--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "jim_flanegin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> It is the most unique achievement we can have as human beings. > Infinitely complex and arduous to accomplish, yet absolutely > irreproducible by anyone else. Uniquely personal to each of us is > our journey to liberation, our journey to our Selves. No one else > can follow our path. > I liked the whole post, but comment only on the passage above. This is probably why I have found my spiritual home at co-freemasonry. There we have no dogmas to follow, just some general ethical principles like freedom, equality, brotherhood. Freemasonry recognizes and appreciates hierarchy and uses it as a tool of education, but its structure is not authoritarian. Critical thinking is appreciated at every level. We are encouraged to find our own path to truth. When you progress further you actually see it to be the only way. Freemasonry provides a close and long lasting community for spiritual seekers. The closeness of brotherhood is accomplished through rituals and symbols as methods of shared communication. We don't need to share the same worldview to feel brotherhood. The rituals create the close sharing people often yearn for. The founding thesis in our lodge was appreciation of differences of thought between humans. I have seen many times what kind of richness it is, when people with different spiritual backgrounds and conceptual frameworks share their thoughts on certain issues like `loyalty'. Compared to freemasonry the eastern traditions of unquestioningly surrendering to and following a guru feel quite immature as a methodology to enhance people's spiritual growth. In freemasonry the benefits of close sharing can be accomplished without the pitfalls and very apparent weaknesses of authoritarian guru systems. Freemasonry as a form and structure of spiritual school is very old, probably thousands of years. Because its methods of education have been far ahead the societies inside which the lodges have existed, the system has had to develop powerful methods to hide and protect its secrets. There is also prevalent the idea that you are initiated to deeper aspects only, when you have reached certain maturity. And many people evaluate the maturity of the candidate. It is not at the mercy of the possibly self-serving interests of a guru. Irmeli ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
