posted on Nov, 24 2009 @ 11:09 AM
I believe all the esoteric knowledge and mysteries of the universe are right in front of us to discover.
Freemasonry has helped me a bit on my journey but I have learned more from what the masonic lessons pointed me to research on my own.
Basically I think it can all be summed up as:
"As above, so below."
In other words, humans are immortal spiritual beings. Every day we see more and more evidence that we only know, and experience, a tiny fraction of
what is actually around us.
Take 'dark matter' for example. For years the majority of the matter in the universe was 'missing'. It wasn't actually missing, we just
couldn't see it.
And while all religions and mystery schools take different paths to get there, you will find some common characteristics among them all, namely:
1) There is a supreme, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent original Creator of everything in the Universe. Whether it's a personality or simply
a creative force almost all schools of thought have this conclusion.
2) Mankind has a dual nature. We are both spiritual and physical. (as above, so below).
3) The Spiritual part of Man survives mortal death to progress onward to some unknown but presumably marvelous destiny.
All of the great Teachers of mankind have said the same thing over and over. The truth is right there in front of you.
As humans we incarnate to learn one lesson that is more important than all others - To love one another.
In Freemasonry this is summed up as "The Brotherhood of Man, under the Fatherhood of God."
In Christianity it is summed up as "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
"
Judaism - "Look now toward heaven and count the stars/So shall be your progeny."
Islam - "…God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."
Buddhism - "There is a safe place in view of all, but difficult of approach, where there is no old age nor death, no pain nor disease. It is what is
called Nirvâna, or freedom from pain, or perfection, which is in view of all; it is the safe, happy, and quiet place which the great sages reach.
That is the eternal place, in view of all, but difficult of approach. Those sages who reach it are free from sorrows, they have put an end to the
stream of existence. "
The need for 'secret societies' and 'mystery schools' has existed since the beginning of mankind. When those who seek power over others learn the
powerful truth that all of us transcend death and our human existence, they try to control that knowledge and keep it from the common people.
This knowledge that no matter what happens on earth we will survive removes fear and doubt, and releases a sense of obligation to the temporal
government.
Churches and governments rule by fear (hell, imprisonment, sanction). The impose requirements to attain "salvation" or reward. They limit and
confine descriptions of God and hold immortality only for those few who fall in line and believe as prescribed.
The mystery schools leave it up to the individual to interpret the "truth" but through initiation and ritual they provide a symbolic path so that
the "truth" can be discovered.
Hell is a human construct. There is no such place. This hell concept has held us in slavery to dogma for centuries.
In the end a person must take the lessons they have learned on this world and add that to their previous spiritual development.
If you set aside all doubt and fear for just a moment and consider that all the pain, suffering, evil and darkness of this world are only temporary...
that death is not an end, but a change... that you will once again see and love those you have known in this life... That you will exist far beyond
your earthly existence... and the Creative force that made you loves you and wants you to love others...
Well, something miraculous happens. Even if it's only for a moment, a human can glimpse a sense of calm and illumination. Money, disease, war,
pain, illness, crime... though painful are all temporary.
Ultimately no man can hold dominion over you. No religion, no government, no secret society, no church.
The truth is that we are all endowed with free will and with (depending on your viewpoint) a fragment of "God" or spirit. Whether it's an energy
pattern, some undiscovered particle or something that can't even be described or measured it can be felt.
So... after that long novel :-)... no matter how they try to guide or inform I believe all mystery schools and secret societies lead you to a similar
belief - that we have a greater purpose than our mundane physical existence.