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Death
Jul 5, 2008 3:31:40 GMT 10
Post by Tamrin on Jul 5, 2008 3:31:40 GMT 10
My take on death is premised on there being but one life, of which we are all expressions. As the leaf on the vine will die, another will take its place in the following season. The first leaf is dead and, as a leaf, it has no direct connection with the subsequent leaf. However, each leaf arose from its source and partook of the nature of the vine: It is the vine itself that provides the connection. The ‘higher self’ that survives death is the vine, which provides the connection between one leaf and the next. Indeed, some properties acquired by the first leaf may have been learnt by the vine which, in turn, may have recalled them when giving rise to the subsequent leaf. As individuals, we can transcend our ‘selves’ and glory in being expressions of the one life. At this level we can share in various levels and lines of collective consciousness and collective memories, giving a mistaken sense of our present, individual selves having lived before. However, when 'I' die, that’s it—I’m dead—but life goes on. And, with that guerdon, I am content. I suspect not that the universe is God ( pantheism) but that it is IN God ( panentheism). Just as our 'individual' totality, including our unifying and transcendent mind, cannot be explained simply by the sum of our parts, so too I expect that the totality of the One Life from which we arise, in which (for a time) we exist (being that which is essentially 'us') and which lives on after we have died, probably exceeds the sum of Her manifest parts.
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Death
Jul 5, 2008 8:19:55 GMT 10
Post by thewidowsson on Jul 5, 2008 8:19:55 GMT 10
hi tamrin, the above sounds to me like hinduism, there is a lot to be said for it, many truths and mysteries, but a bit on the heavy side. thewidowsson.
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Death
Jul 5, 2008 8:48:25 GMT 10
Post by Tamrin on Jul 5, 2008 8:48:25 GMT 10
...a bit on the heavy side. Granted. However, in words we attribute to our G.M. Hiram Abiff (Royal Masters°), " ... death is a subject which admits of no levity when mentioned by mortal man, The young may die, the old must die,—the wisest knoweth not how soon." What is your take on this solemn topic?
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Death
Jul 5, 2008 9:07:01 GMT 10
Post by thewidowsson on Jul 5, 2008 9:07:01 GMT 10
"and the word shall be found there," these perambulations i think, are just about the nicest part of freemasonry. i am a p.t.i.m. and found all three parts of cryptic freemasonry most interesting and understanding. " death is a subject " etc. explains to me in a few hundred words, all about dying and having no fear of it. some people read about death for years and still do not understand it, it is magic, how a few words written plainly can put one on the right path of understanding.
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Death
Jul 5, 2008 9:20:31 GMT 10
Post by Tamrin on Jul 5, 2008 9:20:31 GMT 10
"...these perambulations i think, are just about the nicest part of freemasonry. Indeed: I too am a P. T.I.M. and, for me, the Cryptic series are perhaps the most meaningful in Freemasonry.
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Death
Jul 5, 2008 12:37:59 GMT 10
Post by Tamrin on Jul 5, 2008 12:37:59 GMT 10
My favourite piece of ritual is from the Select Masters° All the symbolic working tools of the Craft teach substantially the same lessons, and doubtless have been fully explained to you. The trowel, however, belongs peculiarly to this Degree. Being used by operative masons to spread the cement which binds together the stones of the building, it symbolises the spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice which unites us in brotherly love and affection. Thus the working tools of a Select Master are the spiritual powers of mind and body bestowed upon him as a sacred trust by the Supreme Architect of the Universe. These are to enable us to sacrifice self for the good of all, to raise the fallen, to strengthen the weak, to encourage the fainthearted, in which we are always supported by the Divine assurance that in the end, if we faint not, we shall overcome, and that he who overcomes shall eat of the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God. In mentioning the Tree of Life, I always gestured toward where I thought the Asherah would have stood.
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Death
Jul 25, 2008 2:23:10 GMT 10
Post by devoutfreemason on Jul 25, 2008 2:23:10 GMT 10
"I believe in one God; and I hope for hapiness in an afterlife."-Thomas Paine.
Ditto
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Death
Jul 25, 2008 8:30:04 GMT 10
Post by Tamrin on Jul 25, 2008 8:30:04 GMT 10
I see a disjunction between the injunction to abandon the ego and the hope for a personal afterlife. Occasionally I have moments of transcendence when I am overwhelmed by the unity of the Mystic Tie, recognizing I am "part of" a totality with which my rational mind can identify but never encompass. Never-the-less, I know that oneness is my true Self and that, while ever there is Life, that Self at the core of my being (as the same Self is at the core of all sentient beings) lives on and with that guerdon, I am content.
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Death
Jul 25, 2008 21:54:52 GMT 10
Post by prometheus on Jul 25, 2008 21:54:52 GMT 10
I see a disjunction between the injunction to abandon the ego and the hope for a personal afterlife. Occasionally I have moments of transcendence when I am overwhelmed by the unity of the Mystic Tie, recognizing I am "part of" a totality with which my rational mind can identify but never encompass. Never-the-less, I know that oneness is my true Self and that, while ever there is Life, that Self at the core of my being (as the same Self is at the core of all sentient beings) lives on and with that guerdon, I am content. One does not abandon one's ego; one matures it and as a result, it is no longer needed. To make effort to abandon the ego is to sabotage one's growth and bind one to the ego forever. Once matured, the ego no longer is threatened and is no longer needed. Once mature, the ego realizes its place and purpose. It transcends itself in that moment.
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Death
Jul 25, 2008 22:38:03 GMT 10
Post by Tamrin on Jul 25, 2008 22:38:03 GMT 10
Rather, perhaps one should abandon the "persona." Without that, separateness may be seen as an illusion.
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