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LOST KEYS OF FREEMASONRY: Exploring the Secret Keys to Success Hidden in Masonry — Manly P. Hall · SECRETS OF SUCCESS & WEALTH: Hidden Laws of Money, Power & Success

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Speaker 1: The Lost Keys of Masonry, by Manley P. Hall, 1923. Proem.
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Speaker 1: By Reynolds E. Blight, 33°K, T. Reality forever eludes us.
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Speaker 1: Infinity mocks our puny efforts to imprison it in definition
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Speaker 1: and dogma. Our most splendid realizations are only adumbrations of
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Speaker 1: the light. In his endeavors, man is but a mollusk
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Speaker 1: seeking to encompass the oceans. Yet man may not cease
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Speaker 1: his struggle to find God. There is a yearning at
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Speaker 1: the soul of him that will not let him rest,
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Speaker 1: an urge that compels him to attempt the impossible, to
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Speaker 1: attain the unattainable. He lifts feeble hands to grasp the
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Speaker 1: stars and despite a million years of failure and millenniums
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Speaker 1: of disappointment, the soul of man springs heavenward with even
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Speaker 1: greater avidity than when the race was young. He pursues,
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Speaker 1: even though the flying ideal eternally slips from his embrace.
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Speaker 1: Even though he never clasps the goddess of his dreams,
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Speaker 1: he refuses to believe that she is a phantom. To
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Speaker 1: him she is the only reality. He reaches upward and
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Speaker 1: will not be content until the sword of Orion is
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Speaker 1: in his hands, and glorious Arcturus gleams from his breast.
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Speaker 1: Man is parsifal searching for the sacred cup, sir lawnful
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Speaker 1: adventuring for the holy grail. Life is a divine adventure,
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Speaker 1: a splendid quest. Language fails. Words are mere ciphers, and
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Speaker 1: who can read the riddle? These words we use, what
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Speaker 1: are they but vain shadows of form and sense? We
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Speaker 1: strive to clothe our highest thought with verbal trappings that
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Speaker 1: our brother may see and understand, and when we would
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Speaker 1: describe a saint he sees a demon, when we would
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Speaker 1: present a wise man he beholds a fool. Fie upon you,
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Speaker 1: he cries, thou, too, art a fool. So wisdom drapes
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Speaker 1: her truth with symbolism, and covers her insight with allegory. Creeds, rituals,
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Speaker 1: poems are parables and symbols. The ignorant take them literally
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Speaker 1: and build for themselves prison houses of words and with
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Speaker 1: bitter speech and bitterer taunt denounce those who will not
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Speaker 1: join them in the dungeon. Before the rapt vision of
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Speaker 1: the seer, dogma and ceremony, legend and trope dissolve and fade,
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Speaker 1: and he sees behind the fact the truth, behind the
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Speaker 1: symbol the reality. Through the shadow shines ever the perfect light.
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Speaker 1: What is a mason? He is a man who in
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Speaker 1: his heart has been duly and truly prepared, has been
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Speaker 1: found worthy and well qualified, has been admitted to the
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Speaker 1: fraternity of builders, been invested with certain passwords and signs
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Speaker 1: by which he may be enabled to work and receive
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Speaker 1: wages as a master mason, and travel in foreign lands
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Speaker 1: in search of that which was lost, the word. Down
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Speaker 1: through the misty vistas of the ages rings a clarion
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Speaker 1: declaration and although the very heavens echo to the reverberations,
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Speaker 1: but few hear and fewer understand, in the beginning was
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Speaker 1: the Word and the Word was with God and the
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Speaker 1: Word was God. Here then is the eternal paradox. The
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Speaker 1: Word is lost, yet it is ever with us. The
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Speaker 1: light that illumines the distant horizon shines in our hearts.
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Speaker 1: Thou wouldst not seek me hadst thou not found me.
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Speaker 1: We travel afar only to find that which we hunger
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Speaker 1: for at home. And as Victor Hugo says, the thirst
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Speaker 1: for the infinite proves infinity. That we seek lives in
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Speaker 1: our souls, This, the unspeakable truth, the unutterable perfection, the
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Speaker 1: author has set before us in these pages. Not a
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Speaker 1: mason himself, he has read the deeper meaning of the ritual.
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Speaker 1: Not having assumed the formal obligations, he calls upon all
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Speaker 1: mankind to enter into the holy of holies. Not initiated
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Speaker 1: into the physical craft, he declares the secret doctrine that
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Speaker 1: all may hear. With vivid allegory and profound philosophical disquisition
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Speaker 1: he expounds the sublime teachings of free masonry, older than
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Speaker 1: all religions, as universal as human aspiration. It is well.
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Speaker 1: Blessed are the eyes that see, and the ears that hear,
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Speaker 1: and the heart that understands. Introduction Masonry is essentially a
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Speaker 1: religious order. Most of its legends and allegories are of
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Speaker 1: a sacred nature. Much of masonry is woven into the
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Speaker 1: structure of Christianity. We have learned to consider our own
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Speaker 1: religion as the only inspired one, and this probably accounts
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Speaker 1: for a great many of the misunderstandings existing in the
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Speaker 1: world today concerning the place occupied by masonry in the
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Speaker 1: spiritual ethics of our race. A religion is a divinely
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Speaker 1: inspired code of morals. A religious person is one inspired
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Speaker 1: to nobler living by this code. Me is identified by
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Speaker 1: the code which is his source of illumination. Thus we
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Speaker 1: may say that a Christian is one who receives his
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Speaker 1: spiritual ideals of right and wrong from the message of
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Speaker 1: the Christ, while a Buddhist is one who molds his
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Speaker 1: life into the archetype of moral status given by the
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Speaker 1: great Gautama or one of the other Buddhas. All doctrines
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Speaker 1: which seek to unfold and preserve that invisible spark in
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Speaker 1: man which he has named spirit, are said to be spiritual.
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Speaker 1: Those which ignore this invisible element and concentrate entirely upon
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Speaker 1: the visible are said to be material. There is in
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Speaker 1: religion a wonderful place of balance, where the materialist and
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Speaker 1: spiritist meet on the plane of logic and reason. Science
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Speaker 1: and theology are two ends of a single truth, but
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Speaker 1: the world will never receive the full benefit of their
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Speaker 1: investigations until they have made peace with each other and
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Speaker 1: labor hand in hand for the accomplishment of the great work,
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Speaker 1: the liberation of spirit and intelligence from the three-dimensional graves
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Speaker 1: of ignorance, superstition, and fear. That which gives man a
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Speaker 1: knowledge of himself can be inspired only by the self,
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Speaker 1: and God is the self in all things. In truth,
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Speaker 1: He is the inspiration and the thing inspired. It has
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Speaker 1: been stated in Scripture that God was the Word and
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Speaker 1: that the Word was made flesh. Man's task now is
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Speaker 1: to make flesh reflect the glory of that Word, which
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Speaker 1: is within the soul of himself. It is this task
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Speaker 1: which has created the need of religion, not one faith alone.
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Speaker 1: but many creeds, each searching in its own way, each
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Speaker 1: meeting the needs of individual people, each emphasizing one point
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Speaker 1: above all the others. Twelve fellow craftsmen are exploring the
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Speaker 1: four points of the compass. Are not these twelve the
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Speaker 1: twelve great world religions, each seeking in its own way
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Speaker 1: for that which was lost in the ages past, and
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Speaker 1: the quest of which is the birthright of man? Is
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Speaker 1: not the quest for reality in a world of illusions
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Speaker 1: the task for which each comes into the world? We
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Speaker 1: are here to gain balance in a sphere of unbalance,
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Speaker 1: to find rest in a restless thing, to unveil illusion,
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Speaker 1: and to slay the dragon of our own animal natures.
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Speaker 1: As David, king of Israel, gave to the hands of
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Speaker 1: his son Solomon the task he could not accomplish, so
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Speaker 1: each generation gives to the next the work of building
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Speaker 1: the temple, or rather, rebuilding the dwelling of the Lord,
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Speaker 1: which is on the Mount Moriah. Truth is not lost,
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Speaker 1: yet it must be sought for and found. Reality is ever-present, dimensionless,
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Speaker 1: yet all-prevailing. Man, creature of attitudes and desires, and servant
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Speaker 1: of impressions and opinions, cannot, with the wandering unbalance of
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Speaker 1: an untutored mind, learn to know that which he himself
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Speaker 1: does not possess. As man attains a quality, he discovers
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Speaker 1: that quality, and recognizes about him the thing newborn within himself.
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Speaker 1: Man is born with eyes, yet it is only after
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Speaker 1: long years of sorrow that he learns to see clearly
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Speaker 1: and in harmony with the plan. He is born with senses,
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Speaker 1: but it is only after long experience and fruitless strivings
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Speaker 1: that he brings these senses to the temple and lays
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Speaker 1: them as offerings upon the altar of the Great Father,
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Speaker 1: who alone does all things well and with understanding. Man is,
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Speaker 1: in truth, born in the sin of ignorance, but with
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Speaker 1: a capacity for understanding. He has a mind capable of wisdom,
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Speaker 1: a heart capable of feeling, and a hand strong for
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Speaker 1: the great work in life, truing the rough ashlar into
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Speaker 1: the perfect stone. What more can any creature ask for
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Speaker 1: than an opportunity, a chance to prove the thing he is,
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Speaker 1: the dream that inspires him, the vision that leads him on?
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Speaker 1: We have no right to ask for wisdom. In whose
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Speaker 1: name do we beg for understanding? By what authority do
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Speaker 1: we demand happiness? None of these things is the birthright
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Speaker 1: of any creature, yet all may have them, if they
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Speaker 1: will cultivate within themselves the thing that they desire. There
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Speaker 1: is no need of asking, nor does any deity bow
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Speaker 1: down to give man these things that he desires. Man
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Speaker 1: is given, by nature, a gift, and that gift is
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Speaker 1: the privilege of labor. Through labor he learns all things.
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Speaker 1: Religions are groups of people, gathered together in the labor
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Speaker 1: of learning. The world is a school. We are here
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Speaker 1: to learn, and being here proves our need of instruction.
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Speaker 1: Every living creature is struggling to break the strangling bonds
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Speaker 1: of limitation, that pressing narrowness which destroys vision and leaves
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Speaker 1: the life without an ideal. Every soul is engaged in
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Speaker 1: a great work, the labor of personal liberation from the
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Speaker 1: ruts of ignorance. The world is a great prison, its
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Speaker 1: bars are the unknown. And each is a prisoner, until
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Speaker 1: at last he earns the right to tear these bars
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Speaker 1: from their moldering sockets, and pass, illuminated and inspired, into
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Speaker 1: the darkness, which becomes lighted by that presence. All peoples
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Speaker 1: of the world seek the temple where God dwells, where
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Speaker 1: the spirit of the great truth illuminates the shadows of
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Speaker 1: human ignorance, but they know not which way to turn,
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Speaker 1: nor where this temple is. The mist of dogma surrounds them.
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Speaker 1: Ages of thoughtlessness bind them in. limitation weakens them and
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Speaker 1: inhibits their footsteps. They wander in darkness seeking light, ever
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Speaker 1: failing to realize that the light is in the heart
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Speaker 1: of the darkness. To a few who have found him,
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Speaker 1: God reveals himself. These, in turn, reveal him to man,
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Speaker 1: striving to tell ignorance the message of wisdom. But seldom
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Speaker 1: does man understand the mystery that has been unveiled. He
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Speaker 1: tries weakly to follow in the steps of those who
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Speaker 1: have attained, but all too often finds the path more
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Speaker 1: difficult than he even dreamed. So he kneels in prayer
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Speaker 1: before the mountain he cannot climb, and from the top
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Speaker 1: of which gleams forth the light, which he is not
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Speaker 1: strong enough to reach, nor wise enough to comprehend. He
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Speaker 1: lives the law as he knows it, always fearing in
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Speaker 1: the depth of himself that he has not read aright
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Speaker 1: the flaming letters in the sky, and that in living
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Speaker 1: the letter of the law he has murdered out the spirit.
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Speaker 1: Man bows humbly to the unknown, peopling the shadows of
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Speaker 1: his own ignorance with saints and saviors, ghosts and specters,
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Speaker 1: gods and demons. Ignorance fears all things, and falls, terror-stricken,
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Speaker 1: before the passing wind. Superstition stands as the monument to ignorance,
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Speaker 1: and before it kneel those who are realizing their own weakness.
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Speaker 1: who see in all things the strength they do not possess,
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Speaker 1: who give to sticks and stones the power to bruise them,
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Speaker 1: who change the beauties of nature into the dwelling places
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Speaker 1: of ghouls and ogres. Wisdom fears no thing, but still
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Speaker 1: bows humbly to its own source. While superstition hates all things, wisdom,
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Speaker 1: with its deeper understanding, loves all things, for it has
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Speaker 1: seen the beauty, the tenderness, and the sweetness which underlie
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Speaker 1: life's mystery. Life is the span of time appointed for accomplishment.
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Speaker 1: Every fleeting moment is an opportunity, and those who are
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Speaker 1: great are the ones who have recognized life as the
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Speaker 1: opportunity for all things. Arts, sciences, and religions are monuments
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Speaker 1: standing for what humanity has already accomplished. They stand as
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Speaker 1: memorials to the unfolding mind of man, and through their
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Speaker 1: avenues man passes to more efficient and more intelligent methods
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Speaker 1: of attaining prescribed results. Blessed are those who can profit
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Speaker 1: by the experiences of others, and can add to that
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Speaker 1: which has already been built, their inspiration made real, their
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Speaker 1: dream made practical. Those who give man the things he
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Speaker 1: needs are seldom appreciated in their own age, but are
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Speaker 1: later recognized as the saviors of the human race. Masonry
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Speaker 1: is a structure built of experience. Each stone is a
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Speaker 1: sequential step in the unfolding of intelligence. The shrines of
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Speaker 1: masonry are ornamented by the jewels of a thousand ages,
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Speaker 1: its rituals ring with the words of enlightened seers and
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Speaker 1: illuminated sages. A hundred religions have brought their gifts of
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Speaker 1: wisdom to its altar. Arts and sciences unnumbered have contributed
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Speaker 1: to its symbolism. It is more than a faith, it
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Speaker 1: is a path of certainty. It is more than a belief,
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Speaker 1: it is a fact. Masonry is a university, teaching the
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Speaker 1: liberal arts and sciences of the soul to all who
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Speaker 1: will attend to its words. It is a shadow of
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Speaker 1: the great Atlantean mystery school, which stood with all its
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Speaker 1: splendor in the ancient city of the Golden Gates, where
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Speaker 1: now the turbulent Atlantic rolls in unbroken splendor. Its chairs
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Speaker 1: are seats of learning, its pillars uphold an arch of
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Speaker 1: universal education, not only in material things, but also in
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Speaker 1: those qualities which are of the spirit. Upon its trestle
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Speaker 1: boards are inscribed the sacred truths of all peoples and
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Speaker 1: of all nations, and to those who understand its sacred
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Speaker 1: depths has dawned the great reality. Masonry is, in truth,
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Speaker 1: that long-lost thing which all peoples have sought in all ages.
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Speaker 1: Masonry is the common denominator and the common divisor of
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Speaker 1: human aspiration. Most of the religions of the world are processions,
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Speaker 1: one leads, and many follow. In the footsteps of the demigods,
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Speaker 1: man follows in his search for truth and illumination. The
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Speaker 1: Christian follows the gentle Nazarene up the winding slopes of Calvary.
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Speaker 1: The Buddhist follows his great emancipator through his wanderings in
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Speaker 1: the wilderness. The Mohammedan makes his pilgrimage across the desert
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Speaker 1: sands to the black tent at Mecca. Truth leads, and
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Speaker 1: ignorance follows in his train. Spirit blazes the trail, and
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Speaker 1: matter follows behind. In the world today ideals live but
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Speaker 1: a moment in their purity, before the gathering hosts of
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Speaker 1: darkness snuff out the gleaming spark. The mystery school, however,
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Speaker 1: remains unmoved. It does not bring its light to man,
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Speaker 1: man must bring his light to it. Ideals, coming into
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Speaker 1: the world, become idols within a few short hours, but man,
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Speaker 1: entering the gates of sanctuary, changes the idol back to
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Speaker 1: an ideal. Man is climbing an endless flight of steps,
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Speaker 1: with his eyes turned toward the goal at the top.
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Speaker 1: Many cannot see the goal, and only one or two
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Speaker 1: steps are visible before them. He has learned, however, one
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Speaker 1: great lesson, and that is, that as he builds his
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Speaker 1: own character he is given strength to climb the steps.
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Speaker 1: Hence a mason is a builder of the temple of character.
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Speaker 1: He is the architect of a sublime mystery, the gleaming,
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Speaker 1: glowing temple of his own soul. He realizes that he
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Speaker 1: best serves God when he joins with the great architect
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Speaker 1: in building more noble structures in the universe below. All
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Speaker 1: who are attempting to attain mastery through constructive efforts are
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Speaker 1: masons at heart, regardless of sex or religious beliefs. A
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Speaker 1: mason is not necessarily a member of a lodge. He
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Speaker 1: is any person who tries every day to live the
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Speaker 1: masonic life and to serve intelligently the needs of the
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Speaker 1: great architect. The Masonic Brother pledges himself to assist all
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Speaker 1: other temple builders in whatever extremity life may unfold, and
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Speaker 1: in so doing he pledges himself to every stick and stone,
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Speaker 1: to beast, god, and man, for they are all temple builders,
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Speaker 1: building more noble shrines wherein to worship the universal God.
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Speaker 1: The Masonic Lodge is a mystery school, a place where
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Speaker 1: candidates are taken out of the follies and foibles of
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Speaker 1: the world and are instructed in the mysteries of life, relationships,
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Speaker 1: and the identity of that germ of spiritual essence in them,
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Speaker 1: which is, in truth, the Son of God, beloved of
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Speaker 1: his Father. The mason views life seriously, realizing that every
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Speaker 1: wasted moment is a lost opportunity, and that omnipotence is
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Speaker 1: gained only through earnestness and endeavor. Above all other relationships
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Speaker 1: he recognizes the universal brotherhood of living things. The clasped
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Speaker 1: hands of his lodge reflect his attitude toward all the world,
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Speaker 1: for he is the comrade of all created things. He
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Speaker 1: realizes also that his spirit is a glowing, gleaming jewel
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Speaker 1: which he must enshrine within a holy temple built by
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Speaker 1: the labor of his hands, the meditations of his heart,
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Speaker 1: and the aspiration of his soul. Masonry is a religion
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Speaker 1: which is essentially creedless. It is the truer for it.
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Speaker 1: Its brothers bow to truth regardless of the bearer, they
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Speaker 1: serve light, instead of wrangling over the one who brings it.
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Speaker 1: In this way they prove that they are seeking to
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Speaker 1: know better the will and the dictates of the Invincible One.
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Speaker 1: No truer religion exists in all the world than that
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Speaker 1: all creatures gather together in comradeship and brotherhood, for the
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Speaker 1: purpose of glorifying one God, and of building for Him
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Speaker 1: a temple of constructive attitude and noble character. The average Mason,
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Speaker 1: as well as the modern student of Masonic ideals, little
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Speaker 1: realizes or understands the cosmic obligation which he takes upon
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Speaker 1: himself when he begins his search for the sacred truths
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Speaker 1: of nature as they are concealed in the ancient and
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Speaker 1: modern rituals. He must not lightly consider his vows, and
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Speaker 1: if he would not bring upon himself years and ages
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Speaker 1: of suffering he must cease to consider masonry as merely
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Speaker 1: a social or fraternal order. He must realize that the
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Speaker 1: mystic teachings as perpetuated in the modern rites are sacred,
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Speaker 1: and that powers unseen and unrecognized mold the destiny of
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Speaker 1: those who consciously and of their own free will take
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Speaker 1: upon themselves the obligations of the craft. Masonry is not
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Speaker 1: a material thing, it is a science of the soul,
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Speaker 1: it is not a creed or doctrine but a universal
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Speaker 1: expression of the divine wisdom. The coming together of English
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Speaker 1: guilds or even the building of Solomon's temple, as it
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Speaker 1: is understood today, has little if anything to do with
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Speaker 1: the true origin of masonry, for masonry does not deal
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Speaker 1: with personalities. It is neither historical nor archaeological, but is
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Speaker 1: a divine symbolic language perpetuating under certain concrete symbols the
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Speaker 1: divine mysteries of the ancients. Only those who see in
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Speaker 1: it a cosmic study, a life work, a spiritual inspiration
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Speaker 1: to better thinking, better living, and better acting, with the
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Speaker 1: spiritual attainment of enlightenment as the end, and with the
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Speaker 1: daily life of the true mason as the means, have
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Speaker 1: gained even the slightest insight into the true mysteries of
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Speaker 1: the ancient and accepted rite. The age of the Masonic
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Speaker 1: school is not to be calculated by hundreds or even
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Speaker 1: thousands of years, for it never had any origin in
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Speaker 1: the worlds of form. The world as we see it
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Speaker 1: is merely an experimental laboratory in which man is laboring
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Speaker 1: to build and express greater and more perfect vehicles. Into
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Speaker 1: this laboratory pour thousands and millions of rays descending from
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Speaker 1: the cosmic hierarchies. These mighty globes and orbs which focus
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Speaker 1: their energies upon mankind and mold his destiny do so
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Speaker 1: in an orderly manner, each in its own way and place,
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Speaker 1: and it is the working of these mystic hierarchies in
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Speaker 1: the universe which forms the pattern around which the Masonic
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Speaker 1: school has been built, for the true lodge of the
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Speaker 1: Mason is the universe. Creedless and religionless he stands, a
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Speaker 1: master of all faiths, and those who take up the
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Speaker 1: study of masonry. without realizing the depth, the beauty, and
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Speaker 1: the spiritual power of the thing they are analyzing can
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Speaker 1: never gain anything of permanence from their studies. The age
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Speaker 1: of the mystery schools can be traced by the true
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Speaker 1: student back to the dawn of time, hundreds of millions, yes,
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Speaker 1: billions of years ago, when the temple of the solar
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Speaker 1: man was in the making. That was the first temple
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Speaker 1: of the king, and there in the dawn of time
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Speaker 1: were given and laid down the true mysteries of the
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Speaker 1: ancient lodge, and it was the gods of creation and
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Speaker 1: the spirits of the dawn who first tiled the master's lodge.
