A number of newspapers, the electronic media and other media agencies have begun to take a second look at Freemasonry lately particularly after the "publicity" our fraternity has received in some of the 'best sellers'.

We have seen in the last few months interviews, articles and even Television programmes on Freemasonry. These have helped project the image of Freemasonry, though in some cases, the media has carried distorted reports also.

I was wondering as to what would be the best way to project the positive and thus the correct image of Freemasonry to the outside world. What kind of TV programmes would we need for this? What kind of Articles in the print media; what kind of media reporting would we need? How about 'Open Sessions' and Seminars for the general public? How would these help?

I then realized that the answers to these questions are to be found in our rituals. A solution to the problem at hand - How to project the correct and positive image of Freemasonry - is provided for in our own rituals.

In the "charge" to the Worshipful Master during the installation ceremony, we are told that by virtuous, amiable and discreet conduct we will be able to prove to the world the happy and beneficial effects of our ancient Institution.

How appropriate! Instead of an outside agency throwing light on us, we could attract attention ourselves, throw light on ourselves by virtuous, amiable and discreet conduct within and without our Lodges. Being virtuous means having values for ourselves and not deviating from those values.

Bertrand Russel says that life has two things: Facts and Values. Facts can be measured; but values are immeasurable and yet more important!

The moment we lose our values, we lose not only our virtues but will in effect encourage others to lose their values as well."

What most encourages theft?" asked a teacher.
"Hunger," replied one pupil.
"Envy," said another.
"Extravagance," said a third.

But a fourth student answered best. He said: "Those who buy stolen goods."

How does one develop values? We have in the Upanishads a pair of two words. They are 'Sreyas' and 'Preyas'. While the former denotes that which is good, the latter represents all that is pleasant.

It is said that blessed is he who, between them chooses the good alone; but he who chooses what is pleasant loses the true end. When one chooses 'Sreyas' it not only brings happiness to the practitioner, but also contributes to the well being of the people around him. To such a person 'truth' reveals itself.

Simply put, that act which gives elevation, joy and peace to the mind is right; that which brings depression, pain and restlessness to the mind is wrong. This is the acid test. In the Bible it is said, "Do unto others as you would be done by them." If one practices this very carefully he is certainly be of virtuous conduct.

The dictionary defines amiable as "friendly, pleasing, liked and easy to please". It is derived from two Latin expressions," Amicus: A friend" and "amare: to love". Being amiable therefore means to be friendly and to love. To recognise all existence, all creation, as a friend and to love is amiability. Lack of animosity is amiability. An amiable person is one who leads a life of harmony and synthesis. To recognize oneness in the multiplicity is to be amiable. Amiability is also the absence of vanity and egotism. Vanity and egotism are artificial and vain in nature. To be without vanity and egotism is to be natural and thus amiable.

Amiability is to care for others. To be altruistic. This is what charity means in Freemasonry. Not just giving of alms, but to be charitable in thought, word and deed.

To be discreet is to talk less and dwell more in silence. We will be discreet when we communicate in silence. We will be discreet when we are benevolent in our assessment of others. To be discreet is to put ourselves in others' shoes before we pass judgments.

Thus brethren, if we want to prove to the world the happy and beneficial effects of our Institution, we need to learn to be virtuous, amiable and discreet. By doing so, the entire world will recognize Freemasonry for what it is. The fraternity would then have no need for the media and other external agencies to project it.

Freemasonry would have displayed itself and worthily at that. Let us therefore cultivate these qualities. We normally accuse others of not having such qualities. Let us instead begin with ourselves.

The Sufi Bayazid says this about himself: "I was a revolutionary when I was young and all my prayer to God was: 'Lord give me the energy to change the world."

As I approached middle age and realized that half my life was gone without my changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to: 'Lord, give the grace to change all those who come in contact with me. Just my family and friends, and I shall be content."

Now that I am an old man and my days are numbered, my one prayer is, 'Lord, give me the grace to change myself.' If I had prayed for this right from the start I should not have wasted my life."

Arun Chintopanth
Grand Master

April to June is the period when almost most parts of our country witness the blazing sun at its fiercest, the hot winds emitting unbearable heat, drying up almost everything, and thus creating a zone of low pressure, so as to attract the most coveted rain laden clouds to quench the thirst of the mother earth; and infuse a new life in the atmosphere. In our context the summers do take their toll, but even then defying the ferocity of the heat, masonry does move forward. As usual our M.W. the Grand Master was kept on his toes. M.E.Comp. Arun Chintopanth M.E. the First Grand Principal presented 50years LTS jewel to E.Comp. M.I. Seshan at Chapter Hyderabad No. 58, on April 3, 2005 in a glittering and breath-taking ceremony conducted with full Masonic decorum and precision. It was attended by a large number of distinguished masons. Be it said to the credit of E.Comp. M.I. Seshan, that it is not the length of his stay in freemasonry but the contribution made by him, which is of greater significance. I am proud to take this opportunity to congratulate and wish him well. I am confident that Freemasonry in India would continue to be benefited, as before, by his ceaseless contribution to its growth.

On April 16, 2005 M.W. the Grand Master in an impressive ceremony dedicated the Masonic Temple at Mangalore. Immediately on the heels of his visit to Mangalore, he consecrated Mark Lodge Calicut No. 108 at Calicut on April 17, 2005. M.W. the Grand Master laid the Foundation Stone of Masonic Temple of Lodge Wynad No.314 at Wynad on May 14, 2005.

