Post by giovanni on Apr 26, 2006 21:56:26 GMT
By Giovanni Lombardo, PM
Lemmi # 400 lodge
Grande Oriente d’Italia
Italian Freemasonry adopted the French ‘Trinomial’, Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. Unfortunately, it has always been politically interpreted where in my opinion, it should rather be interpreted in an esoteric way.
I will start with Liberté, Liberty. Liberty is not the ability to do everything man wants, but rather an interior liberty. This word stems from Sanskrit: leud, elevation. So man is freer the closer he is to the GAOTU, the Absolute, i. e. solutus-ab, free from any contingency.
Socio-political liberty is just the other face of the same coin, since everything can be regarded either from this side or from the esoteric one, but it is not the main aspect. Man can be inwardly free even inside a prison, the only true liberty is in the soul, for the soul, the spirit cannot be shackled or enslaved, only the body.
Let’s now turn to Egalité, equality. Masonry being hierarchically ordered, then to speak about equality tout-court would be a true blasphemy. Freemasonry’s scope is to work on individuals: each master should take care of the EAs and FCs. I am reminded that the word Upanishad means, literally, to seat beneath: The pupil sits in a lower position so he can better hear and receive the master’s teachings.
The master’s challenge is to help the pupil to raise himself to his height, so that they are equals: Freemasonry is not, therefore, a fascist organization because it does not crash people, but rather works to favour their growth, in every respect. Equality is considered as a point of arrival, a goal. Of course, this needs time: this is the reason for which Masonic teachings are given by layers.
Freedom and Equality are quite opposite. If one man is stronger than another, or can run faster, he should be free to show his ability, without handicaps. To avoid human society becoming a jungle, rules were set up. But rules can be easily skipped, as we already know, unless they are interiorized and made a part of the morality of the person. To work, these interiorized rules must be considered values, rather then rules that have been imposed by outside.
This Freemasonry did. Liberté and Egalité are the twin plates of Libra the balance; Fraternité, Brotherhood is the axis, the central pillar which balances the other two. Brotherhood means to recognise that all men are descendant by a common root: Our Lord, thou art in Heaven, “our” meaning “of us” (in Greek: hemòn).
As result of this, we must help one another. From here the concept of relief. Most Anglo-Saxon Grand Lodges intend this as giving money for charity. In Europe, especially in Latin countries, it was intended in a "political" sense. Bro. Gottlieb Lessing, German philosopher, interpreter of Enlightenment, said the very good action of Freemasonry is to make needless good actions. In other words, the law, the public authority would have provided welfare, taking care of the citizens.
Both conceptions are wrong if interpreted radically. Charity is important indeed as well as active citizenship, but Masonically speaking, the true Relief consists in taking care of those dependent upon us, especially the young. A younger Brother shall be instructed in working, to prevent spoiling the Materials for want of Judgment, and for increasing and continuing of Brotherly Love. (Old Charges 1723, V section).
In other words, primary scope of Freemasonry is to make better good men. How can we reach this goal? The greatest inconvenience of Anglo-Saxon freemasonry is the Brethren work ‘liturgically’. They are keen ritualist, but few of them read books on the ritual. An even smaller number are accustomed to discussing the ritual, the secret meanings within it. It is a vicious circle: no discussions, no stimuli to read and to deepen the esoteric aspects of Freemasonry, which are hidden in the rituals.
In Italy, it is just the opposite, but as far as I know in Continental Europe, Brethren are ‘forced’ to present a paper of symbolic and/or philosophical nature which they will first read and then discuss. Lodges usually conduct business in the first-degree and Apprentices are expect to attend. They must however be silent as long as they are Apprentices – usually one year from their initiation – they cannot speak. The silence they are constrained to will act as filter, to separate ‘chaff from wheat’, when they shall think over what they have heard. Papers on ethics are obviously welcome, but this is, however, just the first layer. Moral can vary from time to time and from place to place: Brethren should rather strive to investigate metaphysics, which is immutable and eternal.