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Speaker 1: The initiated brother realizes that his so-called symbols and rituals
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Speaker 1: are merely blinds built by the wise to perpetuate ideas
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Speaker 1: incomprehensible to the average individual. He also realizes that few
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Speaker 1: masons of today know or appreciate the mystic meaning concealed
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Speaker 1: within these rituals. With religious faith we perpetuate the form,
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Speaker 1: worshipping it instead of the life, but those who have
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Speaker 1: not gathered the truth from the crystallized ritual, those who
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Speaker 1: have not liberated the spiritual germ from the shell of
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Speaker 1: empty words, are not masons, regardless of their physical degrees.
20:55
Speaker 1: In the work we are taking up it is not
20:57
Speaker 1: the intention to dwell upon the modern concepts of the
21:00
Speaker 1: craft but to consider masonry as it really is to
21:03
Speaker 1: those who know. a great cosmic organism whose true brothers
21:06
Speaker 1: and children are tied together not by spoken oaths but
21:09
Speaker 1: by lives so lived that they are capable of seeing
21:12
Speaker 1: through the blank wall and opening the window which is
21:14
Speaker 1: now concealed by the rubbish of materiality. When this is
21:18
Speaker 1: done and the mysteries of the universe unfold before the
21:21
Speaker 1: aspiring candidate, then in truth he discovers what masonry really is.
21:25
Speaker 1: its material aspects interest him no longer for he has
21:28
Speaker 1: unmasked the mystery school which he is capable of recognizing
21:31
Speaker 1: only when he himself has spiritually become a member of it.
21:35
Speaker 1: There is no doubt in the minds of those who
21:37
Speaker 1: have examined and studied its ancient lore that masonry, like
21:40
Speaker 1: the universe itself, which is the greatest of all schools,
21:43
Speaker 1: deals with the unfolding of a threefold principle, for all
21:47
Speaker 1: the universe is governed by the same three kings who
21:49
Speaker 1: are called the builders of the Masonic temple. They are
21:52
Speaker 1: not personalities but principles, great intelligent energies and powers which
21:57
Speaker 1: in God, man, and the universe have charge of the
22:00
Speaker 1: molding of cosmic substance into the habitation of the living king,
22:03
Speaker 1: the temple built through millions of years of first unconscious
22:07
Speaker 1: and then conscious effort on the part of every individual
22:09
Speaker 1: who is expressing in his daily life the creative principles
22:12
Speaker 1: of the three kings. The true brother of the ancient
22:16
Speaker 1: craft realized that the completion of the temple he was
22:18
Speaker 1: building to the king of the universe was a duty
22:21
Speaker 1: or rather a privilege which he owed to his god,
22:23
Speaker 1: to his brother, and to himself. He knew that certain
22:27
Speaker 1: steps must be taken and that his temple must be
22:29
Speaker 1: built according to plan, but today it seems that the
22:32
Speaker 1: plan is lost, for in the majority of cases masonry
22:35
Speaker 1: is no longer operative but is merely a speculative idea
22:39
Speaker 1: and must remain so until each brother, reading the mystery
22:42
Speaker 1: of his symbols and pondering over the beautiful allegories unfolded
22:45
Speaker 1: in his ritual, realizes that he himself contains the keys
22:49
Speaker 1: and the plans so long lost to his craft and
22:51
Speaker 1: that if he would ever learn masonry he must unlock
22:55
Speaker 1: its doors with the key filed from the base metals
22:57
Speaker 1: of his own being. True masonry is esoteric, it is
23:01
Speaker 1: not a thing of this world, all that we have
23:04
Speaker 1: here is a link, a doorway, through which the student
23:06
Speaker 1: may pass into the unknown. It has nothing to do
23:10
Speaker 1: with things of form save that it realizes that form
23:13
Speaker 1: is molded by and manifests the life it contains. and
23:16
Speaker 1: the student is seeking to so mold his life that
23:18
Speaker 1: the form will glorify the God within whose temple he
23:21
Speaker 1: is slowly building as he awakens one after another the
23:24
Speaker 1: workmen within himself and sets them to the carrying out
23:26
Speaker 1: of the plan which has been given him out of heaven.
23:30
Speaker 1: So far as it is possible to discover, ancient masonry
23:33
Speaker 1: and the beautiful cosmic allegories that it teaches, perpetuated through
23:37
Speaker 1: hundreds of lodges and ancient mysteries, forms the oldest of
23:40
Speaker 1: the mystery schools. and its preservation through the ages has
23:43
Speaker 1: not depended upon itself as an exoteric body of partly
23:47
Speaker 1: evolved individuals but upon a concealed brotherhood, the esoteric side
23:51
Speaker 1: of masonry. All of the great mystery schools have hierarchies
23:55
Speaker 1: upon the spiritual planes of nature which are expressing themselves
23:58
Speaker 1: in this world through creeds and organisms. The true student
24:02
Speaker 1: is seeking to lift himself from the exoteric body upward
24:05
Speaker 1: spiritually until he joins the esoteric group which, without a
24:09
Speaker 1: lodge on the physical plane of nature, is still greater
24:12
Speaker 1: by far than all the lodges of which it is
24:14
Speaker 1: the central fire. These spiritual instructors of humanity are forced
24:18
Speaker 1: to labor in the concrete world with things comprehensible to
24:21
Speaker 1: the concrete mind, and there comes through to man the
24:24
Speaker 1: meaning of the allegories and symbols which surround his exoteric
24:27
Speaker 1: work as soon as he prepares himself to receive them.
24:31
Speaker 1: The true mason realizes that the work of the mystery
24:33
Speaker 1: schools in the world is of an inclusive rather than
24:36
Speaker 1: an exclusive nature. and that the only lodge which is
24:39
Speaker 1: broad enough to express his ideals is the one whose
24:42
Speaker 1: dome is the heavens, whose pillars are the corners of creation,
24:45
Speaker 1: whose checkerboard floor is composed of the crossing currents of
24:48
Speaker 1: human emotion, and whose altar is the human heart. Creeds
24:52
Speaker 1: cannot bind the true seeker for truth. The mason, realizing
24:57
Speaker 1: the unity of all truth, also realizes that the hierarchies
25:01
Speaker 1: laboring with him have given him in his varying degrees
25:03
Speaker 1: the mystic, spiritual rituals of all the mystery schools in
25:06
Speaker 1: the world, and if he would fill his place in
25:08
Speaker 1: the plan he must not enter this sacred study for
25:11
Speaker 1: what he can get out of it but that he
25:12
Speaker 1: may learn how better to put more in. Masonry has
25:16
Speaker 1: concealed within it the mystery of creation, the answer to
25:19
Speaker 1: the problem of existence, and the path which the student
25:22
Speaker 1: must walk in order to join those who are really
25:24
Speaker 1: the living powers behind the thrones of modern national and
25:27
Speaker 1: international affairs. The true student realizes most of all that
25:32
Speaker 1: the taking of degrees does not make a man a mason,
25:34
Speaker 1: a mason is not appointed, he is evolved, and he
25:37
Speaker 1: must realize that the position he holds in the exoteric
25:40
Speaker 1: lodge means nothing compared to his position in the spiritual
25:43
Speaker 1: lodge of life. He must forever cast out of his
25:47
Speaker 1: being the idea that he can be told or instructed
25:49
Speaker 1: in the sacred mysteries or that his being a member
25:52
Speaker 1: of an organization improves him in any way, he must
25:55
Speaker 1: realize that his duty is to build and evolve the
25:57
Speaker 1: sacred teaching in his own being, that nothing but his
26:00
Speaker 1: own purified being can unlock the door to the sealed
26:03
Speaker 1: libraries of human consciousness. and that his Masonic rites must
26:07
Speaker 1: eternally be speculative until he makes them operative by living
26:10
Speaker 1: the life of the mystic. Mason. His karmic responsibilities increase
26:16
Speaker 1: with his opportunities. Those who are surrounded with knowledge and
26:20
Speaker 1: opportunity for self-improvement and make nothing of these opportunities are
26:23
Speaker 1: the lazy workmen who will be spiritually if not physically
26:26
Speaker 1: cast out of the temple of the king. The Masonic
26:30
Speaker 1: order is not a social organization. but truly is composed
26:33
Speaker 1: of those who have banded themselves together to learn and
26:36
Speaker 1: to apply the principles of mysticism and the occult rites.
26:40
Speaker 1: They are or should be philosophers, sages, and sober-minded individuals
26:44
Speaker 1: who have dedicated themselves upon the living altar of the
26:47
Speaker 1: gods and who have vowed by all that they hold
26:49
Speaker 1: dear that the world shall be better, wiser, and happier
26:52
Speaker 1: because they have lived. Those who enter these mystic rites
26:56
Speaker 1: and pass between the pillars seeking either prestige or commercial
26:59
Speaker 1: advantage are blasphemers, and while in this world we may
27:02
Speaker 1: count them as successful they are the cosmic failures who
27:05
Speaker 1: have barred themselves out from the true right whose keynote
27:08
Speaker 1: is unselfishness and whose workers have renounced the things of earth.
27:12
Speaker 1: In ancient times many years of preparation were required before
27:16
Speaker 1: the neophyte was permitted to enter the temple of the mysteries.
27:19
Speaker 1: In this way those who were shallow, the curiosity seekers,
27:23
Speaker 1: the faint of heart, and those unable to withstand the
27:26
Speaker 1: temptations of life were not chosen. but automatically withdrew themselves
27:30
Speaker 1: from a price which was greater than they would pay,
27:32
Speaker 1: and he who did pass between the pillars entered the
27:35
Speaker 1: temple realizing his sublime opportunity, his divine obligation, and the
27:39
Speaker 1: mystic privilege which he had earned for himself through years
27:42
Speaker 1: of special preparation. Only those are truly masons who enter
27:46
Speaker 1: their temple in reverence, who are seeking not the passing
27:49
Speaker 1: things of life but the treasures which are eternal. whose
27:52
Speaker 1: one desire in life is to know the true mystery
27:54
Speaker 1: of the craft that they may join as honest workmen
27:57
Speaker 1: those who have gone before as builders of the universal temple.
28:01
Speaker 1: The Masonic ritual is not a ceremony, but a life
28:04
Speaker 1: to be lived. Those who are really Masons are those
28:07
Speaker 1: who have dedicated their lives and their souls on the
28:10
Speaker 1: altar of the living flame and who are glad to
28:12
Speaker 1: labor in any way in the construction of the one
28:15
Speaker 1: universal building of which they are the workmen and their
28:17
Speaker 1: God the living architect. When we have masons like this
28:21
Speaker 1: the craft will again be operative, the flaming triangle will
28:24
Speaker 1: shine forth with the greater luster, the dead builder will
28:27
Speaker 1: rise from his tomb, and the lost word so long
28:30
Speaker 1: concealed from the profane will blaze forth again with the
28:32
Speaker 1: power that makes all things new. In the pages that
28:36
Speaker 1: follow there has been set down a number of thoughts
28:38
Speaker 1: for the study and consideration of temple builders, craftsmen and
28:42
Speaker 1: artisan alike. They are the keys which if read will
28:45
Speaker 1: leave the student still in ignorance but if lived will
28:48
Speaker 1: change the speculative masonry of today into the operative masonry
28:51
Speaker 1: of tomorrow, when each builder, realizing his own place, will
28:55
Speaker 1: see things which he never saw before, not because they
28:58
Speaker 1: were not there but because he was blind. And there
29:01
Speaker 1: are none so blind as those who will not see.
29:04
Speaker 1: The Emerald Tablet of Hermes. Tabula Smaragdina. The Emerald Tablet,
29:11
Speaker 1: the most ancient monument of the Chaldeans concerning the lapis philosophoram.
29:16
Speaker 1: The emerald tablet of Hermes, illustrated on the opposite page,
29:20
Speaker 1: introduces us to King Hiram, the hero of the Masonic legend.
29:24
Speaker 1: The name Hiram is taken from the Chaldi Chiram. The
29:28
Speaker 1: first two large words mean the secret work. The second
29:32
Speaker 1: line in large letters, Chiram telet mekesat, means Chiram, the
29:37
Speaker 1: universal agent, one in essence, but three in aspect. Translated
29:42
Speaker 1: the body of the tablet reads as follows. It is
29:45
Speaker 1: true and no lie, certain and to be depended upon,
29:49
Speaker 1: that the superior agrees with the inferior, and the inferior
29:52
Speaker 1: with the superior, to effect that one truly wonderful work.
29:57
Speaker 1: As all things owe their existence to the will of
29:59
Speaker 1: the only one, so all things owe their origin to
30:02
Speaker 1: only one thing, the most hidden, by the arrangement of
30:05
Speaker 1: the only God. The father of that only one thing
30:08
Speaker 1: is the sun, its mother is the moon, the wind
30:11
Speaker 1: carries it in its wings, but its nurse is a
30:14
Speaker 1: spiritual earth. That only one thing is the father of
30:18
Speaker 1: all things in the universe. Its power is perfect after
30:22
Speaker 1: it has been united to a spiritual earth. Separate that
30:26
Speaker 1: spiritual earth from the dense or crude earth by means
30:29
Speaker 1: of a gentle heat, with much attention. In great measure
30:33
Speaker 1: it ascends from earth up into heaven, and descends again, newborn,
30:37
Speaker 1: on the earth, and the superior and the inferior are
30:39
Speaker 1: increased in power. By this thou wilt partake of the
30:43
Speaker 1: honors of the whole earth and darkness shall fly from thee.
30:47
Speaker 1: This is the strength of all powers, with this thou
30:49
Speaker 1: wilt be able to overcome all things and to transmute
30:52
Speaker 1: all that is fine and all that is coarse. In
30:55
Speaker 1: this manner the world was created, but the arrangements that
30:59
Speaker 1: follow this road are hidden. For this reason I am
31:02
Speaker 1: called Chiram Teletmekesat, one in essence, but three in aspect.
31:07
Speaker 1: In this trinity is hidden the wisdom of the whole world.
31:11
Speaker 1: It is ended now what I have said concerning the
31:13
Speaker 1: effect of the sun. Finest of the Tabula Smeridina In
31:18
Speaker 1: a rare, unpublished old manuscript dealing with early Masonic and
31:22
Speaker 1: Hermetic mysteries, we find the following information concerning the mysterious
31:26
Speaker 1: universal agent referred to as Chiram. The sense of this
31:31
Speaker 1: emerald tablet can sufficiently convince us that the author was
31:34
Speaker 1: well acquainted with the secret operations of nature and with
31:37
Speaker 1: the secret work of the philosophers, alchemists and hermetic philosophers.
31:42
Speaker 1: He likewise well knew and believed in the true God.
31:46
Speaker 1: It has been believed since several ages that Cham, one
31:49
Speaker 1: of the sons of Noah, is the author of this
31:51
Speaker 1: monument of antiquity. A very ancient author, whose name is
31:56
Speaker 1: not known, who lived several centuries before Christ, mentions this tablet,
32:00
Speaker 1: and says that he had seen it in Egypt, at
32:02
Speaker 1: the court, that it was a precious stone, an emerald,
32:05
Speaker 1: whereon these characters were represented in bas relief, not engraved.
32:11
Speaker 1: He states that it was in his time esteemed over
32:13
Speaker 1: two thousand years old, and that the matter of this
32:15
Speaker 1: emerald had once been in a fluid state like melted glass.
32:19
Speaker 1: and had been cast in a mold, and that to
32:21
Speaker 1: this flux the artist had given the hardness of a
32:23
Speaker 1: natural and genuine emerald, by art. Alchemical Art The Canaanites
32:29
Speaker 1: were called the Phoenicians by the Greeks, who have told
32:32
Speaker 1: us that they had Hermes for one of their kings.
32:35
Speaker 1: There is a great relation between Chiram and Hermes. Chiram
32:39
Speaker 1: is a word composed out of three words, denoting the
32:42
Speaker 1: universal spirit, the essence whereof the whole creation does consist,
32:47
Speaker 1: and the object of Chaldean Egyptian and genuine natural philosophy,
32:51
Speaker 1: according to its inward principles or properties. The three Hebrew
32:55
Speaker 1: words Chama, Rauch, and Majum mean respectively fire, air, and water,
33:00
Speaker 1: while their initial consonants, C-H-R-M, give us Chiram, that invisible
33:06
Speaker 1: essence which is the father of earth, fire, air, and water, because,
33:10
Speaker 1: although immaterial in its own invisible nature, as the unmoved
33:14
Speaker 1: and electrical fire, when moved it becomes light and visible,
33:17
Speaker 1: and when collected and agitated, becomes heat and visible and
33:21
Speaker 1: tangible fire, and when it associates with humidity it becomes material.
33:26
Speaker 1: The word Chiram has been metamorphosed into Hermes and also
33:29
Speaker 1: into Hermon, and the translators of the Bible have made
33:32
Speaker 1: Chiram by changing Chet into He, both of these Hebrew
33:36
Speaker 1: word signs being very similar. In the old word Hermaphrodite,
33:40
Speaker 1: a word invented by the philosophers, we find Hermes changed
33:44
Speaker 1: to Herm, signifying Chiram, or the universal agent, and Aphrodite,
33:48
Speaker 1: the passive principle of humidity, who is also called Venus,
33:52
Speaker 1: and is said to have been produced and generated by
33:54
Speaker 1: the sea. We also read that Chiram, or the universal agent,
33:59
Speaker 1: assisted King Solomon to build the temple, no doubt as
34:02
Speaker 1: Solomon possessed wisdom, he understood what to do with the
34:05
Speaker 1: corporealized universal agent. The Talmud of the Jews says that
34:10
Speaker 1: King Solomon built the temple by the assistance of Shamar.
34:14
Speaker 1: Now this word signifies the sun, as the large machine
34:17
Speaker 1: which is perpetually collecting the omnipresent, surrounding, electrical fire, or
34:22
Speaker 1: spiritus mundi, and sends it constantly to us in the planets,
34:26
Speaker 1: in a visible manner called light. This electrical flame, corporealized
34:31
Speaker 1: and regenerated into the stone of the philosophers, enabled King
34:34
Speaker 1: Solomon to produce the immense quantities of gold and silver
34:38
Speaker 1: used to build and decorate his temple. These ancient paragraphs
34:42
Speaker 1: from an ancient philosopher may assist the Masonic student of
34:45
Speaker 1: today to realize the tremendous and undreamed-of store of knowledge
34:49
Speaker 1: that lies behind the allegory, which he often hears but
34:52
Speaker 1: seldom analyzes. Hiram, the universal agent, might be translated Vita,
34:57
Speaker 1: the power eternally building and unfolding the bodies of man.
35:02
Speaker 1: The use and abuse of energy is the key to
35:04
Speaker 1: the Masonic legend, in fact, it is the key to
35:07
Speaker 1: all things in nature. And Hiram, as the triple energy,
35:12
Speaker 1: one in source but three in aspect, can almost be
35:15
Speaker 1: called ether, the unknown hypothetical element, which carries the impulses
35:19
Speaker 1: of the gods through the macrocosmic nervous system of the infinite. Hermes,
35:24
Speaker 1: or Mercury, was the messenger of the gods, and ether
35:27
Speaker 1: carries impulse upon its wings. The solving of the mystery
35:31
Speaker 1: of ether, or, if you prefer to call it such,
35:34
Speaker 1: vibrant space, is the great problem of masonry. This ether,
35:39
Speaker 1: as a hypothetical medium, brings energy to the three bodies
35:42
Speaker 1: of thought, emotion, and action, and in this way Chiram,
35:47
Speaker 1: the one in essence, becomes three in aspect, mental, emotional,
35:51
Speaker 1: and vital. The work which follows is an effort to
35:55
Speaker 1: bring to light other forgotten and neglected elements of the
35:57
Speaker 1: Masonic rites, and to emphasize the spirit of Chiram as
36:01
Speaker 1: the universal agent. Masonry is essentially mysterious, ritualistic, and ceremonial,
36:08
Speaker 1: but these things represent, in concrete form, only abstract truth.
36:13
Speaker 1: And earth, or substance, smothering energy, or vitality, is the
36:17
Speaker 1: mystery behind the murder of the builder. Text. Remember now
36:22
Speaker 1: thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the
36:25
Speaker 1: evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when
36:28
Speaker 1: thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them, while
36:31
Speaker 1: the sun, or the moon, or the stars be not darkened,
36:35
Speaker 1: nor the clouds return after the rain. in the day
36:38
Speaker 1: when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the
36:40
Speaker 1: strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease, because
36:44
Speaker 1: they are few, and those that look out of the
36:46
Speaker 1: windows be darkened, and the door shall be shut in
36:48
Speaker 1: the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low,
36:52
Speaker 1: and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird,
36:55
Speaker 1: and all the daughters of music shall be brought low.