Needless to say, all ceremonies were conducted with all the grace, decorum and immaculate precision.

However, the month of June sees the entire fraternity allover the country on its feet, celebrating the Universal Brotherhood Day on 24th June. Therefore, with regard to our activities and celebrations, easily the month of June takes the cake. One can see celebrations and all sorts of academic activities taking place here, there and everywhere with full enthusiasm, zeal and gusto. Since it is well nigh impossible to mention or describe the noble and sublime acts of charity and service rendered by the brethren spread over the length and breadth of our country, it would suffice to say that charitable activities in their myriad forms were performed with all the enthusiasm, to mark this Universal Brotherhood Day. Masonry was brought closer to the community by throwing the doors of the temples open for general public, by exchanging ideas with the members of the community, by telling them about the role of Freemasonry in the contemporary world, though keeping some of our secrets as secrets and also explaining to them the reason of doing so, by arranging academic and fruitful discussions between brethren; between masons and members of public and so forth and so on. This day thus all over the country provides us with an extra occasion to make ourselves more visible.

In order to share with our brethren as to what has been the general tenor and purpose of these programmes, let me refer to what our M.W. the Grand Master, M.W.Bro. Arun Chintopanth,OSM, said on this occasion at Bangalore while addressing people in an open meeting presided over by former Chief Justice of Punjab, Justice M. Rama Jois.

"Freemasonry is a system of morality and illustrated in symbols. We offer the seeds of spiritual and moral values to our members. We are not a religious organization, nor are we a charitable organization, though we strongly believe in charity.

"The above indicates the refrain of our messages which we tried to convey to general public through our meetings on that day.

Brethren, the above account prompts me to share some of my views with you which spontaneously assails my mind. In the first place the choice of the day i.e. 24th June is extremely meaningful as in our context it is almost the longest day with lots of bright sunshine and monsoon knocking at our door. Therefore, it gives us message to be happy, to be cheerful, to be lively and at the same time be prepared for all life giving rains. We can, therefore, safely assume that it calls for all the gaiety, happiness, cheerfulness and optimism, and at the same time it gives us a message to be prepared for the manna which in the form of rain drops, invigorate us to do more and more noble and sublime deeds. Naturally the message is to spread and disseminate happiness, and bring sunshine and radiance happiness on every face through our actions of charity and benevolence keeping in mind the fact that life is short and we must give away whatever we can. Hence brethren, the day is to remind us to give whatever we can with both hands and also do charitable acts with open mind. It is a truism that the benevolent and noble people live only for the good of others as has also been asserted by the poet:

Taruvar phal na chhaken, Nadi na sanchay neer Parmarathke het he sahdu dharo sareer!
(The trees do not eat their own fruits; the rivers do not preserve their waters; the saints breathe only to do good to others)

Brethren, in the end, I can only plead with you to keep up the tempo and continue to be more and more benevolent and charitable in your thoughts as well as deeds. With fraternal greetings.

Dr. Harish Gupta
Grand Secretary

Such is the nature of our institution that some must of necessity rule, while the others learn to submit and obey. Every year there is a new set of officers in each Region, while the Regional Grand Masters hold on for three years, so the annual investiture meetings of the Region hold a lot of significance for the brethren, particularly for those who are given active ranks, besides it creates a nice forum for interaction amongst the brethren of the region inter seas also with the senior Grand Lodge officers who visit. February is the main month for this and we are carrying reports of the Annual Investiture Meetings of the Eastern and Northern regions.

Besides, R.W. the RGM of Northern India R.W.Bro. V.K.Bhutani has been kind enough to give a report of the various activities of the Region, which makes excellent reading and information. We are also in receipt of a Report on the Annual Investiture Meeting of the Regional Grand Lodge of Eastern India, which we are carrying in this issue.

M.W. the Grand Master is well known for his oratorical skills besides being an inspiring leader and excellent administrator; we are carrying a few of his recent speeches which are original Masonic literature. He has also addressed the press and the reports/ interviews are carried in this issue. They make interesting reading too.

We are continuing to carry the book written by W.Bro. A.V. Rangarao "In the Lodge and Of the Lodge". We are happy to note that some of the articles carried in the recent Square and Compasses which were original have found favor with our brethren for use as material for seminars, addresses, non-Masonic and Masonic events. It is indeed gratifying.

It is the practice of some Lodges or group of Lodges to bring out newsletters and journals. I am personally aware of some like, The Ashlar RGL of WI, The Landmarks - Kerala Masters Lodge, Goshamahal Baradari Newsletter of the Goshamahal Baradari Building Committee, Mason South of the RGL of SI, Cosmos of Lodge Kumoun No. 158 Nainital, each of these makes excellent reading.

We request all the brethren who read The Square and Compasses to kindly inform of any newsletter being published as we would like to carry information of each of these in the forthcoming issues, it would be further appreciated if we had details of the editorial board, editor, etc and place of publication, address etc.

Compiling information for the Journal requires a lot of time and energies, but mainly requires inputs from brethren in the form of original articles. We at The Square and Compasses are always hungry for such articles and may I request that all those who have a thought be kind enough to share it with us, by way of articles, letters to editor, the tavern and coffee table so we can have a good journal going.

In the last issue we have missed out carrying the advertisement of a valuable sponsor "Baidyanath", and our sincerest apologies for the same, it was missed inadvertently. Brethren it is never possible to bring out such a journal without the support of our sponsors, we request all the brethren with means to advertise to kindly support us with advertisements, it would go a long way in keeping The Square and Compasses going strong.

