Siddhartha

Siddhartha

MASONIC BOOK REVIEW

“Siddhartha”

by Hermann Hesse

Knowledge of the self has been the central dilemma of all ancient mystery schools. It is the question that we are Masons aim to discover. It is such a central theme that even the Greeks at the Temple of Delphi wrote, “Know thyself and you will know the Gods and the universe”. One may even argue that this question is at the heart of every religious tradition. The question of what am I to the universe and God strikes at the heart of our human condition of being born and destined to die. How we approach answering this question determines, in many respects, the trajectory of our lives. It is this question that lies at the heart of Hermann Hesse’s “Siddartha”. It is a book that escaped my awareness until another close Brother recommended it as part of our discussion and studies.

For most, religion provides an avenue for exploring this question. The organization and structure reduces the fear of those larger questions and gives some semblance of control and ease. But life has a way of popping the bubble so to speak. Although many people find stability in religion and growth, Siddhartha sees this as a stifling of his inner self, which is the real mystery he wishes to understand. As Hermman wrote:

“Far is such a thought from my mind,” exclaimed Siddhartha. “I wish that they shall all stay with the teachings, that they shall reach their goal! It is not my place to judge another person’s life. Only for myself, for myself alone, I must decide, I must chose, I must refuse. Salvation from the self is what we Samanas search for, oh exalted one. If I merely were one of your disciples, oh venerable one, I’d fear that it might happen to me that only seemingly, only deceptively my self would be calm and be redeemed, but that in truth it would live on and grow, for then I had replaced my self with the teachings, my duty to follow you, my love for you, and the community of the monks… I am deprived by the Buddha, thought Siddhartha, I am deprived, and even more he has given to me. He has deprived me of my friend, the one who had believed in me and now believes in him, who had been my shadow and is now Gotama’s shadow. But he has given me Siddhartha, myself.”
Through Siddhartha’s journey, the pains, struggles, and conflicts of life are embedded in a larger desire for understanding and truth. Even those closest to him find his desire curious for he has gained everything his heart desired. But in those desires, he finds his being becoming disheartened and self-destructive. Fundamentally, the constructs we hold are disturbed by the greatest of all fears: death. Through the character of Siddartha, Hermann explores the journey of faith rather than the destination. Siddartha transforms and expands his understanding of life through each stage of understanding that is eventually distrubed and reformed to the next stage of understanding. At each stage, Siddartha’s journey is influenced by a central character. In the text, the most important of which is Vasuveda who teaches Siddhartha the essence of the divine life. It is this journey that makes Siddhartha exclaim:

“I want to learn from myself, want to be my student,
want to get to know myself, the secret of Siddhartha.”

It is curious that this central theme of Freemasonry, knowledge of self and union with God, is often covered in tradition, formality, and perfection of the ritual. Yet, deep within its narrative, Siddhartha’s journey mirrors our Masonic journey. A cycle of coming from darkness to light with a fellow Brother or Vasuveda to help us along the way. It is my belief that within the Craft, we all find a Brother who embodies the heart and wisdom of Vasuveda. They open our hearts and see the true self that lies within us. They find pleasure in joining the journey with us and delighting as we grow beyond what we imagined to find joy within our relationship with God and creation. But why do we find it so difficult to embrace this simple discovery of our self being the secret to all of life?

Perhaps, as I suspect, we find our imperfections and mortality as reflections of something abhorrent or unworthy to being a vessel of knowledge. In our deepest thoughts, we perhaps think that our “self” isn’t worth the exploring. What if I’m truly unremarkable? Reflecting on my Craft as a physician, I’ve come to the conclusion that each person has a remarkable and unfolding story to share. Not because of their own individual story. But how their story is interconnected to everyone else. It is the interconnectedness of life within ourselves and the universe that embodies the unfolding nature of the divine and love that Hermann writes through Siddhartha:

And everything together, all voices, all goals, all yearning, all suffering, all pleasure, all that was good and evil, all of this together was the world. All of it together was the flow of events, was the music of life. And when Siddhartha was listening attentively to this river, this song of a thousand voices, when he neither listened to the suffering nor the laughter, when he did not tie his soul to any particular voice and submerged his self into it, but when he heard them all, perceived the whole, the oneness, then the great song of the thousand voices consisted of a single word, which was Om: the perfection.

