable bond, union, evolution or process which obtains between the Infinite and the Finite.
All our knowledge of these matters, such as it is, is at best a handrail leading into the dark: but what guide can this be to the blind hand when we have neither eyesight nor hands nor fleshly forms any longer? We cannot know the formless fate which awaits us, not even its outline, as it were, under a sheet.
Light and darkness indissoluble, love and compassion without end, near and far without meaning. How can we know these values? Or hope to sketch them intelligibly? Even as ideas, we cannot fathom them.
Think not of the spirit as distinct from the body. Think not of weariness and regeneration. We are oneness, perfect and absolute, not divided from any thing, a flux of ceaseless change through eternity's torus.
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Post by Thegnostic on Mar 22, 2005 19:01:41 GMT
Dear Bro Ruff,
In my opinion this topic for you is clearly a case of "the map not fitting the terrain" I reach this conclusion through reading quite a few of your posts and coming to the conclusion as your opinions clearly show that you are a perfect example of Archetypal Man as a prisioner of the World, just as soul of individual Man is a prisioner of his body of matter. Spiritual Regeneration is an Alchemical Term. You would be wise to take time out and read Fama Fraternitias and Chemical Wedding. Even you cannot deny that we came into being from the divine spark of Creation, we are the Microcosm of the Macrocosom created in Gods Image. Thus when we discuss Spiritual Regenereation / Re-Intergration we are not speaking of coming closer to ourselves but to God, a return to the Godhead. Thus, the fruit of regeneration is here a new condition in which man knows God as Father and Himself as the Son of God, but this fruit which has replaced the old EGO by the regeneration is not visible because the real Man - Theou Theos Pais - is an internal Man and an incorperal Being. The regenerated Man feels enthusiasm in the Liberal sense of this World, ie he feels Gods presence within himself. He can master space and time, he has the feeling that he can be present everywhere, in the Sky, Earth, Spirit, Air and Water, yes thoughs elements that you are afraid of. This regenerated Man is the image that needs the mediation of nature and must take on the body to bring about the encounter with his own perfect God, while nature herself needs the mediation of man to bring about its transmutation and to spiritualise Matter. I recommend to you G.R.S.Meads book Subtle Body.
This is the key to Spiritual Regeneration - the alchemical process out of inner darkness - NATURE not prevarication
Gnostic The mind is like a parachute - it works better when it is open.
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Post by leonardo on Mar 22, 2005 20:05:10 GMT
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Post by middlepillar on Mar 22, 2005 20:13:47 GMT
Leo
Although you asked Gnostic, yes is the answer.
Gnostic,
I wrote the above paper a long time ago, as a relatively new member of SRIA. I posted it to generate discussion which I am pleased to say is now happening! I thank you very much for your input, I hope more people post on this thread and it develops further!
The reason I posted my original thoughts was to see how everyone would develop the thread, if I posted my thoughts as they are now then it would be a different type of thread (does this make sense?).
I tend to keep Spititual Regeneration apart from Spiritual Re-intergration.
Ruff
Thank you for your input, lets continue the discussion!
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Post by mrmason on Mar 29, 2005 8:38:55 GMT
Hi MP, Glad you started this thread as it gives me a possible insight into what may lie in wait for me in the SRIS. It does however seem rather heavy going at first but with persistance I'm sure I'll cope, then who knows perhaps move on to other things
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ruffashlar
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Post by ruffashlar on Mar 29, 2005 9:23:16 GMT
Gnostic,
You are correct that it is a case of "the map not fitting the terrain", but the reverse of your intended meaning. Indeed I am Archetypal Man as a prisoner of the World: all of us are, if we consider the world to be a prison.
Spiritual Regeneration is not an alchemical term. It is a theological, metaphysical and philosophical term wilfully and usefully confused with an alchemical term. It is no matter: the metaphor is well understood - but understand that it is a metaphor. I read both the Fama Fraternitatis and The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz when I was about thirteen. I do not claim that I fully understood it, but then neither should anyone.
Whatever the divine spark of Creation truly was, we assuredly owe our existence to it. But this is only a tautology: we owe our existence to that to which we owe our existence. It tells us nothing. All we know about ourselves we have either discovered empirically or invented through philosophy, sometimes called poetry, sometimes magic.
We are ourselves the only Macrocosm we can know, and thus we must always make God in our own image. When we discuss Spiritual Regeneration or Re-Intergration, if we are not speaking of coming closer to ourselves, we cannot ever return to the Godhead. How can the division between God and Man dissolve unless we approach the nature of both? We speak always in metaphors, but can never grasp the truth, never see it face to face, or deeper, under the skin.
Thus, the metaphorical fruit of regeneration is here a new condition in which man knows God as Child and himself as the Creator of God, but this EGO which has replaced the old consciousness by the regeneration is now visible because the real Man - Anthropou Theos Pais - is an eternal Man and a corporeal Being.
The regenerated Man experiences euphoria in the moral forge of this World, i.e. he feels his presence within God. God is master of space and time, man has the feeling that God can be present everywhere, in the Sky, Earth, Spirit, Air and Water - yes those elements that any sensible man is afraid of.
This regenerated God is an idea that needs the mediation of consciousness and must take on the body to bring about the encounter with its own perfect Man, while consciousness itself needs the mediation of God to bring about its transmutation and to corporealise Spirit. I recommend to you the Gospel of St John.
This is the key to Spiritual Regeneration: the acid of the intellect will dissolve the darkness of pseudo-science.
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Post by plewis66 on Mar 29, 2005 9:32:01 GMT
IMHO:
For me, the term 'Spiritual Regeneration' puts the emphasis the wrong way round.
