phone (41) 21 323 66 55 - Fax (41) 21 323 67 77 - e-mail : gra@freemasonry.ch
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Research Group Alpina - Pl. Chauderon 3 - CH -1003 LAUSANNE |
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phone (41) 21 323 66 55 - Fax (41) 21 323 67 77 - e-mail : gra@freemasonry.ch |
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ANNIVERSARY NUMBER N° 19 For
its 20th Anniversary (September 2005), the Alpina Research Group (ARG)
published a 160 page special issue (Nr.19/2005, in French and German),
whose price is included in the yearly subscription of all corresponding
members. SUMMARY THE
ALPINA RESEARCH GROUP WHICH
MASONIC RESEARCH ? A
FOCUSING POINT FOR ALL RELIGIONS ? FROM
MODERNISTIC PSYCHOLOGY TO THE TRADITIONAL WHOLE MEDITATIVE TECHNIQUES IN A CONTEMPORANEOUS OPERATIVE MASONRY NOW by Jean Pierre
Schnetzler REMEMBERANCE
AND VIRTUE IN PLATO'S "MENON" THE
ART OF MEMORY AND THE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE OF FREEMASONRY A
UNIVERSAL MYSTIQUE ? "EN
SOPH – EN REICHIT" : KABALA AND FREEMASONRY The letter SCHIN or the Alchemistic signification of masonich Hebraisms by
Remo Boggio FAITH
OF RELIGIONS AND PERSONAL FAITH, A WAY TOWARDS COMMUNION OF SPIRITUALITIES
FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HUMANITY |
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To
English-speaking readers over the world. It is well-known
that Swiss Masonry speaks and works in one of two major languages, i.e.
either French or German, not to speak of Italian, in a far shorter proportion. As Anglo-Saxon Masonry
leads and has always led the initiatic movement both historically and
numerically, as international Masonic relationships involve frequent and
reciprocally enriching exchanges, we felt it only right to demonstrate
our fraternal amity by translating at least an excerpt of our spiritual
search in Shakespeare’s tongue, as partly revealed in the twentieth
anniversary issue of our half-yearly magazine Masonica, released in March
2006. In order for you
to grasp the matter of the different articles, we reproduce below their
English headings. FOREWORD To celebrate its
twentieth anniversary, the Alpina Research Group (A.R.G.) is pursuing
its search in two separate directions. THE A.R.G., TWENTY
YEARS IN THE SERVICE OF MASONRY By Jean Bénédict,
Ph.D., founder and President of the A.R.G. Twenty years of exploration,
re-appraisals, and soul-searching have forged a close community amongst
this small group of committed Masons wishing to go somewhat further than
simply portraying inherited truths. WHICH MASONIC
RESEARCH ? By Michel Jaccard,
Ph.D., head editor of the A.R.G. The Premier Lodge
of Research Quatuor Coronati London has successfully set the pace for
over a hundred younger dedicated research Lodges scattered over the planet.
However relatively few research documents have been published in the domain
of modern spiritual development, leading towards less materialistic and
less reductionist approaches. The neo-platonic
coexistence of mysticism and philosophy was swept away by Christianity
in favour of dogmatic theology. The Masonic authors Knoop, Jones and Hamill
having introduced an “authentic” historical approach, their
followers resorted to impoverished methodological analyses whereby comparative
and symbolic studies were neglected. Fields such as psychological analysis,
philosophy, anthropology, comparative religious history, and related spiritual
currents such as hermetics, alchemy, and gnosticism were left to one side
as being occultist or at least abstruse. Thus Anglo-Saxon Masonry, reduced
to a Victorian, moralistic, and religious philanthropy, failed in giving
an impetus towards a remodelled future, which to a great extent explains
its massively brutal membership loss over the last twenty years. As a spiritual movement,
Masonry has to profit from the latest scientific discoveries in order
to modernize its message, otherwise it will disappear. It is up to research
Lodges to validate “Brain and Mind” relationships, and the goal
of our anniversary publication can be regarded as a modest contribution
to this renewal. A FOCUSING POINT
FOR ALL RELIGIONS ? By Prof. Carl
Keller, Theological Faculty, Lausanne University Every religious movement
basically contains three levels of involvement: 1) social ritual and related
community activity, 2) spiritual relationship with the unknown ONE, 3)
a supreme mystical identification close to monism but actually non-dualistic.
