"Symbolical Masonry": Chapter 48
September 7, 2015
G.D.O'Bradovich III
introduction
We caution the reader that there is no supreme authority to explain the meanings of Masonic rituals and symbols. Although the explanations at the conclusion of the degrees are plausible, there may exist additional plausible understandings that the candidate must contemplate. Therefore, Haywood's comments and speculations are neither more or less authoritative than other better recognized Masonic commentators. Only the reader's insistence on a reasonable understanding that is devoid of needless speculation can bring "more light" to this obscure, but not impossible to grasp, subject.
Masonic writers have stated that Freemasonry is as old a man himself and it was founded in the year 1717. Either these statements are contractions or the word "Freemasonry" has two distinct definitions. If the commentators are not confused and writing contradictory statements based on ignorance, then the word "Freemasonry" must have two distinct meanings. Masonry, we are told, was initially operative in the construction of cathedrals and, only later, became speculative, with the formation of Lodges. We conclude that the operative or "works" is the ritual, religious or outward aspect and speculative or "reasoning" is the philosophical, reasoning or inward aspect. Therefore, if our conclusion is correct, Freemasonry was originally speculative (man's first reasonings about his environment, Nature and the universe) and later became operative (works as understood in the construction of buildings and the rituals of religion).
Paragraph integrity has been maintained. Conditional words and wording are in bold.
Masonic writers have stated that Freemasonry is as old a man himself and it was founded in the year 1717. Either these statements are contractions or the word "Freemasonry" has two distinct definitions. If the commentators are not confused and writing contradictory statements based on ignorance, then the word "Freemasonry" must have two distinct meanings. Masonry, we are told, was initially operative in the construction of cathedrals and, only later, became speculative, with the formation of Lodges. We conclude that the operative or "works" is the ritual, religious or outward aspect and speculative or "reasoning" is the philosophical, reasoning or inward aspect. Therefore, if our conclusion is correct, Freemasonry was originally speculative (man's first reasonings about his environment, Nature and the universe) and later became operative (works as understood in the construction of buildings and the rituals of religion).
Paragraph integrity has been maintained. Conditional words and wording are in bold.
the text with select commentary
CHAPTER XLVIII
ETERNAL LIFE
I
That which I believe to be the central idea in the whole Hiram Abiff drama, and consequently the profoundest interpretation of it, is that embodied in the term used as the title of this section. I have chosen to consider it in a section apart, not only because its importance is deserving of such emphasis, but also because the truth of Eternal Life is so confused, so mingled with other very different ideas in the minds of men, that we have need of a careful analysis of the matter.
By Eternal Life we do not mean quite the same thing as we meant by a Future Life. Future Life, by virtue of the very words used to describe it, is a life that is supposed to lie in the future, beginning after death; Eternal Life will be lived in the great future, true enough, but is something more than that.
Nor is Eternal Life the same as Immortality, for Immortality means deathlessness that is, an existence of endless duration. It suggests a picture of life lived on a level line, of which line there is no end. Eternal Life includes this conception of infinite duration but it also includes much besides.
Again, Eternal Life is not to be identified with Resurrection. According to this latter hope the man who dies will be raised from the dead and will be the same man that he was before death. This also may be true, in some sense doubtless is true, but the idea is not the same as that meant by Eternal Life.
ETERNAL LIFE
I
That which I believe to be the central idea in the whole Hiram Abiff drama, and consequently the profoundest interpretation of it, is that embodied in the term used as the title of this section. I have chosen to consider it in a section apart, not only because its importance is deserving of such emphasis, but also because the truth of Eternal Life is so confused, so mingled with other very different ideas in the minds of men, that we have need of a careful analysis of the matter.
By Eternal Life we do not mean quite the same thing as we meant by a Future Life. Future Life, by virtue of the very words used to describe it, is a life that is supposed to lie in the future, beginning after death; Eternal Life will be lived in the great future, true enough, but is something more than that.
Nor is Eternal Life the same as Immortality, for Immortality means deathlessness that is, an existence of endless duration. It suggests a picture of life lived on a level line, of which line there is no end. Eternal Life includes this conception of infinite duration but it also includes much besides.
Again, Eternal Life is not to be identified with Resurrection. According to this latter hope the man who dies will be raised from the dead and will be the same man that he was before death. This also may be true, in some sense doubtless is true, but the idea is not the same as that meant by Eternal Life.
We note that the first section has four short paragraphs. There is an incorrect understanding of Eternal Life, since Eternal Life is frequently confused with a Future Life and is not synonymous as "Immortality", nor is it a "Resurrection". The "great future" is not explained. Through Haywood's many clues, we must conclude that he is, step by step, leading the reader to the only possible conclusion: the preexistence of the soul. Paradoxically, "Eternal Life" means we will experience death, that is, bodily death. It is doubtless true that man will "resurrect" and be the same as he was before, although this is not the same as "Eternal Life". He will be the same individual immortal soul, but his circumstances may be different in a "Future Life".
