Barry Imber Grand Lecturer glect@grandlodgens.org 2006-08-12

Psychology and Philosophy of Masonic Morals by Bro. Rabbi H. Geffen : The Freemason: Nov. 1962 We cannot understand Masonry, if we do not comprehend our spiritual strength. How is it possible for us to obey the precept: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might”. Might we not also ask, how is it possible to love thy neighbour like ourselves? There are contradictions in man’s psychology; man possesses contradictory power, two different forces within him fighting each other. Spiritually he is one with his Creator, and bodily, materially, he is like an animal, a beast. Freemasonry urges the study of morals and ethics to improve the candidate, to uplift man’s deeds and thoughts, to change them from evil to good. Man will never commit a sin or do a noble deed without an innermost cause originated in the depths of his soul. Man will never seek improvement, if he will not come to the realization that he is in need of it. He sees himself as always innocent, fine and good; even with the recognition of his defects, he magnifies his greatness and goodness. The Talmud says: “Man observes all the plagues save his own”. It is very difficult for man to stand such an examination; he will always excuse and justify himself, and will not recognize his own faults. Not only to others, because he is ashamed, but even to himself, to his own conscience, he will not confess. A spiritual blindness embraces him and he cannot see. But sometimes man comes to a moral awakening; he feels he is blind; he looks for light, is in search for knowledge and improvement. Freemasonry is a study of life. Masonry is a world-psychology; it embraces life with all its forms and ways, all the possibilities of various men, nations, generations and epochs. Its teachings are not limited by space and time. Masonic teachings reveals to us the secret of the creation of man, that he consists of two parts, that heaven and earth are anticipated in him: a soul of everlasting life, and the dust of the earth. It is impossible for man to free himself from this combination. The pious man cannot cast off from himself the dust of the earth, neither can the wicked free himself completely from the ever living soul. Masonry tries to root out pride and arrogance, by teaching the candidate lessons of humility; it strives to instill the teaching of equity and equality, that all men are brethren, that one chain links all Craftsmen together, the chain of brotherly love and friendship. The Talmud says, when a man commits a sin he mutters: “I wish nobody could see me doing it”. On the contrary when a man does a noble deed, he thinks: “I wish everybody could see it”. It proves that in the depths of every man’s soul, even of the most sinful, there are some noble thoughts and strivings, a sense of shame. The wicked is not willing that anyone should see him committing a crime; he feels a sense of self-condemnation. Yet in the heart deep of the pious man, in spite of his good deeds, sprouts the sense of pride and boasting. Masonry teaches the lesson of secrecy in order to discourage arrogance and conceit. Masonic psychology teaches that the Mason should at all times examine himself, consider the cause of his deeds, what motives prompted him to such acts. Thus he will become wiser from day to day, and reach a better self-recognition. Thus he will become a Craftsman gifted with Masonic wisdom, whose greatness of soul is akin to the divine.