Barchiel-- An angel who resides in the Fourth Heaven...
He is also a supreme regent of the sphere of Saturn.
“Barchiel” is owned and operated by a Freemason of this degree.
16 SEPT 2008 - THE BUDDHA & FREEMASONRY
"The first Masonic Legislator, whose memory is preserved to us by history, was Buddha" (Albert Pike Morals and Dogma, p.277).
As a Freemason who finds Buddhism one of the most logical of all philosophies, I decided to start my journey into the world of blogs with a small comparison of Freemasonry with some of the ideas found in Buddhism.
Many seem to believe that Buddhists do not believe in God, a requirement in order to enter Freemasonry, but you may be surprised at the truth.
Remember; the Buddha resided in India, a land far removed from the Judaic God of the bible. He lived his whole life in a land where the people believed in multitudes of gods, deities, and demons.
The chances of Buddha meeting, and learning from a rabbi were slim, not to mention a Christian, considering Christ was not even born yet.
In general, Buddhists are pantheistic in their view of God. Many view God as an impersonal force, made up of all living things and holds the universe together, they just do not use the word God.
Pantheism (literally means, "God is all" and "All is God".) is the view that everything is of an all-encompassing immanent abstract God; or that the Universe, or nature, and God are equivalent.
Pantheism is a metaphysical and religious position. Broadly defined it is the view that "God is everything and everything is God … the world is either identical with God or in some way a self-expression of his nature" Similarly, it is the view that everything that exists constitutes a "unity" and this all-inclusive unity is in some sense divine. A slightly more specific definition is given by Owen who says"‘Pantheism’ … signifies the belief that every existing entity is, only one Being; and that all other forms of reality are either modes (or appearances) of it or identical with it." Even with these definitions, there is dispute as to just how pantheism is to be understood and who is and is not a pantheist. Aside from Spinoza, other possible pantheists include some of the Pre-Socratic’s; Plato; Lao Tzu; Plotinus; Schelling; Hegel; Bruno, Eriugena and Tillich. Possible pantheists among literary figures include Emerson, Walt Whitman, D.H. Lawrence, and Robinson Jeffers. Beethoven and Martha Graham have also been thought to be pantheistic in some of their work — if not pantheists. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
One grand great life throbs through earth's giant heart,
And mighty waves of single Being roll
From nerve-less germ to man, for we are part
Of every rock and bird and beast and hill,
One with the things that prey on us, and one with what we kill.
(Oscar Wilde, Freemason Apollo University Lodge, No. 357)
This brings me to the crux of this blog, a statement made by Albert Pike “The first Masonic Legislator, whose memory is preserved to us by history, was Buddha”, and what it may mean.
To many, Buddhism goes beyond religion and is more of a philosophy or 'way of life'. It is a philosophy because philosophy 'means love of wisdom' and the Buddhist path can be summed up as:
(1) To lead a moral life,
(2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and
(3) to develop wisdom and understanding.
“Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times”
Isaiah 33:6
The moral code within Buddhism is the precepts, of which the main five are: not to take the life of anything living, not to take anything not freely given, to abstain from sexual misconduct and sensual overindulgence, to refrain from untrue speech, and to avoid intoxication, that is, losing mindfulness.
Freemasonry is in short defined as “a peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and
illustrated by symbols”.
We refer to our Craft degrees as the Symbolic Degrees.
“Symbolism is the soul of masonry, with every symbol the mute teacher of morality “
Said Albert Pike in his “Morals and Dogma of Freemasonry”.
Buddhist morals is based on freedom and understanding. The foundation of moral and ethical actions is compassionate love.
Equality and peace are fundamental in the moral code of a Buddhist. Social justice, social welfare, and social service provide are the building blocks of a moral society.
The moral code of Buddhists is based upon obtaining a society that treats all people equally, is mindful of the needs of every human, and is accomplished through social service to others in the society. Now compare that to Freemasonry, ‘a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols’, a movement whose members are joined together in an association based on brotherly love, relief and truth. These are the principal tenets of Freemasonry. Derived from these tenets are the virtues of faith, hope, and charity, all supported on the three great pillars of wisdom, strength and beauty.
and this degree...