Symbols are the key which opens the metaphysics’door, thus revealing the true ‘secrets’ of Freemasonry, those about spirituality, which are intrinsically incommunicable, since they are relevant to a non-human domain which cannot be expressed by words: Passing beyond the human cannot be worded, wrote Dante in the Divine Comedy.
I think I can finish by drawing on a great English Brother, Walter Leslie Wilmshurst. In his masterpiece, “The meaning of Freemasonry”, he wrote:
We have now established that Freemasonry has synthesized the essence of different religions, which it teaches through its symbolism. Each of its symbols and allegories was culled from the wisdom of many faiths, and had a definite background and meaning when it was conceived. But while being handed down over centuries they have been mutated and modified gradually, till their original purpose and purport were forgotten.
Freemasonry has the potential to become a great unifying force, which can to demolish all barriers, and destroy all differences that keep men apart. Brethren of all faiths can empathize with it, if only they can understand and practice its teachings. However we are more concerned with becoming expert in the punctilious observance of the ritual, than with its message. Should we continue to thus prefer form over substance, reserve the husk and discard the kernel, we shall be retaining only empty symbols and reducing Freemasonry to a mechanical rendering of the ritual. Symptoms like dwindling attendance and declining membership are already in evidence, and if left untreated much longer, could well result in the end of the order.
Freemasonry is too priceless a heritage to be permitted to perish through sheer apathy. It has to be nurtured and preserved. We have all been charged with making daily advancements in Masonic knowledge; a duty seldom discharged. We owe it to the institution, and to ourselves, to delve into the meaning of the symbols and the emblems, that the true beauty of Freemasonry may once again be unfolded to us.
Throw wide open the shutters of your minds and imagination. Learn to see in Masonry something more than a parochial system enjoining elementary morality, performing perfunctory and meaningless rites and serving as an agreeable accessory to social life. Look to find it in a living philosophy... realise that its many and valuable secrets are deep and that its mysteries are eternal ones of the Spirit...
The Lodge Room International Magazine, issue 5, May 2006
Lemmi # 400 lodge
Grande Oriente d’Italia
Italian Freemasonry adopted the French ‘Trinomial’, Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. Unfortunately, it has always been politically interpreted where in my opinion, it should rather be interpreted in an esoteric way.
I will start with Liberté, Liberty. Liberty is not the ability to do everything man wants, but rather an interior liberty. This word stems from Sanskrit: leud, elevation. So man is freer the closer he is to the GAOTU, the Absolute, i. e. solutus-ab, free from any contingency.
Socio-political liberty is just the other face of the same coin, since everything can be regarded either from this side or from the esoteric one, but it is not the main aspect. Man can be inwardly free even inside a prison, the only true liberty is in the soul, for the soul, the spirit cannot be shackled or enslaved, only the body.
Let’s now turn to Egalité, equality. Masonry being hierarchically ordered, then to speak about equality tout-court would be a true blasphemy. Freemasonry’s scope is to work on individuals: each master should take care of the EAs and FCs. I am reminded that the word Upanishad means, literally, to seat beneath: The pupil sits in a lower position so he can better hear and receive the master’s teachings.
The master’s challenge is to help the pupil to raise himself to his height, so that they are equals: Freemasonry is not, therefore, a fascist organization because it does not crash people, but rather works to favour their growth, in every respect. Equality is considered as a point of arrival, a goal. Of course, this needs time: this is the reason for which Masonic teachings are given by layers.
Freedom and Equality are quite opposite. If one man is stronger than another, or can run faster, he should be free to show his ability, without handicaps. To avoid human society becoming a jungle, rules were set up. But rules can be easily skipped, as we already know, unless they are interiorized and made a part of the morality of the person. To work, these interiorized rules must be considered values, rather then rules that have been imposed by outside.
This Freemasonry did. Liberté and Egalité are the twin plates of Libra the balance; Fraternité, Brotherhood is the axis, the central pillar which balances the other two. Brotherhood means to recognise that all men are descendant by a common root: Our Lord, thou art in Heaven, “our” meaning “of us” (in Greek: hemòn).