I have personally to place on record my apologies for not making this issue happen earlier, and for about a month's delay at my end on account of serious profession preoccupations, kindly bear with the delay, it shall be our endeavor to ensure that it does not happen again.

Please do let us know what you think of The Square and Compasses on the following coordinates:

W.Bro. Vishwanathan Ganesan
B-106 Shantishikara Apartments
Raj Bhavan Road
Somajiguda
Hyderabad - 500 082.
Phones : 040 23398267 / 23398270
Fax : 040 23390980
Mobile : 0-94408-97470
Email : vishy@primetrust.in
vishyganesan@gmail.com

Warm regards
Vishwanathan Ganesan
Sub Editor

Dear Sir,
Received The Square and Compasses magazine. Thanks for the different articles on Freemasonry. Please accept our heartiest greetings. MW the Grand Master visited Faizabadin the month of December 2004. The Report has already been sent to GLI. Kindly publish in the next issue. Our Lodge meets at Freemasons' Hall, Lodge Road, Cantt. Faizabad.
Bro. Anil Agarwal
Secretary, Lodge Ayodhya-on-Sarju No. 13 GLI (E.I)

Thanks brother for the nice words, we shall continue to try our best, shall carry the excerpts of the report, on receiving from the Grand Secretary. Also suggest in future the same could be sent tome directly. S&C now takes pride in being the Journal of the Grand Lodge of India and not a magazine.
Sub Ed.

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Dear Sir and W. Bro.
I have received a copy of the January to March Issue of The Square and Compasses. Our Lodge has donated a sum ofRs.21,000 towards tsunami relief fund, the DDs were handed over to MW the Grand Master on February 26, 2005at Goa in the presence of RW the Regional Grand Master of SI. I find no mention about this donation in the above issue, I request you to include the above contribution in the next issue of the magazine. Thanking You
W.Bro. Sunil Morarka
Secretary, Lodge Vijayanagar No.279, Hospet

Thanks for informing me of the donation now through this letter, may I inform you that S&C has no reporting staff or volunteers. We are solely dependent on information received from the Lodge Secretaries by the Grand Secretary and passed on to the Sub Ed for compiling or direct communication to the Sub Ed. May we therefore suggest that in future the material for publication maybe sent to the Office of the Sub Editor directly.
Sub Ed.

* * *

Dear Sir and W.Bro.
We have received articles on different aspects of Freemasonry from W.Bro. G.N. Behl, a member of Lodge Shiwalik Dr. Durga Prasad No. 62, Dehradun. He is presently staying in USA. If you find the material interesting, you are requested to get it published in the next issue of The Square and Compasses. With regards and fraternal greetings,
V.K. Gupta, RG Secretary (Hon)-NI

Thank you very much for forwarding the information. S&C is always in need of original Masonic material for publishing. However, as a matter of policy we are hoping, we will not have to publish material downloaded from the internet. May we request that you exhort the brethren to send us original material as and when they can find time and write.
Sub Ed.

Dear W.Bro. Ganesan
I happened to see the magazine of the GLI edited by you. It is very informative and every mason should own it/read it duly subscribing to it. I am interested to subscribe, kindly let me know where to send the amount (yearly subscription),how much and to whom. I am MM of Kakinada Lodge No.199 and my rank is Senior Deacon. Kindly do the needful.
Bro. V.K. Raju, Kakinada

Annual Investiture Meeting of the RGL of EI
The proceedings began on the afternoon of March 4, 2005at Freemasons' Hall, Kolkata when the Grand Board held its meeting in the afternoon. On the next day, i.e. Saturday, March 5, 2005, in the early morning MW the Grand Master M.W.Bro. Arun Chintopanth accompanied by Mrs. Chintopanth, R.W.Bro. Girish Sastri, R.W. the Regional Grand Master designate of the RGL of Eastern India, a few brethren from Kolkata and Varanasi visited a home for the destitute children in South Kolkata for an "annadan" programme. A breakfast sponsored by the Region was served to around 60children. Later in the afternoon, M.W. the Grand Master and R.W. the Regional Grand Master designate met the Dy. RGM, ARGMs, Masters and Secretaries of the Lodges in the Eastern Region, in a lively interactive session. Thereafter, the Annual investiture ceremony was held in the evening when M.W. the Grand Master M.W.Bro.Arun Chintopanth, OSM, installed R.W.Bro. Girish Sastriand the Regional Grand Master of the Eastern India in the august presence of M.W.Bro. D.D. Udeshi, OSM,M.W.Bro. H.P. Mathur, OSM, M.W.Bro. G.R. Divan, OSM, all Past Grand Masters as also that of the Regional Grand Masters of Western, Northern and Southern India. A record gathering witnessed the entire proceeding with rapt attention.

Meanwhile a musical programme arranged for the attending ladies was in full swing on the front lawn while brethren were busy with Masonic business. Later in a befitting and solemn ceremony M.W. the Grand Master unveiled the portrait of the Late R.W. the Regional Grand Master R.W.Bro. Somesh Sengupta whom the GAOTU called to the higher service on October last. M.E.Comp. Girish Sastri was installed as M.E. the Grand Superintendent of the Regional Grand Chapter of Eastern India on Sunday, March 6, 2005 by M.E. the First Principal M.E.Comp. Arun Chintopanth. Later R.W.Bro. Girish Sastri was installed as the Regional Grand Mark Master of the Regional Grand Mark Lodge of Eastern India by M.W.Bro. Arun Chintopanth, M.W. the Grand Mark Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of India. A sumptuous buffet culminated the celebration with happy faces all around. Kudos to the all brethren who made it happen.

