We Undervalue The Importance of No Truth (Begin Chptr 26)

Greetings and Welcome as we begin our study and opinion of Chapter 26 of Albert Pike’s “Morals and Dogma”. In this chapter we study more completely the recurring theme of Morals and Dogma (and in my opinion what should be the theme of modern freemasonry) of understanding all truth from no matter where that truth originates whether it be from a different religion than our own, a different political ideology than our own, or from a different time and place than our own. This chapter speaks to me on a personal level as I have spent a great portion of life studying and trying to understand different religious beliefs and spiritual paths, and have partaken in more than a few of those beliefs and spiritual paths, myself. Open your minds, get comfortable, and LET’S READ PIKE! XXVI. PRINCE OF MERCY, OR SCOTTISH TRINITARIAN. WHILE you were veiled in darkness, you heard repeated by the Voice of the Great Past its most ancient doctrines. None has the right to object, if the Christian Mason sees foreshadowed in Chrishna and Sosiosch, in Mithras and Osiris, the Divine WORD that, as he believes, became Man, and died upon the cross to redeem a fallen race. Nor can he object if others see reproduced, in the WORD of the beloved Disciple, that was in the beginning with God, and that was God, and by Whom everything was made, only the LOGOS of Plato, and the WORD or Uttered THOUGHT or first Emanation of LIGHT, Or the Perfect REASON of the Great, Silent, Supreme, Uncreated Deity, believed in and adored by all. The beginning paragraph spells out the entire theme of this chapter, and, if we read closely enough, we will find this paragraph spells out the theme of the entirety of Morals and Dogma. None has the right to object, Pike writes, if the Christian Mason sees foreshadowed in Chrishna and Sosiosch, in Mithras and Osiris, the Divine WORD of the beloved disciple…. I add that we should find in these ancient stories and myths a commonality of the divine. Very likely the same god renamed to match the cultural understanding of the time and place of the authors. Certainly the same truths of fallen man and mankind’s redemption are inherent in these stories. NEXT We do not undervalue the importance of any Truth. We utter no word that can be deemed irreverent by any one of any faith. We do not tell the Moslem that it is only important for him to believe that there is but one God, and wholly unessential whether Mahomet was His prophet. We do not tell the Hebrew that the Messiah whom he expects was born in Bethlehem nearly two thousand years ago; and that he is a heretic because he will not so believe. And as little do we tell the sincere Christian that Jesus of Nazareth was but a man like us, or His history but the unreal revival of an older legend. To do either is beyond our jurisdiction. Masonry, of no one age, belongs to all time; of no one religion, it finds its great truths in all. A very important paragraph for every Mason to read. In this paragraph Pike reminds us that freemasonry is not the pulpit to preach from the doctrines of any one religion or spiritual belief. Pike reminds us that freemasonry embraces all truths, and never is to undervalue the importance of any truth. The Masonic Lodge should be as welcoming to the christian as it is to the practicing Jew or the faithful Muslim. Masonry belongs to all time; of no one religion, it finds its great truths in all. Pike writes. From Pike’s description of masonry, the Mason should have the most open mind free of dogma and judgement, keeping his own convictions dear as to guide his own progression without minimizing the convictions that others hold dear. Next To every Mason, there is a GOD; ONE, Supreme, Infinite in Goodness, Wisdom, Foresight, Justice, and Benevolence; Creator, Disposer, and Preserver of all things. How, or by what intermediates He creates and acts, and in what way He unfolds and manifests Himself, Masonry leaves to creeds and Religions to inquire. In this paragraph Pike reminds the Mason that the lodge or freemasonry on its own does not name or demand the worship of the Mason’s god. It is the personal matter of the single Mason to determine where his spirituality lies and how he chooses to worship. In an earlier chapter of Morals and Dogma, Pike insists that A mason is asked upon his initiation regarding his religion only so that the proper book reflecting his faith is placed upon the masonic altar for taking his oaths. Masonry is inclusive to all faiths and creeds, never exclusive nor should masonry ever pander to just one religious idea. Next To every Mason, the soul of man is immortal. Whether it p. 525 emanates from and will return to God, and what its continued mode of existence hereafter, each judges for himself. Masonry was not made to settle that. This paragraph opens the ideals of masonry to those who believe in a reincarnated soul. The Buddhists and Hindus and their beliefs are important to the ideas of freemasonry. We know that the ideas present in Hinduism and Buddhism are also present in teachings of Christianity. It can be argued that without Hinduism and Buddhism, we may not have had a foundation for christian teachings, so it is important for the Mason to see the truths present in all teachings. The next paragraphs delve deeper into spiritual teachings, and I want to give the ideas their proper attention. These opening paragraphs set a proper tone, so I will end here for this time. 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