~ THE
MASTER MASON – Manly P. Hall ~
On the upper steps of
spiritual unfoldment stands the Master Mason, who spiritually
represents the
graduate from the school of esoteric learning. In
the ancient symbols he is represented as an
old man leaning upon a staff, his long white beard upon his chest, and
his
deep, piercing eyes sheltered by the brows of a philosopher. He is in truth old, not in years, but in
wisdom and understanding, which are the only true measurement of age. Through years and lives of labor he has found
the staff of life and truth upon which he leans. He
no longer depends upon the words of others
but upon the still voice that speaks from the heart of his own being. There is no more glorious position that a man
may hold than that of a Master Builder, who has risen by labor through
the
degrees of human consciousness. Time is
the differentiation of eternity devised by man to measure the passage
of human
events. On the spiritual planes of
Nature it is the space or distance between the stages of spiritual
growth and
hence is not measurable by material means. Many
a child comes into this world a Grand
Master of the Masonic School, while many a revered and honored brother
passes
silently to rest without having gained admittance to its gate. The Master Mason is one whose life is full,
pressed down and brimming over with the experience he has gained in his
slow
pilgrimage up the winding stairs.
The Master Mason embodies
the power of the human mind, that connecting link which binds heaven
and earth together
in an endless chain. His spiritual light
is greater because he has evolved a higher vehicle for its expression. Above even constructive action and emotion
soars the power of thought which swiftly flies on wings to the source
of Light.
The mind is the highest form of his
human expression and he passes into the great darkness of the inner
room
illuminated only by the fruits of reason. The
glorious privileges of a Master Mason are
in keeping with his greater knowledge and wisdom. From
the student he has blossomed forth as the
teacher; from the kingdom of those who follow he has joined that little
group
who must always lead the way. For him
the Heavens have opened and the Great Light has bathed him in its
radiance. The Prodigal Son, so long a
wanderer in the
regions of darkness, has returned again to his Father’s house. The voice speaks from the Heavens, its power
thrilling the Master until hi s own being seems filled with its
divinity,
saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. “The ancients taught that the sun was not a
source of light, life, or power, but a medium through which life and
light were
reflected into physical substance. The
Master Mason is in truth a sun, a great reflector of light, who
radiates
through his organism, purified by ages of preparation, the glorious
power which
is the light of the Lodge. He, in truth,
has become the spokesman of the Most High. He
stands between the glowing fire light and
the world. Through him passes Hydra, the
great snake, and from its month there pours to man the light of God. His symbol is the rising sun, for in him the
globe of day has indeed risen in all its splendor from the darkness of
the
night, illuminating the immortal East with the first promise of
approaching day.
With a sigh the Master
lays aside his tools. For him the temple
is nearing completion, the last stones are being placed, and he slakes
his lime
with a vague regret as he sees dome and minaret rise through the power
of his
handiwork. The true Master does not long
for rest, and as he sees the days of his labor close, a sadness weighs
upon his
heart. Slowly the brothers of his Craft
leave him, each going his respective way; and, climbing step by step,
the
Master stands alone on the pinnacle of the temple. One
stone must yet be placed, but this he
cannot find. Somewhere it lies concealed.
In prayer he kneels, asking the powers
that be to aid him in his search. The
light of the sun shines upon him and bathes him in a splendor
celestial. Suddenly a voice speaks from
the Heavens,
saying, “The temple is finished and in my faithful Master is found the
missing
stone”.
Both points of the
compasses are now lifted from under the square. The
divine is liberated from its cube; heart
and mind alike are liberated from the symbol of mortality, and as
emotion and
thought they unite for the glorification of the greatest and the
highest. Then the Sun and Moon are united
and the
Hermetic Degree is consummated.
The Master Mason is
afforded opportunities far beyond the reach of ordinary man, but he
must not
fail to realize that with every opportunity comes a cosmic
responsibility. It is worse by far to know
and not to do than
never to have known at all. He realizes
that the choice of avoiding responsibility is no longer his and that
for him
all problems must be met and solved. The
only joy in the heart of the Master is the joy of seeing the fruits of
his
handiwork. It can be truly said of the
Master that through suffering he has learned to be glad, through
weeping he has
learned to smile, and through dying he has learned to live. The purification and probationship of his
previous degrees have so spiritualized his being that he is in truth a
glorious
example of God’s Plan for His children. The
greatest sermon he can preach, the
greatest lesson he can teach, is that of standing forth a living proof
of the
Eternal Plan. The Master Mason is not
ordained: he is the natural product of cause and effect, and none but
those
who live the cause can produce the effect. The
Master Mason, if he be truly a Master, is
in communication with the unseen powers that move the destinies of
life. As the Eldest Brother of the lodge,
he is the
spokesman for the spiritual hierarchies of his Craft. He
no longer follows the direction of others,
but on his own tracing board he lays out the plans which his brothers
are to
follow. He realizes this, and so lives
that every line and plan which he gives out is inspired by the divine
within
himself. His glorious opportunity to be
a factor in the growth of others comes before all else. At
the seat of mercy he kneels, a faithful
servant of the Highest within himself and worthy to be given control
over the
lives of others by having first controlled himself.
