Masons say they seek the light and are familiar with the symbol of an Eye within a triangle, the All-Seeing Eye.
Jesus said, "Let thine eye be single, and the body shall be full of light".
What mystery do these words and this symbol conceal?
I have met some masons who have achieved a singular vision; but like the one-eyed jacks in a card deck, they only see things from one point of view.
Brn, let me ask you this, when was the last time you left the Lodge room for keys or clues to the mysteries and wisdom contained within it?
Our rituals tell us that instruction comes from the East, let's take this literally for a moment and test just one example, Kundalini Yoga.
Kundalini Yoga is said to describe the involution and evolution of consciousness, be it universe or man. Unity to Polarity to Unity again.
Consciousness descends from the Light of the heavenly world, passes through the pillars of polarity and becomes manifest on Earth, a place of darkness in comparison. You may remember being blind and poor when you passed through the pillars of Freemasonry.
Our Spirit is low and lost in the darkness?
Kundalini yoga tells us that a spiritual force rises through three subtle channels in the body called the Ida, Pingala and Sushumna. Two of these channels reach upward in a winding manner about the spinal column; the third takes a direct route. Lying coiled at the base of the spine is a cosmic energy, in potential, called the Kundalini and referred to as the coiled serpent.
When, by our own efforts or works, we INITIATE this energy and cause it to PASS through the seven psychic centres, known as chakras, until it is RAISED to the crown chakra, enlightenment or cosmic consciousness is obtained. This is when we see clearly the Plan of the Great Architect and our place within it. We discover the way to return to the One. The lost is lost no more.
Enlightenment symbols vary from culture to culture, but you would all recognise crowns, feathered headdresses, star/s above the head, haloes, Pharaoh's Uraeus, tongues of fire, to name a few.
Masonically, do we have any correspondences? One Spirit - both Candidate and King? Two Pillars - two Poles? Three Principal Officers - Spirit, Soul and Mind? Seven Officers - Seven Chakras? Star in the East above the Crown of Solomon?
All of this is irrelevant to Freemasonry you say? Maybe - but I ask you to check your apron clasp. Is it a Serpent? Kundalini is known as the serpent energy.
And did you know that the spinal column along or around which this force flows is composed of 33 bones and that esoteric Hindu scripture says Kundalini is the mother of all beings, and a widow!
Don’t be one eyed jacks, SEEK anywhere and everywhere … SEE what you can find that may shed some further light on the mysteries of Freemasonry.
Equally valuable knowledge and understanding may be gained by holding the symbols of Masonry up against any Tradition or Teaching - at their core (centre) they all seem to be saying the same thing.
Anyway you raise a number of interesting issues not the least of which is why being synoptic is undesirable.
Letting thine eye be single can be worked in reverse. Try filling your body with light (from the heart) and see if that makes your eye single.
>Our rituals tell us that instruction comes from the East
While that is a true historical statement for Europeans, it is perhaps more relevant as a commentary on the directional nature of the inner workings of the lodge.
>Kundalini Yoga
A high-risk path if not under the guidance of an enlightened teacher
>Consciousness descends from the Light of the heavenly world, passes through the pillars of polarity and becomes manifest on Earth
In some traditions, awareness is distinguished from consciousness, the latter being a physically anchored phenomenon e.g. through a brain and nervous system. Awareness then is used to refer to transcendental and oobe experiences.
>blind and poor when you passed through the pillars of Freemasonry
The most obvious meaning is blind to spiritual realities, and the achievements of the outer world having no value in the temple. There may however be other meanings as demonstrated by the implied distinction sometimes made between metals and valuables.
>Our Spirit is low and lost in the darkness?
How can spirit be lost? The human souls can be lost, but how could that be such a commonplace? Certainly of the 2 billion personalities that are lost, many are searching for Light.
>by our own efforts or works, we INITIATE this energy and cause it to PASS through the seven psychic centres, known as chakras,
I would be happier with a statement that right living, strong aspiration and spiritual discipline create conditions by which the energies of Matter rise and meet the descending energies of Spirit.
>Two Pillars - two Poles?
The three (qabalistic) pillars/columns are probably more important than the physical use of 2 pillars in ancient Egypt.
>Three Principal Officers - Spirit, Soul and Mind?
Better the 3 pillars from the Tree of Life
>Seven Officers - Seven Chakras?
Better the 7 Spirits before the throne of God - ie the officers in the various temples in the heavens. There are of course direct connections between the 7 spirits and the human chakras, but the primary model is the temple in the heavens
>Star in the East above the Crown of Solomon
A reference to a particular spirit before the throne of God
It seems to me that modern Masonry, for all its shortcomings and lost knowledge, still represents one of the most valuable means for humans to enter the world of meaning.
I wrote this several years ago, purely as a means to try and get the Brn to look outside their usual reading matter or belief system. I only chose this discipline because of the great interactive images on the linked site.
One could just as easily compare Freemasonry with the story of Popeye and come up with some interesting insights.
I'm glad I posted it, you bring up some marvellous points which could lead us in many and varied directions.
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
>Our rituals tell us that instruction comes from the East
While that is a true historical statement for Europeans, it is perhaps more relevant as a commentary on the directional nature of the inner workings of the lodge.
Heads (as in on shoulders) are assoc with the East aren't they?
Egypt was considered the East way back when.
The Orient, Eastern religions, have also placed more emphasis on inner work than Western religions.
The Sun now rises in the East 'to throw light on the subject'. Wonder if the ritual was different when it rose in the West?
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
A high-risk path if not under the guidance of an enlightened teacher
Agreed. But most people I know would not have the dicipline to pursue this path, a handy safeguard?
Is drug addiction related to Kundalini? I always think of drugs when Masonry exhorts us to refrain from seeking after the secrets of higher degrees. It seems that the drug experience opens one up to other realities which the psyche cannot handle - and it proves to be the user's downfall.
A lot of humans find their physical bodies somewhat uncomfortable to live in. Alcohol pushes the human partly out of the body which can temporarily be a pleasant experience.
Others use alcohol as an anesthetic to dull their troubles. I have some sympathy for that, but it is not a solution to the troubles.
Thus I might ask: why are physical bodies unpleasant for many, and why do so many not have access to better means of dealing with troubles?
A lot of humans find their physical bodies somewhat uncomfortable to live in. Alcohol pushes the human partly out of the body which can temporarily be a pleasant experience.
Others use alcohol as an anesthetic to dull their troubles. I have some sympathy for that, but it is not a solution to the troubles.
Thus I might ask: why are physical bodies unpleasant for many, and why do so many not have access to better means of dealing with troubles?
No