It may be that Siddhartha was a reflection of Hermann’s own journey to understand himself. What did Hermann discover? I believe it is the main answer we learn in Freemasonry: love. For it is the human heart and our relationship to all of the universe that defines our journey and the divine journey as one. It is learning to see our journey as a part of the larger journey of God to discover itself. And to understand what that means.

Written by: Bro. Jonathan Kopel

 

Bro. Kopel is a MD PhD in his neurology residency in Washington DC. He is a member at Potomac Lodge #5 and Benjamin B. French Lodge #15 of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC.

Samuel Lloyd Kinsey

Being Mortal – Medicine and What Matters in the End

Being Mortal – Medicine and What Matters in the End

MASONIC BOOK REVIEW

“Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End”

By Dr. Atul Gawande

The drama of the human condition is fully encapsulated with the mystery of death and what lies beyond. Yet, how we approach the mystery itself is a question that requires a deeper and more intimate appraisal of our own mortality. And more deeply, our personal story leading to that point. It is these questions that the physician, Dr. Atul Gawande, approaches in his book, “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.”

Dr. Gawande’s book is a mixture of exposition and memoir delving into the development of our modern conception of death, the ethical considerations, and the many instiututional hurdles that often interfere or miss the true important. Among the topics explored, the discussion on the medicalization of dying reminded me of experiences I had during my medical training. In his work, Gawande criticizes the tendency to medicalize aging and dying, leading to unnecessary interventions that can sometimes prolong suffering instead of providing comfort and dignity. This preoccupation with treatment to avoid difficult conversations or what I call “treat to deflect” reduces patient autonomy, choice, and the ability to confront death in a meaningful way for themselves and those closest to the patient’s life. As a physician in training, this observation has taught me the value of stories and community in my own life as well as the patient’s I help. The greatest gift I can provide a patient facing death is the courage to embrace death and not seek after treatments that will only prolong their suffering. As one elderly patient taught me, the longing to live is built on a castle of hurt. This patient had a worsening clinical course complicated from his diabetes leading to several amputations and persistent bleeding. It was likely he would have his entire limb amputated and suffer additional infections and complications that would end his life. It was a conversation that I saw the surgical staff avoid addressing directly. The patient was visibly distraught and unsure how to proceed.
By creating a space to open up, my patient expressed feelings of regret, shame, and inadequacy. He felt robbed of the chance of having more time to ask the big questions in life. As he told me, to think about God and find the true meaning of living within. In our conversation, I realized that me engaging with him, listening, and being honest about not knowing opened his heart a bit more. I let myself be vulnerable by telling him that his life mattered because he was teaching me already to be a good doctor. Despite our differences, we both feared death and faced life’s most difficult questions each day we live. I was showing him and myself that we were simply human beings. Not patient and doctor. Two human beings trying to figure out this journey called life. I happen to have skills to help. He had the stories and experiences to share. After his sister and other relatives came to talk with him about his choice, he eventually agreed to go on hospice and palliative care. His face looked completely different. The man I saw this morning was replaced with someone who was alive, happy, and had his personality back. His unkempt hair showed more of his personality that I had overlooked before. And the patient was grateful that someone listened and spoke to his heart rather than his head. As Masons, the journey of finding harmony between the head and the heart comes from the confrontation of death described in the third degree. However, it is a journey that asks each of us the integrity and character by which we live. It asks us to engage with the difficult questions of life. Sometimes, for many years without a complete answer. But within that journey, the true meaning and expression of the divine we harbor comes forth through the way we act, live, and help those in need. It is expressed in ourselves and valuing this life that we live. The aforementioned patient reminds me that life’s biggest questions are a reflection of the divine exploration we are called to participate in. The human quest for truth and light is a reflection of the divine journey. It is a reminder that this life is one of a series of events and moments to come. What matters is looking beyond the physical and finding that purpose within that will carry us forth now and into the future. The promise of continued exploration and journey with the divine. To be both the answer and question to the divine journey that we have yet to fully understand.

Written by: Bro. Jonathan Kopel

 

Bro. Kopel is a MD PhD in his neurology residency in Washington DC. He is a member at Potomac Lodge #5 and Benjamin B. French Lodge #15 of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC.

Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
The Secret of Our Success – How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter

The Secret of Our Success – How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter

MASONIC BOOK REVIEW

“The Secret of Our Success”

by Joseph Heinrich

Unlike other authors, Heinrich’s exploration on cultural evolution provides surprising insight into the workings of the Craft and some of the subtle lessons embodied in the first three degrees. One might say that the idea of cultural evolution is an integral part of what makes Freemasonry a prime example of how group dynamics and traditions are passed down and modified accordingly to preserve wisdom and spiritual insights relevant for each generation of newly raised Brothers.
In “The Secret of Our Success,” Henrich takes a unique perspective on the success of human beings that differs from the popular conception of human evolution, which regularly alludes to our increased brain capacity. Although important, Heinrich argues that the key to human evolutionary success lies not in individual intelligence, but in our unique ability to collectively learn and share knowledge through culture. Rather than relying on a singular individual, human beings have a unique and uncanny ability to transmit knowledge, traditions and wisdom through each generation. Together, these collective traditions coalesce into a “collective brain” that allows for cumulative cultural evolution, where complex technologies, social norms and knowledge build upon each other across generations.
Heinrich repeatedly alludes to several aspects of cultural evolution, such as cultural intelligence, cumulative cultural evolution, a collective brain, cultural innovation and cultural influences on genetics, which explain a large portion of the success of the human race. These examples illustrate how our collective knowledge, shared across a group, acts like a “super brain” that surpasses individual cognitive abilities. As with Stonemasons, previous generations did not have to reinvent the working tools to build their physical and spiritual temples. Instead, the Masonic Fraternity has found that collective memory can be shared through symbols and rituals that both preserve spiritual insights while allowing for the individual journey to manifest and unfold through these traditions handed down from generation to generation. Within the Craft, the relationships formed with older members with deep memories in both the history and ritual, help to maintain and share these traditions through both oral and written traditions. One might say that Freemasonry is a great example of the power and potency that cultural evolution has played in the success and achievements of our species against the formidable forces of nature and other processes. Yet, on a deeper and more spiritual level, the idea of cultural evolution reminds me of the many mentors, both Masonic and non-Masonic, that shaped my own growth as a professional and as a person. As a Master Mason, my success, both spiritual and professional, is truly laid by the work of those who came before me, who continue to guide and teach me the skills and attitudes necessary to follow the God has outlined. Through this interplay, we personally arrive at the conclusion that the path of spiritual enlightenment is both an individual and social good bestowed by God in the narrative of our own life story. The lesson learned is that spiritual life is a beautiful connection of the human race and the Almighty’s universe. A wondrous cacophony of the past, present, and future mixed together in the unfolding spiritual lessons being transferred and expanded on with each generation.

Written by: Bro. Jonathan Kopel

 

Bro. Kopel is a MD PhD in his neurology residency in Washington DC. He is a member at Potomac Lodge #5 and Benjamin B. French Lodge #15 of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC.

Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
Masonic Ritual – When do we become Masons?

Masonic Ritual – When do we become Masons?

MASONIC RITUAL

When do we become Masons?

MASONIC RITUAL EXPLAINED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CUSTODIANS OF THE WORK

Is it only after the whole Degree is performed? What happens if there is a hurricane and the First Degree has to be called off after the First Section? Is the candidate an Entered Apprentice Mason or not?

In the Grand Lodge of New York,

I recently was asked an interesting question by a Brother who wanted to know when in the Rituals we become Masons, Entered Apprentices, Fellowcrafts, Master Masons. Is it only after the whole Degree is performed? What happens if there is a hurricane and the First Degree has to be called off after the First Section? Is the candidate an Entered Apprentice Mason or not?

The answer is fairly simple and straightforward, but it does raise some interesting points for contemplation. If a Degree is conferred upon us but for whatever reason the lectures and other distinctive elements that contain the majority of the emblems and allegories of each Degree are omitted, are we really Entered Apprentices or Fellowcrafts or Master Masons? There certainly is an argument to be made that a Brother who hasn’t journeyed into the Middle Chamber is not really a Fellowcraft. Certainly a Brother who had missed out on important elements such as these would have been deprived of the beauty and lessons of the Degree, and in a sense could be considered “not as much” an Entered Apprentice or Fellowcraft or Master Mason as one who had received this Masonic Light.