Much is said concerning
the loss of the Master’s Word and how the seekers go out to find it but
bring
back only substitutes. The true Master
knows that those who go out can never find the secret trust. He alone can find it who goes within. The true Master Builder has never lost the
Word but has cherished it in the spiritual locket of his own being. From those who have the eyes to see, nothing
is concealed; to those who have the right to know, all things are open
books. The true Word of the three Grand
Masters has
never been concealed from those who have the right to know it nor has
it ever
been revealed to those who have not prepared a worthy shrine to contain
it. The Master knows, for he is a Temple
Builder. Within the setting of his own
bodies, the
Philosopher’s Stone is placed; for in truth it is the heart of the
Phoenix,
that strange bird which rises with renewed youth from the ashes of its
burned
body. When the Master’s heart is as pure
and white as the diamond that he wears, he will then become a living
stone-the
crown jewel in the diadem of his Craft.
The Word is found when the
Master himself is ordained by the living hand of God, cleansed by
living water,
baptized by living fire, a Priest-King after the Order of Melchizedek,
who is
above the law.
The great work of the
Master Mason can be called the art of balance. To
him is given the work of balancing the
triangle that it may blaze forth with the glory of the Divine Degree. The triple energies of thought, desire, and
action must be united in a harmonious blending of expression. He holds in his hands the triple keys; he
wears the triple crown of the ancient Magus, for he is in truth the
King of
heaven, earth, and hell. Salt, sulphur,
and mercury are the elements of his work and with the philosophical
mercury he
seeks to blend all powers to the glorifying of one end.
Behind the degree of
Master Mason, there is another not known to earth. Far
above him stretch other steps concealed by
the blue veil which divides the seen from the unseen. The
true Brother knows this, therefore he
works with an end in view far above the concept of mortal mind. He seeks to be worthy to pass behind that veil
and join that band who, unhonored and unsung, carry the
responsibilities of
human growth. His eyes are fixed forever
on the Seven Stars which shine down from somewhere above the upper rung
of the
ladder. With hope, faith, and charity he
climbs the steps, and whispering the Master’s Word to the Keeper of the
Gates,
passes on behind the veil. It is then,
and then only, that a true Mason is born. Only
behind this veil does the mystic student
come into his own. The things which we
see around us are but forms-promises of a thing unnamed, symbols of a
truth
unknown. It is in the spiritual temple
built without the voice of workmen or the sound of hammer that the true
initiation is given, and there, robed in the simple lambskin of a
purified
body, the student becomes a Master Mason, chosen out of the world to be
an
active worker in the name of the Great Architect. It
is there alone, unseen by mortal eyes, that
the Greater Degrees are given and there the soul radiating the light of
Spirit
becomes a living; star in the blue canopy of the Masonic lodge.
TRANSMUTATION
Masonry is eternal truth,
personified, idealized, and yet made simple. Eternal
truth alone can serve it. Virtue is its
priest, patience its warden,
illumination its master. The world
cannot know this, however, save when Masons in their daily life prove
that it
is so. Its truth is divine, and is not
to be desecrated or defamed by the thoughtlessness of its keepers. Its temple is a holy place, to be entered in
reverence. Material thoughts and
material dissensions must be left without its gate. They
may not enter. Only the pure of heart,
regenerated and
transmuted, may pass the sanctity of its veil. The
schemer has no place in its ranks, nor the
materialist in its shrine; for Masons walk on hallowed ground,
sanctified by
the veneration of ages. Let the tongue
be stilled, let the heart be stilled, let the mind be stilled. In reverence and in the silence, stillness
shall speak: the voice of stillness is the voice of the Creator. Show your light and your power to men, but
before God what have you to offer, save in humility? Your robes, your
tinsel,
and your jewels mean naught to Him, until your own body and soul,
gleaming with
the radiance of perfection, become the living ornaments of your Lodge.
THE PRESENCE OF THE MASTER
The Mason believes in the
Great Architect, the living keystone of creation’s plan, the Master of
all
Lodges, without whose spirit there is no work. Let
him never forget that the Master is near. Day
and night let him feel the presence of the
Supreme or Overshadowing One. The
All-Seeing Eye is upon him. Day and
night this great Orb measures his depths, seeing into his innermost
soul of
souls, judging his life, reading his thoughts, measuring his
aspirations, and
rewarding his sincerity. To this
All-Seeing One he is accountable; to none other must he account. This Spirit passes with him out of the Lodge
and measures the Mason in the world. This
Spirit is with him when he buys and sells.
It is with him in his home. By
the light of day and by the darkness of
night it judges him. It hears each
thoughtless word. It is the silent
witness to every transaction of life, the silent Partner of every man. By the jury of his acts, each man is judged. Let every Mason know that his obligations
include not only those within the narrow Lodge, bordered by walls of
stone and
brick, but those in the Great Lodge, walled only by the dome of heaven.
The Valley of Jehoshaphat waits for him who
is
false to any creature, as surely as it waited for the breakers of the
Cosmic
oath.