36:58
Speaker 1: Also when they shall be afraid of that which is
37:00
Speaker 1: high and fear shall be in the way, and the
37:02
Speaker 1: almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshoppers shall be a burden,
37:06
Speaker 1: and desire shall fail, because man goeth to his long home,
37:10
Speaker 1: and the mourners go about the streets, or ever the
37:12
Speaker 1: silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken
37:15
Speaker 1: at the fountain, or the wheel at the cistern. Then
37:18
Speaker 1: shall the dust return to the earth as it was,
37:21
Speaker 1: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
37:25
Speaker 1: Ecclesiastes 12 verses 1-7 Temple Builders You are the temple
37:31
Speaker 1: builders of the future. With your hands must be raised
37:35
Speaker 1: the domes and spires of a coming civilization. Upon the
37:39
Speaker 1: foundation you have laid, tomorrow shall build a far more
37:42
Speaker 1: noble edifice. Builders of the temple of character wherein should
37:46
Speaker 1: dwell an enlightened spirit, truer of the rock of relationship,
37:50
Speaker 1: molder of those vessels created to contain the oil of life,
37:53
Speaker 1: up and to the tasks appointed. Never before in the
37:56
Speaker 1: history of men have you had the opportunity that now
37:59
Speaker 1: confronts you. The world waits, waits for the illuminated one
38:03
Speaker 1: who shall come from between the pillars of the portico.
38:07
Speaker 1: Hoodwinked and bound humanity seeks entrance to the temple of wisdom.
38:11
Speaker 1: Fling wide the gate, and let the worthy enter. Fling
38:15
Speaker 1: wide the gate, and let the light shine forth, for
38:18
Speaker 1: that light is the life of men. Hasten to complete
38:21
Speaker 1: the dwelling of the Lord. The Spirit of God may
38:25
Speaker 1: come and dwell among His people, sanctified and ordained according
38:28
Speaker 1: to His law. Prologue, In the Fields of Chaos The
38:33
Speaker 1: first flush of awakening life thrilled and gleamed through the
38:36
Speaker 1: darkness of cosmic night, turned the darkness of negation into
38:40
Speaker 1: the dim twilight of unfolding being, and cast its faint
38:43
Speaker 1: glimmering rays over a strange form which stood alone on
38:46
Speaker 1: the cloudy banks of swirling substances. Rogued in shimmery blue
38:50
Speaker 1: vapor of mystery, his head encircled by a golden crown
38:53
Speaker 1: of flaming light, a mystic stranger stood there, his form
38:57
Speaker 1: divine shrouded in the folds of chaos whose darkness fled
39:00
Speaker 1: before the rays that poured like streams of living fire
39:03
Speaker 1: from his gigantic, misty form silhouetted in faint relief against
39:07
Speaker 1: the shadowed gateways of eternity. From some cosmos greater far
39:11
Speaker 1: than ours this mystic visitor came, answering the call of divinity.
39:16
Speaker 1: From star to star he strode and from world to
39:18
Speaker 1: universe he was known and yet concealed forever by the
39:21
Speaker 1: filmy garments of chaotic night. Suddenly the clouds broke and
39:25
Speaker 1: a wondrous light descended from somewhere among the seething waves
39:28
Speaker 1: of force. it bathed this lonely form in a radiant celestial,
39:32
Speaker 1: each sparkling crystal of mist gleaming like a diamond bathed
39:35
Speaker 1: in the living fire of the divine. Two great forms
39:39
Speaker 1: appeared in the gleaming flame of cosmic light bordered by
39:42
Speaker 1: the dark clouds of not being in a mighty voice
39:44
Speaker 1: thrilled through eternity, each sparkling atom dancing, swaying and swirling
39:48
Speaker 1: with the power of the Creator's word while the great,
39:51
Speaker 1: blue-robed figure bowed in awe before the footstool of his
39:54
Speaker 1: Maker and a great hand reached down from heaven, its
39:57
Speaker 1: fingers extended in benediction. Of all creation I have chosen
40:01
Speaker 1: you and upon you my seal is placed, you are
40:04
Speaker 1: the chosen instrument of my hand and I choose you
40:06
Speaker 1: to be the builder of my temple, you shall raise
40:08
Speaker 1: its pillars and tile its floor, you shall ornament it
40:11
Speaker 1: with metals and with jewels and you shall be the
40:13
Speaker 1: master of my workmen. into your hands I place the
40:16
Speaker 1: plans and here on the tracing board of living substance
40:19
Speaker 1: I impress the plan you are to follow, tracing its
40:22
Speaker 1: every letter and angle in the fiery lines of my
40:24
Speaker 1: moving finger. Hiram Abiff, chosen builder of your father's house,
40:29
Speaker 1: up and to your work, yonder are the fleecy clouds,
40:33
Speaker 1: the grey mist of dawn, the gleams of heavenly light,
40:36
Speaker 1: and the darkness of the sleep of creation. From these
40:39
Speaker 1: shall you build, without the sound of hammers for the
40:42
Speaker 1: voice of workmen, the temple of your God, eternal in
40:45
Speaker 1: the heavens. The swirling, ceaseless motion of negation you shall
40:49
Speaker 1: chain to grind your stones. Among these spirits of not-being
40:53
Speaker 1: shall you slack your lime and lay your footings, for
40:56
Speaker 1: I have watched you through the years of your youth,
40:58
Speaker 1: I have guided you through the days of your manhood.
41:01
Speaker 1: I have weighed you in the balance and you have
41:03
Speaker 1: not been found wanting. Therefore, to you give I the
41:07
Speaker 1: glory of work, and here ordain you as the builder
41:09
Speaker 1: of my house. Unto you I give the word of
41:12
Speaker 1: the Master Builder, Unto you I give the tools of
41:15
Speaker 1: the craft, unto you I give the power that has
41:17
Speaker 1: been vested in me, be faithful unto these things, bring
41:21
Speaker 1: them back when you have finished, and I will give
41:23
Speaker 1: you the name known to God alone. So mote it be.
41:27
Speaker 1: The great light died out of the heavens, the streaming
41:30
Speaker 1: fingers of living light vanished through the misty, lonely twilight,
41:34
Speaker 1: and again covered not being with its sable mantle. Hiram
41:38
Speaker 1: again stood alone, gazing out into the endless ocean of oblivion,
41:42
Speaker 1: nothing but swirling, seething matter as far as I could see. Then, rising,
41:48
Speaker 1: he straightened his shoulders and taking the trestle board in
41:50
Speaker 1: his hands and clasping to his heart the word of
41:53
Speaker 1: the Master which sparkled and gleamed in the darkness of
41:55
Speaker 1: the night, Hiram Abiff slowly walked out over the clouds
41:59
Speaker 1: and vanished through the mist which swallowed up even the
42:01
Speaker 1: glowing spark of the Master's word. How may man measure
42:05
Speaker 1: timeless eternity? Ages passed, and the lonely builder labored with
42:10
Speaker 1: his plan with only love and humility in his heart,
42:12
Speaker 1: his hand molding the darkness which he blessed while his
42:15
Speaker 1: eyes were raised above where the great light had shone
42:18
Speaker 1: down from heaven. In the divine solitude he labored, no
42:22
Speaker 1: voice to cheer, no spirit to condemn, alone in the
42:25
Speaker 1: boundless all with the great chill of the morning mist
42:27
Speaker 1: upon his brow, but his heart still warm with the
42:30
Speaker 1: light of the Master's word. It seemed a hopeless battle,
42:34
Speaker 1: no single pair of hands could mold that darkness, no
42:37
Speaker 1: single heart, no matter how true, could be great enough
42:40
Speaker 1: to send the pulsing cosmic love into the cold mist
42:43
Speaker 1: of oblivion. The darkness settled ever closer about him, the
42:47
Speaker 1: misty fingers of negation twined around his being, and still
42:51
Speaker 1: with divine trust the builder labored, with divine hope he
42:54
Speaker 1: laid his footings, and from the boundless clay he made
42:56
Speaker 1: the molds to cast his sacred ornaments. Slowly the building
43:00
Speaker 1: grew and dim forms molded by the master's hand took
43:04
Speaker 1: shape about him. Three great, soulless creatures had the master fashioned, great,
43:09
Speaker 1: towering beings which appeared in half darkness like grim specters.
43:14
Speaker 1: They were three builders he had blessed and now in
43:16
Speaker 1: stately file they passed before him, and Hiram held out
43:20
Speaker 1: his arms to his creation, saying, Brothers, I have built
43:23
Speaker 1: you for your works, I have formed you to labor
43:25
Speaker 1: with me in the building of the master's house, you
43:28
Speaker 1: are the children of my being, I have labored with you,
43:31
Speaker 1: now labor with me for the glory of our God.
43:34
Speaker 1: But the specters laughed and turned upon their maker, and
43:37
Speaker 1: striking him with his own tools given to him by
43:39
Speaker 1: God out of heaven, they left their grand master dying
43:42
Speaker 1: in the midst of his labors, broken and crushed by
43:45
Speaker 1: the threefold powers of cosmic night. As he lay bleeding
43:49
Speaker 1: at the feet of his handiwork the martyr builder raised
43:52
Speaker 1: his eyes to the seething clouds, and his face was
43:55
Speaker 1: sweet with divine love and cosmic understanding as he prayed
43:58
Speaker 1: unto the master who had sent him forth. O master
44:01
Speaker 1: of workmen, great architect of the universe, my labors are
44:05
Speaker 1: not finished. Why must they always remain undone? I have
44:09
Speaker 1: not completed the thing for which thou hast sent me
44:12
Speaker 1: into being, for my very creations have turned against me
44:15
Speaker 1: and the tools thou gavest me have destroyed me. The
44:18
Speaker 1: children that I formed in love, in ignorance have murdered me. Here, Father,
44:24
Speaker 1: is the word thou gavest me now read with my
44:26
Speaker 1: own blood. Zero, Master, I return it to thee for
44:30
Speaker 1: I have kept it sacred in my heart. Here are
44:33
Speaker 1: the tools, the tracing board. and the vessels I have wrought.
44:37
Speaker 1: Around me stand the ruins of my temple which I
44:40
Speaker 1: must leave. Unto thee, O God, the divine knower of
44:44
Speaker 1: all things, I return them all, realizing that in thy
44:47
Speaker 1: good time lies the fulfillment of all things. Thou, O God,
44:52
Speaker 1: knowest our down-sitting and our uprising and thou understandeth our
44:55
Speaker 1: thoughts afar off. In thy name, Father, I have labored
45:00
Speaker 1: and in thy cause I die, a faithful builder. The
45:03
Speaker 1: master fell back, his upturned face sweet in the last
45:06
Speaker 1: repose of death, and the light rays no longer pouring
45:09
Speaker 1: from him. The grey clouds gathered closer as though to
45:13
Speaker 1: form a winding sheet around the body of their murdered master.
45:17
Speaker 1: Suddenly the heavens opened again and a great glow descended
45:20
Speaker 1: as a sparkling ray and, surrounding the form of Hiram,
45:23
Speaker 1: bathed it in a light celestial, and again the voice
45:26
Speaker 1: spoke from the heavens above where the great king sat
45:29
Speaker 1: above the clouds of creation, He is not dead, he
45:32
Speaker 1: is asleep. Who shall awaken him? His labors are not done,
45:37
Speaker 1: and in death he guards the sacred relics more closely
45:40
Speaker 1: than ever, for the word and the tracing board are his,
45:43
Speaker 1: I have given them to him. But he must remain
45:46
Speaker 1: asleep until these three who have slain him shall bring
45:49
Speaker 1: him back to life, for every wrong must be righted,
45:52
Speaker 1: and the slayers of my house, the destroyers of my temple,
45:55
Speaker 1: must labor in the place of their builder until they
45:57
Speaker 1: raise their master from the dead. the three murderers fell
46:01
Speaker 1: on their knees and raised their hands to heaven as
46:04
Speaker 1: though to ward off the light which unearthed their crime.
46:07
Speaker 1: O God, great is our sin, for we have slain
46:10
Speaker 1: our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff. Just is thy punishment and
46:14
Speaker 1: as we have slain him we now dedicate our lives
46:17
Speaker 1: to his resurrection. The first was our human weakness, the
46:21
Speaker 1: second our sacred duty. Be it so, answered the voice
46:25
Speaker 1: from heaven. The great light vanished and the clouds of
46:28
Speaker 1: darkness and mist concealed the body of the murdered master.
46:32
Speaker 1: It was swallowed up in the darkness which, swirling and swaying,
46:36
Speaker 1: left no mark, no gravestone, on the place where the
46:39
Speaker 1: builder had lain. O God, cried the three murderers, where
46:44
Speaker 1: shall we find our master now? The hand reached down
46:47
Speaker 1: again from the great unseen and a tiny lamp was
46:50
Speaker 1: handed them whose oil flame burned silently and clearly in
46:53
Speaker 1: the darkness. By this light which I have given ye
46:56
Speaker 1: shall ye seek him whom ye have slain. The three
47:00
Speaker 1: forms surrounded the light and bowed in prayer and thanksgiving
47:03
Speaker 1: for this solitary gleam which was to light the darkness
47:06
Speaker 1: of their way. From somewhere above in the regions of
47:09
Speaker 1: not being the great voice spoke, a thundering voice that
47:12
Speaker 1: filled chaos with its sound, he cometh forth as a
47:15
Speaker 1: flower and is cut down, he fleeth also as a
47:18
Speaker 1: shadow and continueth not. as the waters fail from the
47:21
Speaker 1: sea and the phlebot decayeth and dryeth up, so man
47:24
Speaker 1: leth down and riseth not again. Yet I have compassion
47:28
Speaker 1: upon the children of my creation, I administer unto them
47:31
Speaker 1: in time of trouble and save them with an everlasting salvation.
47:36
Speaker 1: Seek ye where the broken twig lies and where the
47:38
Speaker 1: dead stick molds away, where the clouds float together and
47:41
Speaker 1: where the stones rest by the hillside, for all these
47:44
Speaker 1: mark the grave of Hiram who has carried my will
47:46
Speaker 1: with him to the tomb. This eternal quest is yours
47:50
Speaker 1: until ye have found your builder, until the cup giveth
47:52
Speaker 1: up its secret, until the grave giveth up its ghosts.
47:56
Speaker 1: I shall speak to ye no more until ye have
47:58
Speaker 1: found and raised my beloved son, and have listened to
48:01
Speaker 1: the words of my messenger and with him as your
48:03
Speaker 1: guide have finished the temple which I shall then inhabit. Amen.
48:08
Speaker 1: The grey dawn still lay asleep in the arms of darkness.
48:13
Speaker 1: Out through the great mystery of not being all was silence, unknowable.
48:17
Speaker 1: Through the misty dawn, like strange phantoms of a dream,
48:21
Speaker 1: three figures wandered over the great unknown carrying in their
48:24
Speaker 1: hands a tiny light, the lamp given to them by
48:27
Speaker 1: their builder's father. They wandered eternally in search of a
48:30
Speaker 1: silent grave, over stick and stone and cloud and star
48:34
Speaker 1: they wandered, stopping again and again to explore the depths
48:37
Speaker 1: of some mystic recess, praying for liberation from their endless search,
48:41
Speaker 1: yet bound by vows eternal to raise the builder they
48:44
Speaker 1: had slain, whose grave was marked by the broken twig.
48:47
Speaker 1: and whose body was laid away in the white winding
48:50
Speaker 1: sheet of death somewhere over the brow of the eternal hill.
48:54
Speaker 1: Motive What motive leads the Masonic candidate out of the
48:58
Speaker 1: world and up the winding stairway to the light? He
49:01
Speaker 1: alone can truly know, for in his heart is hidden
49:04
Speaker 1: the motive of his works. Is he seeking the light
49:07
Speaker 1: of the East? Is he seeking wisdom eternal? Does he
49:11
Speaker 1: bring his life and offer it upon the altar of
49:14
Speaker 1: the Most High? Of all things, motive is most important.
49:19
Speaker 1: Though we fail again and again, if our motive be true,
49:22
Speaker 1: we are victorious. Though time after time we succeed, if
49:26
Speaker 1: our motive be unworthy, we have failed. Enter the temple
49:30
Speaker 1: in reverence, for it is in truth the dwelling place
49:33
Speaker 1: of a great spirit, the spirit of masonry. Masonry is
49:37
Speaker 1: an ordainer of kings. Its hand has moved the destinies
49:41
Speaker 1: of worlds, and the perfect fruitage of its molding is
49:44
Speaker 1: an honest man. What nobler thing can be accomplished than
49:48
Speaker 1: the illumination of ignorance? What greater task is there than
49:52
Speaker 1: the joyous labor of service? And what nobler man can
49:56
Speaker 1: there be than that mason who serves his lights, and
49:58
Speaker 1: is himself a light unto his fellow men? Chapter 1
50:02
Speaker 1: The Candidate There comes a time in the individual growth
50:06
Speaker 1: of every living thing when it realizes with dawning consciousness
50:09
Speaker 1: that it is a prisoner. While apparently free to move
50:13
Speaker 1: and have its being, the struggling life cognizes through ever
50:16
Speaker 1: greater vehicles its own limitation. It is at this point
50:20
Speaker 1: that man cries out with ever greater power to be
50:22
Speaker 1: liberated from the binding ties which, though invisible to mortal eyes,
50:27
Speaker 1: still chain him with bonds far more terrible than those
50:30
Speaker 1: of a physical prison. Many have read the story of
50:33
Speaker 1: the prisoner of Shiloah who as the years rolled by
50:36
Speaker 1: paced back and forth in the narrow confines of his
50:38
Speaker 1: prison cell, while the blue waters rolled ceaselessly above his
50:42
Speaker 1: head and the only sound that broke the stillness of
50:44
Speaker 1: his eternal night was the constant swishing and lapping of
50:47
Speaker 1: the waves. We pity the prisoner in his physical tomb
50:51
Speaker 1: and as we see stone walls surrounding man we are
50:53
Speaker 1: sad at heart for we know how life loves liberty.
50:57
Speaker 1: But there is one prisoner whose plight is far worse
50:59
Speaker 1: than that of those of earth. He has not even
51:02
Speaker 1: the narrow confines of a prison cell around him, he
51:05
Speaker 1: cannot pace to and fro to wear into ruts by
51:08
Speaker 1: his ceaseless striding the cobblestones of a dungeon floor. That
51:12
Speaker 1: eternal prisoner is life, prisoned within the dark stone walls
51:15
Speaker 1: of matter with not a single ray to brighten the
51:18
Speaker 1: blackness of his fate, he fights eternally for life, praying
51:21
Speaker 1: in the dark confines of gloomy walls for light and opportunity.
51:26
Speaker 1: This is the eternal prisoner who through the ceaseless ages
51:28
Speaker 1: of cosmic unfoldment, through forms unnumbered and species now unknown,
51:33
Speaker 1: strives eternally to liberate himself and to gain self-conscious expression,
51:37
Speaker 1: the birthright of every created thing. He awaits the day
51:41
Speaker 1: when standing upon the rocks that now form his shapeless tomb,
51:44
Speaker 1: he may raise his arms to heaven, bathed in the
51:47
Speaker 1: sunlight of spiritual freedom, free to join the sparkling atoms
51:50
Speaker 1: and dancing light beings released from the bonds of prison
51:53
Speaker 1: wall and tomb. Around life, that wondrous germ in the
51:57
Speaker 1: heart of every living thing, that sacred prisoner in his
52:00
Speaker 1: gloomy cell, that master builder laid away in the grave
52:03
Speaker 1: of matter, has been built the wondrous legend of the
52:06
Speaker 1: Holy Sepulchre. The mystic philosophers of the ages, under allegories unnumbered,
52:12
Speaker 1: have perpetuated this wonderful story, and among the craft masons
52:15
Speaker 1: it forms the mystic ritual of Hiram, the master builder,
52:19
Speaker 1: murdered in his temple by the very builders who should
52:21
Speaker 1: have served him as he labored to perfect the dwelling
52:23
Speaker 1: place of his God. Matter is the tomb. it is
52:27
Speaker 1: the dead wall of substances whose lives have not as
52:30
Speaker 1: yet been awakened into the pulsating energies of spirit. It
52:33
Speaker 1: exists in many degrees and forms, not only in the
52:36
Speaker 1: chemical elements which form the solids of our universe, but
52:40
Speaker 1: in finer and more subtle substances. These, though expressing through
52:44
Speaker 1: emotion and thought, are still beings of the world of form.
