johnvranos
Registered User
Hello all,
I am not a Freemason, but I am interested in becoming one.
I study various Freemasonic moral values, I find in the Internet, written by Freemasons.
I try to apply them every day.
An example is the following:
The following is what I believe is a list of what modern Freemasons accept as basic beliefs of Masonic thought. This can be described as a system of belief and therefore an ethical system. One will see in them a positive link to the past. Indeed, I have set them out as fifteen points, copying that of the Regius Manuscript. A speculative Freemason believes:
1) In a God as a Supreme Being;
2) That that God is a creative God who makes the Universe and everything in it, including ourselves;
3) That the Volume of the sacred Law of an individual brother is a spiritual guide for him;
4) That the Craft, (i.e. the speculative system), is formed to promote in the mind of a brother that he is an individual capable of refining his mind, and through that, his conduct;
5) That the way to alter a brother’s thinking is not by compulsion or force, but by demonstration and example;
6) That the way this is done is based on the practices of the ancient operative stonemason, but which today are moralistic in their view on the various subjects concerned, and illustrated by symbols;
7) That a Masonic life can be made by being moral and following the theological and moral virtues and the Masonic principles;
8) That the theological virtues are Faith, Hope and Charity in its widest sense;
9) That the moral virtues are Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice;
10) That the Masonic principles are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth;
11) That the characteristics of a Freemason are Virtue, Honour and Mercy;
12) That he has a duty to God, his neighbour and to himself;
13) That a Freemason is a worker, and through his work he gives service to others, by doing which, he fulfils his own innate capabilities;
14) That his physical body is likened to a Temple which houses within it a portion of the Holy Spirit given by God;
15) That his mind, animated by the Spirit of God is, if he follows our teachings, brought to the fullest perfection it is capable of hereon Earth, and that at his death it will be built into the Supreme Being’s Universal Spiritual Temple of Mankind.
No doubt others could add many more items, but these items, numbered one to fifteen, can be described as an invisible boundary within which a man who describes himself as a Freemason could comfortably live.
What then is considered unmasonic? He would be one who stepped outside that invisible boundary. He would be one whose general conduct, wherever he is, within a lodge or out in the world itself, would fall short of the high ideals Freemasons set for themselves. He would do this by dishonest conduct, dissembling, talking behind peoples' backs, carrying tales, toadying to a superior for personal gain, taking work from someone else who is capable of doing it, being an enthusiast or fanatical about something, acting against his employers, the civil authorities or the laws of the country, and by denying a personal belief in a God. In our Craft we have brethren who are masons and yet who are not Masons in the truest sense of the word. As Bro. Dudley Wright puts it: "They are the ones who think brotherhood means a small group or clique of their friends, to whom relief means grudgingly handing over a few coins after they have satisfied their own pleasures, and to whom truth means that which does not clash with their own preconceived opinions and prejudices".
My question is the following:
Are the Freemasonic moral values considered a secret when you are a Freemason? Because I try to apply the Freemasonic rules, as if I was a Freemason.
If they are not considered secrets, I will share and discuss them with other people I know, who are not Freemasons either.
Thank you a lot.
I am not a Freemason, but I am interested in becoming one.
I study various Freemasonic moral values, I find in the Internet, written by Freemasons.
I try to apply them every day.
An example is the following:
The following is what I believe is a list of what modern Freemasons accept as basic beliefs of Masonic thought. This can be described as a system of belief and therefore an ethical system. One will see in them a positive link to the past. Indeed, I have set them out as fifteen points, copying that of the Regius Manuscript. A speculative Freemason believes:
1) In a God as a Supreme Being;
2) That that God is a creative God who makes the Universe and everything in it, including ourselves;
3) That the Volume of the sacred Law of an individual brother is a spiritual guide for him;
4) That the Craft, (i.e. the speculative system), is formed to promote in the mind of a brother that he is an individual capable of refining his mind, and through that, his conduct;
5) That the way to alter a brother’s thinking is not by compulsion or force, but by demonstration and example;
6) That the way this is done is based on the practices of the ancient operative stonemason, but which today are moralistic in their view on the various subjects concerned, and illustrated by symbols;
7) That a Masonic life can be made by being moral and following the theological and moral virtues and the Masonic principles;
8) That the theological virtues are Faith, Hope and Charity in its widest sense;
9) That the moral virtues are Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice;
10) That the Masonic principles are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth;
11) That the characteristics of a Freemason are Virtue, Honour and Mercy;
12) That he has a duty to God, his neighbour and to himself;
13) That a Freemason is a worker, and through his work he gives service to others, by doing which, he fulfils his own innate capabilities;
14) That his physical body is likened to a Temple which houses within it a portion of the Holy Spirit given by God;
15) That his mind, animated by the Spirit of God is, if he follows our teachings, brought to the fullest perfection it is capable of hereon Earth, and that at his death it will be built into the Supreme Being’s Universal Spiritual Temple of Mankind.
No doubt others could add many more items, but these items, numbered one to fifteen, can be described as an invisible boundary within which a man who describes himself as a Freemason could comfortably live.
What then is considered unmasonic? He would be one who stepped outside that invisible boundary. He would be one whose general conduct, wherever he is, within a lodge or out in the world itself, would fall short of the high ideals Freemasons set for themselves. He would do this by dishonest conduct, dissembling, talking behind peoples' backs, carrying tales, toadying to a superior for personal gain, taking work from someone else who is capable of doing it, being an enthusiast or fanatical about something, acting against his employers, the civil authorities or the laws of the country, and by denying a personal belief in a God. In our Craft we have brethren who are masons and yet who are not Masons in the truest sense of the word. As Bro. Dudley Wright puts it: "They are the ones who think brotherhood means a small group or clique of their friends, to whom relief means grudgingly handing over a few coins after they have satisfied their own pleasures, and to whom truth means that which does not clash with their own preconceived opinions and prejudices".
My question is the following:
Are the Freemasonic moral values considered a secret when you are a Freemason? Because I try to apply the Freemasonic rules, as if I was a Freemason.
If they are not considered secrets, I will share and discuss them with other people I know, who are not Freemasons either.
Thank you a lot.
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