Magic Squares
A magic square is a series of numbers arranged in an equal number of cells constituting a square figure, the enumeration of all of whose columns, vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, will give the same sum. The Oriental philosophers, and especially the Jewish Talmudists, have indulged in many fanciful speculations in reference to these magic squares, many of which were considered as talismans. The following figure of nine squares, containing the nine digits so arranged as to make fifteen when counted in every way, was of peculiar import: There was no talisman more sacred than this among the Orientalists, when arranged in the following figure:
Thus arranged, they called it by the name of the planet Saturn, ZaHaL, because the sum of the 9 digits in the square was equal to 45 (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9), which is the numerical value of the letters in the word ZaHaL, in the Arabic alphabet. The Talmudists also esteemed it as a sacred talisman, because 15 is the numerical value of the letters of the word “Yah” which is one of the forms of the Tetragrammaton. The Hermetic philosophers called these magic squares "tables of the planets," and attributed to them many occult virtues. The table of Saturn consisted of 9 squares, and has just been given.
Albert Mackey
FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE
Boy was I surprised when I found out that I was an occultist; I just thought I was curious.
I found this out during one of my nightly searches on Google, a night when I was researching some of the ancient symbols of my order. As I looked through the sites that resulted from my search, a number of sites kept popping up claiming the symbol I was interested in was occult in nature, and if that was not enough, I was part of a plot to over throw the world, and best of all, I did not know it. As I read on, I realized I must really be naive, a condition that surely scares me.
Aged has certainly mellowed me, and as one who finds symbols interesting, instead of defending my position as an occultist, I thought I would look it up.
"OCCULTISM has its basis in a religious way of thinking, the roots of which stretch back into antiquity and which may be described as the Western esoteric tradition. Its principal ingredients have been identified as Gnosticism, the Hermetic treatises on alchemy and magic, Neo-Platonism, and the Cabbala, all originating in the eastern Mediterranean area during the first few centuries AD."(From Wikipedia, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke)
Well, that does not seem so bad!
Occultism is the study of occult or hidden wisdom. To the occultist it is the study of "Truth". A deeper truth that exists beneath the surface. (From Wikipedia)
Hidden wisdom, I think I like that even better! Are you telling me that you do not think certain people keep secrets, if you believe that I have a certain river in Egypt I would like to sell you cheap? (Pease consider, I’ve never been to Egypt)
So here I sit, studying symbols of a time gone by. Symbols with meaning, hidden by man’s ignorance, understood only by those open enough to discover the true meaning.
Squaring The Circle
The "squaring of the circle" is one of the many archetypal motifs
which form the basic patterns of our dreams and fantasies. But it
is distinguished by the fact that it is one of the most important
of them from the functional point of view. Indeed, it could even
be called the archetype of wholeness.
- from Mandalas. C. G. Jung. trans. from Du (Zurich, 1955)
Bora Ritual
A Bora is the name given both to an initiation ceremony of Indigenous Australians, Burbung in the language of the Darkinjung, and to the site Bora Ring on which the initiation is performed. At such a site, young boys are transformed into men via rites of passage. The word Bora was originally from South-East Australia, but is now often used throughout Australia to describe an initiation site or ceremony. The term "bora" is held to be etymologically derived from that of the belt or girdle that encircles initiated men. Women are generally prohibited from entering a Bora. During the ceremony, initiates armed with passwords and countersigns carefully guard the Bora ground. The novitiates are instructed regarding the symbols, carvings, and images, with much impressive chanting and ceremony.
At a grave, a symbolical resurrection is enacted; the novitiate dies as a youth and comes to life as a man. He has bestowed on him a new name, which under no circumstances is to be divulged, and is presented with a small bag containing one or more small quartz crystals, which he must carry until his death.
