A Mason's Work

I want to talk today about a concept that I find really kind of productive and useful.

It comes from the Buddhist tradition and it's the idea of the realm of hungry ghosts.

And hungry ghosts in the Buddhist tradition are beings or a world where a realm where

people have insatiable desires. These are souls that have big heads and little necks so

that they can't possibly fill their bellies with food or what have you.

And so why is this really productive? Because when we look at the nature of our own desires,

whatever they might be in whatever context they come in, it becomes very clear, very quickly,

that desires can never be satisfied. You're never going to run out of desire.

And this is where we start to look to the Masonic tools for some help aid and assistance.

So when we can't possibly satisfy desire, right? And you guys have probably experienced this.

You go, you buy something, it gets here and you forget about it the next day and you're on to

buy the next thing or you consume the television show and you immediately look for the next show.

You don't even bother to savor the flavor of the one you just had.

Or before you're finished chewing the current bite of food in your mouth,

you have another one in your hand or in both hands. And you know, same thing is true with sex,

same thing is true with alcohol and any of the intoxicants. This kind of insatiable desire

is described as a realm in Buddhism because it is kind of a place that

implies a lower level of understanding of the way the world works.

If you don't understand that your desires are insatiable, you can never transcend them.

And from a human development perspective, this is also true, right? So when you are on your quest

to become a master Mason, you know, the understanding that the desires that you have from a pragmatic

perspective will always be there becomes foundational to using the compass to putting boundaries

around them. So you can start to label behaviors as, oh, this is an unsat- this is an insatiable

desire I have it forever. Or this is something that I am unable to control in its current sort of

implication or implication. This is not, you know, spiritual traditions and all that are not

about the elimination of desire, right? Desire is a natural function of the human experience. You're

going to want stuff. This is how we got out of caves. This is how we got into, you know,

elaborate houses with indoor plumbing and whatnot. But the real important thing is to not be a slave

to that desire, right? To have that desire to serve your objectives, not drive your entire behavior.

And as you're moving up through the food chain of understanding, this moving past these

unexamined, unstated insatiable desires becomes step one. And the compasses is awesome for this.

Now in most of the major sort of ritual traditions of the Masonic arts, if you will,

there's not a long conversation about the compass. There's not a ton of insight and information

in my jurisdiction. The language of the compass is just about keeping your desires or then do

bounds towards all mankind. That said, getting past that and, you know, when you wake up in the

morning and you are, you know, whatever the first thing you reach for, start looking for those

indicators that you have, maybe desires that are unchecked. Those unchecked desires will be driving

your behavior consciously or unconsciously. That's not to say you don't indulge them from time to

time or identify what they are. But the important part is you gain autonomy over them so that you

can functionally approach the world as a master Mason. One of the big quests that we have as

Mason's is autonomy. So with that, we'll catch you next time.