The 24 inch Guage and Jiu Jitsu

Time for writing and getting thoughts down has become tougher. As with Life and Nature, things go through cycles. Whether it is finances or the whole economy, tides or planetary movements, all things move in cycles. The time one can focus on Freemasonry and to what extent will be cyclical. Between ones own personal blog, other Masonic blogs of interest, forums and emails; then ones own involvement in their own physical Lodges, whether an officer or regular participant, responsibilities add up. In my own world, business has taken up more time and my daughter is getting older which demands more intellectual involvement from me. My parents continue to only get older which demands more time and responsibilities as well. Family and vocation are to always take precedence in our lives. This comes back to balancing our time properly, which is taught to us as an Entered Apprentice in the 24 inch gauge.

The 24 inch gauge, which again is the first working tool offered to the newest and youngest Entered Apprentices. Why would our Masonic Forefathers have placed this Working Tool as the First object for contemplation upon the psyche of the neophyte? What other meanings can be gleamed from the study of this particular object?

The Trinity? Man's threefold nature? Mind, Body, Spirit? The Emotional Soul, the Intellectual Soul, the Conscious Soul? The Dense Body, the Vital Body, the Desire Body? The Divine Spirit, the Life Spirit, the Human Spirit? Past, Present, Future? Involution, Evolution and Epigenesis? If we want to we can find how the number 3 is all around us. Three degrees to Freemasonry only. Man has devised more to it, but the building blocks of Freemasonry are the 3 degrees and that is what needs to be focused on. That could be one lesson of the 24 inch gauge, concentrate on the 3 degrees only.


Right now, I personally have taken a little hiatus from making Freemasonry a priority (mind and soul development) and am now focusing on my physical temple. For too long I have let my physical temple wither for too long. So I started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. My training has been going on now for a month and I love it. This training is also motivated by the desire to teach my daughter these principles of ground fighting and defense. I feel a young woman could really learn to defend themselves against friend or foe that puts you in an uncompromising position. The dedication I am taking to this training is paying off. I am the lightest I have been since college. I am now less than 240lbs! A few years ago I had allowed myself to reach 270+ lbs at 6'2''. I carried it well being an athlete, but I could tell it was doing damage to my inner workings, and my knees and back. I slowly started controlling my mouth, by not shoveling in as much food anymore. Gluttony I was guilty of! I then decided to dive into this Martial Art for 3 reasons, Cardio, technical knowledge of the Art and to teach my daughter.

Being a competitive man, it was difficult at first to have smaller men control you physically on the ground through technique. One had to bury their ego to have to take a beating and learn from it, then analyze what one had done and grow from it. I want to get better fast, so I am watching instructional videos when I can, trying to read about technique as well as philosophical approaches to the Art. I find it as fascinating as Freemasonry. I am finding it is allot like chess. One needs an ability to think while under duress and pressure. Jiu Jitsu is a submission type of grappling martial art, so certain actions spawn reactions. What needs to be learned is that non trained people have natural defensive reactions, where a trained Jiu Jitsu practitioner will react completely differently. It is always thinking about how to improve ones position without getting yourself caught in a submission type of hold.

My flexibility is getting better. It is very tough on the hips. My shoulders and wrists are trashed from grappling with multiple 300lb-ers! The body was not used to using these muscles in this manner, as well as the abuse from past athletics has ruined most of my joints. Time, patience and perseverance is making me a better practioner, having better cardio and becoming more flexible. I believe if the body is not functioning at its peak ability, the blood and oxygen cannot and do not work at their full capacity as TGAOTU had intended them to. There are many writings where "wrestling" with demons or desires is used as allegory for maintaining morality?

As a Freemason, I had let the Physical Temple go to long without any concentration or work! When most of us look around our Lodge rooms, do we see craftsman who have stopped working on 1/3 of their being? Belly masons I believe they are labeled?
We wonder why medical expenses are so high.