Frontiers between the three are blurred and the to-and-fro permeability
remains open. In spite of the extraordinary
diversity of differentiated religious systems encountered among the nations,
they all revert to one sole transcendental Centre. However, if all religions
converge ultimately towards this unique Centre, the personal path to attainment
passes through one’s own religion. One can even go one step further
and explore neighbouring systems with great profit. FROM MODERNISTIC
PSYCHOLOGY TO THE TRADITIONAL WHOLE By Jean-Pierre
Schnetzler, Ph.D., Psychiatrist and founder of two Buddhist centres The teachings of
René Guénon relating to Tradition (close to philosophia
perennis) bore the influence of two World Wars: he wished to protect humanity
from a third one merely by transforming Society. All beings were to engage
in intellectual speculation, including constant practical action. After twenty years
of research and teaching, the author has found a new area in which the
teachings of modern psychology (e.g. S. Freud and C.G. Jung) complete
and magnify the steps of spiritual and Masonic practice. Yet, psychology
does not include the vital initiatic component of mystical experience
that is para-psychology, able to transform a being by his liberation. The author further clarifies the difference between “collective unconscious”, the subconscious and the supra-conscious levels of perception. Indeed, psychology and psychoanalysis have contributed greatly in understanding these phenomena, but have also led to much abuse. The key to the problem is a global conception encompassing all branches of factual knowledge as well as metaphysical insights (including alchemy). Thus reappears the antique and ageless initiatic path, closely related to Buddhism. Surprisingly, the
most original transpersonal psychology was born in California thanks to
Ken Wilber. MEDITATIVE TECHNIQUES
IN A CONTEMPORANEOUS OPERATIVE MASONRY NOW By Jean-Pierre
Schnetzler, Ph.D., Psychiatrist and founder of two Buddhist centres Meditation is borrowed
from the philosophy of Antiquity (especially neo-platonic and stoic) and
from other religious traditions which have maintained spiritual exercises,
Buddhism in particular. First, ritual ought
to be applied intensely, both in speech and gesture. Secondly, wild uncontrolled
mental activity, when not drowsiness, must be systematically controlled.
Thirdly, maintain operational discourse with oneself pertaining to ones
every activity. Meditation involves
an active and very deep introspection of one’s own body, intellect
and spirit. Such techniques are of a universal nature: concentration and
penetrating insight.
REMEMBRANCE AND
VIRTUE IN PLATO’S “MENON” By Irène
Mainguy, Masonic author, chief librarian of the GODF Socrates’ method
of questions and answers, bringing about his discovery that he knows nothing
is described in this less known book. The dialogue incites the subject
to seek inside himself the way to master his emotions, to discover the
truth and the light deep inside. This give-and-take still exists in Masonic
ritual today. The dialogue pursues
its analysis defining virtue: every human activity is put to the test
of determining whether and how it is virtuous and just. Socrates concludes
that it is impossible to define virtue – unless remembrance is called
upon. Personal experience results from gathered evidence and examples.
But consciousness is made up of interiority, truth, and transcendence,
the fruit of intense efforts and allows the discovery of enlightenment.