As result of this, we must help one another. From here the concept of relief. Most Anglo-Saxon Grand Lodges intend this as giving money for charity. In Europe, especially in Latin countries, it was intended in a "political" sense. Bro. Gottlieb Lessing, German philosopher, interpreter of Enlightenment, said the very good action of Freemasonry is to make needless good actions. In other words, the law, the public authority would have provided welfare, taking care of the citizens.
Both conceptions are wrong if interpreted radically. Charity is important indeed as well as active citizenship, but Masonically speaking, the true Relief consists in taking care of those dependent upon us, especially the young. A younger Brother shall be instructed in working, to prevent spoiling the Materials for want of Judgment, and for increasing and continuing of Brotherly Love. (Old Charges 1723, V section).
In other words, primary scope of Freemasonry is to make better good men. How can we reach this goal? The greatest inconvenience of Anglo-Saxon freemasonry is the Brethren work ‘liturgically’. They are keen ritualist, but few of them read books on the ritual. An even smaller number are accustomed to discussing the ritual, the secret meanings within it. It is a vicious circle: no discussions, no stimuli to read and to deepen the esoteric aspects of Freemasonry, which are hidden in the rituals.
In Italy, it is just the opposite, but as far as I know in Continental Europe, Brethren are ‘forced’ to present a paper of symbolic and/or philosophical nature which they will first read and then discuss. Lodges usually conduct business in the first-degree and Apprentices are expect to attend. They must however be silent as long as they are Apprentices – usually one year from their initiation – they cannot speak. The silence they are constrained to will act as filter, to separate ‘chaff from wheat’, when they shall think over what they have heard. Papers on ethics are obviously welcome, but this is, however, just the first layer. Moral can vary from time to time and from place to place: Brethren should rather strive to investigate metaphysics, which is immutable and eternal.
Symbols are the key which opens the metaphysics’door, thus revealing the true ‘secrets’ of Freemasonry, those about spirituality, which are intrinsically incommunicable, since they are relevant to a non-human domain which cannot be expressed by words: Passing beyond the human cannot be worded, wrote Dante in the Divine Comedy.
I think I can finish by drawing on a great English Brother, Walter Leslie Wilmshurst. In his masterpiece, “The meaning of Freemasonry”, he wrote:
We have now established that Freemasonry has synthesized the essence of different religions, which it teaches through its symbolism. Each of its symbols and allegories was culled from the wisdom of many faiths, and had a definite background and meaning when it was conceived. But while being handed down over centuries they have been mutated and modified gradually, till their original purpose and purport were forgotten.
Freemasonry has the potential to become a great unifying force, which can to demolish all barriers, and destroy all differences that keep men apart. Brethren of all faiths can empathize with it, if only they can understand and practice its teachings. However we are more concerned with becoming expert in the punctilious observance of the ritual, than with its message. Should we continue to thus prefer form over substance, reserve the husk and discard the kernel, we shall be retaining only empty symbols and reducing Freemasonry to a mechanical rendering of the ritual. Symptoms like dwindling attendance and declining membership are already in evidence, and if left untreated much longer, could well result in the end of the order.
Freemasonry is too priceless a heritage to be permitted to perish through sheer apathy. It has to be nurtured and preserved. We have all been charged with making daily advancements in Masonic knowledge; a duty seldom discharged. We owe it to the institution, and to ourselves, to delve into the meaning of the symbols and the emblems, that the true beauty of Freemasonry may once again be unfolded to us.
Throw wide open the shutters of your minds and imagination. Learn to see in Masonry something more than a parochial system enjoining elementary morality, performing perfunctory and meaningless rites and serving as an agreeable accessory to social life. Look to find it in a living philosophy... realise that its many and valuable secrets are deep and that its mysteries are eternal ones of the Spirit...
The Lodge Room International Magazine, issue 5, May 2006