FOUNDATIONS OF FREEMASONRY
¿WHO ARE THE MASONS?
The mason is someone who simply builds for himself a better life using as a symbolic model the tools of architecture and construction.
We joined Freemasonry to help us help other people. We do not do it to profit commercially, socially or economically from it. We’re here for giving, not asking. A good mason often donates resources, skills and time to the benefit of others. He devotes the hours of the day to provide for himself and his own abundantly. He dedicates hours of study and meditation to establishing strong connections with his family and community. The Mason is actively fighting ignorance, lies and ambition.
Among us we recognize ourselves as Masons, a word whose translation is “Builder” and which we have used for centuries to mean that we are the builders of our own life and that of the society where we interact, following the divine design of who we call the Great Architect of the Universe. This is the name by which we, masons, designate the conception that each one has of the Divinity.
¿SO, FREEMASONRY IS A RELIGIOUS PRACTICE?
The answer should be given depending on the religion idea of the questioner.
In the eschatological sense, it is not: Freemasonry does not offer “Save” its members in a particular heavenly state by following a set of beliefs or performing a group of saving ceremonies. Nor do we engage in proselytizing or preaching to attract others into our organization, because we do not claim to have all the truth or power to redeem anyone from a so-called sinful or imperfect state. Finally, we do not accept dogma as a way to reach the truth.
However, if by religion it refers to “Religated” in the sense that Cicero gave to their etymology, then yes; because we consider ourselves linked to our brothers by the bond of fraternal love.
The meaning of religion today is so varied that its interpretation is complex; but, we can say with certainty that Freemasonry does not replace religion in its general and broad sense. If a Mason considers that one of the routes for his moral improvement is a specific religious practice, he is in his full freedom to follow it; this fact does not add or diminish in anything his condition of dignity in Freemasonry.
¿WHAT THE MASONS DO?
We meet regularly in special buildings to discuss our administrative affairs, our relief plans and the varied and usually very interesting topics we teach ourselves.
We call this meeting center the Temple; its design is based on the principles of Sacred Geometry and its decoration is symbolic in order to stimulate, according to the ability of each, different levels of learning.
Freemasons also have a good sense of social and environmental responsibility. That is why we are committed to activities to help the community, activities that have a positive impact on it, the promotion of good moral and civic values. Therefore, we also carry out activities to take care of the environment and make it sustainable and suitable for all types of life.
IN SUMMARY
We are a reserved group that prefer to meet in our simple and symbolic Temples covered by the emotional storms of the world, in almost total anonymity, respecting the privacy of our brothers and keeping our conversations sacred.
We are not interested in the lights that dazzle, but in those that clear the way. We are not interested in public recognition or flattery, but in the inner peace that comes with knowing that we are doing the best we can to improve ourselves.
That is why we believe that if the world lived in accordance with the principles of Freemasonry, the evils that afflict it would disappear.
MASONIC CODE
1. Worship the Great Architect of the Universe.
2. Love your neighbor.
3. Do good and let others talk about you.
4. True worship of God consists of good manners.
5. Do good for good.
6. Keep your soul pure; may it come before God at all times, free from reproach.
7. Love the good, have mercy on the weak, flee from the wicked, but hate no one.
8. Speak with respect to the great, with wisdom to your fellows, with sincerity to your friends, and with tenderness to the poor.
9. Never flatter your brother, for it is a betrayal; and if your brother flatters you, be careful that he corrupts you.
10. Always listen to the voice of your conscience.
11. Be the father of the poor; every sigh that your hardness takes away from them will be a curse that will fall on your head.
12. Respect the stranger and the traveler, for their position makes them sacred to you. When, in turn, you are a foreigner, do not abuse that circumstance by invoking considerations greater than those of justice.
13. Avoids disputes and foresees insults, putting reason at the centre.
14. Respect women. Never abuse their weakness and die before dishonoring them.
15. If the Great Architect of the Universe gives you a son, give him thanks; but tremble for the deposit he entrusts you, for henceforth you will be for that child the image of the Divine. Let him fear you until his ten years; until his twenty years, I love you and even I respect you. Until you are ten, be your teacher; until you are twenty, your father, and until you die, your friend. Teach him first good principles and then good manners. That an honest man is better than a skilled man.
16. Read and enjoy, go and imitate, reflect and work, and may everything be for the benefit of your brothers, for your own benefit.
17. Be always happy for everything, with everything and everything.
18. Never judge lightly the actions of men; forgive them and do not condemn them. The Great Architect of the Universe is the one who probes our hearts; it is He, alone, who can appreciate His work.