52:48
Speaker 1: These substances form the great cross of matter which opposes
52:52
Speaker 1: the growth of all things and by opposition makes all
52:54
Speaker 1: growth possible. It is the great cross of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen,
53:00
Speaker 1: and carbon upon which even the life germ in protoplasm
53:03
Speaker 1: is crucified and suspended in agony. These substances are incapable
53:08
Speaker 1: of giving it adequate expression. The spirit within cries out
53:12
Speaker 1: for freedom, freedom to be, to express, to manifest its
53:16
Speaker 1: true place in the great plan of cosmic unfoldment. It
53:19
Speaker 1: is this great yearning within the heart of man which
53:22
Speaker 1: sends him slowly onward toward the gate of the temple,
53:25
Speaker 1: it is this inner urge for greater understanding and greater
53:27
Speaker 1: light which brought into being through the law of necessity
53:30
Speaker 1: the great cosmic masonic lodge dedicated to those lives which
53:34
Speaker 1: were seeking union with the powers of light that their
53:36
Speaker 1: prison walls might be removed. This shell cannot be discarded,
53:41
Speaker 1: it must be raised into union with the life, each dead,
53:44
Speaker 1: crystallized atom in the human body must be set vibrating
53:47
Speaker 1: and spinning to a higher rate of consciousness. Through purification,
53:52
Speaker 1: through knowledge, and through service to his fellow man the
53:54
Speaker 1: candidate sequentially unfolds these mystic properties, building better and more
53:59
Speaker 1: perfect bodies through which his higher life secures ever greater manifestation.
54:04
Speaker 1: The expression of man through constructive thought, emotion, and action
54:08
Speaker 1: liberates the higher nature from bodies which in their crystallized
54:11
Speaker 1: states are incapable of giving him his natural opportunities. In
54:15
Speaker 1: masonry this crystallized substance of matter is called the grave
54:19
Speaker 1: and the holy sepulchre. It is within this grave that
54:22
Speaker 1: the lost builder lies and with him are the plans
54:25
Speaker 1: of the temple and the master's word, and it is
54:27
Speaker 1: this builder, our grand master, that we must seek and, finding,
54:31
Speaker 1: raise from the dead and restore to him the crown
54:33
Speaker 1: of spirit so long missing from the temple of our king.
54:37
Speaker 1: This noble sun of light cries out to us in
54:39
Speaker 1: every expression of matter. Every stick and stone marks his
54:43
Speaker 1: resting place, and the sprig of acacia promises that through
54:47
Speaker 1: the long winter of spiritual darkness, when the sun does
54:50
Speaker 1: not shine for man, this light still is, still waits
54:53
Speaker 1: for the day of liberation when each one of us
54:55
Speaker 1: shall raise him by the grip of the Grand Master,
54:58
Speaker 1: the true grip of a Master Mason. We cannot hear
55:01
Speaker 1: this voice that calls eternally, but we feel that inner urge,
55:05
Speaker 1: a great unknown something pulls at our heartstrings, and as
55:08
Speaker 1: the ages roll by, the deep desire to be greater,
55:11
Speaker 1: to live better, and to think God's thoughts builds within
55:14
Speaker 1: ourselves the qualifications of a candidate who, when truly asked
55:18
Speaker 1: why he takes the path, would answer if he knew
55:21
Speaker 1: mentally the things he feels, I hear a voice that
55:24
Speaker 1: cries out to me from flora and fauna, from stones,
55:27
Speaker 1: from clouds, from the very heaven. Itself. Each fiery atom
55:33
Speaker 1: spinning and twisting in cosmos cries out to me with
55:35
Speaker 1: the voice of my master. I can hear Hiram Abiff,
55:39
Speaker 1: my grand master, calling, crying out with agony, the agony
55:43
Speaker 1: of life hidden within the darkness of its prison walls,
55:46
Speaker 1: seeking for the expression which I have denied it, striving, laboring,
55:50
Speaker 1: to bring closer the day of its liberation, and I
55:52
Speaker 1: have learned to know that I am responsible for those walls.
55:56
Speaker 1: My daily actions are the things which as ruffians and
55:59
Speaker 1: traitors are murdering my God. There are many legends of
56:03
Speaker 1: the Holy Sepulchre which has for so many ages been
56:05
Speaker 1: in the hands of the infidel and which the Christian
56:08
Speaker 1: world sought to retake in the days of the Crusades.
56:11
Speaker 1: Few masons realized that this Holy Sepulchre, this tomb, is
56:15
Speaker 1: in reality negation, crystallization, matter that has sealed within itself
56:19
Speaker 1: the spirit of life which must remain in darkness until
56:22
Speaker 1: the growth of each individual being gives it walls of
56:25
Speaker 1: glowing gold and changes its stones into windows. As we
56:29
Speaker 1: develop better and better vehicles of expression these walls slowly
56:32
Speaker 1: expand until at last spirit rises triumphant from its tomb and,
56:36
Speaker 1: blessing the very walls that confined it, raises them to
56:39
Speaker 1: union with itself. We may first consider the murderers of Hiram.
56:45
Speaker 1: These three ruffians, who, when the builder seeks to leave
56:48
Speaker 1: his temple, strike him with the tools of his own
56:50
Speaker 1: craft until finally they slay him and bring the temple
56:53
Speaker 1: down in destruction upon their own heads, symbolize the three
56:56
Speaker 1: expressions of our own lower natures which are in truth
56:59
Speaker 1: the murderers of the good within ourselves which they pervert
57:02
Speaker 1: as soon as we seek to manifest it. These three
57:05
Speaker 1: may be called thought, desire, and action. When purified and
57:10
Speaker 1: transmuted they are three glorious avenues through which may manifest
57:13
Speaker 1: the great life power of the three kings, the glowing
57:16
Speaker 1: builders of the cosmic lodge which manifest in this world
57:19
Speaker 1: as spiritual thought, constructive emotion, and useful daily labor in
57:23
Speaker 1: the various places and positions where we find ourselves while
57:27
Speaker 1: carrying on the Master's work. These three form the flaming
57:30
Speaker 1: triangle which glorifies every living mason, but when crystallized and
57:34
Speaker 1: perverted they form a triangular prison through which the light
57:37
Speaker 1: cannot shine and the life is forced to pace back
57:40
Speaker 1: and forth in the dim darkness of despair, until man
57:43
Speaker 1: himself through his higher understanding shall liberate the energies and
57:46
Speaker 1: powers which are indeed the builders and glorifiers of his
57:49
Speaker 1: father's house. Now let us consider how these three fiery
57:53
Speaker 1: kings of the dawn became, through perversion of their manifestation
57:57
Speaker 1: by man, the ruffians who murdered Hiram, who represents the
58:01
Speaker 1: energizing powers of cosmos which course through the blood of
58:04
Speaker 1: every living being, seeking to beautify and perfect the temple
58:07
Speaker 1: it would build according to the plan laid down on
58:09
Speaker 1: the tracing board by the master architect of the universe.
58:13
Speaker 1: First in the mind is one of the three kings,
58:16
Speaker 1: or rather we shall say a pole through which he manifests,
58:19
Speaker 1: for King Solomon is the power of mind which when
58:22
Speaker 1: perverted becomes a destroyer who tears down with the very
58:24
Speaker 1: powers which nourish and build. The right application of thought,
58:29
Speaker 1: when seeking the answer to the cosmic problem of destiny,
58:32
Speaker 1: liberates man's spirit which soars above the concrete through that
58:35
Speaker 1: wonderful power of mind, with its dreams and its ideals.
58:40
Speaker 1: When man's thoughts rise upward, when he pushes backward the
58:43
Speaker 1: darkness with reason and logic, then indeed the builder is
58:46
Speaker 1: liberated from his dungeon and the light pours in, bathing
58:49
Speaker 1: him with life and power. This light enables us to
58:53
Speaker 1: seek more clearly the mystery of creation and to find
58:56
Speaker 1: with greater certainty our place in the great plan, For
58:58
Speaker 1: as man unfolds his bodies he gains talents with which
59:01
Speaker 1: he can explore the mysteries of nature and search for
59:04
Speaker 1: the hidden workings of the divine. Through these powers the
59:07
Speaker 1: builder is liberated and his consciousness goes forth conquering and
59:11
Speaker 1: to conquer. These higher ideals, these spiritual concepts, these altruistic, philanthropic,
59:18
Speaker 1: educative applications of thought power glorify the builder, for they
59:21
Speaker 1: give the power of expression, and those who can express
59:24
Speaker 1: themselves are free. When man can mold his thoughts, his emotions,
59:29
Speaker 1: and his actions into faithful expressions of his highest ideals
59:32
Speaker 1: then liberty is his, for ignorance is the darkness of
59:36
Speaker 1: chaos and knowledge is the light of cosmos. In spite
59:40
Speaker 1: of the fact that many of us live apparently to
59:42
Speaker 1: gratify the desires of the body and as servants of
59:44
Speaker 1: the lower nature, still there is within each of us
59:47
Speaker 1: a power which may remain latent for a great length
59:49
Speaker 1: of time. This power lives eternities perhaps, and yet at
59:54
Speaker 1: some time during our growth there comes a great desire,
59:57
Speaker 1: a yearning for freedom, when, having discovered that the pleasures
1:00:00
Speaker 1: of sense gratification are eternally elusive and unsatisfying, we make
1:00:04
Speaker 1: an examination of ourselves and begin to realize that there
1:00:07
Speaker 1: are greater reasons for our being. It is sometimes reason,
1:00:11
Speaker 1: sometimes suffering, sometimes a great desire to be helpful, that
1:00:15
Speaker 1: brings out the first latent powers which show that one
1:00:18
Speaker 1: long wandering in the darkness is about to take the
1:00:20
Speaker 1: path that leads to light. Having lived life in all
1:00:24
Speaker 1: its experiences he has learned to realize that all the
1:00:27
Speaker 1: manifestations of being, all the various experiences through which he passes,
1:00:31
Speaker 1: are steps leading in one direction and that consciously or
1:00:34
Speaker 1: unconsciously all souls are being led to the portico of
1:00:37
Speaker 1: the temple where for the first time they see and
1:00:40
Speaker 1: realize the glory of divinity. It is then that they
1:00:43
Speaker 1: understand the age-old allegory of the martyred builder and feel
1:00:46
Speaker 1: his power within themselves crying out from the prison of materiality.
1:00:51
Speaker 1: Nothing else seems worthwhile, and regardless of cost, suffering, or
1:00:56
Speaker 1: the taunts of the world, the candidate slowly ascends the
1:00:59
Speaker 1: steps that lead to the temple eternal. The reason that
1:01:02
Speaker 1: governs cosmos he does not know, the laws which mold
1:01:05
Speaker 1: his being he does not realize, but he does know
1:01:08
Speaker 1: that somewhere behind the veil of human ignorance there is
1:01:11
Speaker 1: an eternal light toward which step by step he must labor.
1:01:14
Speaker 1: With his eyes fixed on the heavens above and his
1:01:17
Speaker 1: hands clasped in prayer he passes slowly as a candidate
1:01:20
Speaker 1: up the steps. In fear and trembling, yet with a
1:01:24
Speaker 1: divine realization of good, He taps on the door and
1:01:27
Speaker 1: awaits in silence the answer from within. Transmutation Masonry is
1:01:33
Speaker 1: eternal truth, personified, idealized, and yet made simple. Eternal truth
1:01:39
Speaker 1: alone can serve it. Virtue is its priest, patience its warden,
1:01:44
Speaker 1: illumination its master. The world cannot know this, however, save
1:01:49
Speaker 1: when masons in their daily life prove that it is so.
1:01:53
Speaker 1: Its truth is divine, and is not to be desecrated
1:01:55
Speaker 1: or defamed by the thoughtlessness of its keepers. Its temple
1:02:00
Speaker 1: is a holy place, to be entered in reverence. Material
1:02:04
Speaker 1: thoughts and material dissensions must be left without its gate.
1:02:08
Speaker 1: They may not enter. Only the pure of heart, regenerated
1:02:12
Speaker 1: and transmuted, may pass the sanctity of its veil. The
1:02:16
Speaker 1: schemer has no place in its ranks, nor the materialist
1:02:19
Speaker 1: in its shrine, for masons walk on hallowed ground, sanctified
1:02:23
Speaker 1: by the veneration of ages. Let the tongue be stilled,
1:02:27
Speaker 1: let the heart be stilled, let the mind be stilled.
1:02:30
Speaker 1: In reverence and in the silence, stillness shall speak, the
1:02:34
Speaker 1: voice of stillness is the voice of the Creator. Show
1:02:37
Speaker 1: your light and your power to men, but before God
1:02:40
Speaker 1: what have you to offer, save in humility? Your robes,
1:02:44
Speaker 1: your tinsel, and your jewels mean not to him, until
1:02:47
Speaker 1: your own body and soul, gleaming with the radiance of perfection,
1:02:51
Speaker 1: become the living ornaments of your lodge. Chapter 2 The
1:02:55
Speaker 1: Entered Apprentice There are three grand steps in the unfoldment
1:02:59
Speaker 1: of the human soul before it completes the dwelling place
1:03:02
Speaker 1: of the spirit. These have been called respectively youth, manhood,
1:03:07
Speaker 1: and old age, or, as the mason would say, the
1:03:10
Speaker 1: entered apprentice, the fellow craft, and the master builder. All
1:03:14
Speaker 1: life passes through these three grand stages of human consciousness.
1:03:19
Speaker 1: They can be listed as the man on the outside
1:03:21
Speaker 1: looking in, the man going in, and the man inside.
1:03:25
Speaker 1: The path of human life is governed as all things
1:03:28
Speaker 1: are by the laws of analogy, and as at birth
1:03:30
Speaker 1: we start our pilgrimage through youth, manhood, and old age,
1:03:34
Speaker 1: so the spiritual consciousness of man in his cosmic path
1:03:37
Speaker 1: of unfoldment passes from unconsciousness to perfect consciousness in the
1:03:41
Speaker 1: grand lodge of the universe. Before the initiation of entered
1:03:45
Speaker 1: apprentice degree can be properly understood and appreciated, certain requirements
1:03:50
Speaker 1: must be considered, not merely those of the physical world
1:03:53
Speaker 1: but also those of the spiritual world. The mason must
1:03:57
Speaker 1: realize that his true initiation is a spiritual and not
1:04:00
Speaker 1: a physical ritual, and that his initiation into the living
1:04:03
Speaker 1: temple of the spiritual hierarchy regulating masonry may not occur
1:04:07
Speaker 1: until years after he has taken the physical degree, or
1:04:10
Speaker 1: spiritually he may be a grand master before he comes
1:04:13
Speaker 1: into the world. There are probably few examples in the
1:04:16
Speaker 1: entire history of masonry where the spiritual ordination of the
1:04:20
Speaker 1: aspiring seeker took place at the same time as the
1:04:23
Speaker 1: physical initiation, because the true initiation depends upon the building
1:04:27
Speaker 1: of certain soul qualities, an individual and personal matter which
1:04:30
Speaker 1: is left entirely to the conscious effort of the mystic
1:04:33
Speaker 1: mason and which he must carry out in silence and alone.
1:04:37
Speaker 1: The court of the tabernacle of the ancient Jews was
1:04:40
Speaker 1: divided into three parts, the outer court, the holy place,
1:04:44
Speaker 1: and the most holy of holies. These three divisions represent
1:04:48
Speaker 1: the three grand divisions of human consciousness. The degree of
1:04:52
Speaker 1: entered apprentice is acquired and the student signifies his intention
1:04:55
Speaker 1: to take the rough ashlar which he cuts from the
1:04:57
Speaker 1: quarry and prepare it for the truing of the fellow craft.
1:05:01
Speaker 1: In other words, the first degree is really one of preparations,
1:05:05
Speaker 1: it is a material step dealing with material things, for
1:05:08
Speaker 1: all spiritual life must he raised upon a material foundation.
1:05:13
Speaker 1: Seven is the number of the entered apprentice as it
1:05:15
Speaker 1: relates to the seven liberal arts and sciences, and these
1:05:18
Speaker 1: are the powers with which the entered apprentice must labor
1:05:21
Speaker 1: before he is worthy to go onward into the more
1:05:24
Speaker 1: elevated and advanced degrees. Those who believe that they can
1:05:28
Speaker 1: reach the spiritual planes of nature without first passing through
1:05:31
Speaker 1: and conquering, and by conquering, mold matter into expressions of
1:05:35
Speaker 1: spiritual power, are much mistaken. for the first stage in
1:05:38
Speaker 1: the growth of a master mason is the mastery of
1:05:41
Speaker 1: the concrete conditions of life and the developing, through exercise
1:05:45
Speaker 1: on this plane, of nature-sense centers which will later become
1:05:48
Speaker 1: channels for the expression of spiritual truths. All growth is
1:05:52
Speaker 1: a gradual procedure carried on in an orderly, masterly way
1:05:56
Speaker 1: as is shown by the opening and closing of a lodge.
1:06:00
Speaker 1: The universe is divided into groups and these groups are
1:06:03
Speaker 1: divided from each other by the rates of vibration which
1:06:05
Speaker 1: pass through them. As the spiritual consciousness is carried through
1:06:09
Speaker 1: the chain, those who are lower lose connection with it
1:06:12
Speaker 1: when it has raised itself above their level, until finally
1:06:15
Speaker 1: only the grand masters are capable of remaining in session,
1:06:18
Speaker 1: and unknown even to the master mason it passes back
1:06:21
Speaker 1: again to the spiritual hierarchy from which it came. Action
1:06:26
Speaker 1: is the lost key of the entered apprentice lodge. All
1:06:29
Speaker 1: growth is the result of exercise and the heightening of
1:06:32
Speaker 1: vibratory rates. It is through exercise that the muscles of
1:06:36
Speaker 1: the human body are strengthened, it is through the seven
1:06:39
Speaker 1: liberal arts and sciences that the mind of man receives
1:06:42
Speaker 1: certain impulses which in turn start into action centers of
1:06:45
Speaker 1: consciousness within himself. These centers of consciousness will later through
1:06:50
Speaker 1: still greater development give fuller expression to these inner powers,
1:06:54
Speaker 1: but the entered apprentice has as his first duty the
1:06:56
Speaker 1: awakening of these powers, and, like the youth of whom
1:06:59
Speaker 1: he is a symbol, his ideals and mind and labors
1:07:02
Speaker 1: must be tied closely to concrete things. For him both
1:07:06
Speaker 1: points of the compass are under the square, for him
1:07:09
Speaker 1: the reasons which manifest through the heart and mind, the
1:07:12
Speaker 1: two polarities of expression, are darkened and concealed beneath the
1:07:15
Speaker 1: square which measures the block of bodies. He knows not
1:07:19
Speaker 1: the reason why, his work is to do and to
1:07:22
Speaker 1: follow the directions of those whose knowledge is greater than
1:07:24
Speaker 1: his own, but as the result of his doing and
1:07:27
Speaker 1: the application of energies through action and reaction, he slowly
1:07:30
Speaker 1: builds and evolves the powers of discrimination and the strength
1:07:33
Speaker 1: of character which mark the fellow craft degree. Of course
1:07:37
Speaker 1: the rough ashlar symbolizes the body. It also represents cosmic
1:07:42
Speaker 1: root substance which is taken out of the quarry of
1:07:44
Speaker 1: the universe by the first expressions of intelligence and molded
1:07:48
Speaker 1: by them into ever finer and more perfect lines until
1:07:51
Speaker 1: finally it becomes the perfect stone for the builder's temple.
1:07:55
Speaker 1: How can emotion manifest save through form? How can mind
1:07:58
Speaker 1: manifest until the intricately evolved brain cells of matter have
1:08:02
Speaker 1: raised their organic quality to form the groundwork upon which
1:08:05
Speaker 1: other things may be based? All students of human nature
1:08:09
Speaker 1: realize that every expression of man depends upon organic quality,
1:08:13
Speaker 1: that in every living thing this differs, and that the
1:08:15
Speaker 1: fineness of this matter is the sure indication of growth, mental, physical,
1:08:20
Speaker 1: or spiritual. True to the doctrines of his craft, the
1:08:24
Speaker 1: entered apprentice must beautify his temple. He must build within
1:08:28
Speaker 1: himself by his actions, by the power of his hand
1:08:31
Speaker 1: and the tools of his craft, certain qualities which make
1:08:34
Speaker 1: possible his initiation into the higher degrees of the spiritual lodge.
1:08:39
Speaker 1: We know that the cube block is symbolic of the tomb.
1:08:43
Speaker 1: It is also well known that the entered apprentice is
1:08:46
Speaker 1: not capable of rolling away the stone or of transmuting
1:08:48
Speaker 1: it into a greater or higher thing. but it is
1:08:51
Speaker 1: his privilege to glorify that stone, to purify it, and
1:08:55
Speaker 1: to begin the great work of preparing it for the
1:08:57
Speaker 1: temple of his king. Few realized the universe is made
1:09:01
Speaker 1: up of individuals in various stages of development, that consequently
1:09:05
Speaker 1: responsibility is individual, and that everything which man wishes to
1:09:08
Speaker 1: gain he must himself build and maintain. If he is
1:09:12
Speaker 1: to use his finer bodies for the thing for which
1:09:14
Speaker 1: they were intended, he must treat them right. that they
1:09:17
Speaker 1: may be good and faithful servants in the great work
1:09:20
Speaker 1: that he is preparing himself to do. The quarries represent
1:09:23
Speaker 1: the great powers of natural resource, they are symbolic of
1:09:27
Speaker 1: the practically endless field of human opportunity, they symbolize the
1:09:30
Speaker 1: cosmic substances from which man must gather the stones of
1:09:34
Speaker 1: his temple. At this stage in his growth he is
1:09:37
Speaker 1: privileged to gather the stones which he wishes to true
1:09:40
Speaker 1: during his path through the lodge, for at this point
1:09:42
Speaker 1: he symbolizes the youth who is choosing the work of
1:09:45
Speaker 1: his life. He represents the human ego who in the
1:09:48
Speaker 1: dawn of time gathered many blocks and cubes and broken
1:09:51
Speaker 1: stones from the great quarry. These rough and broken stones
1:09:55
Speaker 1: that will not fit into anything are the partially evolved
1:09:58
Speaker 1: powers and senses with which he labors. In the first
1:10:02
Speaker 1: state he must gather these things and those who have
1:10:04
Speaker 1: not gathered them can never true them. During the involutionary
1:10:08
Speaker 1: period of human consciousness, the entered apprentice in the great
1:10:12
Speaker 1: lodge was man, who labored with these rough blocks, seeking
1:10:15
Speaker 1: the tools and the power with which to true them.
