Tips from Masons, page 1

OK. Here is the way I see it. I will give you my theory of the overall picture of what freemasonry is about. It's going to be difficult for me to do because I have to avoid giving you any of the secrets with which I have been entrusted and they explain a lot and would make things easier to illustrate, but I'll give it a go for you and do the best that I can with the tools that I have at my dispense.

This is MY theory. I'm not giving you the official masonic line, I'm giving you my line.

People don't really understand freemasonry. A hell of a lot of freemasons don't understand it. It's members are people from all walks of life, all political backgrounds, all religious backgrounds. But because we can't share everything with you, we are seen as a shadowy organisation with evil intent. They see us as hiding something sinister, when in fact the truth is opposite.

One day we will give you the knowledge that you require from us, that is our intention and when you are ready to accept that knowledge our work will be done. Hopefully, in the future, you will be a part of us and you will help us to find it. The knowledge is as much your as it is ours.
As a species, mankind just isn't ready for that knowledge yet though. We have work to do.

I don't dispute the fat that we hold awesome power over life in the West. But that is no conspiracy. Indeed, we are all around you. We are the people who deliver your newspapers, run your governments, bake your bread, run your financial institutions, empty your trash, we make Western society tick. We have always been here in one shape or another - maybe not under the actual auspices of freemasonry in it's recognised form but we have always been here in one shape or another.

We are you.

Have you ever wondered why, from all professions, we chose the stonemason to represent us?
Look at his work. It encompasses order, beauty, completeness. The quest for perfection.
We are looking to build that. We have the structure that we want to build and make perfect. But what is that structure? That structure is man. Man, with all his unchecked passions, his failiures, his defects, his crudeness. But also man with all his potential to be perfect if he can only be reshaped, remodelled and shown that there is an alternative in life that offers him far more than he could ever hope to achieve by following his natural instinct. Our natural instinct is one of survival but the way we try to survive in our present environment is also one of destruction. It threatens our structure and threatens our perfection. Only when that structure is complete and perfect and safe can we begin to reach our goal - a goal of understanding and knowledge.

With knowledge, mankind can do everything and anything. We can achieve harmony, bliss, happiness. We can talk to God.

That God doesn't have to be a Jewish, Muslim or Christian god. All religions believe that there is only one true God. We believe that too. And here's the part where most people don't understand us - we want to help those religions to unite, to understand that their basic principle is correct. There is only one God and HE is there for each and every one of us, regardless of our race, our politics, our religion, our society. He isn't a masonic god. He isn't a non masonic god. He's just God. Period.

But mankind isn't ready to see that yet. We're still monkies intent on stealing from our neighbours, claiming our god is better than next door's god. We're so busy screwing each other up the butt, that we don't have time to sit down and look for the truth - the knowledge and understanding that could give us bliss.

Freemasonry is here to send a message out that things don't have to be that way. If we can achieve equality and brotherhood for all mankind we can advance our species as a whole. Although we like the thought of being individual, the fact is that we are a social animal and we work better together than apart. We say, retain your individuality but work for the common good. You don't have to give up anything except those things that will damage you or damage us. Is that not a better way to ensure man's survival?

As masons we want to guide mankind down a path towards knowledge. We don't want to leave anybody behind as that will just defeat the purpose of our goal. We are looking for a way to help everyone achieve the goal of perfection.
Once we have perfection, every man will be complete. Every man will be a king, a saint, a leader, a lover, a father, a mother. Then our work will be complete.

You could say that the above can be interpreted as a religion or a political doctrine. But we are way more complex than that. Religions are simple things as they stand now. They have to be simple. Man interpreted religions so he could understand them and use them to his own ends. In some cases he required that these interpretations could not be flexible because they suited his purposes at the time and he has been suicidal in sticking to his beliefs and not allowing himself to view the big picture, when it is quite plain that there is much, much more to them than he can understand.

Man theorises on the nature of God and then puts into practise what he believes is right, but alas, he is often wrong. Look at Islam. There is a religion that is as pure as any other. Yet people have interpreted it to have meanings which drive them to kill others and create misery. Christianity has done the same in the past. All because man got his theory wrong. He said "this is how it is, and this is how God wants it to be". He never thought for one moment that he might not understand that God never meant it to be that way. Man was arrogant in assuming that he could interpret the word of God. As freemasons we don't interpret the word, we don't believe we have the power to interpret it whilst man is busy tearing himself and his planet apart so we are looking for a way to unite mankind so he can concentrate on finding the knowledge for the interpretation.

This isn't an easy task. We're basically going against our own human nature. We recognise we are men and we recognise that is why we make so many mistakes. But by recognising our mistakes we are at least on the path to finding our goal. It's never going to be an easy path - we have spent millenia laying obstacles in our own way. But at least we recognise that there is a path and that there is a goal. Under our umbrella we offer to unite people so that they can find answers whilst trying to ease the suffering that man has created for himself in his world.

Freemasonry is about brotherhood. But not just brotherhood between mason and mason. It's about brotherhood between the whole of mankind. Some people look at us and think that because they are outside our fraternity, they will never be a part of us. That is not true. We are you.

Yes, we make mistakes. But you've got to remember that the goal that we are searching for is not something that is easily attainable. It is the ultimate goal and that trancends our present capabilities. It's still not in our reach. There are going to be slip ups on the way too.
We are young and yet old. We have learnt much yet are still learning. We are not the ancient society in the context that most believe us to be. In terms of recent history we are ancient. But in terms of when mankind achieved awareness and the instinct for survival and when we started to look for the goal, we are relatively new.

We are not about throwing symbols and history about for sinister purposes. We use those mediums to illustrate to our members what we hope to achieve and they work well. One day you will see exactly what we see and you will discover that our intentions are pure and simple there is no evil intent. That day WILL happen. That is the day that I will cease to be a freemason because the fraternity will have been overtaken by something bigger and better that encompasses all of us.

I look forward to that day.