The secrets of the tribe are imparted to him at this time. These instructions are repeated every evening while the Bora ceremony lasts, and form the principal part of it. He is led to consider himself responsible for good conduct to the tribe, its ancient traditions, and its elders.
" This is no world. It is God Himself. In delusion we call it world."
The Freemason called Swami
21 Sep 2008
Born Narendranath Dutta, Swami Vivekananda is considered one of the most influential spiritual leaders of the Vedanta philosophy (Vedanta is based on immutable spiritual laws that are common to religions and spiritual traditions worldwide. Vedanta as the end of knowledge refers to a state of self-realization, attainment, or cosmic consciousness.).
Walt Whitman described cosmic consciousness as "ineffable light, light rare, untellable, light beyond all signs, descriptions and languages."
Cosmic Consciousness as a transpersonal mode of consciousness, an awareness of the universal mind and one's unity with it.
The essential thing in religion is making the heart pure; the Kingdom of Heaven is within us, but only the pure in heart can see the King. While we think of the world, it is only the world for us; but let us come to it with the feeling that the world is God, and we shall have God.
— Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
In his life, he had experienced the Truth of all the four Yoga’s, viz. Yoga of meditation, Jnana (discrimination), selfless action, and devotion. He was well versed in the study of the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita. He also studied life and teachings of Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed, and Lord Buddha. In fact, it is believed that once Swami Vivekananda had the vision of Buddha in his deep meditation. Thus having acquired direct knowledge of all the religions, having come to the conclusion that all religions speak of the same truth, Swami Vivekananda had intense desire to spread this wonderful message of divine unity of Existence and unity in diversity.
Why are people so afraid? The answer is that they have made themselves helpless and dependent on others. We are so lazy, we do not want to do anything ourselves. We want a Personal God, a Savior or a Prophet to do everything for us.
— Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
He was the founder of Sri Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, now one of the largest monastic orders of Hindu society in India.
Vivekananda speech at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, Illinois—when he spoke of the harmony of world religions and the common spirituality of humanity—"has been identified by many to mark the beginning of western interest in Hinduism". After four years of constant touring, lecturing and retreats in the west, he returned to India in 1897. He once again toured the west from January 1899 to December 1900.
Swami Vivekananda was the first Indian invited to accept the chair of Oriental Philosophy at Harvard University.
“Each soul is a circle whose circumference is nowhere (limitless) but whose centre is in some body. Death is but a change of centre. God is a circle whose circumference is nowhere, and whose centre is everywhere. When we get out of the limited centre of the body, we shall realize God, our true Self.”
— Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
Narendranath Dutta was initiated on 19 February 1884 at the Anchor and Hope Lodge No. 1 Kolkotta
He was passed to the degree of F.C on 15 April1884 and was raised to the sublime degree of M.M on 20 May 1884
Though belief in God has remained at about the same level, belief in the devil has increased slightly over the last few years — from 63 percent in 1997 to 71 percent today.
Dana Blanton Fox News
“Houston, we have a problem.”
How, and when, I came up with the idea to write a blog about the “devil”, escapes me. Yet the time has come. Not that a blog will dispel ignorance, or brighten the clouded mind, in fact, I truly wonder how many individuals actually read blogs completely with an open and non-judgmental mind, thereby contemplating the premise of the writer.
To put it bluntly, there is no devil. Talk about a metaphor gone bad, this little ditty is blamed for every woe that plagues humankind, so much so, it is now said the Freemasons are now worshipers of this maniacal offshoot of Pan.
What the Fox News shows me, I am in trouble. I fear my opinion is in the minority, and the majority is growing. Either that, or ignorance is growing. Either way, I cannot win.
“We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell”
Oscar Wilde (Freemason)
PAN is recognized as the god of fields, groves, and wooded glens; because of this, Pan is connected to fertility and season of spring.
