Understanding Freemasonry

Paper 65/2007 Title Understanding Freemasonry Author Bro Krishna Char - India I have been trying to understand Freemasonry for some time now, but I am still not able to convince myself that I understand what it is all about. Thinking about it, I suddenly thought whether I was going about it the right way; by this I mean was I looking at it like any subject with my head alone.
For me, Freemasonry is not a subject to try and unravel like a mathematical problem. Its basis is spiritual and philosophical to be elucidated by the head and understood by the heart. You might understand or think you understand, but unless it t ouches your heart you cannot fully understand Freemasonry. It is the heart that is im portant in Freemasonry. An ything that is spiritual has to come from the heart.
Freemasonry is like music; If you know music and you listen to say an orchestral piece, you cannot help but listen to it to see if it comes up to the st andard set by you. You may detect any mistakes made by any of the musicians or you may compare the con ductor with another who has played the same piece. Which means that you are listening to it with your head rather than with your heart. If, instead, you listened to it with your heart and let it carry you to a higher le vel of enjoyment, you will find that it will carry you to a plane of enjoyment which is almost spiritual. Sometime s you might even feel you are in the presence of the Almighty. You have to look at Freemasonry with your hear t to understand it and if you do, you can then call yourself a Freemason. A true freemason is one whose presence is felt by others around him. He is one to whom one can open one’s heart and who will respond to y ou with love and underst anding. He is also the one to whom you can turn freely for help, knowing he will render all hel p within his capacity. Often you may not want any help, but just someone like a good ‘Samaritan’ who will just listen to you.
In the world outside, your religious identity, your social status, your financial status and so on are the parameters by which you are judged. In freemas onry all that matters is that you are another human being like him whatever your religion, or social or financial status. You are part of the bigger family of freemasons, where everyone is a brot her like in his own smaller family, and where you can get the same understanding, love and support, that you would get in your own family. All this can come only if one looks at freemasonry with ones heart. This is my understanding of freemasonry.