These are interesting things to think about, but in the final analysis we find the answer provided by the Ritual itself: When the Entered Apprentice catechisms ask, “What makes you a Mason?” the answer is, “My obligation.” Once an obligation has been taken the candidate becomes an Entered Apprentice or Fellowcraft or Master Mason, as the case may be. This gives rise to one of my favorite parts in the First Degree: After the candidates have taken the Entered Apprentice obligation and the cable-tow has been removed, the Master leans forward to ask what he most desires and begins with, “my Brother.” This is the first time he has been called a Brother, and the moment the obligation has been completed therefore marks the dividing line between a profane and a Mason.

Response provided by RW Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
Chairman, Custodians of the Work, Grand Lodge of New York

Note: This site is an excellent source of information about Freemasonry. While every effort has been made to provide accurate and up-to-date information about Masonic Ritual, please remember that a website is not a substitute for your jurisdiction’s Standard Work or Approved Ritual.
Samuel Lloyd Kinsey

Masonic Ritual – Changeover or Close to another Degree?

Masonic Ritual – Changeover or Close to another Degree?

MASONIC RITUAL

Changeover or Close to another Degree?

MASONIC RITUAL EXPLAINED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CUSTODIANS OF THE WORK

Can we open on the First Degree and use the Changeover to move to the Second Degree?

In the Grand Lodge of New York,

No, the Changeover cannot be so used.

Although the ability to open a communication of a Lodge on any of the three Degrees of Masonry greatly reduces the need to work in more than one Degree on any given evening, some foreseeable cases remain in which this would be desired. For example, a Lodge might like to examine an Entered Apprentice’s proficiency in open Lodge and confer the Fellowcraft Degree upon him at the same communication. In the Grand Lodge of New York, we have two ways of moving from one Degree to another: the Changeover and the procedural Ritual to Close to a Lodge of a Different Degree.

The Changeover achieves this by dispensing with labor in the Third Degree in order to temporarily impose the symbolic rules of a lower Degree in a Master Mason Lodge without opening a Lodge of that Degree. Since the Master Mason Lodge is still open and its labor merely set aside for a time, that labor must be resumed and the Master Mason Lodge must be closed. This is why the Lodge must return to the Third Degree after work and labor in a lower Degree has concluded. The Masonic rationale for “waiving all signs and ceremonies”—which refers to a lengthier procedure no longer in use that incorporated signs and ceremonies drawn from the Rituals of Opening for the lower Degrees—is that the Third Degree inherently embraces the lower Degrees and the signs of those Degrees were displayed during the Master Mason opening.

With the possibility of opening the communication of a Lodge on any of the three Degrees of Masonry, however, the Changeover’s rationale is no longer always valid. If a Lodge opens on the First Degree and desires to move to the Second Degree, we must observe that none of the signs of Fellowcraft will have been displayed, nor are the ceremonies of a Fellowcraft Lodge embraced by the First Degree. Moreover, it’s inconvenient to have to resume labor in the original Degree at the end of the meeting. The solution was to revive the historical New York Masonic practice of closing from one Degree to another Degree.

The procedural Ritual to Close to a Lodge of a Different Degree, which is found in the 2019 printing of the Ritual Book, waives the closing ceremonies for the current Degree and most but not all of the opening ceremonies for the target Degree. The portion of the opening ceremonies that is not waved consists of the catechism dialogue and display of signs, after which the Great Lights are adjusted as necessary and the Tiler informed. This not only ensures that the signs and ceremonies of the target Degree have been performed, but eliminates the requirement to return to the original Degree. Closing to a Lodge of Another Degree takes about 70 seconds longer than the Changeover, and both the Master and Senior Warden should be conversant in the catechisms for the Rituals of Opening in all three Degrees.

Response provided by RW Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
Chairman, Custodians of the Work, Grand Lodge of New York

Note: This site is an excellent source of information about Freemasonry. While every effort has been made to provide accurate and up-to-date information about Masonic Ritual, please remember that a website is not a substitute for your jurisdiction’s Standard Work or Approved Ritual.
Samuel Lloyd Kinsey