1:10:18
Speaker 1: As he evolves down through the ages he gains the
1:10:21
Speaker 1: tools and cosmically passes on to the degree of fellow
1:10:24
Speaker 1: craft where he trues his ashlar in harmony with the
1:10:26
Speaker 1: plans upon the master's tracing board. This rough, uncut ashlar
1:10:31
Speaker 1: has three dimensions which represent the three ruffians who at
1:10:34
Speaker 1: this stage are destroyers of the fourth-dimensional life concealed within
1:10:38
Speaker 1: the ugly, ill-shaped stone. The lost key of the entered
1:10:42
Speaker 1: apprentice is service. Why, he may not ask, when, he
1:10:47
Speaker 1: does not know. His work is to do, to act,
1:10:50
Speaker 1: to express himself in some way, constructively if possible, but
1:10:54
Speaker 1: destructively rather than not at all. Without action he loses
1:10:59
Speaker 1: his great work, without tools, which symbolize the body, he
1:11:03
Speaker 1: cannot act in an organized manner. Consequently it is necessary
1:11:06
Speaker 1: to master the arts and sciences which place in his
1:11:09
Speaker 1: hands intelligent tools for the expression of energy. Beauty is
1:11:13
Speaker 1: the keynote to his ideal. With his concrete ideals he
1:11:17
Speaker 1: must beautify all with which he comes in contact, so
1:11:20
Speaker 1: that the works of his hand may be acceptable in
1:11:22
Speaker 1: the eyes of the great architect of the universe. His
1:11:26
Speaker 1: daily life, in his home, in his business, among his
1:11:29
Speaker 1: fellow creatures, and his realization of the fundamental unity of
1:11:33
Speaker 1: each with all, form the base upon which the aspiring
1:11:36
Speaker 1: candidate may raise a greater superstructure. In truth he must
1:11:40
Speaker 1: live the life, the result of which is the purification
1:11:43
Speaker 1: of his being, so that the finer and more attenuated
1:11:46
Speaker 1: forces of the higher degrees may express themselves through the
1:11:49
Speaker 1: fine adjustments of the receiving pole within himself. When he
1:11:53
Speaker 1: reaches this stage in his growth he is spiritually worthy
1:11:56
Speaker 1: to consider advancement into a higher degree. This advancement is
1:12:00
Speaker 1: not the result of election or balloting but an automatic
1:12:03
Speaker 1: process in which, having raised his consciousness by his life,
1:12:07
Speaker 1: he attunes himself to the next step above his present position.
1:12:11
Speaker 1: All initiations are the result of adjustments of the evolving
1:12:14
Speaker 1: life with the physical, emotional, and mental planes of consciousness
1:12:18
Speaker 1: through which it passes. We may now consider the spiritual
1:12:22
Speaker 1: requirements of one who feels that he would mystically correlate
1:12:25
Speaker 1: himself with the great spiritual fraternity which, concealed behind the
1:12:29
Speaker 1: exoteric right, forms the living, breathing power of the entered
1:12:32
Speaker 1: apprentice lodge. 1. It is absolutely necessary that an entered
1:12:37
Speaker 1: apprentice should have studied sufficiently the laws of anatomy to
1:12:40
Speaker 1: have at least a general idea of the physical body,
1:12:43
Speaker 1: for the entire degree is based upon the mystery of form.
1:12:47
Speaker 1: The human body is the highest manifestation of it which
1:12:50
Speaker 1: he is capable of analyzing. consequently he must devote himself
1:12:54
Speaker 1: to the study of his own being and its wondrous
1:12:56
Speaker 1: mysteries and complications. 2. The entered apprentice must realize that
1:13:02
Speaker 1: his body is the living temple of the living God
1:13:04
Speaker 1: and treat it accordingly, for when he abuses or mistreats
1:13:07
Speaker 1: it he breaks the sacred obligations which he must assume
1:13:10
Speaker 1: before he can ever hope to understand the true mysteries
1:13:12
Speaker 1: of the craft. The breaking of his pact with the
1:13:16
Speaker 1: higher lives evolving within himself brings with it a tremendous
1:13:19
Speaker 1: natural penalty. 3. He must study the problems of the
1:13:23
Speaker 1: maintenance of bodies through food, clothing, breathing, and other necessities,
1:13:28
Speaker 1: as all of these are important steps in the entered
1:13:30
Speaker 1: apprentice lodge. Those who eat improperly, dress improperly, and use
1:13:36
Speaker 1: only about one-third of their lung capacity can never have
1:13:38
Speaker 1: the physical efficiency necessary for the fullest expression of their
1:13:42
Speaker 1: higher being. 4. He must grow physically and in the
1:13:46
Speaker 1: expression of concrete things. His realization of the position of
1:13:50
Speaker 1: man to man must be learned well at this time,
1:13:53
Speaker 1: and he must seek to unfold all unselfish qualities which
1:13:56
Speaker 1: are necessary for the harmonious working of the mason and
1:13:59
Speaker 1: his fellow men on the physical plane of nature. 5.
1:14:03
Speaker 1: He must seek to round out all inequalities. He can
1:14:07
Speaker 1: best do this by balancing his mental and physical organisms
1:14:10
Speaker 1: through the application and study of the seven liberal arts
1:14:13
Speaker 1: and sciences. Until he is relative master of these principles
1:14:17
Speaker 1: on the highest plane within his own being, he cannot
1:14:20
Speaker 1: hope spiritually to attract to himself, through the powers of
1:14:23
Speaker 1: his own expression, the life-giving ray of the fellow craft.
1:14:28
Speaker 1: When he reaches this point, however, he is spiritually ready
1:14:31
Speaker 1: to hope for membership in a more sublime degree. The
1:14:35
Speaker 1: mason must realize that he is what his innermost motives are,
1:14:38
Speaker 1: and those who allow material consideration, social position, financial or
1:14:42
Speaker 1: business possibility, or selfish, materialistic ideals, to lead them into
1:14:47
Speaker 1: the Masonic Brotherhood must realize that they have automatically separated
1:14:51
Speaker 1: themselves from the craft. They can never do any harm
1:14:54
Speaker 1: to Masonry by getting in because they cannot get in.
1:14:58
Speaker 1: Sitting comfortably in a seat in the lodge they may
1:15:01
Speaker 1: feel that they have deceived the Grand Master of the
1:15:03
Speaker 1: Universe but when the spiritual lodge meets to carry on
1:15:06
Speaker 1: the true work of Masonry they are non-entitled and absent.
1:15:10
Speaker 1: Watch fobs, stick pins, and other material insignia do not
1:15:14
Speaker 1: make masons, neither does the ritual ordain them. They are
1:15:18
Speaker 1: evolved through the self-conscious effort to live up to the
1:15:21
Speaker 1: highest and greatest within themselves, their lives are the insignia
1:15:24
Speaker 1: of their rank, greater far than any visible, tangible credential.
1:15:29
Speaker 1: Bearing this thought in mind, it is possible for the unselfish,
1:15:33
Speaker 1: aspiring soul to become spiritually and liberally vouched for by
1:15:36
Speaker 1: the centers of consciousness as an entered apprentice. It means
1:15:40
Speaker 1: he has taken the first grand step on the path
1:15:43
Speaker 1: of personal liberation. He is now symbolized as the child
1:15:47
Speaker 1: with the smiling face, for with the simplicity of a
1:15:50
Speaker 1: child he is placing himself under the protection of his
1:15:52
Speaker 1: great spiritual father, willing and glad to obey each of
1:15:56
Speaker 1: his demands. Having reached this point and having done the
1:15:59
Speaker 1: best which it was possible for him to do, he
1:16:02
Speaker 1: is in position to hope that the powers that be
1:16:04
Speaker 1: moving in their mysterious manner, may find him worthy to
1:16:07
Speaker 1: take the second great step in spiritual liberation. Friendship. What
1:16:13
Speaker 1: nobler thing can any mortal be than a friend? What
1:16:17
Speaker 1: nobler compliment can man bestow than friendship? The bonds and
1:16:21
Speaker 1: ties of the life we know break easily, but through
1:16:24
Speaker 1: eternity one bond remains, the bond of fellowship, the fellowship
1:16:28
Speaker 1: of atoms, of star dust in its endless flight, of
1:16:31
Speaker 1: suns and worlds, of gods and men. The clasped hands
1:16:36
Speaker 1: of comradeship of those who have come to recognize the
1:16:38
Speaker 1: fellowship of spirit unite in a bond eternal. Who is
1:16:42
Speaker 1: more desolate than the friendless one? Who is more honored
1:16:46
Speaker 1: than one whose virtues have given him a friend? To
1:16:49
Speaker 1: have a friend is good, but to be a friend
1:16:51
Speaker 1: is better. The noblest title ever given man, the highest
1:16:56
Speaker 1: title bestowed by the gods, the noblest appellation, was given
1:16:59
Speaker 1: when the great Jove gazed down upon Prometheus and said, Behold,
1:17:03
Speaker 1: a friend of man. Who serves man serves God. This
1:17:08
Speaker 1: is the symbol of the fellowship of your craft, for
1:17:11
Speaker 1: the plan of God is upheld by the clasped hands
1:17:13
Speaker 1: of friends. The bonds of relationship must pass, but the
1:17:17
Speaker 1: friend remains. Serve God by being a friend, a friend
1:17:22
Speaker 1: of the soul of man, serving his needs, lighting his steps,
1:17:26
Speaker 1: making smooth his way. Let the world of its own
1:17:29
Speaker 1: accord say of the mason, Behold the friend of all.
1:17:33
Speaker 1: Let the world say of the lodge, this is indeed
1:17:35
Speaker 1: a fraternity of brothers, comrades in spirit and in truth.
1:17:40
Speaker 1: Chapter 3 The Fellow Craft Not only does life manifest
1:17:44
Speaker 1: through action on the physical plane, but, coming down from above,
1:17:49
Speaker 1: it manifests through emotion and the expressions of human sentiment.
1:17:53
Speaker 1: It is this type of energy which is taken up
1:17:55
Speaker 1: by the student when he starts his labors in the
1:17:57
Speaker 1: fellow craft. From youth with its smiling face he passes
1:18:02
Speaker 1: on to the greater responsibilities of manhood. On the second
1:18:06
Speaker 1: step of the temple stands a soldier dressed in shining
1:18:08
Speaker 1: armor but his sword is sheathed and a book is
1:18:11
Speaker 1: in his hand. He is symbolic of strength, of the
1:18:14
Speaker 1: energy of Mars, and of the wonderful step in spiritual
1:18:18
Speaker 1: unfoldment which we know as fellow craft. Through each one
1:18:22
Speaker 1: of us there courses the fiery rays of human emotion,
1:18:25
Speaker 1: a great seething, boiling cauldron of power behind each action
1:18:28
Speaker 1: and expression of human energy like spirited horses chafing at
1:18:33
Speaker 1: the bit like hounds eager for the chase the emotional
1:18:36
Speaker 1: powers in man cannot be held in check but breaking
1:18:39
Speaker 1: away the walls of restraint they pour through his being
1:18:42
Speaker 1: in fiery flaming expressions of dynamic energy it is this
1:18:47
Speaker 1: great principle of emotion which we know as the second
1:18:49
Speaker 1: murder of Hiram. It is through the perversion of human
1:18:53
Speaker 1: emotions that there comes into the world many of its
1:18:55
Speaker 1: countless sorrows, which through reaction, manifest in man's mental and
1:18:59
Speaker 1: physical bodies. It is strange how the divine powers may
1:19:03
Speaker 1: become perverted until each expression and urge becomes a ruffian
1:19:07
Speaker 1: and a murderer. The divine compassion of the gods manifests
1:19:11
Speaker 1: in this world of form very differently than in the
1:19:13
Speaker 1: realms of light. Divine compassion is energized by the same
1:19:18
Speaker 1: influxes as mortal passions and the lusts of earth. The
1:19:22
Speaker 1: spiritual light rays of cosmos, the fire princes of the dawn,
1:19:26
Speaker 1: seethe and surge through unregenerate man as the impulses which
1:19:29
Speaker 1: he perverts into murder and hate. The great, ceaseless power
1:19:34
Speaker 1: of chaos, the seething pinwheel spirals of never-ceasing motion, whose
1:19:38
Speaker 1: wild cadences are the music of the spheres, are energized
1:19:41
Speaker 1: by the same great power which man uses to destroy
1:19:44
Speaker 1: the highest and the best. The great, mystic power that
1:19:48
Speaker 1: sends the planets in gigantic orbits around the solar bodies,
1:19:52
Speaker 1: the energy which keeps each electron vibrating, spinning, and whirling,
1:19:56
Speaker 1: the great energy which is building the temple of God
1:19:59
Speaker 1: as it drives the nail and saws the plank, is
1:20:01
Speaker 1: now a merciless slave-driver which, unmastered and uncurbed, strikes the
1:20:06
Speaker 1: compassionate one and sends him reeling backward into the darkness
1:20:09
Speaker 1: of his prison. Man does not listen to that little
1:20:12
Speaker 1: voice which speaks to him in ever-loving, ever-sorrowful note. This
1:20:17
Speaker 1: voice speaks of the peace accompanying the constructive application of
1:20:20
Speaker 1: energy which he must chain if he would master the
1:20:22
Speaker 1: powers of creation. How long will it take King Hiram
1:20:26
Speaker 1: of Tyre, the warrior on the second step, symbolic of
1:20:29
Speaker 1: the fellow craft of the cosmic lodge, to teach mankind
1:20:33
Speaker 1: the lessons of self-mastery? The teacher can do it only
1:20:36
Speaker 1: as he daily depicts the miseries which are the result
1:20:39
Speaker 1: of unmastered appetites. The strength of man was not made
1:20:43
Speaker 1: to be used destructively, but was given him that he
1:20:46
Speaker 1: might build a temple worthy to be the dwelling place
1:20:48
Speaker 1: of the great architect of the universe. God is glorifying
1:20:52
Speaker 1: himself through the individualized portions of himself, and is slowly
1:20:56
Speaker 1: teaching these individualized portions to understand and glorify the entire
1:21:01
Speaker 1: The day has come when fellow craftsmen must know and
1:21:04
Speaker 1: apply their knowledge that the lost key to their grade
1:21:06
Speaker 1: is the mastery of emotion, which places the energy of
1:21:09
Speaker 1: the universe at their disposal. The only way that man
1:21:13
Speaker 1: can ever expect to be entrusted with great powers is
1:21:16
Speaker 1: by proving his ability to use them constructively and selflessly.
1:21:20
Speaker 1: When the mason learns that the key to the warrior
1:21:23
Speaker 1: on the block is the proper application of the dynamo
1:21:25
Speaker 1: of living power, he has learned the mystery of his craft.
1:21:29
Speaker 1: The Seething Surging energies of Lucifer are in his hands
1:21:33
Speaker 1: and before he may step onward and upward he must
1:21:35
Speaker 1: prove his ability to properly apply energy. He must follow
1:21:39
Speaker 1: in the footsteps of his forefather, Tubal-Cain, who with the
1:21:43
Speaker 1: mighty strength of the war-god hammered his sword into a plowshare.
1:21:47
Speaker 1: Incessant watchfulness over thought, action, and desire is indispensable to
1:21:52
Speaker 1: those who wish to make progress in the unfolding of
1:21:54
Speaker 1: their own being, and the fellow-craft's degree is the degree
1:21:58
Speaker 1: of transmutation. He must use the hand that slays to
1:22:01
Speaker 1: lift the suffering, while the lips given to cursing must
1:22:04
Speaker 1: be taught to pray. The heart that hates must learn
1:22:08
Speaker 1: the mystery of compassion, as the result of a deeper
1:22:10
Speaker 1: and more perfect understanding of man's relation to his brother.
1:22:14
Speaker 1: The firm, kind hand of spirit must curb the flaming
1:22:18
Speaker 1: powers of emotion with the iron grip of mastery. In
1:22:21
Speaker 1: the realization and application of these principles lies the key
1:22:25
Speaker 1: of the fellow craft. In this degree one point of
1:22:28
Speaker 1: the compass is taken out from under the square. The
1:22:32
Speaker 1: two points of the compass, of course, symbolize the heart
1:22:35
Speaker 1: and mind, and with the expression of the higher emotions
1:22:38
Speaker 1: the heart point of the compass is liberated from the square,
1:22:41
Speaker 1: which is an instrument used to measure the block of
1:22:43
Speaker 1: matter and therefore symbolizes form. A large percentage of the
1:22:47
Speaker 1: people of the world at the present time are passing through, spiritually,
1:22:51
Speaker 1: the degree of the fellow-craft, with its five senses, the
1:22:55
Speaker 1: sense perceptions come under the control of the emotional energies,
1:22:58
Speaker 1: therefore the development of the senses is necessary to the
1:23:01
Speaker 1: constructive expression of the fellow craft power. Man must realize
1:23:06
Speaker 1: that all the powers which his millions of years of
1:23:08
Speaker 1: need have earned for him have come in order that
1:23:10
Speaker 1: through them he may liberate more fully the prisoner within
1:23:13
Speaker 1: his own being. As the fellow craft's degree is the
1:23:16
Speaker 1: middle of the three, the spiritual duty of each member
1:23:19
Speaker 1: is to reach the point of poise or balance. which
1:23:22
Speaker 1: is always secured between extremes. The mastery of expression is
1:23:27
Speaker 1: also to be found in this degree. The key words
1:23:30
Speaker 1: of the fellow craft may be briefly defined as compassion, poise,
1:23:34
Speaker 1: and transmutation. In the fellow craft degree is concealed the
1:23:39
Speaker 1: dynamo of human life. The fellow craft is the worker
1:23:42
Speaker 1: with elemental fire, which it is his duty to transmute
1:23:46
Speaker 1: into spiritual light. The heart is the center of his
1:23:49
Speaker 1: activity and it is while in this degree that the
1:23:51
Speaker 1: human side of the nature with its constructive emotions should
1:23:54
Speaker 1: be brought out and emphasized, but all of these expressions
1:23:58
Speaker 1: of the human heart must become transmuted into the emotionless
1:24:01
Speaker 1: compassion of the gods, who in spite of the suffering
1:24:04
Speaker 1: of the moment gaze down upon mankind and see that
1:24:07
Speaker 1: it is good. When the candidate feels that he has
1:24:10
Speaker 1: reached a point where he is master of these things,
1:24:12
Speaker 1: and is able to manifest every energizing current and fire
1:24:15
Speaker 1: flame in a constructive, balanced manner, and has spiritually lifted
1:24:19
Speaker 1: the heart sentiments of the mystic out of the cube
1:24:21
Speaker 1: of matter, he may then expect that the degree of
1:24:24
Speaker 1: Master Mason is not far off, and he may look
1:24:27
Speaker 1: forward eagerly to the time of his spiritual ordination into
1:24:30
Speaker 1: the higher degree. He should now study himself and realize
1:24:34
Speaker 1: that he cannot receive promotion into the spiritual lodge until
1:24:37
Speaker 1: his heart is attuned to a superior, spiritual influx from
1:24:41
Speaker 1: the causal planes of consciousness. The following requirements are necessary
1:24:46
Speaker 1: before the student can spiritually say that he is a
1:24:48
Speaker 1: member of the ancient and accepted right of the fellow craft. 1.
1:24:53
Speaker 1: The mastery of temper and emotional outbreaks of all kinds,
1:24:56
Speaker 1: poise under trying conditions, kindness in the face of unkindness,
1:25:00
Speaker 1: and simplicity with its accompanying power, these points show that
1:25:04
Speaker 1: the seeker is worthy of being taught by a fellow craftsman. 2.
1:25:09
Speaker 1: The mastery of the animal energies, the curbing of passion
1:25:12
Speaker 1: and desire, and the control of the lower nature mark
1:25:15
Speaker 1: the faithful attempts on the part of the student to
1:25:17
Speaker 1: be worthy of the fellow craft. 3. The understanding and
1:25:21
Speaker 1: mastery of the creative forces, the consecrating of them to
1:25:24
Speaker 1: the unfolding of the spiritual nature, and a proper understanding
1:25:28
Speaker 1: of their physical application, are necessary steps at this stage
1:25:32
Speaker 1: of the student's growth. 4. The transmutation of personal affection
1:25:36
Speaker 1: into impersonal compassion shows that the fellow craftsman truly understands
1:25:40
Speaker 1: his duties and is living in a way which is
1:25:43
Speaker 1: worthy of his order. Personalities cannot bind the true second-degree member,
1:25:48
Speaker 1: for having raised one point of the compass he now
1:25:50
Speaker 1: realizes that all personal manifestations are governed by impersonal principles. 5.