“If the devil does not exist, and man has therefore created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness”
"To say that which is untrue is a crime both in the sight of God and man. Not one of us has betrayed his God or his country. I do confess my guilt, which consists in having, to my shame and dishonor, suffered myself, through the pain of torture and the fear of death, to give utterance to falsehoods imputing scandalous sins and iniquities to an illustrious Order, which hath nobly served the cause of Christianity. I disdain to seek a wretched and disgraceful existence by engrafting another lie upon the original falsehood."
Every year the Freemasons of New Hampshire celebrate “Mason Day” on the grounds of Strawberry Banke in Portsmouth, NH. For those that have not had the good fortune to attend, or visit the historic Strawberry Banke neighborhood of this old sailing town, you are missing out.
Located a stones throw away from the Atlantic Ocean, and Prescott Park, Strawberry Banke is located in the old Puddle Dock area of this old seaport town. In New England, Portsmouth’s Masonic history runs deep with that of early Boston, from this gateway to the sea hailed the Wentworth’s, General John Sullivan, and when in town John Paul Jones.
For years, before I became a Mason, I roamed the streets of Portsmouth without giving much thought to the many names that adorned the many streets in Portsmouth but once I became a Mason, the streets I wander now have history and pride. It is amazing how many streets are named after members of our fraternity.
On the grounds of Strawberry Banke, sit’s the first Grand Lodge of New Hampshire, the William Pitt Tavern, a true walk into history. Still open to the public, this building has been beautifully restored and is still in use.
I would like to extend a personal thank you to the Scottish Rite, Dover Portsmouth Chapter, for the fine burgers and fine fellowship, I certainly will see you again next year!
FREEMASONRY DAY 2008
William Pitt Tavern, once the home of the NH Grand Lodge
The Pythagoreans observed a rule of silence called echemythia, the breaking of which was punishable by death. This was because the Pythagoreans believed that a man's words were usually careless and misrepresented him and that when someone was "in doubt as to what he should say, he should always remain silent". Another rule that they had was to help a man "in raising a burden, but do not assist him in laying it down, for it is a great sin to encourage indolence", and they said "departing from your house, turn not back, for the furies will be your attendants"; this axiom reminded them that it was better to learn none of the truth about mathematics, God, and the universe at all than to learn a little without learning all
Sunrise and sunset were and are the best moments for prayers in most religions; but esotericists have always regarded midnight as a very important time. At midnight the ethereal currents, called winds, coming from the North and from the South, that is, the currents called "severity" and "mercy," or gevurah and chesed, unite, which makes the time especially favorable "for the study of the Law." Accordingly, not only David used to "sing at midnight, and the masters of the Kabbalah left their beds for study, but even in our time the two contemplative Catholic Orders, the Carthausian and Trappist monks go, every night after midnight to church to pray and sing. Church buildings should be so oriented to the ethereal currents over them, that not only the congregation and the priest at the altar faced the east, but that the priest, when bowing low at the altar might expose the door of Brahma, the top of his head, shaved specially for this purpose, to the current from the east. This was based on practical experience and observation, as it is now generally known that some persons sleep best with their heads pointing to the current from the north; though others are not sensitive to the north current, but to other orientations are more favorable. This depends on their "complexion" or "temperament." Modern psychological researches has made investigations in this, and found that the observations of the ancients were correct.
The Word: Monthly Magazine Devoted to Philosophy, Science, Religion; Eastern Thought, Occultism, Theosophy and the Brotherhood of Humanity
Published by The Word, 1913
Jung defines a ritual as "the practice and repetition of the original experience" which initiated a religious tradition. Such ritual can have varying effects ritual can be of "extraordinary importance" as a method of "mental hygiene." It can be a necessary means of keeping one from an "immediate experience" which might prove overwhelming. On the other hand, it can lose its efficacy for others who do seek immediate, original experience, or it can be the means to an experience one does not anticipate. "Through the ritual action," wrote Jung, "attention and interest are led back to the inner, sacred precinct, which is the source and goal of the psyche and contains the unity of life and consciousness."