The Spirit is perfect and complete, and has no need or use of regeneration.
My preferred term would be something like 'ego dissassembly'.
As we have these experiences, we are not 'gaining' anything, as is implied by the term 'regeneration'. Instead, we are actually coming to recognise the true nature of our being, by the removal of dross that has accreted throughout our life as a result of us being conditioned to live, think and behave in certain ways.
If I may be so bold, a perfect ashlar is not made by plastering over the rough, but by chipping away the surplus.
OTOH:
There are 'spritual practices' that certainly make it feel like you are gaining some kind of 'spiritual power' or 'force'. I can remember a time when I performed certain ceremonial practices daily, sometimes twice daily. At the time I certainly felt that I was gaining a lot of 'juice'.
But in retrospect, I now wonder whether the feeling generated is not the result of more 'gas' being pumped in, but of the 'skin' getting thinner.
OTOOH:
There are other practices, such as chi gung and pranayama where the same sensation can be generated, and in these cases, the 'masters' of the arts do indeed suggest that something is being gained. However, in these cases, the 'something' is not usually identified as 'spirit' in any of it's normally accepted guises. Except that spiritus is of course 'breath' or 'air', and chi gung and pranayama are both, primarily, breathing exercises. So perhaps, these could more properly be described as 'spiritual regeneration'?
But even there, I wonder whether the same holds true, and the practice of pranayama, instead of increasing ones prana, instead just increases ones awareness of prana.
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ruffashlar
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Post by ruffashlar on Mar 29, 2005 9:46:56 GMT
As Brahma says (in his sleep), "OTOOOH"
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Post by whistler on Mar 29, 2005 9:51:15 GMT
Well put Plewis66
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jmd
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Post by jmd on Mar 29, 2005 10:27:36 GMT
Personally, I consider that spiritual regeneration is precisely what takes place as one enters a society such as the SRIA/S/CF.
If I had to characterise the difference and distinctions between Freemasonry and the SRIA, I would perhaps point out that in the former, a inner development of character, an inner strength, and an inner sense for the beautiful diversity of humanity emerges through the transformation from rough to perfect ashlar. Ideally, and for most, this also leads towards a spiritual regeneration as one moves from West to East from the perfect ashlar towards a spherical transformation of that cube.
In the latter, ie, in SRIA (and others), what occurs are seed forms for the re-vitalisation, or the re-generation, of the spiritual within the deepest recesses of one's heart. Here there is no mincing of words. Each grade provides in seed form some essential spiritually significant area of study, of reflection, and of work - and at the East is centrally no individual sitting.
Another characteristic difference is in precisely the symbols used: in Freemasonry, we talk of the transformation of the stone; in SRIA, the living Rose becomes a living symbol to be, also, metamorphosed, but this latter can only be so not by knocking off all superfluous excressences, but by living, and hence vital, unfoldment
If one focusses more on the Temple in which the Spirit may reside, the other talks directly of that Spirit.
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Post by taylorsman on Mar 29, 2005 10:32:22 GMT
I must say that I have never considered the World to be "a prison", nor a "vale of tears". It has its good and bad aspects, some the result of our own actions, in other cases the workings of natural laws which we are powerless, at least at this stage of our capabilities, to control.
Whether in the microcosm of our own Individual lives or in the macrocosm of Humanity as a whole, we have to take the rough material given us by the World, use the tools we have and the skills both inate and aquired and make of it what we can, hopefully for good rather than ill.
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Post by Thegnostic on Mar 29, 2005 15:39:13 GMT
Hi Ruff and all,
Well, I must admit to questioning my replies as from Ruffs reply It appears to me that we are along the same lines, albeit other than my response below on the five elements, I have repeated this response on my little riddle to Atarnaris :-
For the Alchemists there was nothing starnge about squaring the circle, Maier wrote" they use hte square that comes from the circle to demonstrate that from every simple body the four elements must be seperated" by the transformation of the square into a triangle they teach that one should bring forth spirit, body and soul, which then appear in three brief colours before redness. The body is assigned saturnine blabkness, the spirit the lunar-watery whiteness and the soul the airy citric colour. If the triangle has noe attained its highest perfection, it must be brought into a circle, that is, an immutable redness. Through which operation the woman returns into the man and from their legs, a single ONE is formed.
This is clearly a case of inner Alchemical transmutation by balancing the elements.
Gnostic For Ruff:- That which you are waiting for has come - but you do not recognise it....
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ruffashlar
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Post by ruffashlar on Mar 29, 2005 21:40:23 GMT
That which you are waiting for has come - but you do not recognise it
Not so: I do recognise it. However, I am immobilised by my own inertia. This only means, there is nothing holding me back but myself. My shackles are lined with satin, my gaoler smiles pleasantly as he brings me room service. The world is my prison, and I have grown horribly comfortable in its secure, suffocating death-grip.
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Post by plewis66 on Mar 30, 2005 7:59:28 GMT
Yeah, I'm with that.
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Post by Garuda on Apr 1, 2005 22:26:20 GMT
First Posting for me, so back to the oringinal posting. I belive that ones answer to the question of spritual re-generation changes with the paths we take along lifes journey. My answer has changed many times since I first answered this question, at the moment my short answer would be - Spritual re-generation is when you have attained a higher level of sprituality within yourself though study and prayer. I think that Spritual re-generation and Spritual re-intergration are seperate, but go hand in hand on the path I am traveling.
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staffs
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Post by staffs on Apr 10, 2005 18:44:32 GMT
I have re read my first post on this topic and all the posts here and all i can say is :
what a lot more thinking and development lays ahead of me
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