1:25:56
Speaker 1: At this point the candidate consecrates the five senses to
1:25:59
Speaker 1: the study of human problems with the unfolding of sense
1:26:02
Speaker 1: centers as the motive. for he realizes that the five
1:26:05
Speaker 1: senses are keys, the proper application of which will give
1:26:08
Speaker 1: him material for spiritual transmutation if he will apply to
1:26:12
Speaker 1: them the common divisor of analogy. The entered apprentice may
1:26:16
Speaker 1: be termed a materialistic degree. The fellow craft is religious
1:26:20
Speaker 1: and mystical, while the master mason is occult or philosophical.
1:26:25
Speaker 1: Each of these is a degree in the unfoldment of
1:26:28
Speaker 1: a connected life and intelligence. which reveals in ever greater
1:26:31
Speaker 1: expression the gradual liberation of the master from the triangular
1:26:35
Speaker 1: cell of threefold negation which marks the early stage of individualization.
1:26:40
Speaker 1: Thoughtlessness The most noble tool of the mason is his mind,
1:26:45
Speaker 1: but its value is measured by the use made of it.
1:26:48
Speaker 1: Thoughtful in all things, the aspiring candidate to divine wisdom
1:26:52
Speaker 1: attains reality in sincere desire, in meditation, and in silence.
1:26:57
Speaker 1: Let the keynote of the craft and of the ritual,
1:27:00
Speaker 1: be written in blazing letters, think on me. What is
1:27:03
Speaker 1: the meaning of this mystic maze of symbols, rites and rituals? Think.
1:27:09
Speaker 1: What does life mean, with the criss-crossings of human relationship,
1:27:13
Speaker 1: the endless pageantry of qualities masquerading in a carnival of fools? Think.
1:27:19
Speaker 1: What is the plan behind it all, and who the planner?
1:27:22
Speaker 1: Where dwells the great architect, and what is the tracing
1:27:25
Speaker 1: board upon which he designs? Think. What is the human soul,
1:27:31
Speaker 1: and why the endless yearning to ends unknown, along pathways
1:27:34
Speaker 1: where each must wander unaccompanied? Why mind, why soul, why spirit,
1:27:40
Speaker 1: and in truth, why anything? Think. Is there an answer?
1:27:46
Speaker 1: If so, where will the truth be found? Think, brothers
1:27:49
Speaker 1: of the craft, think deeply, for if truth exists, you
1:27:53
Speaker 1: have it, and if truth be within the reach of
1:27:55
Speaker 1: living creature, what other goal is worth the struggle? Chapter
1:28:00
Speaker 1: 4 The Master Mason On the upper step of spiritual
1:28:04
Speaker 1: unfoldment stands the Master Mason, who spiritually represents the graduate
1:28:08
Speaker 1: from the school of esoteric learning. Among the ancient symbols
1:28:12
Speaker 1: he is represented as an old man leaning upon a staff,
1:28:15
Speaker 1: his long white beard upon his chest, and his deep
1:28:18
Speaker 1: piercing eyes sheltered by the brows of a philosopher. He
1:28:22
Speaker 1: is in truth old, not in years, but in the
1:28:25
Speaker 1: wisdom and understanding which are the only true measurement of age.
1:28:29
Speaker 1: Through years and lives of labor he has found the
1:28:32
Speaker 1: staff of life and truth upon which he leans. He
1:28:35
Speaker 1: no longer depends upon the words of others but upon
1:28:38
Speaker 1: the still voice that speaks. from the heart of his
1:28:40
Speaker 1: own being. There is no more glorious position that a
1:28:44
Speaker 1: man may hold than that of a master builder, who
1:28:46
Speaker 1: has risen by laboring through the degrees of human consciousness.
1:28:51
Speaker 1: Time is the differentiation of eternity constructed by man to
1:28:54
Speaker 1: measure the passage of human events. on the spiritual planes
1:28:57
Speaker 1: of nature it is the space or distance between stages
1:29:00
Speaker 1: of spiritual growth and is not measured by material things.
1:29:05
Speaker 1: Many a child comes into this world a grand master
1:29:07
Speaker 1: of the Masonic school, while many a revered and honored
1:29:10
Speaker 1: brother passes silently to rest without having gained admittance to
1:29:14
Speaker 1: its gate. The master mason is one whose life is full,
1:29:18
Speaker 1: pressed down and brimming over with experience which he has
1:29:21
Speaker 1: gained in his slow pilgrimage up the winding stairs. The
1:29:24
Speaker 1: Master Mason represents the power of the human mind, the
1:29:28
Speaker 1: connecting link which binds heaven and earth together in an
1:29:31
Speaker 1: endless chain. His spiritual light is greater because he has
1:29:35
Speaker 1: evolved a higher vehicle for its expression. Even above constructive
1:29:39
Speaker 1: action and emotion soars the power of thought which swiftly
1:29:42
Speaker 1: flies on wings to the source of light. The mind
1:29:46
Speaker 1: is the highest form of his human expression and he
1:29:48
Speaker 1: passes into the great darkness of the inner room illuminated
1:29:51
Speaker 1: only by the fruits of reason. The glorious privileges of
1:29:55
Speaker 1: a master mason are in keeping with his greater knowledge
1:29:58
Speaker 1: and wisdom. From the student he has blossomed forth as
1:30:01
Speaker 1: the teacher, from the kingdom of those who follow he
1:30:04
Speaker 1: has joined that little group who must always lead the way.
1:30:08
Speaker 1: For him the heavens have opened and the great light
1:30:10
Speaker 1: has shone down, bathing him in its radiance. The prodigal son,
1:30:14
Speaker 1: so long a wanderer in the regions of darkness, has
1:30:17
Speaker 1: returned again to his father's house. The voice speaks from
1:30:21
Speaker 1: the heavens, its power thrilling the master until his own
1:30:24
Speaker 1: being seems filled with its divinity, saying, This is my
1:30:28
Speaker 1: beloved sun, in whom I am well pleased. The ancients
1:30:32
Speaker 1: taught that the sun was not a source of light, life,
1:30:35
Speaker 1: or power, but a medium through which life and light
1:30:37
Speaker 1: were reflected into physical substance. The master mason is in
1:30:42
Speaker 1: truth a sun, a great reflector of light, who radiates
1:30:45
Speaker 1: through his organism, purified by ages of preparation, the glorious
1:30:49
Speaker 1: power which is the light of the lodge. He, in truth,
1:30:53
Speaker 1: has become the spokesman of the Most High. He stands
1:30:57
Speaker 1: between the glowing fire light and the world. Through him
1:31:01
Speaker 1: passes Hydra, the great snake, and from its mouth there
1:31:04
Speaker 1: pours to man the light of God. His symbol is
1:31:07
Speaker 1: the rising sun, for in him the globe of day
1:31:10
Speaker 1: has indeed risen in all its splendor from the darkness
1:31:12
Speaker 1: of the night, illuminating the immortal east with the first
1:31:15
Speaker 1: promise of approaching day. With a sigh the Master lays
1:31:19
Speaker 1: aside his tools. For him the temple is nearing completion,
1:31:23
Speaker 1: the last stones are being placed, and he slakes his
1:31:26
Speaker 1: lime with a vague regret as he sees dome and
1:31:29
Speaker 1: minaret rise through the power of his handiwork. The true
1:31:32
Speaker 1: master does not long for rest, and as he sees
1:31:35
Speaker 1: the days of his labor close, a sadness weighs upon
1:31:38
Speaker 1: his heart. Slowly the brothers of his craft leave him,
1:31:42
Speaker 1: each going his respective way, and, climbing step by step,
1:31:46
Speaker 1: the master stands alone on the cap of the temple.
1:31:49
Speaker 1: One stone must yet be placed but this he cannot find.
1:31:53
Speaker 1: Somewhere it lies concealed. He kneels in prayer asking that
1:31:57
Speaker 1: the powers that be aid him in his search. The
1:32:00
Speaker 1: light of the sun shines upon him and bathes him
1:32:03
Speaker 1: in a splendor celestial. Suddenly a voice speaks from the heavens, saying,
1:32:08
Speaker 1: The temple is finished and in my faithful master is
1:32:11
Speaker 1: found the missing stone. Both points of the compass are
1:32:15
Speaker 1: now lifted from under the square. The divine is liberated
1:32:18
Speaker 1: from its cube heart and mind alike are liberated from
1:32:21
Speaker 1: the symbol of mortality, and as emotion and thought they
1:32:25
Speaker 1: unite for the glorification of the greatest and the highest.
1:32:29
Speaker 1: Then the sun and moon are united and the hermetic
1:32:31
Speaker 1: degree is consummated. The master mason is presented with opportunities
1:32:36
Speaker 1: far beyond the reach of ordinary man, but he must
1:32:39
Speaker 1: not fail to realize that every opportunity brings with it
1:32:42
Speaker 1: a cosmic responsibility. It is worse far to know and
1:32:46
Speaker 1: not to do than never to have known at all.
1:32:49
Speaker 1: He realizes that the choice of avoiding responsibility is no
1:32:52
Speaker 1: longer his and that for him all problems must be
1:32:55
Speaker 1: met and solved. The only joy in the heart of
1:32:58
Speaker 1: the Master is the joy of seeing the fruits of
1:33:00
Speaker 1: his handiwork. It can be truly said of the Master
1:33:04
Speaker 1: that through suffering he has learned to be glad, through
1:33:06
Speaker 1: weeping he has learned to smile, and through dying he
1:33:09
Speaker 1: has learned to live. The purification and probationship of his
1:33:13
Speaker 1: previous degrees have so spiritualized his being that he is
1:33:16
Speaker 1: in truth a glorious example of God's plan for his children.
1:33:21
Speaker 1: The greatest sermon he can preach, the greatest lesson he
1:33:24
Speaker 1: can teach, is that of standing forth a living proof
1:33:27
Speaker 1: of the eternal plan. The master mason is not ordained,
1:33:31
Speaker 1: he is a natural product of cause and effect, and
1:33:34
Speaker 1: none but those who live the cause can produce the effect.
1:33:38
Speaker 1: The master mason, if he be truly a master, is
1:33:41
Speaker 1: in communication with the unseen powers that move the destinies
1:33:44
Speaker 1: of life. As the eldest brother of the lodge he
1:33:47
Speaker 1: is the spokesman for the spiritual hierarchies of his craft.
1:33:52
Speaker 1: He no longer follows the direction of others, but on
1:33:54
Speaker 1: his own tracing board he lays out the plans which
1:33:57
Speaker 1: his brothers are to follow. He realizes this, and so
1:34:01
Speaker 1: lives that every line and plan which he gives out
1:34:03
Speaker 1: is inspired by the divine within himself. His glorious opportunity
1:34:08
Speaker 1: to be a factor in the growth of others comes
1:34:10
Speaker 1: before all else. At the seat of mercy he kneels,
1:34:14
Speaker 1: a faithful servant of the highest within himself and worthy
1:34:17
Speaker 1: to be given control over the lives of others by
1:34:20
Speaker 1: having first controlled himself. Much is said concerning the loss
1:34:24
Speaker 1: of the master's word and how the parties go out
1:34:26
Speaker 1: to seek it but bring back only substitutes. The true
1:34:30
Speaker 1: master knows that those who go out can never find
1:34:33
Speaker 1: a secret trust. He alone can find it by going within.
1:34:38
Speaker 1: The true master builder has never lost the word but
1:34:40
Speaker 1: has cherished it in the spiritual locket of his own being.
1:34:44
Speaker 1: From those who have the eyes to see nothing is concealed,
1:34:47
Speaker 1: to those who have the right to know, all things
1:34:50
Speaker 1: are open books. The true word of the three grand
1:34:53
Speaker 1: masters has never been concealed from those who have the
1:34:56
Speaker 1: right to know it nor has it ever been revealed
1:34:58
Speaker 1: to those who have not prepared a worthy shrine to
1:35:00
Speaker 1: contain it. The master knows, he is a shrine builder.
1:35:05
Speaker 1: Within the setting of his own bodies the philosopher's stone
1:35:08
Speaker 1: is placed, for in truth it is the heart of
1:35:10
Speaker 1: the phoenix, that strange bird which rises with renewed youth
1:35:14
Speaker 1: from the ashes of its burned body. When the master's
1:35:18
Speaker 1: heart is as pure and white as the diamond that
1:35:20
Speaker 1: he wears he will then become a living stone, the
1:35:23
Speaker 1: crown jewel in the diadem of his craft. The word
1:35:26
Speaker 1: is found when the master himself is ordained by the
1:35:29
Speaker 1: living hand of God, cleansed by living water. baptized by
1:35:32
Speaker 1: living fire, a priest-king after the order of Melchizedek who
1:35:36
Speaker 1: is above the law. The great work of the master-mason
1:35:40
Speaker 1: can be called the art of balance. To him is
1:35:43
Speaker 1: given the work of balancing the triangle, that it may
1:35:45
Speaker 1: blaze forth with the glory of the divine degree. The
1:35:49
Speaker 1: triple energies of thought, desire, and action must be united
1:35:53
Speaker 1: in a harmonious blending of expression. He holds in his
1:35:57
Speaker 1: hands the triple keys. He wears the triple crown of
1:35:59
Speaker 1: the ancient Magus for he is in truth the king
1:36:02
Speaker 1: of heaven, earth, and hell. Salt, sulfur, and mercury are
1:36:07
Speaker 1: the elements of his work and with the philosophical mercury
1:36:09
Speaker 1: he seeks to blend all powers to the glorifying of
1:36:12
Speaker 1: one end. There is behind the degree of Master Mason another,
1:36:17
Speaker 1: not known to earth. Far above him stretch other steps
1:36:20
Speaker 1: concealed by the blue veil which divides the seen from
1:36:23
Speaker 1: the unseen. The true brother knows this, therefore he works
1:36:27
Speaker 1: with an end in view far above the concept of
1:36:30
Speaker 1: mortal mind. He seeks to be worthy to pass behind
1:36:33
Speaker 1: that veil and to join that band who, unhonored and unsung,
1:36:37
Speaker 1: carry the responsibilities of human growth. His eyes are fixed
1:36:42
Speaker 1: forever on the seven stars which shine down from somewhere
1:36:45
Speaker 1: above the upper rung of the ladder. With hope, faith,
1:36:49
Speaker 1: and charity he climbs the steps, and whispering the master's
1:36:52
Speaker 1: word to the keeper of the gates, passes on behind
1:36:55
Speaker 1: the veil. It is then, and then only, that a
1:36:58
Speaker 1: true mason is born. It is only behind this veil
1:37:02
Speaker 1: that the mystic student comes into his own. These things
1:37:06
Speaker 1: which we see around us are but forms, promises of
1:37:09
Speaker 1: a thing unnamed, symbols of a truth unknown. It is
1:37:13
Speaker 1: in the spiritual temple built without the voice of workmen
1:37:16
Speaker 1: or the sound of hammers that the true initiation is given,
1:37:19
Speaker 1: and there, robed in the simple lambskin of a purified body,
1:37:22
Speaker 1: the student becomes a master mason, chosen out of the
1:37:25
Speaker 1: world as ready to be an active worker in the
1:37:27
Speaker 1: name of the great architect. It is there alone, unseen
1:37:31
Speaker 1: by mortal eyes, that the great degrees are given and
1:37:34
Speaker 1: there the soul radiating the light of spirit becomes a
1:37:37
Speaker 1: living star in the blue canopy of the Masonic lodge.
1:37:41
Speaker 1: The Presence of the Master The mason believes in the
1:37:44
Speaker 1: great architect, the living keystone of creation's plan, the master
1:37:49
Speaker 1: of all lodges, without whose spirit there is no work.
1:37:53
Speaker 1: Let him never forget that the master is near. Day
1:37:56
Speaker 1: and night let him feel the presence of the supreme
1:37:58
Speaker 1: or shadowing one. The all-seeing eye is upon him. Day
1:38:03
Speaker 1: and night this great orb measures his depth, seeing into
1:38:06
Speaker 1: the innermost soul of his souls, judging his life, reading
1:38:10
Speaker 1: his thought, measuring his aspiration and rewarding his sincerity. To
1:38:15
Speaker 1: this all-seeing one he is accountable, to none other must
1:38:18
Speaker 1: he account. This spirit passes with him out of the
1:38:21
Speaker 1: lodge and measures the mason in the world. This spirit
1:38:25
Speaker 1: is with him when he buys and sells. It is
1:38:28
Speaker 1: with him in his home. By the light of day
1:38:31
Speaker 1: and by the darkness of night it judges him. It
1:38:34
Speaker 1: hears each thoughtless word. It is the silent witness to
1:38:38
Speaker 1: every transaction of life, the silent partner of every man.
1:38:42
Speaker 1: By the jury of his acts, each man is judged.
1:38:46
Speaker 1: Let every mason know that his obligations include not only
1:38:49
Speaker 1: those within the narrow lodge, bordered by walls of stone
1:38:53
Speaker 1: and brick, but those in the great lodge, walled only
1:38:56
Speaker 1: by the dome of heaven. The valley of Jehoshaphat waits
1:38:59
Speaker 1: for him who is false to any creature, as surely
1:39:02
Speaker 1: as it waited for the breakers of the cosmic oath. 30.
1:39:07
Speaker 1: Chapter 5, The Qualifications of a True Mason 1. All
1:39:12
Speaker 1: true masons have come into the realization that there is
1:39:15
Speaker 1: but one lodge and that is the universe. There is
1:39:18
Speaker 1: but one brotherhood and this is composed of everything that
1:39:21
Speaker 1: moves or exists in any of the planes of nature.
1:39:25
Speaker 1: He realizes that the temple of Solomon is really the
1:39:27
Speaker 1: temple of the solar man, Sol-O-Amon, the king of the
1:39:31
Speaker 1: universe manifesting through his three primordial builders. He realizes that
1:39:36
Speaker 1: his vow of brotherhood and fraternity is universal. and that plant, animal, mineral,
1:39:41
Speaker 1: and man are all included in the true Masonic craft.
1:39:45
Speaker 1: His duty as an elder brother to all the kingdoms
1:39:48
Speaker 1: of nature beneath him is well understood by the true craftsman,
1:39:52
Speaker 1: who would rather die than fail in this, his great obligation.
1:39:56
Speaker 1: He has dedicated his life upon the altar of his
1:39:58
Speaker 1: God and is willing and glad to serve the lesser
1:40:01
Speaker 1: through the powers he has gained from the greater. The
1:40:04
Speaker 1: mystic Mason, in building the eyes that see behind the
1:40:07
Speaker 1: apparent ritual, recognizes the oneness of life manifesting through the
1:40:11
Speaker 1: diversity of form. 2. A true disciple of ancient Masonry
1:40:16
Speaker 1: has given up forever the worship of personalities. He realizes
1:40:20
Speaker 1: with his greater insight that all forms and their position
1:40:23
Speaker 1: in material affairs are of no importance to him compared
1:40:26
Speaker 1: to the life which is evolving within. Those who allow
1:40:30
Speaker 1: appearances or worldly expressions to deter them from their self-appointed
1:40:33
Speaker 1: tasks are failures in Masonry, for masonry is an abstract
1:40:37
Speaker 1: science of spiritual unfoldment. Material prosperity is not the measure
1:40:42
Speaker 1: of soul growth. The true mason realizes that behind these
1:40:46
Speaker 1: diverse forms there is one connected life principle, the spark
1:40:50
Speaker 1: of God in all living things. It is this life
1:40:53
Speaker 1: which he considers when measuring the worth of a brother.
1:40:57
Speaker 1: It is to this life that he appeals for a
1:40:59
Speaker 1: recognition of spiritual unity. He realizes that it is the
1:41:03
Speaker 1: discovery of this spark of unity which makes him a
1:41:05
Speaker 1: conscious member of the cosmic lodge. Most of all he
1:41:09
Speaker 1: must learn to understand that this divine spark shines out
1:41:12
Speaker 1: as brightly from the body of a foe as it
1:41:14
Speaker 1: does from the dearest friend. The true mason has learned
1:41:18
Speaker 1: to be divinely impersonal in thought, action, and desire. 3.
1:41:22
Speaker 1: The true mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the
1:41:27
Speaker 1: divine illumination of his lodge that as a mason his
1:41:30
Speaker 1: religion must be universal. Christ, Buddha, or Muhammad, the name
1:41:34
Speaker 1: means little, for he recognizes only the light and not
1:41:37
Speaker 1: the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every altar,
1:41:42
Speaker 1: whether in temple, mosque, or cathedral, realizing with his truer
1:41:46
Speaker 1: understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth. All true Masons
1:41:51
Speaker 1: know that the only heathen are those who, having great ideals,
1:41:54
Speaker 1: do not live up to them. They know that all
1:41:57
Speaker 1: religions are one story told in many ways for peoples
1:42:00
Speaker 1: whose ideals differ but whose great purpose is in harmony
1:42:04
Speaker 1: with Masonic ideals. North, East, South and West stretch the
1:42:08
Speaker 1: diversities of human thought, and while the ideals of man
1:42:12
Speaker 1: apparently differ, when all is said and the crystallization of
1:42:15
Speaker 1: form with its false concepts is swept away, one great
1:42:18
Speaker 1: truth remains, all existing things are temple builders, laboring for
1:42:23
Speaker 1: a single end. No true mason can be narrow, for
1:42:26
Speaker 1: his lodge is the divine expression of all broadness. There
1:42:30
Speaker 1: is no place for little minds in a great work. 4.