Gluttony with food and lack of physical exercise make a slovenly group. Whether masons or any org., we need to take care of our Temples or they will crumble down around us. Remember the lesson of the 24 inch gauge: Mind, Body and Spirit. Do not neglect any of the three and give them equal attention to perfect the being. I know I have some my Lodge brothers interested in me teaching them stuff I have learned. We have two Brothers that are both well over 300lbs, both under 40. I am trying to get them moving on their Temples as well. One may need more focus than another, but never neglect the Temple that TGAOTU gave YOU to dwell in while alive. TGAOTU may see that as disrespecting His House that he rented to you! TGAOTU built an infinite amount of temples for His Children to reside in, and You trash that present? What kind of Freemason can one be if he abuses the Temple given him by his Creator?
Again, just a thought and an interpretation of a Working Tool presented to us at our earliest stages in Freemasonry.
Abuse of the physical Temples built by masons and the abuse of the physical Temples built by TGAOTU.


STOP THE ABUSE!
In My Humble Opinion
Study your VSL about grappling to strengthen your Temple:

Genesis Chapter 32 verses 24-32.

Afterwards, Jacob went back and spent the rest of the night alone. A man came and wrestled with Jacob until just before daybreak. When the man saw that he could not win, he struck Jacob on the hip and threw it out of joint. They kept on wrestling until the man said, “Let go of me! It’s almost daylight.”

“You can’t go until you bless me,” Jacob replied.

The man asked, “What is your name?”

“Jacob” he answered.

The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. You have wrestled with God and with men, and you have won. That’s why your name will be Israel.”

Jacob said, “I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive.”

So he named the place Peniel. He was limping because he had been struck on the hip, and the muscles on his hip joint had been injured. That’s why even today people in Israel don’t eat the hip muscle of any animal.
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Genesis Chapter 30 verse 8.
So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, (and) I have indeed prevailed.”
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Ephesians Chapter 6 Verses 12 and 13:

We are not wrestling against humans. We are wrestling against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. So put on all the armor that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will be standing firm.
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I believe that God knows that we are still wrestling today. Not just in the sport but life in general. God knows that the sport is a sport that can teach lessons in life that is why he uses it in the way he does. God knows that we wrestled with life yesterday, will so today, and will certainly do so tomorrow.

I believe that God knows that many of us today are facing problems and obstacles. Not just on the mat but more importantly, in life. We know what many of those obstacles and difficulties are. They include things like; Gluttony, Drugs, Bullies, Issues at School, Alcohol, Peer Pressure, War and many more. The truth is that we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in a fallen and imperfect world that often takes along with it innocent victims. While some may consider it unjust for God to allow these types of things to happen, I see it as an ultimate loving God that would love us enough that he would ultimately allow us to do even stupid things, even things that unfortunately might cause harm to some one else. The love of God allows us to make the choices we make, even bad ones.

God also allows us to learn lessons from life and the things we become involved in. That is in part what this last passage of scripture is about. God loves wrestling/grappling and is in part telling us that we can learn lessons from wrestling/grappling, lessons in real way’s and with real meaning that wrestlers/grapplers can probably relate to better than anyone else.
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Plato (427-347 B.C.E.)

The son of wealthy and influential Athenian parents, Plato began his philosophical career as a student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens where Aristotle studied. Plato was raised in a moderately well-to-do aristocratic family. His father was named Ariston, and his mother Perictione. Plato’s given name was Ariistocles, whereas his wrestling coach, Ariston of Argos, marked him with the nickname Platon, meaning broad on the account of his robust figure. Diogenes mentions alternative accounts that Plato derived his name from the breadth (platutes) of his eloquence, or else because he was very wide (platus) across the forehead. According to Dicaerchus, Plato wrestled at the Isthmian games.

The Psalms 144 : A Prayer for Rescue and Prosperity

A Psalm of David.


1 Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war,
and my fingers to fight:



2 my goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer;
my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.


3 LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!


4 Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.


5 Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.


6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.


7 Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;


8 whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.


9 I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.


10 It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.


11 Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:


12 that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:


13 that our garners may be full, affording all manner of store; that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:


14 that our oxen may be strong to labor; that there be no breaking in, nor going out;
that there be no complaining in our streets.


15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

EA Lessons--- How Would You Respond To These....

These are in the Entered Apprentice degree of the AASR Rituals.
I know these dissertations are not given in the Preston/Webb rituals I recieved, and after reading them, I wonder how a candidate would respond to these after the Chamber of Reflection and first being brought into the Lodge.
I would love to hear from other masons on how they would react and feel if these were related to you when first embarking on the journeys involved in the EA Degree.