-W.Bro. Asish Kumar Ghose, Asst Reg. Grand Secy.

Address of the M.W. the Grand Master
M. W.Bro. Arun Chintopanth, OSM, at the Consecration
of Nagpur Past Masters Lodge on July 30, 2004

Worshipful Master and my Brethren. At the outset I would like to thank you, Right Worshipful the Regional Grand Master of Western India who is here incognito this evening and the members of this Past Masters Lodge for the very kind invitation to me and the Grand Lodge to be here this evening and consecrate this Past Masters Lodge. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you Worshipful Master, Regional Grand Master and the Officers of the Regional Grand Lodge of Western India and the Brethren of Nagpur for the hospitality and the kind courtesies shown to me and the officers of the Grand Lodge who have joined me this evening on this very pleasant occasion. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the officers of the Grand Lodge who have joined me this evening, who have assisted me in consecrating this new lodge and have been part of in the consecrating team and the deputation. I am particularly thankful to the Brethren who have traveled long distances to be here this evening. We have brethren who have traveled from Chennai, Delhi, Calcutta, Cochin and we have got a Chaplain who has traveled all the way from Trichy. I don't know which took him more effort; was it his preparation for the oration or his travel all the way from Trichy? But I must thank him for a wonderful oration with which he has enlightened us this evening. I am also thankful to the Deputy Grand Master who has traveled all the way from Calcutta to do such a nice installation of a new master, of a new lodge. I also thank all the officers of the Grand Lodge who have traveled long distances. I am very particularly thankful to the past Grand Masters, Most Worshipful Brother Hari Prasad Mathur and Most Worshipful Brother Dilip Udeshi who have given me the pleasure of their presence in the Grand Lodge deputation this evening.

Brethren, let me next congratulate you on the formation and consecration of the Past Masters Lodge. What does the Past Masters Lodge represent? How is it different from the other Lodges? The very expression a "Past Master", a Master, relates the difference that it is quite different from any other Masonic Lodge. What does a Master mean? A Master means an original, a mould, and a die, from which copies are made. For example, a gramophone record or a film or original book. These are Masters, Great Masters from which copies are made, copies are distributed. People assimilate them through these copies, which means being master is something original, something good, something great, which others copy from. This is a fact my Brethren which you must remember very carefully as members of Masters Lodge. You are all models, you are all dies, you are all moulds, you are all originals from which others must emulate from. It is said that Masters of a lodge can be likened to a teacher. But members of a Masters Lodge are likened to preachers. A teacher is a person who can teach but a preacher is a person who can reform and that is the role of a Master of a Masters Lodge, to reform others in their fraternity, to be able to reform others in their fraternity. And to be able to be reformers, to be preachers, to be preceptors, you need to be refined yourself. Members of a Masters Lodge, to be able to be reformers, preceptors, must first be refined. And how does one become refined, my Brethren? There are various qualifications, various paths that our own rituals, our own Masonic ceremonies teach us. But there is one qualification, which is essential. Our Brother who has beautifully rendered the address to the Brethren, mentioned about it. He talked of an essential qualification and what is this essential qualification? Humility. Humility is an essential qualification and unless you have this essential qualification, all other qualifications cannot come at all. You cannot add on other qualifications unless you have an essential qualification. Unless you pass the school finals, you cannot become a graduate, you cannot become a postgraduate, you cannot become a doctorate. You need an essential school final examination pass. Similarly, Freemasonry being a spiritual science gives us one essential qualification, only after which we can add on other qualifications. We can add on qualification to our visiting cards, to our letterheads but basically that essential qualification must be there and that is humility. And particularly this qualification if you are member of the Masters Lodge is of great consequence, is of great importance, it is imperative.

What is humility, my Brethren? The word humility is derived from human or to be humble. What is being humble? I remember my schoolteacher giving me a beautiful, a simple story. A man was very proud of himself, very arrogant. He would never look down; he would always walk looking up at the sky. He thought himself to be very very great. Once a Guru had come to the town. This man went to the Guru and said, "You have come to the town; you know I am the most important person in this town. I am so great. I have so many qualifications. I have done this, I have done" So the Guru said, "Very fine, I am much impressed". But, he showed him a map of the Universe and said, "Can you tell me which part of this universe we live in". The man said, "Very simple, you see the earth there, that is the planet we are staying on, we are living on." The man said, "Is that so? Which is the continent?" So the man showed a small portion on the map and said, "that is the continent, Asia that we are staying in." The Guru then asked, "Which is the country that we are staying in?" The man showed a small speck on the map and said, "That is India." "Oh! That is India. Now where is the town you are staying in? "This man could not locate exactly as it was such a small speck and showed it, "There!" The Guru said, "Is that so? Then where are you?" There was no place on the map for the man to show his presence. That brought him down to the ground and he realized how arrogant he has been, how proud he has been. To be humble my brethren is to realize that we are one of the millions of species that God has created. Millions and billions of species he has created and we are just one tiny bit of it. And to recognize this fact is humility. To be humble is to recognize that we are but a small speck of his great creation. A small speck without any titles or recognition or qualifications. God does not see us as a Grand Master or a surgeon or a doctor or a lawyer. He sees equally as one small speck of his creation and unless we develop this idea my brethren, unless we develop this thought within us, humility will not come to us, we will be carried away by our extraneous qualifications.