1:42:34
Speaker 1: The mason must develop the powers of observation. He must
1:42:39
Speaker 1: seek eternally in all expressions of nature for the things
1:42:42
Speaker 1: which he has lost because he failed to work for them.
1:42:45
Speaker 1: He must become a student of human nature and see
1:42:47
Speaker 1: in those around him the unfolding and varying expressions of
1:42:50
Speaker 1: one connected spiritual intelligence. The great spiritual ritual of his
1:42:55
Speaker 1: lodge is played out before him in every action of
1:42:58
Speaker 1: his brother man. The entire Masonic initiation is an open secret,
1:43:03
Speaker 1: for anyone can see it played out on the street
1:43:05
Speaker 1: corners of cities or in the untracked wilderness of nature.
1:43:09
Speaker 1: The Mason has sworn that every day he will extract
1:43:12
Speaker 1: from life its message for him and build it into
1:43:14
Speaker 1: the temple of his God. He seeks to learn the
1:43:17
Speaker 1: things which will make him of greater use in the
1:43:19
Speaker 1: divine plan, a better instrument in the hands of the
1:43:22
Speaker 1: great architect. who is laboring eternally to unfold life through
1:43:25
Speaker 1: the medium of living things. The mason realizes, moreover, that
1:43:30
Speaker 1: his vows, taken of his own free will and accord,
1:43:33
Speaker 1: give him the divine opportunity of being a living tool
1:43:36
Speaker 1: in the hands of a master workman. 5. The true
1:43:40
Speaker 1: master mason enters his lodge with one thought uppermost in
1:43:43
Speaker 1: his mind, how can I, as an individual, be of
1:43:46
Speaker 1: greater use in the universal plan? What can I do
1:43:50
Speaker 1: to be worthy to comprehend the mysteries which are unfolded here?
1:43:54
Speaker 1: How can I build the eyes to see the things
1:43:56
Speaker 1: which are concealed from those who lack spiritual understanding? The
1:44:00
Speaker 1: true mason is supremely unselfish in every expression and application
1:44:04
Speaker 1: of the powers that have been entrusted to him. No
1:44:08
Speaker 1: true brother seeks anything for himself, but unselfishly labors for
1:44:12
Speaker 1: the good of all. No person who enters a spiritual
1:44:15
Speaker 1: obligation for what he can get out of it is
1:44:17
Speaker 1: worthy of applying for the position even of water carrier.
1:44:21
Speaker 1: The true light can come only to those who, asking nothing,
1:44:24
Speaker 1: gladly give all to it. 6. The true brother of
1:44:28
Speaker 1: the craft, while steadily striving to improve himself, mentally, physically,
1:44:33
Speaker 1: and spiritually through the days of his life, never sets
1:44:36
Speaker 1: his own desires as the guiding star for his works.
1:44:40
Speaker 1: He has a duty and that duty is to fit
1:44:42
Speaker 1: into the plans of another. He must be ready at
1:44:45
Speaker 1: any hour of the day or night to drop his
1:44:47
Speaker 1: own ideals at the call of the builder. The work
1:44:51
Speaker 1: must be done and he has dedicated his life to
1:44:53
Speaker 1: the service of those who know not the bonds of
1:44:55
Speaker 1: time or space. He must be ready at any moment
1:44:59
Speaker 1: and his life should be turned into preparing himself for
1:45:01
Speaker 1: that call which may come when he least expects it.
1:45:05
Speaker 1: The Master Mason knows that those who are of greatest
1:45:08
Speaker 1: use in the plan are the ones who have gained
1:45:09
Speaker 1: the most from the practical experiences of life. It is
1:45:13
Speaker 1: not what goes on within the tiled lodge which is
1:45:15
Speaker 1: the basis of his greatness, but it is the way
1:45:18
Speaker 1: that he meets the problems of his daily life. A
1:45:21
Speaker 1: true Masonic student is known by his brotherly actions and
1:45:24
Speaker 1: his common sense. 7. All Masons know that a broken
1:45:29
Speaker 1: vow brings with it a terrible penalty. Let them also
1:45:33
Speaker 1: realize that failing to live mentally, spiritually, and morally up
1:45:37
Speaker 1: to the highest standard which they are capable of conceiving
1:45:39
Speaker 1: constitutes the greatest of all broken oaths. When a mason
1:45:43
Speaker 1: swears that he will devote his life to the building
1:45:46
Speaker 1: of his father's house and then defiles his living temple
1:45:48
Speaker 1: through the perversion of mental power, emotional force, and active energy,
1:45:53
Speaker 1: he is breaking a vow which brings with it not
1:45:55
Speaker 1: hours but ages of misery. If he is worthy to
1:45:59
Speaker 1: be a mason he must be great enough to restrain
1:46:01
Speaker 1: the lower side of his own nature which is daily
1:46:03
Speaker 1: murdering his grand master. He realizes that a misdirected life
1:46:08
Speaker 1: is a broken vow and that daily service, purification, and
1:46:12
Speaker 1: the constructive application of energy is a living invocation which
1:46:15
Speaker 1: builds within himself and draws to him the power of
1:46:18
Speaker 1: the Creator. His life is the only prayer acceptable in
1:46:21
Speaker 1: the eyes of the Most High. An impure life is
1:46:25
Speaker 1: a broken trust, a destructive action is a living curse,
1:46:28
Speaker 1: a narrow mind is a strangle cord around the throat
1:46:31
Speaker 1: of God. 8. All true Masons know that their work
1:46:35
Speaker 1: is not secret. They also realize that it must remain
1:46:39
Speaker 1: unknown to all who do not live the true Masonic life.
1:46:43
Speaker 1: If the secrets of Masonry were shouted from the housetops
1:46:46
Speaker 1: they would be absolutely safe. Certain spiritual qualities are necessary
1:46:51
Speaker 1: before Masonic secrets can be understood by the brothers themselves.
1:46:56
Speaker 1: It is only those who have been weighed in the
1:46:57
Speaker 1: balance and found true, upright, and square who have prepared
1:47:01
Speaker 1: themselves by their own growth to appreciate the inner meanings
1:47:04
Speaker 1: of their craft. To the rest of their brethren within
1:47:07
Speaker 1: or without the lodge their sacred rituals must remain, as
1:47:11
Speaker 1: Shakespeare might have said, words, words, words. Within the mason's
1:47:16
Speaker 1: own being is concealed the power, which, blazing forth from
1:47:19
Speaker 1: his purified being, constitutes the builder's word. His life is
1:47:24
Speaker 1: the password which admits him to the true masonic lodge.
1:47:28
Speaker 1: His spiritual urge is the sprig of acacia which through
1:47:31
Speaker 1: the darkness of ignorance still proves that the spiritual fire
1:47:34
Speaker 1: is a light. Within himself he must build those qualities
1:47:38
Speaker 1: which will make possible his true understanding of the craft.
1:47:42
Speaker 1: He can show the world only forms which mean nothing,
1:47:45
Speaker 1: the life within is forever concealed until the eye of
1:47:48
Speaker 1: spirit reveals it. 9. The master mason realizes that charity
1:47:53
Speaker 1: is one of the greatest traits which the elder brothers
1:47:56
Speaker 1: have unfolded, which means not only properly regulated charity of
1:48:00
Speaker 1: the purse but charity in thought and action. He realizes
1:48:04
Speaker 1: that all the workmen are not on the same step
1:48:06
Speaker 1: but wherever they may be they are doing the best
1:48:08
Speaker 1: they can according to their light. Each is laboring with
1:48:12
Speaker 1: the tools that he has, and he, as a master mason,
1:48:15
Speaker 1: does not spend his time in criticizing but in helping
1:48:18
Speaker 1: them to improve their tools. Instead of blaming poor tools
1:48:22
Speaker 1: let us always blame ourselves for having them. The master
1:48:26
Speaker 1: mason does not find fault, he does not criticize nor
1:48:29
Speaker 1: does he complain, but with malice toward none and charity
1:48:32
Speaker 1: to all he seeks to be worthy of his father's trust.
1:48:36
Speaker 1: In silence he labors, with compassion he suffers, and if
1:48:39
Speaker 1: the builders strike him as he seeks to work with them,
1:48:42
Speaker 1: his last word will be a prayer for them. The
1:48:45
Speaker 1: greater the mason, the more advanced in his craft, the
1:48:48
Speaker 1: more fatherly he grows, the walls of his lodge broadening
1:48:51
Speaker 1: out until all living things are sheltered and guarded within
1:48:54
Speaker 1: the blue folds of his cape. From laboring with the
1:48:57
Speaker 1: few he seeks to assist all, realizing with his broader
1:49:01
Speaker 1: understanding the weaknesses of others but the strength of right. 10.
1:49:05
Speaker 1: A mason is not proud of his position. He is
1:49:09
Speaker 1: not puffed up by his honor, but with a sinking
1:49:11
Speaker 1: heart is eternally ashamed of his own place, realizing that
1:49:15
Speaker 1: it is far below the standard of his craft. The
1:49:18
Speaker 1: farther on he goes the more he realizes that he
1:49:20
Speaker 1: is standing on slippery places and if he allows himself
1:49:23
Speaker 1: for one moment to lose his simplicity and humility, a
1:49:26
Speaker 1: fall is inevitable. A true mason never feels himself worthy
1:49:31
Speaker 1: of his craft. A student may stand on the top
1:49:34
Speaker 1: of Fool's Mountain self-satisfied in his position, but the true
1:49:38
Speaker 1: brother is always notable for his simplicity. 11. A mason
1:49:42
Speaker 1: cannot be ordained or elected by ballot. He is evolved
1:49:46
Speaker 1: through ages of self-purification and spiritual transmutation. There are thousands
1:49:52
Speaker 1: of masons today who are brethren in name only, for
1:49:54
Speaker 1: their methods of living prevent them from receiving the slightest
1:49:57
Speaker 1: idea of what true masonry teaches or means. The masonic
1:50:02
Speaker 1: life forms the first key of the temple and without
1:50:04
Speaker 1: this key none of the doors can be opened. When
1:50:07
Speaker 1: this fact is better realized and lived, masonry will awake,
1:50:11
Speaker 1: and speak the word so long withheld. The speculative craft
1:50:15
Speaker 1: will then become operative, and the ancient wisdom so long
1:50:19
Speaker 1: concealed will rise from the ruins of its temple as
1:50:21
Speaker 1: the greatest spiritual truth yet revealed to man, the ancient
1:50:25
Speaker 1: and accepted masonic right. 12. The true master mason realizes
1:50:30
Speaker 1: the value of seeking for truth wherever he can find it.
1:50:34
Speaker 1: It makes no difference to him if it be in
1:50:36
Speaker 1: the enemy's camp, if it be truth, he will go
1:50:38
Speaker 1: there gladly to secure it. The Masonic lodge is universal,
1:50:43
Speaker 1: therefore all true Masons will seek through the extremities of
1:50:46
Speaker 1: creation for their light. The true brother of the craft
1:50:50
Speaker 1: knows and applies one great principle. He must search for
1:50:54
Speaker 1: the high things in lowly places and he will always
1:50:56
Speaker 1: find the low things in high places. Any Mason who
1:51:00
Speaker 1: feels holier than his brother man has built a wall
1:51:02
Speaker 1: around himself through which no light can pass. for the
1:51:05
Speaker 1: one who in truth is the greatest is the servant
1:51:08
Speaker 1: of all. Many brothers make a great mistake in building
1:51:12
Speaker 1: a wall around their secrets, for they succeed only in
1:51:15
Speaker 1: shutting out their own light. Their divine opportunity is at hand.
1:51:20
Speaker 1: The time has come when the world needs the ancient
1:51:22
Speaker 1: wisdom as never before. Let the mason stand forth and
1:51:26
Speaker 1: by living the doctrines which he preaches show to his
1:51:29
Speaker 1: brother man the glory of his work. He holds the
1:51:32
Speaker 1: keys to truth, let him unlock the door, and with
1:51:35
Speaker 1: his life and not his words preached the doctrine which
1:51:38
Speaker 1: he has so long professed. The fatherhood of God and
1:51:41
Speaker 1: the brotherhood of man were united in the completion of
1:51:44
Speaker 1: the eternal temple, the great work, for which all things
1:51:47
Speaker 1: came into being and through which all shall glorify their Creator.
1:51:51
Speaker 1: Epilogue In the temple of Cosmos the priest of Ra.
1:51:56
Speaker 1: What words are there in modern language to describe the
1:51:59
Speaker 1: great temple of Amun-Ra? Now it stands on the sand
1:52:02
Speaker 1: of Egypt a pile of broken ruins. but in the
1:52:05
Speaker 1: days gone by it rose a forest of plumed pillars
1:52:08
Speaker 1: holding up roofs of solid sandstone, carved into friezes of
1:52:11
Speaker 1: lotus blossoms and papyri plants by hands long still, colored
1:52:15
Speaker 1: lifelike by pigments the secrets of which were lost with
1:52:18
Speaker 1: the civilization that discovered them. A checkerboard floor of black
1:52:22
Speaker 1: and white blocks stretched out until it was lost among
1:52:25
Speaker 1: the wilderness of pillars. and from the massive walls the
1:52:28
Speaker 1: faces of gods unnamed looked down in passive grandeur upon
1:52:31
Speaker 1: the silent files of priests that kept alight the altar fires,
1:52:35
Speaker 1: whose feeble glow alone lighted the massive chambers through the
1:52:38
Speaker 1: darkness of Egyptian night. It was a weird, impressive scene,
1:52:43
Speaker 1: and the flickering light sent strange, ghastly forms scurrying among
1:52:46
Speaker 1: the piles of granite which rose like mighty altars from
1:52:49
Speaker 1: the darkness below to be lost again in the shadows above.
1:52:53
Speaker 1: Suddenly a figure appeared from among the shadows— carrying in
1:52:57
Speaker 1: his hand a small oil lamp which cut the darkness
1:52:59
Speaker 1: like a little star and brought into strange relief the
1:53:02
Speaker 1: figure of him who bore it. He appeared to be old,
1:53:05
Speaker 1: for his long beard and braided hair were quite gray,
1:53:08
Speaker 1: but his large black eyes shone with a fire seldom
1:53:11
Speaker 1: seen even in youth. He was robed from head to
1:53:14
Speaker 1: foot in blue and gold, and around his forehead was
1:53:17
Speaker 1: coiled a snake of precious metal, set with jeweled eyes
1:53:21
Speaker 1: that gave out flashes of light when the flame struck them.
1:53:24
Speaker 1: Never had the light of Ross' chamber shone on a
1:53:27
Speaker 1: grander head or a more powerful form than that of
1:53:29
Speaker 1: the high priest of the temple. He was the mouthpiece
1:53:33
Speaker 1: of the gods and the sacred wisdom of ancient Egypt
1:53:35
Speaker 1: was written in fiery letters on his soul. As he
1:53:39
Speaker 1: crossed the great room, in one hand the scepter of
1:53:41
Speaker 1: the priestcraft and in the other the tiny lamp, he
1:53:44
Speaker 1: was more like a spirit visitor from beyond the mountains
1:53:47
Speaker 1: of death than a physical being. for his jeweled sandals
1:53:50
Speaker 1: made no sound and the sheen from his robes formed
1:53:52
Speaker 1: a halo of light around his stately form. Down through
1:53:56
Speaker 1: the silent passageways, lined with their massive pillars, past the
1:54:00
Speaker 1: phantom form, down steps lined with kneeling sphinxes and through
1:54:04
Speaker 1: avenues of crouching lions the priest lighted his way until
1:54:07
Speaker 1: at last he reached a vaulted chamber on the marble
1:54:09
Speaker 1: floor of which strange designs were traced in a language
1:54:12
Speaker 1: long forgotten. Each angle of the many-sided and dimly lighted
1:54:16
Speaker 1: room was formed by a seated figure carved in stone,
1:54:19
Speaker 1: so massive that its head and shoulders were lost in
1:54:22
Speaker 1: shadows no eye could pierce. In the center of this
1:54:25
Speaker 1: mystic chamber stood a great chest. It was of some
1:54:29
Speaker 1: black stone carved with serpents and strange winged dragons. The
1:54:34
Speaker 1: lid was a solid slab, weighing hundreds of pounds, without
1:54:37
Speaker 1: a handle of any kind and apparently there was no
1:54:40
Speaker 1: way of opening it without the use of Herculean powers.
1:54:44
Speaker 1: The high priest leaned over and with the lamp he carried,
1:54:47
Speaker 1: lighted the fire upon an altar that stood near, sending
1:54:50
Speaker 1: shadows of that weird room scurrying into the distant corners.
1:54:54
Speaker 1: As the flame rose it was reflected from the great
1:54:56
Speaker 1: stone faces above, all of which seemed to stare at
1:54:59
Speaker 1: the black coffer in the center of the room with strange,
1:55:03
Speaker 1: sightless eyes. The priest raised his serpent-wound staff and facing
1:55:07
Speaker 1: the chest of somber marble called out in a voice
1:55:10
Speaker 1: that echoed and re-echoed from every corner of the ancient temple. Aratamas,
1:55:15
Speaker 1: come forth. Then a strange thing happened. The heavy slab
1:55:20
Speaker 1: that formed the cover of the great ark slowly raised
1:55:23
Speaker 1: as though unseen hands were lifting it, and there arose
1:55:26
Speaker 1: from the dark opening a slim, white-clad figure with his
1:55:29
Speaker 1: forearms crossed on his breast. It was that of a
1:55:32
Speaker 1: man of perhaps thirty years, his long, black hair hanging
1:55:36
Speaker 1: on his white-robed shoulders in strange contrast to the seamless
1:55:39
Speaker 1: garment that he wore. His face, devoid of emotion, was
1:55:43
Speaker 1: as handsome and immovable as the great face of Amon-Ra
1:55:46
Speaker 1: that gazed down upon the scene. Silently Eratimas stepped from
1:55:51
Speaker 1: the ancient tomb and advanced slowly toward the high priest.
1:55:55
Speaker 1: When he was about ten paces from the representative of
1:55:57
Speaker 1: the gods on earth, he stopped, unfolded his arms, and
1:56:01
Speaker 1: extended them across his chest in salutation. In one hand
1:56:05
Speaker 1: he carried a cross with a ring as the upper
1:56:07
Speaker 1: arm and this he held out to the priest. Eratimas
1:56:11
Speaker 1: stood in silence as the high priest, raising his scepter
1:56:14
Speaker 1: to one of the great stone figures, began an invocation
1:56:17
Speaker 1: to the sun god of the universe. This finished, he
1:56:21
Speaker 1: addressed the youthful figure. Eratimas, you seek to know the
1:56:25
Speaker 1: mystery of creation, you ask that the divine illumination of
1:56:28
Speaker 1: the thrice greatest and the wisdom that for ages has
1:56:31
Speaker 1: been the one gift the gods would shower upon mankind,
1:56:34
Speaker 1: be entrusted to you. Of the thing you ask you
1:56:37
Speaker 1: little understand. but those who know have said that he
1:56:40
Speaker 1: who proves worthy may receive the truth. Therefore, stand you
1:56:44
Speaker 1: here today to prove your divine birthright to the teaching
1:56:47
Speaker 1: that you ask. The priest pronounced these words slowly and
1:56:51
Speaker 1: solemnly and then pointed with his scepter to a great
1:56:54
Speaker 1: dim archway surmounted by a winged globe of gleaming gold.
1:56:58
Speaker 1: Before thee, up those steps and through those passageways, lies
1:57:02
Speaker 1: the path that leads to the eye of judgment and
1:57:04
Speaker 1: the feet of Amun-Ra. Go, and if thy heart be pure,
1:57:08
Speaker 1: as pure as the garment that thou wearest, and if
1:57:11
Speaker 1: thy motive be unselfish, thy feet shall not stumble and
1:57:14
Speaker 1: thy being shall be filled with light. But remember that
1:57:18
Speaker 1: Typhon and his hosts of death lurk in every shadow
1:57:21
Speaker 1: and that death is the result of failure. Aratamas turned
1:57:25
Speaker 1: and again placed his arms over his breast in the
1:57:27
Speaker 1: sign of the cross. As he walked slowly through the
1:57:31
Speaker 1: somber arch, the shadows of the great unknown closed over
1:57:34
Speaker 1: him who had dedicated his life to the search for
1:57:36
Speaker 1: the Eternal. The priest watched him until he was lost
1:57:40
Speaker 1: to sight among the massive pillars beyond the silent span
1:57:43
Speaker 1: that divided the living from the dead, and then slowly
1:57:46
Speaker 1: fell on his knees before the gigantic statue of Ra.