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II
What, then, do we mean by Eternal Life? Briefly it may be put thus—there is something in every man, call it spirit, soul, a divine spark, or what you will, which even now belongs to another order of reality, and is not to be numbered among the things that go "into that utter passing away from which there is nothing to return." It is possible for a man to discover in himself those things that are most akin to God, and to keep these things at the centre of his being: and it is possible for him to do this here and now, and under the very conditions which seem to us so broken and so unfavourable to high living, and not wait until after death. All of God, and all of the Universe, and all of the powers of human life—these are present with us now, and it is not necessary to postpone real life until after death.
Every man posses something that will not pass away and this "something" has many names. The other "order of reality" is not explained. Certain individuals want to wait until the "the life after death" to use the "powers" that are presently available to them.
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III
It is the great tragedy in the life of many men that they so entirely devote themselves to the body's needs that they forget, or neglect, the spirit's needs. Giving themselves up to the search for temporalities, they leave the divinest cravings in them to go unsatisfied; as a result they become materialistic, self-centred, vain, greedy, and animalistic; the soul becomes dissatisfied, God becomes unreal, and the future life uncertain; and they even fall into the fatal habit of making such Goodness, Truth and Beauty as they do find in themselves or others into a mere means to temporal gains. Such a man's whole life revolves about himself; he becomes his own world and his own God, and out of such a state grow the fears, doubts, superstitions, quarrellings, graspings, prejudices, envyings, and hatreds, which so often make life a mere scramble after the things of self. In other words, small things are set at the centre of existence so that all the man's life is made up of temporalities.
The one remedy for this condition is to change the centre of gravity so that the spirit is master, and body is servant, so that search is made for the eternal things instead of wholly for the things that pass away. When this occurs, selfishness, envy, and materialism, vanish; the soul becomes the great reality; God draws very near and becomes very certain; the perspective of life is changed, and its scale of values is reversed. To be honourable and true, to love others, to live in pity, charity, and kindliness, to know eternity as present and the present existence as a brief phase of an endless life, all this becomes for such a man the great ideal toward which all his energies are bent. Loss and disease may be serious but they are not fatal; even death is robbed of its terrors because the man's treasures are out of the reach of destruction.
This is Eternal Life. This is the "life of God in the soul of man," eternity in the midst of time, a divine-human experience possible in the Here and Now. To reach such an existence is in the power of every man; nay, it is the birthright, the God-intended plan, of every child of the race.
Herein, it seems to me, we have the reality of which the Lost Word is the mystic symbol; and he who has found that word within himself is victorious always, whatever betide. If he is betrayed by the friends in whom he has trusted, waylaid by ruffians, put to death in the midst of his creative and benignant work, and thrown into an unmarked grave, he is not defeated or destroyed; the God-like spirit within him, dedicated to the Eternal Values, raises him up from the level of death to the perpendicular of the life that is endless.
People become "materialistic" and "animalistic" when their spiritual needs are forgotten or ignored. The "future life" is not explained. As Plato teaches, one must search for the eternal, the unchanging, and not the temporal, the ever changing. The "great reality" is not explained. Values are transposed. The present life is a brief phase of "an endless life." What could "an endless life" be, but Haywood's hint of the immortal soul that reincarnates after death? "Loss and disease" "are not fatal" to the immortal soul. Every man has this power. The "God-like spirit" in man that is dedicated to "eternal values" will raise him up to an "endless life". We understand "eternal values" as coming from the Creator or the Great Architect of the Universe. The immortal soul is not, nor can it be, "defeated or destroyed." Haywood explicitly states that the "divine spark" in the candidate or Master Mason will will raise him from corporal "death" to life without end.
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IV
If this be the true interpretation of the Raising, we can no longer agree with those who see in it merely a ceremony in witness to the Future Life of the soul. How could it be? The Raising is not accomplished on the other side of the grave but on this; out of the very disaster that overwhelmed him, out of the midst of that dreadful "masterful negation which men call death," the master is lifted up and made victorious. The Spirit is conqueror even Here.
Furthermore, and as I have already hinted, this interpretation makes void the theory which would have us believe that the Lost Word must be sought outside the Blue Lodge Ritual. When is the Master raised? Is it not in the Third Degree? Is not the very Power that raises him itself the thing we mean by the word? It is true that no word of a certain number of letters is given us; it is true that the secret is elaborated and made plain in a higher degree, but the power, the actual upraising energy of which such a word must be a symbol, is present, and does its work, inside the limits of the Degree!
As this understanding came home to me, and opened up within my mind, the whole of the Blue Lodge Ritual, nay, the whole of Masonry itself, became transfigured. Dark places filled with light, and obscure symbols, often so cryptic and dim, became eloquent with endless meanings. I found that every ceremony, from the first simple acts of the preparation room to the climax of the tragedy of the Third Degree, arranged itself in a solemn order that moved easily to its predestined goal. Freemasonry rose in my vision to the most divine heights, and I saw that it has in its heart an Eternal Gospel which gives it a place among the great witnesses to religion, and among the noblest of all the philosophies wherethrough men have sought for light on the brief, broken, bewildering mystery of existence; and strength to live, unconquered and unashamed in the midst of so many enemies and defeats.