Krishna played the flute because it was empty inside. Jesus Christ said, "Empty thyself and then I will fill thee. "Only when we are empty with humility, only when we empty ourselves, other qualifications, other good things can come in. If we are filled with our ego, with our pride, then there is no place for other things to come in. How can we get add on qualifications? That is why Freemasonry tells us, basically have the essential qualification and then other things will come into you.

How does one develop this humility? As I said first we must realize that we are but one small speck, realize that by ourselves we are nothing. To realize that, unless we have the grace of the Great Architect of the Universe, we are nothing. My Guru used to tell me that our existence is like a blank cheque with any number of zeros, but unless that one digit is added to the beginning of the zeros, the cheque has no worth at all, no value at all. You can have hundred zeros, but unless that one is added at the beginning of the zeros there is no value at all and this one is the grace of the Great Architect of the Universe. And he says you work for that and then these zeros will have value. Otherwise you will remain a zero for the rest of your life. Henry Ford was once told by somebody, "You started with nothing." He said, "No Sir, sorry, I started with God." That is humility, he had to recognize that he did not build anything himself, but it was the grace of God, which enabled him to build an empire. We have many examples of humility, which we come across. Hanuman was a great and humble man, he was a great grammarian, he was a great littérateur, he was great warrior, very fine warrior and he was able to defeat everybody, yet he had the humility to call himself, Dasohum Kosalendresia. He was the dasa of Sri Rama but himself he considered to be a zero and he would not start anything without praying, without inviting, without soliciting the grace of Sri Rama. Rahim was a minister, he was a Sufi saint. He was such a humble person, he was a philanthropist and he used to give lot of charities. But the greatness about him was he would never look into the face of the person when he was giving charity, he would always look down upon his feet, because he thought looking into the face of the receiver was an act of arrogance, was an act of pride. So he would never look at the face of a person, he would look only at his feet.

My brethren, to be humble is to remove the layers from us. To be humble is a natural state. But from the time we are born till today we have gone on adding layers, layers and layers and layers. And to be humble and become humble is to remove these layers. It is like an onion. You go on peeling layer after layer and finally there is no onion left. This is the kind of layers that we have built up and we need to remove these layers. And how do we remove these layers, these layers have been stuck by a very strong adhesive called ego. And when you remove the layers you need to remove this adhesive also. Once you keep on removing these layers and the adhesive that sticks these layers then we go back to our natural state, the natural state of being humble, of being pure, of representing that state of satchit and ananda. When's that possible? Unless we recognize that we are zeros until we have the Lord's grace. The Gita says "Nimita Matram Bhava Sabhya Sashim" you are nothing; Arjuna you don't say how can I kill my grandfather? How can I kill my granduncle? How can I kill my kith and kin? You are not killing them, you are a mere nimita, a mere instrument. I have already killed them, whether you like it or not, I have already killed them. You are only giving thema RIP, a mortuary. You are only giving them a label. I have already killed them, you are a nobody, and you are a mere nimita, mere instrument. Once we have that concept my brethren that we are mere instruments in His hands, then the concept of humility, of being humble comes within us. Again in the Gita, what does the Lord say, he says, 'Mam Ekam Saranam Mama', Surrender to Me. When you surrender to Me then you are giving up your ego, you are considering yourself to be a nobody unless you have the grace of the Lord. When you are a nobody automatically humility comes and when humility comes knowledge automatically comes and when knowledge comes, automatically other qualifications come and then prosperity comes. I am not talking of material prosperity. I am talking of spiritual prosperity. There is prosperity of the spirit and when that prosperity comes, then whether you have material prosperity or not does not matter. It is immaterial, it is not at all important. This is one thing that we must remember my brethren, that whatever we do we are not alone.

The Chaplain in our ritual, in our opening ceremony appropriately says, "Whatever we do, He is with us." A young boy went fishing and he brought a very big fish and so his father said, "You mean to say you were able to catch this fish yourself?" The boy said, "No father, I had a little worm to help me." Only with the worm the boy could catch the fish and he recognized that. That is important my brethren. Unfortunately this is easier said than done. We are also pre-occupied with our outside world, outside lives and with the qualifications that we have on our letterheads and visiting cards, we get carried away. It is very well to say in our rituals that we are on the level. But how far have we practically lived up to it? How far have we said that we are on the level? We have not done it my brethren. Think deep. We have not done it. And it is for us to realize that. To see that we are actually on the level, we must not only for the benefit of the ritual but also practically we must live on the level.

Mulla Nasuruddin was celebrating his 60th birthday and all his friends were gathered around him and they were speaking about his good qualities. One person spoke about his saintliness, another spoke about his charitable activities, the third spoke about his service, the fifth spoke about his obedience and the sixth spoke about his faith in God. They all spoke about his qualities and after they all left Mulla Nasuruddin was in a morose mood. He was in a bad mood so his wife asked him, "What happened to you? Did you not hear all your friends praise you?" Mulla said," Did you not notice? They forgot to mention my humility.

My brethren, are we all not like this? We have a wrong concept of humility. We want others to speak of our modesty, our humility. That is not humility. That is Satvic arrogance. And Sativc arrogance is much more dangerous than the regular arrogance. It makes us justify that arrogance. Justify that pride. Justify our ego. That is more dangerous. My brethren Freemasonry gives us this concept of essential quality, essential qualification and I am particular that this master's lodge as reformers, as preachers must realize this as an essential qualification. Please do not go about Nagpur telling that I am a Master in the Master's lodge, going to become a master of the master's lodge, I am preceptor in the master's lodge, so you pay obeisance to me. My brethren your job is to reform them. First have the humility to be on the level with them and then guide them.

