Post by Tamrin on Aug 12, 2010 20:31:33 GMT 10
THE PYTHAGOREAN TRADITION IN FREEMASONRY
[Excerpt - Article by J. R. Cleland, Masonic World - Linked Above]
[Excerpt - Article by J. R. Cleland, Masonic World - Linked Above]
Over the Gates of the ancient Temples of the Mysteries was written this injunction, “Man, Know Thyself”. It meant that each Candidate must try to contact that Inner Self which is the only Reality, - Paul Brunton calls it the Overself, - that Self which lies at the very Centre of his Being, in the Silence and Darkness of the Holy Place which, to those who have penetrated to the Sanctum Sanctorum, becomes the deafening Music of the Spheres and the blinding Light of Truth. As the DORMER is the window giving light to the Sanctum Sanctorum, it is but right that here, among your members who have chosen to work under that name, one should attempt to find some light upon the Secret of Secrets, which each must ultimately solve for himself, which “no man knoweth” save “he that overcometh”, he that has mastered it for himself. It “passeth all understanding” and is the mystery of his own being.
Freemasonry is closely allied to the ancient Mysteries and, if properly understood, and in spite of repeated revision and remolding at the hands of the ignorant and sometimes the malicious, it contains “all that is necessary to salvation”, salvation from the only “sin” that ultimately matters, that which lies at the root of all other sin and error, the sin of ignorance of the self and of its high calling.
The First T.B. opens with the statement that “the usages and customs among Freemasons have ever borne a near affinity to those of the Ancient Egyptians; The Philosophers of Egypt, unwilling to expose their mysteries to vulgar eyes, concealed their systems of learning and polity under hieroglyphically figures, which were communicated only to their chief priests and wise men, who were bound by solemn oath never to reveal them. The system of Pythagoras was founded upon similar principles and maintained under the same conditions.”
We might, therefore, reasonably expect that a study of the system originated, or adopted, by the great teacher, Pythagoras, would tend to throw some light upon this Masonic Craft of ours. There are four questions which we might put to ourselves in this connection:-
Freemasonry is closely allied to the ancient Mysteries and, if properly understood, and in spite of repeated revision and remolding at the hands of the ignorant and sometimes the malicious, it contains “all that is necessary to salvation”, salvation from the only “sin” that ultimately matters, that which lies at the root of all other sin and error, the sin of ignorance of the self and of its high calling.
The First T.B. opens with the statement that “the usages and customs among Freemasons have ever borne a near affinity to those of the Ancient Egyptians; The Philosophers of Egypt, unwilling to expose their mysteries to vulgar eyes, concealed their systems of learning and polity under hieroglyphically figures, which were communicated only to their chief priests and wise men, who were bound by solemn oath never to reveal them. The system of Pythagoras was founded upon similar principles and maintained under the same conditions.”
We might, therefore, reasonably expect that a study of the system originated, or adopted, by the great teacher, Pythagoras, would tend to throw some light upon this Masonic Craft of ours. There are four questions which we might put to ourselves in this connection:-
1. Who was Pythagoras?
2. What was the basis of his philosophy?
3. What are his and its connections with Freemasonry as we know it?
4. Can we from a study of these, formulate a code, and by following it, open up a path, whereby, if trodden by the individual student, he can, and should, reach that state, which, for want of a better name, we may call “Realization”, - the full knowledge of that which alone is real, - The Oneself?
