Foxfires asks on another thread "Were we forced to work, so we would have to integrate our feelings back to each other and also find a collective over-soul".
For me, this explains Freemasonry, in its current popular form, perfectly.
Any thoughts about this?
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
"17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
....
19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Here the god seems somewhat excessive in punishment - even cursing the ground when Adam went in search of knowledge.
At a more abstract level I have sometimes wondered why humans actually need to eat at all. It seems a designed weakness.
Moving on, there is the question of purpose (reason for placement) of humans on this planet.
Further still there is the functionality of the spiritual beings that manifest through humans. As lesser creators, the spirits in question might need to put their incarnations to productive use.
And having done that, the productive uses might well require an integration of humans into some group functionality.
Foxfires asks on another thread "Were we forced to work, so we would have to integrate our feelings back to each other and also find a collective over-soul".
For me, this explains Freemasonry, in its current popular form, perfectly.
Any thoughts about this?
Forced? Like an apple falling from the tree is forced to fall downward to hit the ground. Where would we be without "force?" Our instincts force certain behaviors in the unthinking person and some thinking ones too. The instincts were developed as survivor mechanisms that may or may not be useful today. Still, they are a part of our behavior even now. The morning glory labors upward, drawn by the attraction to light. It is forced to do that although it exposes itself to more dangers up there in the open sky.
LorrB seems correct about "force" in a masonic lodge. What prevents our remaining seated when the RWM has just said, "BB, upstanding!" What prevents the brother from refusing a blindfold at certain parts of the ritual? What prevents a brawl in the 3° when instinct to hit back is stifled. In some lodges a P. of A. is required before all advancement. How horrible is that job for some BB who still persevere.
There seem to be many forms of force operating in a L. Most, if not all, of them are benign influences from society. There may be subtle attractions and repulsions from a higher level, but for the most part we are unaware of them. I would hate to think that standing over me there is an Elder Brother goading me on to the next degree. Ego took care of that! I'm tempted to say that most of the forcing in a masonic context is generated by ourselves.
At a more abstract level I have sometimes wondered why humans actually need to eat at all. It seems a designed weakness.
Oh, Paul, Paul. Obviously eating gives you little pleasure. To me it is one of the most treasured gifts from the heavenly storehouse. Eating is not merely the act of ingesting nourishment; it is an appeal to all the senses: the smell, the texture, melding of complementary flavors in the mouth at the same time. How great is man who made an art out of necessity.
Owing to the malfunction of several of my organs, I am on a restricted diet and have had to deny myself in many painful ways. I miss the complexity of a good wine (only a glass, doc!), the heady aroma of a ripe Brie, the sensuous pound cake piled high with fruit. As I said someplace before, I would eat even if the body didn't require it.
Some good monks deny themselves these pleasures, not because ingestion is somehow evil, but because denial is a form of training. I have to confess that I never willingly passed Abstinence 101. "They" tried to make me feel guilty, but it didn't work. Even though a plum pudding may never pass my lips again, I will always adore it, yes, lust after it for incarnations to come. For people like me, the denial of the pleasure of food is stern training in spiritual advancement. For those unmoved by the aroma of a pot roast, training has to be found in other areas. Sex maybe, or the racetrack. It seems all of us enjoy having our pleasure centers stimulated one way or another. That's not intrinsically evil, but they serve as "thrust-blocks" (is that the term?) Like the swimmer who braces his feet against the wall of the pool before he darts forward in a race.
>This is to help establish dominate leaders, and develop nature of Unity ... Unity is measured as or at 1.
This theme can be seen in the qualities of the highest subplanes:
"The last of the physical subplanes is 7.1 .... the uncontrolled desire here is for power. " (Uncontrolled power leads to forced unification)
"6.1 Desire for the Oneness of All. "
"5.1: Willingness to be at one with all."
"4.1 The will to love. ...since our God is a God of love, the will to love is the intent to unity. "
Thus the light body of the initiate - increasingly composed of only first subplane substance - is compelled to unity by the very nature of his/her light body.