One last story, my brethren, before I conclude. Just before the Kurukshetra war, Lord Krishna tried to avoid the war. He came from Dwarka to Hastinapur to meet everybody, all those concerned to avoid the war. And everybody was exited that Krishna was coming to Hastinapur after a long absence, the whole town was decked up, the entire town was waiting to welcome him, all the houses, palaces were all decked and lit with lights and decorated. And when Krishna came in his chariot, he first went across to Duryodhana's house. Duryodhana told his uncle that Krishna will certainly come to our palace because I am the king and the first person he must pay obeisance to is the king. He will come to our palace first. But Krishna passed on. Bhishma thought to himself that I am the grand sire so he will come to my palace. He will come and pay obeisance to me. And he was thinking that Krishna will go to his palace but Krishna moved on in his chariot. The third person was Dronacharya. And he thought that I am the acharya, I am the priest, and I am the acharya of this entire dynasty. I am sure that Krishna will come and seek my blessings in my house, but Krishna passed on. And finally he saw a small house, a non-descript house with a very short door. You could not walk inside; you had to bend down and go. So Krishna asked Vidura, who was with him, whose house is this? Vidura touched Krishna's feet and said, "This is Your house." This was Vidura's house and he said this is your house and Krishna chose to go into that house and had a meal there with Vidura because he was the only person who showed this concept, this essential qualification of humility. My brethren the Lord will come when there is humility.

One last word my brethren. The Worshipful Master mentioned some areas of activities of the Master's Lodge. I will mention three of them. One is to be preceptors to be reformers. How do you become preceptors or reformers? By attending six meetings on your own you don't achieve anything. You need to move out, to go to lodges, at least in Nagpur, visit lodges, explain to them about Freemasonry, talk to them about the doctrine of Freemasonry and become reformers. Second aspect is the ritual working. Ritual working forms an important aspect of Freemasonry, an important part of Freemasonry and you must coach, guide the youngsters particularly on the ritual workings and I always maintain, a good ritual working is best advertisement for our lodges. You do good ritual working, your members will come, and there will be no problems of attendance. Members will come, surely they will come to Lodge meetings. The third and last aspect my brethren, is the dissemination of Masonic knowledge. There is so much to be learnt from Freemasonry but we just memorize the rituals, repeat our rituals and go back to the next meeting. Dissemination of Masonic knowledge is very important and by that I don't mean publishing old articles in the newsletters and posting it on the notice board. You must understand the doctrines yourself, go and speak one to one, brethren in simple terms in simple logical terms so that he understands the aspects of Freemasonry and comes fully equipped. The problem, my brethren, is not of knowledge, the problem is not of ignorance, the problem is of inaction. Freemasonry's problem is inaction and I would like a Masters' Lodge like this, the Nagpur Masters' Lodge to take on this head on to see that this inaction is gone. There is action. You develop this theme that three things, the three aspects of this theme of the Masters' Lodge that I have mentioned and ensure that you justify yourself as a Masters' Lodge.

Thank you.

WM, RW the RGM, distinguished brethren and brethren all, I have to first thank the WM forgiving me the opportunity to make this presentation at today's meeting of our Lodge. The subject that I would like to talk about is 'The Significance of the FPOF and its relation to the GS'. As you will recollect the FPOF is a part of the ceremony of raising. In an earlier lecture given elsewhere1 which was published in our Lodge Journal 'Landmarks', I had interpreted the ceremony of raising as symbolizing the raising of the soul from the body on death and in the Royal Arch Degree we find the progress of the soul to the presence of God in heaven. It is in the context of such an interpretation that I would like to view the significance of the FPOF.

For your ready reference, let me recapitulate the relevant portion of the ceremony of raising: After the Candidate representing HA is slain by the three ruffians in their attempt to extort the secrets, the body is concealed in a shallow grave. The WM and the two Wardens attempt to raise our Master from the grave. The JW tries to raise him with the EA Grip which proves a slip - a failure. The SW then tries the FC grip, which also fails. Then the WM finally succeeds in the raising the soul from the body on the FPOF.

The symbolic significance of this ceremony is apparent on the surface. The JW attempts to raise the soul applying the principles of the first degree. The Candidate on his initiation is first instructed to study the VSL - to acquaint himself and become knowledgeable about his own particular religion. To learn to adhere to the responsibilities and duties of his religion. Next he is instructed to abide by the ethical and moral values of society to lead a virtuous life and finally to become a good citizen and strictly follow the laws of the country. When the candidate passes from the first to the second degree, it is assumed that he has imbibed and practiced the principles of the degree in his own life. That he has learnt to become a good citizen, that he follows the laws of his country and pays all his taxes and discharges his civic responsibilities in an exemplary manner; that he leads a moral and ethical life; that he does not indulge in excess alcohol and has no vices and leads a virtuous life. And finally he is a pious and religious man strictly adhering to the rites and duties of his religion. Although such a person may appear to be a paradigm of pious and virtuous life, he is found wanting. Something more is required for the soul to reach the presence of God.

