--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > No comments on what you wrote, Irmeli, except to say > that I enjoyed reading them. But I do have a question. > In what organization or group did you learn freemasonry? > I was under the impression that it was closed to women. > > Unc
Under the umbrella of freemasonry there are many organizations. The biggest of them like Grand Orient are for males only. There are also organizations that accept both men and women. I belong to that kind of organization. It was founded in Paris in 1893 and its name is Le Droit Humain. It is active in 70 countries. There are also organizations where only women are accepted. Earlier the big male organizations didn't recognize organizations, where women where members. Now also that has started to change and we have had visitors in our lodges from the big male organizations. I once discussed with a high ranking visitor form the Grand Orient and he also confessed to me that he considers the work in our lodges to be clearly more advanced than in theirs. In our organization we think it is because we have both men and women as members. I was initiated to freemasonry in 1982 and have also been in the position of the Master in my lodge. Here is the address of Le Droit Humain: http://www.droit-humain.org/ The name of my lodge is Lux Aboensis. Its home page is at: http://members.tiscali.fi/luxaboensis/ By clicking at certain points you can proceed in it. Irmeli > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Irmeli Mattsson" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > --- 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/