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WM- The partial state of nakedness in which all must be introduced to our mysteries constitutes the first symbolic lesson, and personifies the primal state of man after his creation. Although surrounded with every element of comfort, he found himself with no other resource than that of his bodily strength and powers, which he knew not how to use in consequence of his primitive ignorance. This is symbolized by the darkness to which you have submitted yourself. In that helpless condition he must have been a prey to great anxiety, and his loneliness must have been oppressive. The puncture which you have felt on your left bare breast is also the symbol of those first sufferings of his mind, and of the loneliness which overshadowed his heart. The future and the object of his creation were inexplicable and a source of great uneasiness. Many an idea, no doubt, arouse in his mind suggesting what he might do to make his way through the immensity which had suddenly unrolled itself before him, in all the brilliant glory of the new creation, but want of experience led him to uncertain views, and he found himself a slave, bound down by his own perplexities in the abode of liberty, which is symbolized by the cord which appears to restrain you of the free use of your limbs, and keeps you defenseless in the hands of an unknown guide. In a word, your condition is intended to impress upon your mind the circumstances attending the introduction of man upon earth, his entrance to a new and untried existence, with a world to conquer and subdue. So with you, you enter upon this new world naked, blind and helpless, and chaos appears to reign supreme. Let your mind seek for light, truth and liberty in this new world, and they will surely come to you. Is it of your own free will and accord, unactuated by motives of curiosity or self—aggrandizement, that you have asked to be initiated into the mysteries of this Ancient Institution? (Candidates answers.) It behooves you then to give heed to the difficulties which will beset you on every side. The path of life is strewn with care and disappointment; every step in knowledge, which leads to light, calls for labor. So here, your every step will be attended with fatigue, difficulties and trials, not to say dangers, which will call for the exercise of patient endurance on your part, accompanied by a persevering effort and presence of mind. Are you ready, calmly and steadily, to encounter them? (Candidate answers.) It being so, we now leave you for a short time to commune with your own thoughts.



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W.M.—Like all institutions, whether sacred or profane, Masonry has not escaped the tongue of envy, jealousy and uncharitableness. It has been said by thoughtless persons that our mysteries are but childish plays; that we meet for the purpose of passing our leisure hours in the revels of the banqueting hall; that the tendency of the Institution and the observance of its obligations and precepts is to make us forgetful and negligent of the duties and love we owe our families, and that we even propagate pernicious doctrines in matters of religion and politics. Without assuming to ourselves perfection in all things, we sincerely believe that you will soon discover that we are not amenable to these accusations; that they are unfounded and proceed from the envious and malicious. On the contrary, it is chief among our aims to attain to a true knowledge of our duties to God to our country, and to our fellow—beings. Now, if you have been prompted to approach our portals and ask for initiation to these ancient mysteries of Freemasonry with no more praiseworthy motive than the gratification of a vain and idle curiosity, regardless of the consequences of imposing on our kind indulgence we would most earnestly advise you to withdraw, reminding you that in so doing your trials will probably terminate in a manner quite different from what you have been led to expect. Can we rely upon the earnestness of your determination to become a faithful, honorable, upright Freemason, true to your fellow—men? (Candidate answers.)



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W.M.—We believe that amidst the stupendous works of Nature with which man found himself surrounded at his first appearance on earth, an inspiration from above informed him of his physical and mental powers, placing him at the head of all animated creation, and that on viewing the splendors of the heavens above and the wonders of the earth beneath, he saw the handiwork of an infinite, all—wise and beneficent being, calling for unbounded adoration and praise as the Author and Creator of all things, believing himself to be the image and direct heir of his heavenly Father. In subsequent ages man's heart became subject to evil passions, and his great source of comfort and intelligence was obscured by the appalling darkness of all evil—and paganism, with all its attendant degrading slavery, succeeded to the knowledge of the true God, and man was not far removed from the beasts of the forest. In all ages we find that there were a few wise and righteous men, who strove with all their power to stem the mighty torrent of ignorance and of mental and political degradation. They had to contend against the mightiest for evil, among the religious and civil institutions of their time. We find these wise men uniting in secret societies for the acquisition of strength, for the preservation of the knowledge of the true God, and for the restoration of man to his original political and mental liberty and dignity of character. By the blessings of God they were powerfully instrumental in raising man to the high position in which we now find him. We, as direct successors of those learned and philosophical societies, have a great work to do in the careful preservation of the wisdom and virtues of those true founders of our ancient and honorable Institution.





W.M.—Mr. __________, will you please tell us what you understand by the term virtue?