In the second degree the candidate is introduced to the seven liberal arts and sciences and he is directed to study the 'hidden mysteries of nature and science'. This is a degree which encourages one to acquire knowledge and skills. To excel in one's profession or calling - to seek after knowledge. It encourages us to become distinguished and eminent in life to acquire honors and accolades. But whatever your earthly accomplishments and achievements may be, it will not in any way assist your soul to reach the presence of God.

What, then, is the criteria by which a judgment is made whether your soul qualifies to reach the presence of God after death. It is found in the FPOF. For your ready reference let me recapitulate the FPOF - "H to H, I greet you as a brother, F to F I will support you in all your lawful undertakings, K to K, the posture of my daily supplication shall remind me of your wants, B to B, your lawful secrets when entrusted to me as such, I will keep as my own; H over B, I will support your character in your absence as well as your presence". You will notices there are two poles in the concept of FPOF - I and You. I is always assisting, supporting, helping You. It constitutes acts of selfless service and benevolence to others. Therefore at your death the question asked is how far have you helped other in your life; what acts of selfless service have your done, have you ameliorated the suffering and pain of the poor and distressed? It is only on such acts of selfless service that will determine the fate of your soul and not the distinctions you have achieved or how good a citizen you have been or whether you have lead a virtuous and blemish less moral life. You will also note that when the FPOF is communicated there is a physical contact between I and You showing an emotional bonding between the giver and receiver.

The words 'service' or 'charity' does not fully explain the nuances or the various ramifications of the concept contained in the FPOF. To understand this, we must examine another symbol found on the first degree TB - the ladder that links the chequered pavement to the glory in the center. The chequered pavement represents our physical life on this earth- the days and nights and joys and sorrows of our life. The glory in the center represents heaven - the abode of God. The Ladder links the earth to heaven and it is by this ladder that our souls must travel after death to reach the presence of God. The ladder has three principal staves representing the three virtues - faith, hope and charity. The first stave nearest to earth represents faith. The middle stave hope and the top stave - nearest to heaven, nearest to God, is charity. It is surprising that charity is ranked so high, given a higher status than either faith or hope. Does the 50 or 100 rupees you put in the charity bag have a greater value than your faith - the belief in your religion? Is it greater than the hope that you have that by leading a virtuous life on this earth you will be rewarded after death? Brethren, the word 'charity' does fully explain the significance of the concept. To understand this we must examine the symbols used to depict the three virtues on the TB.

In the Emulation TB, picture of which appeared on the cover of the last issue of 'Landmarks', the three virtues are represented by three women. Faith is represented by a woman with a cup, hope by a woman with an anchor and charity by a woman and three children. I wondered for along time how a woman and three children represents charity and I first thought that it referred to the widow's son. A widow with the responsibility of bringing up children without the help of her husband, is an object of sympathy and charity. But if you look carefully at the three ladies, you find that all are equally well dressed, they wear the same type of jewelry and have the same fashionable hair styles - there is no apparent signs of distress or poverty in the lady representing charity. The children are also healthy and show no sign of malnourishment or poverty. Therefore, the symbol of the lady with the children must represent maternal love. A mother will sacrifice everything she has - her time, her comforts and her material wealth to protect, support and assist her children. This selfless service is driven by the emotion of love. Therefore, there must be a feeling or emotion in your heart in order to motivate you to selfless service of others. This is implied in the NE Charge or charity charge when the candidate is told that charity has 'often been felt and practiced by you'. 'Felt and practiced' shows that there must first be an emotion or feeling in your heart before it can result in the practice of charity.

The symbols used in our own TB are more explicit. Faith is represented by a cross, hope by an anchor and charity by a cup. This cup represents the chalice which contains the blood of Christ and symbolises Christ sacrificing his own life to save mankind. The greatest form of selfless service, the greatest act of charity is to sacrifice your own life for the sake of someone else. There can be not greater act of charity than this. Such supreme acts of selfless service is the result of a divine inspiration or divine love in our hearts. This is implied in the NE charge where we are told that charity' blesses him who gives as well as him who receives'. The use of the word 'blesses' implies the influence of a divine inspiration. If you examine the lives of saintly people who have dedicated their lives to selfless service of others, one finds that there is always some mystic experience or divine vision, which has filled them with the spirit and love of God that drives them to selfless service. Mother Theresa was an ordinary nun. She was a teacher in a convent schooling Calcutta and may have spent the rest of her life as a teacher - perhaps become the headmistress. But through prayer and meditation, she had a divine vision, a mystic experience which filled her with the spirit and love of God. She immediately gave up her teaching and dedicated the rest of her life to the service of the poorest of the poor - the aged and terminally ill who were abandoned by their families to die in the streets of Calcutta. She would pick them up and bring them to a hospice where she would make the last few days their lives happy and comfortable. Her motivation for this selfless service was divine love with which her heart was suffused as the result of the mystic experience. Similarly Matha Amritha Mai has also such a divine experience or vision and the divine love is quite palpable when you are in her presence. Brethren, I believe it such a mystic experience or divine vision that constitutes the Genuine Secrets which we as Master Masons are in search of.