This dialogue makes it possible to re-invent (remembrance): in reality
knowledge is re-collection, and ignorance stems from forgetfulness. The
knowledge of the Truth is there, confusedly, and it would suffice to find
it anew amongst an array of imagination, habits, and obscurities. THE ART OF MEMORY
AND THE SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE OF FREEMASONRY By Jean-Daniel
Graf, Ph.D., active member and co-editor of the ARG Francis Yates in
her book “The Art of Memory” (1966) retraces the art of memorizing
from Antiquity – when all knowledge had to be learnt by heart –
up to the 16th Century. The philosopher Paul Ricoeur considers two sorts
of memory: natural memory (spontaneous and involuntary), and artificial
(voluntary and forced). Artificial memory
was codified by Cicero, Quintilius and an anonymous Roman rhetorician,
who invented mnemonics. First one would memorize the architecture of a
vast and varied building, to be used for hundreds of speeches. Thus one
would mentally place different emblematic objects, parts of discourse,
words, ideas, phrases, etc. in each room that would be recalled by association,
since eyesight is the strongest of the senses. This tradition expired
at the end of the 5th Century, only to be re-awakened by Albert le Grand
and Saint Thomas in the 13th Century. Cicero had already considered memory
as being part of Prudence, one of the four aspects of Virtue (i.e. Prudence,
Justice, Constance, Temperance). Abstract ideas being difficult to memorize,
it becomes evident that their association with images renders their recall
much easier. For didactic reasons, the Middle Ages needed the use of images
to indoctrinate churchgoers more effectively. This appears evident in
religious statuary and imaging, both painted and stained glass representations,
being able to stimulate emotions, as Cicero had already pleaded. Renaissance influence
bred a new venture financed by the French king Francis 1st: the Theatre
of Memory built by Giulio Camillo Delminio (born around 1480). The theatre
was large enough to enable a person to stand on the stage and observe
objects. The wooden theatre had a classical hemicycle shape, with seven
levels (the Creation, with 7 steps from the realm of Ideas to the material
world’s 7 planets) and 7 sectors (7 supra-celestial Sephiroth, as
well as 7 planets); the 49 intersections (representing the Cosmos) had
doors painted with images, with, at their base, drawers and chests containing
texts relating to the images. This neo-platonic scholastic structure bore
esoteric conceptions derived from Hermès Trismegistus, mythological
roots, encyclopaedic aspirations, and magical implications, all centred
on the Memory of the World. Along a similar vein,
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), a Neapolitan monk, invented a circular system
of 150 Seals offering an infinite array of combinations. Both a memory
and archetypal introspection method, as well as a magical talisman technique,
Bruno’s invention is typically neo-platonic. In Masonry, especially
with Emulation ritual, the role of memory is most important, not only
in speech, but also in gesture transmissions of symbolic teachings. The
influence of Pythagoras and Plato is evident. Here the art of operative
builders is as important as the hermetic teachings. The Schaw Statutes
contain proof that Camillo’s and Bruno’s heritage crossed the
Channel to influence and forge Scottish Masonry. A UNIVERSAL MYSTIQUE
? By Hervé
Krief, Rabbi of the Lausanne Community Saint Thomas defined
mystique or mysticism as being cognito Dei experimentalis. Thus mystique
is of universal character. It is present in every one of us: we have an
intuitive knowledge of God, largely transformed by an ever-present materialism. EN SOPH –
EN REICHIT: KABALA AND FREEMASONRY By Michel Warnery,
Vice-President and co-editor of the A.R.G. The Kabala (Tradition) was born around 1180 in south-eastern France as an esoteric branch of Judaism in the form of a document (Sepher ha Bahir) until the Zohar (Moise de Léon) replaced it about 1300, a neo-pythagoric and neo-platonic Gnostic movement. Whereas Judaism was always opposed to images and symbols so pervasive within the world of myths, the Kabala nurtured a profusion of mystical representations. Averroes the Arab, contemporaneous to Maïmonides the Jew, heightened the confusion in this 13th Century but also aided intellectuals desirous of finding the “Keys to the Kingdom”. Many teachings of the Kabala – more specifically the Sephiroth Tree – penetrated Masonry directly or indirectly. En Soph (without end) and En Reichit (without beginning) encompass all divine existence. Such a concept made its way into Masonry (the search of one’s self), the Sephiroth Tree guiding both the candidate and the initiated Mason. This defies rational description, since intimate revelation of a relation with divinity cannot be explained and remains a personal secret. The Sephiroth Tree is truly anthropomorphic. Similar images can be found in the ground plans of the Temple of Luxor and the Hindi chakras. Further, the Tree is present at the position of all officers of the Lodge, whatever the rite, as well as the positions of one’s initiatic itinerary. SHIBBOLETH, THE LETTER SCHIN OR THE ALCHEMISTIC SIGNIFICATION OF MASONIC HEBRAISMS By Remo Boggio, Ph.D., active member of the A.R.G. The password used
in the second Degree has two meanings: “ear of corn” and “water”,
in reference to a biblical tale (Japheth and the Ephraimites). Water,
ocean, river, all have symbolic connotations and alchemical equivalents.