1:57:50
Speaker 1: Raising his eyes to the shadows that through the long
1:57:52
Speaker 1: night concealed the face of the sun god, he prayed
1:57:55
Speaker 1: that the youth might pass from the darkness of the
1:57:57
Speaker 1: temple pillars to the light he sought. It seemed that
1:58:01
Speaker 1: for a second a glow played around the face of
1:58:03
Speaker 1: the enormous statue and a strange hush of peace filled
1:58:06
Speaker 1: the ancient temple. The high priest felt this, for a
1:58:10
Speaker 1: he relight his little lamp and walked slowly away. His
1:58:14
Speaker 1: little star of light shone fainter and fainter in the distance,
1:58:18
Speaker 1: and finally was lost to view among the papyrus blooms
1:58:21
Speaker 1: of the temple pillars. All that remained was the dying
1:58:24
Speaker 1: flames on the altar, which, burning low, sent strange flickering
1:58:28
Speaker 1: glows over the great stone coffer and the twelve judges
1:58:31
Speaker 1: of Egyptian dead. In the meantime Aratamas, his hand still
1:58:36
Speaker 1: crossed on his breast, walked slowly onward and upward until
1:58:39
Speaker 1: the last ray from the burning altar fire was lost
1:58:42
Speaker 1: to view among the shadows far behind. Through years of
1:58:46
Speaker 1: purification he had prepared himself for the great ordeal, and
1:58:49
Speaker 1: with a harmonious, purified body and a balanced mind, he
1:58:53
Speaker 1: wound in and out in a mysterious way among the
1:58:55
Speaker 1: pillars that loomed about him. As he walked along there
1:58:59
Speaker 1: seemed to radiate from his being a faint golden glow
1:59:01
Speaker 1: which brought dimly into view the pillars as he passed them.
1:59:05
Speaker 1: He seemed a ghostly form amidst a grove of ancient trees.
1:59:10
Speaker 1: Suddenly the pillars widened out and formed another vaulted room,
1:59:13
Speaker 1: dimly lit by a reddish haze. As Eratimas proceeded, there
1:59:18
Speaker 1: appeared around him swirling wisps of this scarlet light. First
1:59:22
Speaker 1: they appeared as swiftly moving clouds. but slowly they took form,
1:59:26
Speaker 1: and strange misty figures in flowing draperies hovered in the
1:59:29
Speaker 1: air and held out long swaying arms to stay his progress.
1:59:33
Speaker 1: Sheets of ruddy mist twined about him and whispered soft
1:59:36
Speaker 1: words into his ears, while weird music, like the voice
1:59:39
Speaker 1: of storms and the cries of night birds, resounded through
1:59:43
Speaker 1: the lofty halls. Still Eratimas walked on in perfect calm
1:59:47
Speaker 1: and mastery, his fine, spiritual face lined with its raven
1:59:51
Speaker 1: locks in strange contrast to the luring, sinuous forms that
1:59:54
Speaker 1: gathered around and tried to stay his progress. Though strange
1:59:58
Speaker 1: forms beckoned from ghostly archways and soft voices pleaded, he
2:00:02
Speaker 1: passed steadily on his way, with but one thought in
2:00:05
Speaker 1: his mind. Lux fiat. Let there be light. The ghastly
2:00:11
Speaker 1: music grew louder and louder until at last it ended
2:00:14
Speaker 1: in a mighty roar. The very walls shook, the dancing
2:00:18
Speaker 1: forms swayed like flickering candle shadows, and, pleading and beckoning,
2:00:23
Speaker 1: vanished among the carved pillars of the temple. As the
2:00:27
Speaker 1: temple walls swayed and twisted, Eratimus paused, then in slow
2:00:31
Speaker 1: measured step he content his way on through the darkness,
2:00:34
Speaker 1: seeking eternally for some ray of light and finding always
2:00:37
Speaker 1: darkness deeper than before. Suddenly before him loomed another doorway,
2:00:42
Speaker 1: on each side of which was an obelisk of carved marble,
2:00:45
Speaker 1: one black and the other white. Through the doorway glowed
2:00:48
Speaker 1: a dim light, concealed from his eyes by a thin
2:00:51
Speaker 1: veil of blue silk. Aratamas climbed a series of steps
2:00:55
Speaker 1: and slowly advanced to the doorway. As he did so
2:00:59
Speaker 1: there arose from the ground before him a swirl of
2:01:01
Speaker 1: lurid mists. In the faint light that it cast from itself,
2:01:06
Speaker 1: it twisted like some oily gas and filled the entire
2:01:09
Speaker 1: chamber with a sickening haze. Then out of this mist
2:01:12
Speaker 1: a gigantic form issued, half human, half reptile. from its
2:01:16
Speaker 1: bloodshot eyes issued ruddy glows of demon fire while great
2:01:19
Speaker 1: clawed hands reached out to enfold and crush the slender
2:01:22
Speaker 1: figure who confronted it. Aratamas wavered for a single instant
2:01:27
Speaker 1: as the horrible apparition reached forth and its size seemed
2:01:30
Speaker 1: to double in the iridescent fog. Then the white-robed neophyte
2:01:34
Speaker 1: again slowly, advanced, his arms still crossed on his breast.
2:01:39
Speaker 1: He raised his fine face, illuminated with a divine light,
2:01:43
Speaker 1: and advanced slowly toward the hideous specter. He reached the
2:01:47
Speaker 1: menacing form and for an instant it loomed over him
2:01:49
Speaker 1: a towering demon. Suddenly Aratamas raised the cross he carried
2:01:54
Speaker 1: and held it up before the monster. As he did
2:01:57
Speaker 1: so the crux and sada gleamed with a wondrous golden light, which,
2:02:01
Speaker 1: striking the oily, lizard-like creature, seemed to dissolve it and
2:02:05
Speaker 1: turn every particle into golden sparks. As the last of
2:02:09
Speaker 1: the demon guardians vanished under the rays of the cross,
2:02:12
Speaker 1: a bolt of lightning flashed through the ancient hallways, and
2:02:15
Speaker 1: striking the veil that hung between the obelisks, tore it
2:02:18
Speaker 1: straight down the center and disclosed the room beyond as
2:02:21
Speaker 1: being a great, vaulted chamber with a circular dome, dimly
2:02:25
Speaker 1: lighted by invisible lamps. Aratamas, bearing his now flaming cross,
2:02:30
Speaker 1: entered the room and as though by instinct gazed upward
2:02:33
Speaker 1: to the lofty dome. There, floating in space, many feet
2:02:37
Speaker 1: above his head, was a great closed-in, surrounded by fleecy
2:02:41
Speaker 1: clouds and rainbow colors. Aratamas gazed long at the wonderful sight,
2:02:46
Speaker 1: for he knew that it was the eye Horus, the
2:02:48
Speaker 1: all-seeing eye of the gods. As he stood there he
2:02:52
Speaker 1: prayed that the will of the gods might be made
2:02:54
Speaker 1: known unto him and that in some way he might
2:02:56
Speaker 1: be found worthy to open that closed eye in the
2:02:59
Speaker 1: living temple of the living God. Suddenly as he stood
2:03:02
Speaker 1: there gazing upward, the eyelid flickered. Slowly the great orb
2:03:07
Speaker 1: opened and the entire chamber was filled with a dazzling,
2:03:10
Speaker 1: blinding glare that seemed to burn the very stones with
2:03:13
Speaker 1: blazing fire and blinding light. Aratamas staggered. It seemed as
2:03:18
Speaker 1: if every atom of his being was torn and scorched
2:03:21
Speaker 1: by the strength of that glow. He instinctively closed his
2:03:24
Speaker 1: eyes and now he feared to open them, for in
2:03:27
Speaker 1: that terrific blaze of splendor it seemed that only blindness
2:03:30
Speaker 1: would follow his action. Little by little a strange feeling
2:03:34
Speaker 1: of peace and calm descended upon him and at last
2:03:36
Speaker 1: he dared to open his eyes. He found that the
2:03:40
Speaker 1: glare was gone, but that the entire chamber was alight
2:03:43
Speaker 1: with a soft, wondrous glow from the mighty eye in
2:03:46
Speaker 1: the ceiling. He saw that the white robe he had
2:03:49
Speaker 1: worn had given place to one of living fire which
2:03:51
Speaker 1: blazed from every atom of his being as though from
2:03:53
Speaker 1: thousands of lesser eyes reflecting from the divine orb above.
2:03:58
Speaker 1: As his eyes became accustomed to the glow he saw
2:04:00
Speaker 1: that he was no longer alone, that he was surrounded
2:04:03
Speaker 1: by twelve white-robed figures who, bowing before him, held up
2:04:07
Speaker 1: strange insignias wrought from living gold. As Aratamas looked, all
2:04:11
Speaker 1: these figures pointed, and as he followed the direction of
2:04:14
Speaker 1: their hands, he saw a staircase of living light that
2:04:17
Speaker 1: led far up into the dome and past the eye
2:04:19
Speaker 1: in the ceiling. In one voice all of the twelve said,
2:04:23
Speaker 1: yonder lies the way of liberation. Without a moment's hesitation,
2:04:28
Speaker 1: Aratamas advanced to the staircase, and with feet that seemed
2:04:31
Speaker 1: to barely touch the steps, he climbed upward and onward
2:04:35
Speaker 1: into the dawn of a great unknown. At last, after
2:04:39
Speaker 1: climbing many steps, he reached a doorway that was opened
2:04:42
Speaker 1: as he neared it and a great breath of morning
2:04:44
Speaker 1: air fanned his cheek and a golden glow of sunshine
2:04:47
Speaker 1: played among the waves of his dark hair. He stood
2:04:50
Speaker 1: on the top of a mighty pyramid, before him a
2:04:52
Speaker 1: blazing altar, and in the distance, far over the great
2:04:55
Speaker 1: expanse of horizon, the rolling sands of the Egyptian desert
2:04:59
Speaker 1: reflected the first rays of the morning sun, while the
2:05:02
Speaker 1: globe of day, a mass of golden fire, rose again
2:05:05
Speaker 1: out of the eternal east. As Aratamas stood there, a
2:05:09
Speaker 1: voice that seemed to descend from the very heavens chanted
2:05:12
Speaker 1: a strange song, and a hand, reaching out as it
2:05:15
Speaker 1: were from the globe of day itself, placed a snake
2:05:17
Speaker 1: of wrought gold on the brow of the new initiate.
2:05:20
Speaker 1: Behold Kepra, the rising sun, for as he brings the
2:05:24
Speaker 1: mighty globe of day out of the darkness of night,
2:05:27
Speaker 1: between his claws, so for thee the sun of spirit
2:05:30
Speaker 1: has risen from the darkness of night and in the
2:05:32
Speaker 1: name of the living God, we hail thee priest of Ra. A.U.M. Masons, awake!
2:05:41
Speaker 1: Your creed and your craft demand the best that is
2:05:43
Speaker 1: in you. They demand the sanctifying of your life, the
2:05:47
Speaker 1: regeneration of your body, the purification of your soul, and
2:05:50
Speaker 1: the ordination of your spirit. Yours is the glorious opportunity,
2:05:55
Speaker 1: yours is the divine responsibility. Accept your task and follow
2:05:59
Speaker 1: in the footsteps of the master masons of the past,
2:06:02
Speaker 1: who with the flaming spirit of the craft have illuminated
2:06:05
Speaker 1: the world. You have a great privilege, the privilege of
2:06:09
Speaker 1: illuminated labor. You may know the ends to which you work,
2:06:13
Speaker 1: while others must struggle in darkness. Your labors are not
2:06:17
Speaker 1: to be confined to the tiled lodge alone, for a
2:06:20
Speaker 1: mason must radiate the qualities of his craft. Its light
2:06:23
Speaker 1: must shine into his home and in his business, glorifying
2:06:27
Speaker 1: his association with his fellowmen. In the lodge and out
2:06:30
Speaker 1: of the lodge, the mason must represent the highest fruitage
2:06:33
Speaker 1: of sincere endeavor. Masonic Aspirations The Robe of Blue and
2:06:39
Speaker 1: Gold Hidden in the depths of the unknown, three silent
2:06:44
Speaker 1: beings weave the endless thread of human fate. They are
2:06:47
Speaker 1: called the Sisters and are known in mythology as the
2:06:50
Speaker 1: Norms or Fates who incessantly twist between their fingers a
2:06:53
Speaker 1: tiny cord, which one day is to be woven into
2:06:56
Speaker 1: a living garment, the coronation robe of the Priest-King. Among
2:07:00
Speaker 1: the mystics and philosophers of the world this garment is
2:07:03
Speaker 1: known under many names. To some it is the simple
2:07:07
Speaker 1: yellow robe of Buddhahood. By the ancient Jews it was
2:07:10
Speaker 1: symbolized as the robe of the high priests, the garment
2:07:13
Speaker 1: of glory unto the Lord. To the Masonic brethren, it
2:07:18
Speaker 1: is the robe of blue and gold, the star of Bethlehem,
2:07:21
Speaker 1: the wedding garment of the Spirit. Three fates weave the
2:07:25
Speaker 1: threads of this living garment, and man himself is the
2:07:28
Speaker 1: creator of his fates. The triple thread of thought, action,
2:07:32
Speaker 1: and desire binds him when he enters into the sacred
2:07:34
Speaker 1: place or seeks admittance into the tiled lodge, but later
2:07:38
Speaker 1: this same cord is woven into a splendid garment the
2:07:41
Speaker 1: purified folds of which shroud the sacred spark of his being.
2:07:45
Speaker 1: We all like to be well-dressed, and robes of velvet
2:07:48
Speaker 1: and ermine seem to us symbols of rank and glory,
2:07:51
Speaker 1: but too many ermine capes have covered empty hearts, too
2:07:54
Speaker 1: many crowns have rested on the brows of tyrants. These
2:07:57
Speaker 1: symbols are earthly things and in the world of matter
2:08:00
Speaker 1: are too often misplaced. The true coronation robe, the garment
2:08:05
Speaker 1: molded after the pattern of heavenly things, the robe of
2:08:08
Speaker 1: glory of the master mason, is not of the earth,
2:08:11
Speaker 1: for it tells of his spiritual growth, of his deeper
2:08:13
Speaker 1: understanding in his consecrated life. The garments of the high
2:08:18
Speaker 1: priest of the tabernacle were but symbols of his own body, which,
2:08:21
Speaker 1: purified and transfigured, glorified the life within. The little silver
2:08:26
Speaker 1: bells that tinkle with never-ending music from the fringe of
2:08:29
Speaker 1: his vestments told with their silver note of a life harmonious,
2:08:32
Speaker 1: while the breastplate which rested amid the folds of the
2:08:35
Speaker 1: ephod reflected the gleams of heavenly truth from its many-sided gem.
2:08:40
Speaker 1: There is one garment without a seam which we are
2:08:42
Speaker 1: told was often worn by the Masonic brothers in the
2:08:45
Speaker 1: days of the Essenes, when the monastery of the lowly
2:08:48
Speaker 1: Nazarenes rose in gloomy grandeur from the steep sides of Empitabur,
2:08:52
Speaker 1: to be reflected in the silent waters of the Dead Sea.
2:08:55
Speaker 1: This one-piece garment woven without a seam is the spiral
2:08:59
Speaker 1: thread of human life, which, when purified by right motive
2:09:02
Speaker 1: and right living, becomes a tiny line of golden light,
2:09:05
Speaker 1: eternally weaving the purified garment of regenerated bodies. Like the
2:09:10
Speaker 1: white of the lambskin apron, it stands for the simple,
2:09:13
Speaker 1: the pure, and the harmless. These are the requirements of
2:09:17
Speaker 1: a master mason, who must give up forever the pomp
2:09:20
Speaker 1: and vanity of this world, and seek to weave with
2:09:23
Speaker 1: his own soul that simple one-piece robe which marks the master,
2:09:26
Speaker 1: consecrated and consummated. With the eyes of the mind we
2:09:30
Speaker 1: can still see the lowly Nazarene in his spotless robe
2:09:33
Speaker 1: of white, a garment no king could buy. This robe
2:09:37
Speaker 1: is woven by the daily actions of our lives, each
2:09:40
Speaker 1: expression weaving into the endless pattern a thread, black or white,
2:09:44
Speaker 1: according to our action and the motives which prompted them.
2:09:47
Speaker 1: As the master mason labors in accordance with his vows,
2:09:51
Speaker 1: he slowly weaves this spotless robe out of the transmuted
2:09:54
Speaker 1: efforts of his energies. It is this white robe which
2:09:57
Speaker 1: must be worn under the vestments of state, and its
2:10:00
Speaker 1: simple spotless surface sanctifies him for the robes of glory,
2:10:04
Speaker 1: which can be worn only over the stainless, seamless garment
2:10:07
Speaker 1: of his purified life. When this moment comes and the
2:10:10
Speaker 1: candidate has completed his task, when he comes purified and
2:10:14
Speaker 1: regenerated to seek wisdom at the altar of wisdom, he
2:10:17
Speaker 1: is truly baptized of the fire, and its flame blazes
2:10:20
Speaker 1: up within himself. From him pour forth streams of light,
2:10:24
Speaker 1: and a great aura of multicolored fire surrounds him with
2:10:27
Speaker 1: its radiance. The sacred flame of the gods has found
2:10:31
Speaker 1: its resting place in him, and through him renews its
2:10:33
Speaker 1: covenant with man. He is then truly a Freemason, a
2:10:37
Speaker 1: child of light. This wonderful garment, of which all earthly
2:10:42
Speaker 1: robes are but symbols, is built of the highest qualities
2:10:45
Speaker 1: of human nature, the noblest of ideals, and the greatest
2:10:48
Speaker 1: of aspirations. Its coming is made possible only through the
2:10:52
Speaker 1: purification of body and unselfish service to others, in the
2:10:56
Speaker 1: name of the Creator. When the mason has built all
2:10:59
Speaker 1: these powers into himself, there radiates from him a wonderful
2:11:03
Speaker 1: body of living fire, like that which surrounded the Master, Jesus,
2:11:07
Speaker 1: at the moment of transfiguration. This is the robe of glory.
2:11:12
Speaker 1: This is the garment of blue and gold, which, shining
2:11:15
Speaker 1: forth as a five-pointed star of light, heralds the birth
2:11:18
Speaker 1: of the Christ within. Man is then indeed a son
2:11:21
Speaker 1: of God, pouring out from the depthless fountains of his
2:11:24
Speaker 1: own being the light rays which are the life of man.
2:11:28
Speaker 1: This spiritual ray, striking hearts that have long been cold,
2:11:32
Speaker 1: raises them from the dead. It is the living light
2:11:35
Speaker 1: which illuminates those still buried in the darkness of materiality.
2:11:39
Speaker 1: It is the power which raises by the grip of
2:11:41
Speaker 1: the lion's paw. It is the great light which seeks
2:11:45
Speaker 1: forever the spark of itself within all living things, and
2:11:48
Speaker 1: finding the solitary gleams, it reawakens dead ideals and smothered
2:11:52
Speaker 1: aspirations with the power of the Master's eternal word. Then
2:11:56
Speaker 1: the Master Mason becomes indeed the sun in Leo, and
2:11:59
Speaker 1: reaching downward into the darkness of crystallization, raises the murdered
2:12:03
Speaker 1: builder from the dead by the grip of the Master Mason.
2:12:07
Speaker 1: As the sun awakens the seedlings in the ground, so
2:12:10
Speaker 1: this sun of man glowing with the light divine pours
2:12:12
Speaker 1: out from his own purified being the mystic spears of
2:12:15
Speaker 1: redeeming light which awaken the seeds of hope and truth
2:12:18
Speaker 1: and nobler living in others. Discouragement and suffering too often
2:12:22
Speaker 1: bring down the temple and bury beneath its debris the
2:12:25
Speaker 1: true reason for being and the higher motives of life.
2:12:29
Speaker 1: This same robe enfolding all things warms them and preserves
2:12:32
Speaker 1: them with its light and life, as the glorious robe
2:12:35
Speaker 1: of the sun, the symbol of all life, bathes and
2:12:38
Speaker 1: warms creation with its glow. Man is a god in
2:12:41
Speaker 1: the making, and on the potter's will he is being molded,
2:12:44
Speaker 1: as in the mystic myths of Egypt. When his light
2:12:48
Speaker 1: shines out to lift and preserve all things, he accepts
2:12:51
Speaker 1: the triple crown of godhood, and joins that throng of
2:12:54
Speaker 1: master masons who in their garments of glory, the robes
2:12:57
Speaker 1: of blue and gold, are seeking to illuminate the darkness
2:13:00
Speaker 1: of night with the triple light of the masonic lodge.
2:13:03
Speaker 1: Ceaselessly the norms spin the thread of human fate. Age
2:13:07
Speaker 1: in and age out, upon the loom of destiny are
2:13:10
Speaker 1: woven the living garments of God, some are rich in
2:13:13
Speaker 1: glorious colors and wondrous fabrics, while others are broken and
2:13:17
Speaker 1: frayed before they leave the loom. All, however, are woven
2:13:21
Speaker 1: by those three sisters, thought, action, and desire, which in
2:13:25
Speaker 1: the hands of the ignorant build walls of mud and
2:13:27
Speaker 1: bricks of slime between themselves and truth, while in the
2:13:30
Speaker 1: hands of the pure of heart these radiant threads are
2:13:33
Speaker 1: woven into raiment celestial and garments divine. Do what we will,
2:13:38
Speaker 1: we cannot stop those nimble fingers which twist the threads,
2:13:41
Speaker 1: but we may take the thread and use it as
2:13:43
Speaker 1: we will. We should give these three eternal weavers only
2:13:47
Speaker 1: the noble and the true, then the work of their
2:13:49
Speaker 1: hands will be perfect. The thread they twist may be
2:13:53
Speaker 1: red with the blood of others, it may be dark
2:13:55
Speaker 1: with the uncertainties of life, but if we will to
2:13:58
Speaker 1: be and are true, we may restore its whiteness and
2:14:01
Speaker 1: weave from it the seamless garment of a perfect life.
2:14:04
Speaker 1: This is man's acceptable gift upon the altar of the
2:14:07
Speaker 1: Most High, his supreme sacrifice to the Creator. The End