In my earlier talk I had tried to answer the question that if the GS were known to the three GMs, how does the death one cause the loss of the secrets. I had concluded from a reading of our rituals and the Mark Degree, that in the Secret Vault that HA constructed underground at the time of the building of the temple, he concealed the GS. The access to the secret vault was known only to the three Grand Masters and they did not know it individually but jointly and therefore the death of one will cause the loss of access and thereby the secrets. The GS exist in the secret vault but we don't know how to find it. After this talk one brother asked me that in the RA Degree which deals with the recovery of the lost secrets, we find that the secret is only a word. How can one conceal a word in the secret vault? Moreover many masons in the days of Solomon would have attained to the rank of master and been communicated the secrets. If they knew the secrets how come they are lost? Brethren, the GS that was concealed in the secret vault by HA was not a word - it was an object. In the installation of the first principal in the RA, the first principal elect when he is entrusted with the secrets, is shown an object. So it was an object that was concealed in the secret vault and the word was a part of the object. What that object was is not explicitly stated in the our rituals. But there are sufficient clues, hints and circumstantial evidence to show that it was the Ark of the Covenant. In fact, in American Chapters a model of the Ark is used in the RA Ceremonies. The Ark of the Covenant was the most sacred and valued object of the Jews. They believed that it contained the Tables of the Law written in God's own hand. Therefore, the Ark of the Covenant represented the interface between God and Man. It was the place where man could have divine experience and mystic visions. It was an awesome object. From it emanated thunder, lightning, fire and clouds; it was guarded by angels and if man approached it unprepared he would be killed. It was to house the Ark of the Covenant that King Solomon built the Temple at Jerusalem. It was placed in the Holy of Holies - a dark room without windows which was curtained off from the rest of the temple. No one was allowed to enter there but the High Priest after many washings and purifications i.e. cleansing himself of sin. Only he was allowed to enter to do the maintenance and cleaning. It was so valuable an object that HA built a secret vault for its safe keeping in the event of a threat or danger to the Ark. When the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Jews and destroyed the Solomon's Temple, they took an inventory of the valuable objects removed from the Temple which were stored in their Treasury at Babylon. When the second temple was built by Zerubabbel, the Babylonians returned all the valuables for use in the new temple. But the inventory shows that the Ark of the Covenant did not fall into the hands of the Babylonians. It was already concealed in the secret vault. Neither the second temple nor Herod's Temple contained the Ark - only a model was used. So, in the days of Solomon when a mason qualified to become a Master after he had passed the first and second degrees i.e. he has learned to lead a moral and virtuous life and had matured and developed his intellectual faculties, he would have the privilege of being lead to the holy of holies. The curtain would be parted slightly and he will be privileged to look on the manifestation of God. He would have a divine experience, a mystic vision that would fill him with the spirit and love of God. That this is so is indicated in the third degree TB If you look carefully, you find that in the centre of the TB there is an arch that leads by a short passage to a chamber which is curtained off. One corner of the curtained is lifted and there stands the High Priest. We don't know what is behind the curtain. But the motto inscribed in Hebrew on the Arch reads "Holiness to the Lord". This is a motto closely linked to the Ark of the Covenant. The UGLE has adopted the Ark of the Covenant as its emblem and on it is the motto "Holiness to the Lord". This indicates that what is behind the curtain was the Ark of the Covenant.

Brethren the GS of a Master Mason was not a sign, it was not a grip and not even a Word. It was an experience -a mystic vision which all Master Masons had the privilege of experiencing. Since the GS was an experience which each individual had to personally undergo, it could not be communicated by anyone else. It had to be felt and experienced by the individual mason himself. This is the reason why the GS could not be communicated by the GM so any other Master Mason.

The mystic experience which Masonry once held out to its members was lost by the death of HA. What was the motive of the three ruffians in attempting to extort the secrets from HA? HA was not only the chief architect but he waste sole contractor for the building of the Temple. He employed all the masons and others who worked on the temple. From the Mark Degree we learn that 110,000workmen were daily employed on the construction of the temple. HA had the control over this large number of workers. He was a very powerful man. He paid the wages to the workmen. All the money for building was routed from the state to him to carry out the work. A very large amount of money passed through his hands. He was a wealthy man. We also know that he moved in the highest social circles. He was a personal friend of King Solomon and Hiram King of Tyre. He is referred to as an artist, an architect, a philosopher- a learned and cultured person. The three ruffians wanted to be like HA. They wanted to share his power, share his wealth and share his social standing. So, it was greed for power, greed for money and greed for social standing which led to the death of HA and the loss of the GSs. It was the sin of greed which results in the loss of the mystic experience. This story is similar to the story of Adam in the Bible. Man in his primitive but innocent state before he sinned when he lived in the Garden of Eden, had easy access to God. God would come to the Garden and call Adam and he would go to him. They would have long conversations, go for walk together in the Garden. If Adam called for God he would immediately respond. But then Adam sinned and he was expelled from the Garden of Eden. The consequence of the sin was that Adam lost the facility of easy communion with God. Adam and his progeny could no more easily communicate with God. Similarly, it was sin which leads to the death of HA and the loss of the divine experience that once FM promised its members.

I would now like to contrast the behavior of the three ruffians with the FPOF. The three ruffians had egocentric motives. The 'I' wanted power, wealth and social standing- the 'I' is always taking. This leads to sin and death. In contrast we have seen that the FPOF is about ego-less action. 'I' is always giving, supporting, assisting others. It is about selfless service. Such action leads to life. You will also notice that same officers, the WM and the Wardens, at one stage assume the role of the villains who are responsible for the death of HA and at another stage they are responsible for raising HA's soul to life after death. This is to symbolise the fact that each one of us has the option - either to follow the egocentric path of sin and death or the path shown by the FPOF - the path to life. The choice is ours.

Thank you.

Notes:
1. Landmarks Vol 4 No.3 November 2004 pg 43.