Shibboleth, according to its two different pronunciations, combines Water
and Fire. Its first letter – Shin – represents Fire. The two
other Mother-letters (Aleph – Air, Mem – Water) cover three
of the four initiatic Elements. This illustrates the close relationship
between neo-platonic notions, alchemy, and the Kabala (Sepher Yetsira).
The fourth Element, Earth, takes on a relatively material value, that
of harbouring the corn which dies (thanks to Water and Fire) in order
to give birth to a new ear of corn (initiatic rebirth). The author also emphasizes
the symbolic value of 42 (42’000 Ephraimites), the Beast of the Apocalypse.
He finally brings into light the numerous symbolic interactions between
the different ancient traditions and explains their meaning in the initiatic
process. FAITH OF RELIGIONS
AND PERSONAL FAITH, A WAY TOWARDS COMMUNION OF SPIRITUALITIES FOR THE
ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HUMANITY By Father Bernard
Feillet Father Feillet offers his own vision of philosophia perennis by asking at the outset: “Who am I, facing God? Who is God for me?” The questions are as acute today as at the beginning of Humanity: which unexplored areas now remain? Just as a bird takes its flight, my own flight into the sky belongs to me. All religions (Christian, Hebraic, Islamic) offer temporary and partial answers, inasmuch as none can deliver the Truth, for this Truth about God cannot be revealed through the discourse of any religion. As God has never spoken directly to mankind, men had to speak in his stead. This speech (Revelation) was meant for mankind and it engendered in his heart an echo of divinity. Its contradictions reflect those of humanity: its complexity and multiplicity are in direct contrast to the simplicity and unity of God. Their creators are, in each religion, true prophets, unique but necessary to the birth of God on Earth. Each of us is in a position to renew such prophesising, otherwise religions would have disappeared. If Jesus is my own prophet, others around the planet have the capacity of being of God. Each one of us can reveal, “What is his own, yet more than himself” (Marcel Légaut). In order to accompany the faith of believers, all religions have attempted to make God speak and have clothed themselves in his authority and power, over a period of more than 4000 years. This breeds the question: That which has made faith possible for 4000 years, will it not prevent the faith of future humanity ? After over forty
years of Christian experience and action, the author has evolved towards
a passion for humanity’s spiritual future through human encounters,
only to discover the signs of divinity in each being. There being no beginning
without an end, each new generation stands at the roots of faith, at the
possibility of faith, ever new and never identical with the precedent.
Its creative dynamism escapes all those that would want to control it.
This faith reveals the bewildering status of man, of his mystery as well
as that of God, which are the one and only mystery, infinite and permanent.
Man discovers his lowly state. The horrors of History, man’s capacity of destruction, have made him doubt his humanity. They have revealed that destruction of man and of God reside in the same and unique disaster. Capable of annihilating, in its bosom, the mystery of God, humanity being the matrix of the divine is also capable of generating both faith in man and in God. Desire entertains in our hearts a passion for the impossible. This impossibility widens in inverse proportion to the capacity for religions to exert a collective power. What is now expected of them is to contemplate the spirituality of humanity as a whole, to escape the confinement of idolatry, to tolerate diversified forms of religious life, to evolve by successive small steps in order to attain a larger Truth. What prevails in
all religions is without doubt the question of Love. But the utmost challenge
is that of Faith, since the faith of Jesus is not the same as mine. Each
religion pursues its own growth for itself and that of the universal mystery
of God.
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