(Candidate answers.)

W.M.—In the same manner as there is in the universe a physical light which spreads its rays over the wonders of the earth in order that man may see, admire and avail himself of them, so is there in every man an inward and intellectual light which diffuses itself in his mind, which shows what he owes to himself, and to his fellow—beings. A continued and sincere obedience to that inward light or inspiration is what we call virtue, because it depends upon us either to exercise or refuse that obedience, and we cannot lay claim to those divine qualities which distinguish man from all created beings, without a judicious and active exercise of reason in guiding us in our selection of good from evil. Virtue is, therefore, that energy and tendency of the mind and feelings which determines us in doing that which is good, beautiful and true.

W.M.—Mr. __________, will you please tell us what you understand by the word vice? (Candidate answers.)

W.M.—Vice in our estimation is the reverse of virtue and results from a perverted judgement in the exercise of our powers of selection, and leads us to adopt the evil rather than the good. We consider a man to be vicious who, instead of obeying the inward light or inspiration which prompts to all that is good, beautiful and true, gradually falls into an inclination to abuse his sensual powers and suppress his morality without consideration of the duties that he owes to himself and to humanity. These three subjects, the ideas concerning Deity or universal being, virtue and vice are at the foundation of the purest philosophy, comprise the whole of its moral teachings, and are susceptible to infinite development. We had briefly to examine them with you preparatory to your initiation, for we can receive no one without being well satisfied that the mind and heart are in a proper state gradually to attain to a participation of our mysteries and purposes.
You now have several voyages to undergo. Are you prepared?




(Candidate answers.)


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Not until after this Light is garnered can the candidate proceed through the journeys/trials that await the candidate.

This seems to be more enlightening compared to the Preston/Webb rituals and does seem to be more in line with the 18th century movement of Freemasonry.

BIND YOURSELF WITH THE ILLUSION OF THE GRAND LODGE's INFALLIBILITY AND YOU SHALL NEVER CROSS THE PATH OF LIGHT!



BELIEVE THE HEART, MORE THAN THE EYES, FOR THE EYES, THEY FOLLOW REASON AND REASON IS BASED UPON WHAT ORDINARY MEN SEE; THEY DO NOT SEE ALL THAT IS THERE, SO REASON IS IN PART A LIE!


IF YOU FOLLOW A LIE YOU WILL NEVER GET TO A TRUE PLACE.

MARK MY WORDS APPRENTICES, I HAVE BEEN THERE. IN THE DWELLING-PLACE OF THE MASTERS, WERE THE DOORS ARE OPENED TO THE STARS, WHEN THEY CHOSE TO OPEN THEM, FOR THEY HAVE TRANSCENDED DEATH, THOUGH ARE WAITING STILL TO BE EVERYTHING FOLLOWING THE TRACE OF THE GREAT AMON.

RED SHALL BE KNOWN AS THE HEART, AND YOU SHALL KNOW WHAT LAYS IN THERE, FOLLOW IT AND THIS MAP USUALLY NEVER FAILS.

IF YOU STEP INSIDE THE CAVE, THE TEMPLE, THE ANSWER TO YOUR SEARCH, KNOW THAT YOU ARE FAR FROM THE END, BUT THE TIME YOU TAKE TO REACH IT, IS PART OF YOU.

BE THE MASTER OF THE CHANGE, TIME IS A SERVANT!

A Wise Man Once Said.................................

"Every man who is prepared to die rather than renounce TRUTH and JUSTICE is "MOST TRULY LIVING", for Immortality 'ABIDES IN THAT MAN'S SOUL', and to him there can be no DEATH.
To develop such men was the Aim and End of all Ancient Initiation.
It is the Aim and End of PHILOSOPHIC INITIATION and the becoming of one of the BROTHERS OF FREEMASONRY.
Measure all things by REASON and prove them by APPLICATION."

UNKNOWN



"Dost thou think I would give to the mere pupil, whose qualities are not yet fully TRIED, powers that might change the face of the social world?
The last secrets are instructed "only to him of whose virtue[moral strength and personal responsibility] the Master is convinced."

PATIENCE!

"It is Labor[personal effort] itself that is the greater purifier of the mind; and by DEGREES the secret will grow upon[will be revealled by the Inner Light] thyself as the mind becomes riper[prepared] to receive them."

ZANONI