Haywood uses conditional words for his interpretation of the Third Degree. He has hinted that the preexistent soul voids the "theory" that the Lost Word is external to the Ritual, that is, the candidates' soul is present during the ritual. Haywood leads the reader to the conclusion that only through the idea of reincarnation can the Blue Lodge be correctly understood, as the three degree have a "predestined goal". which we assume, is similar to the predetermined goal of the individual soul. Interestingly, in Haywood's opinion, Masonry can be ranked "among the great witnesses to religion" and is also one of the "noblest" philosophies. From this opinion, we infer that Masonry teaches in two manners: one for the religiously minded ("operative" or exoteric) and one for the philosophically minded ("speculative" or esoteric).
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conclusion
Why is Haywood reluctant to be explicit regarding his understanding of "Eternal Life", while he readily acknowledges its importance?
Clearly, the concept of the immortal soul can not be the reason for Haywood's reticence. The idea for an immortal soul is found in Plato and the dogma of the immortal soul has existed in the Roman Church since the year 1517. The idea regarding the immortal soul is now accepted by most of the western world. We must ask again, "Why Haywood is not more forthcoming with this widely known concept?"
We suggest that the reason for the Haywood's reticence and multitude of hints is that his understanding of the immortal soul involves its reincarnation. While this idea is not foreign to our Age, we can understand that it might lead the uninitiated to nihilism, that is, life has no ultimate meaning. Any meaning or value for this world is replaced by the desire for the next, and always better, lifetime.
If the secret to "Eternal Life" is reincarnation, then we, Gentle Reader, have the advantage and good fortune of examining two groups with long histories -Freemasons and Hindus. Whereas the striving and idealism of the Age of Enlightenment (with Freemasons being at the forefront of the movement) would lead to the industrial revolution and a myriad of benefits for the world, reincarnation in Hinduism has left Indians content to live in the world as it is, not how they would like it and besides some trappings of the Industrial Revolution along with a population explosion, India has seen no fundamental change in either its economy or the mindset of its citizens. If the teaching of Christianity is "slave morality", then the teaching of Hinduism must be "Nihilism".
Therefore, we understand Haywood's reluctance to champion reincarnation, unless the "those who walk in darkness" succumb to nihilism and either accept their miserable condition in the world a punishment for actions in a former life or waste this life hoping for a better life in the next world. We note that a peculiarity or "landmark" of Freemasonry is that one must ask to join the Brotherhood. This singular act of inquiring indicates that the soul is not content, that it seeks more, it seeks to reverse the material scale of values it encounters in the world, in a word, the soul is proactive as it searches.
Clearly, the concept of the immortal soul can not be the reason for Haywood's reticence. The idea for an immortal soul is found in Plato and the dogma of the immortal soul has existed in the Roman Church since the year 1517. The idea regarding the immortal soul is now accepted by most of the western world. We must ask again, "Why Haywood is not more forthcoming with this widely known concept?"
We suggest that the reason for the Haywood's reticence and multitude of hints is that his understanding of the immortal soul involves its reincarnation. While this idea is not foreign to our Age, we can understand that it might lead the uninitiated to nihilism, that is, life has no ultimate meaning. Any meaning or value for this world is replaced by the desire for the next, and always better, lifetime.
If the secret to "Eternal Life" is reincarnation, then we, Gentle Reader, have the advantage and good fortune of examining two groups with long histories -Freemasons and Hindus. Whereas the striving and idealism of the Age of Enlightenment (with Freemasons being at the forefront of the movement) would lead to the industrial revolution and a myriad of benefits for the world, reincarnation in Hinduism has left Indians content to live in the world as it is, not how they would like it and besides some trappings of the Industrial Revolution along with a population explosion, India has seen no fundamental change in either its economy or the mindset of its citizens. If the teaching of Christianity is "slave morality", then the teaching of Hinduism must be "Nihilism".
Therefore, we understand Haywood's reluctance to champion reincarnation, unless the "those who walk in darkness" succumb to nihilism and either accept their miserable condition in the world a punishment for actions in a former life or waste this life hoping for a better life in the next world. We note that a peculiarity or "landmark" of Freemasonry is that one must ask to join the Brotherhood. This singular act of inquiring indicates that the soul is not content, that it seeks more, it seeks to reverse the material scale of values it encounters in the world, in a word, the soul is proactive as it searches.
Oh, take your time, don't live too fast, Troubles will come and they will pass.
You'll find a woman and you'll find love and don't forget... there is someone up above
[Be] something you love and understand-... be a simple kind of man.
Forget your lust for the rich man's gold. All that you need is in your soul
Lynyrd Skynyrd
You'll find a woman and you'll find love and don't forget... there is someone up above
[Be] something you love and understand-... be a simple kind of man.
Forget your lust for the rich man's gold. All that you need is in your soul
Lynyrd Skynyrd