The following is taken from a presentation on the philosophical meaning of the Masonic Degrees composed by Worshipful Grand Orator Lon Woodbury (43). It presents a very interesting insight and study of the meaning of the degrees.

I use the term clarity as an implication of The Masonic injunction to seek more light, in that more light is necessary to see more clearly. Also, the term clarity reflects the ideals of all major religions. For example, the concepts of Nirvana, Kingdom of God, Heaven, and Paradise, all boil down in part to the desire to cast aside the blinders we live with in the material world, to see and understand reality, thus to clearly see the spiritual aspect. The Bible talks of prophets, disciples, and saints who saw and understood things most people did not see and did not understand. In other words, the Masonic injunction to seek more light is an injunction to really understand how we are stones for that spiritual house not made with hands. The three Blue Lodge Degrees are a step by step guide toward mastery of that metaphysical clarity. Although the three steps are useful for more worldly mastery, the highest meaning of the term Master Mason is finding spiritual light.

The first degree teaches us to control and discipline our emotions. Without success in this lesson all else is for nothing. As is stated in the Entered Apprentice Degree, we need to circumscribe our desires and keep our passions within due bounds. Just what does this mean?

Let me explain by comparing it to a popular exclamation from the 1960s, If it feels good, do it. In a Masonic context, this mantra from the 1960s is suggesting we should satisfy and feed our emotional desires, rather than discipline and control them. As became evident to the survivors of the 1960s, it is impossible to achieve a good life or do anything significant if we spend our energy feeding our desires and following our emotions wherever they may take us.

It takes a lot of time and energy to hustle everything in a skirt, or if you are tired of your wife to trade her in for two 20s (perhaps three 20s for some of us), or attend every party you can find, or make drugs an integral part of your life, or refuse to do anything that consists of hard work, etc. We are all faced with temptations like these, but most of us have learned, and Masonry teaches us, that even though we feel like sleeping in, we had better get to work. Or, that continuing our relationship with our wife is more satisfying and meaningful than a series of affairs.

The working tools we are given in this degree give us some direction as to how we can accomplish this emotional discipline. The 24–inch gauge reminds us to provide a balance in all things and is a check on making sure we are not doing too much even of a good thing. Even if we focus on something like hard work, to the exclusion of all else, we are giving in to an emotional desire or impulse that is out of balance. In addition, the common goal teaches us that part of disciplining our emotions is to rid ourselves of bad habits.

Disciplining and controlling our emotions is not easy, and even working at it for a lifetime, we will still not get it perfect. But Masonry tells us in the first degree that we must work toward this goal. How long a job this might be reminds me of a story of a Lodge that was preparing for a meeting when a very old man appeared. He looked older than dirt, and told them he was there to receive his 2nd Degree. Surprised and confused by his request, they asked him to explain. He told them that he had received his 1st Degree back in June 1946, and was now ready to receive his 2nd Degree.

They checked the records and sure enough, the minutes showed that in June 1946 a man by that name had received his 1st Degree in their Lodge. Still surprised, they told him they could probably take care of him, but asked, Why did you wait so long? He told them that when he received his degree he was told to circumscribe his desires and that he had been working on that ever since, and now felt like he was successful enough that he was ready for the 2nd Degree.

Fortunately, we don't demand perfection in emotional discipline before a candidate can proceed, but the success in the lessons of the 2nd and 3rd Degrees can only be done only to the extent we learn this lesson from the 1st Degree.

The Second Degree then expands the scope of the injunction of Self discipline by teaching us to discipline our minds, and thus our actions also. In the Fellowcraft Degree we are taught to study Geometry as the noblest science, and the Seven Liberal Arts that comprise what is called a classical education. We are taught to ponder the meaning of life, learn from the cycles of a man's life, and f rom the cycles in nature and civilizations.

The mind is by nature a very unruly thing. We are all familiar with the difficulty of paying attention in school, or to a lecture. The undisciplined mind will drift off and turn to other things, often petty thoughts such as what is for dinner, or resentment of some slight. Then we suddenly jerk ourselves back to what is being said and find it very difficult to concentrate and keep our attention focused. Some are naturally better at concentrating than others, but everybody has to work at even this basic discipline of their mind.

There is a more difficult mental task that is a real test of mental discipline. In meditation, or prayer, the goal is to clear your mind of all thoughts, or to focus on only one thought, for a significant amount of time. It is when you try this that you become aware of the mind chatter that is always going on in your head and how unruly your mind is. Success in meditation, or prayer, is the ultimate in mental discipline. Thee injunction of the Fellowcraft Degree is to continually work at this mental discipline, gradually enhancing your ability.

The working tools we are given in the 2nd Degree are Plumb, Square, and Level. The Plumb admonishes us to walk upright before god and man, testing our actions by the square of Virtue and remembering, by the Level, that all men are created equal. This means that before we act, we need to call on our mental discipline, to know what the right thing to do, to not allow mistakes based on impulse or bias, and then do the right thing even when it might be unpopular. We must rely on the confidence of our own well thought out convictions and our ability to actually Follow up with action consistent with our convictions.

Mastering the lessons of the first two degrees will enable you to be very successful in life, but there is still another step necessary to expand our spiritual side to have true clarity. Building on success in the lessons of the first two degrees, the Master Mason is ready to learn what is necessary to prepare his soul.

In the 3rd Degree we deal with lessons of death and resurrection. We are taught that we all are mortal, and part that is the preparation for the end of our life, which is a spiritual issue. But the issue is not so much the end of life as it is how we can prepare ourselves in the here and now. What can we do now that will not only make us a better person, but will prepare us for the afterlife?

The death referred to in the 3rd Degree is, I think, mostly focused on the need for the death of the ego. Now this might be a rather controversial statement, because all of us have what is referred to as an ego. It is an integral part of our personality. It can be argued that it is our ego that makes us want to become better men, and that ego is the driving force that motivates men to great humanitarian and scientific accomplishments. But what the 3rd Degree is speaking of is the darker side of the ego, egotism, the side that might be considered narcissism.

In the Biblical Old Testament, the prophet says something like Vanity, vanity, all is vanity. Substitute ego for Vanity, and the meaning is pretty much the same. It is ego, or Vanity, that motivates a person to see themselves as better than others, and thus put others down. Ego, or vanity, cheats so that p erson can have more than they deserve. It is ego, or vanity, that thinks me first and tough for others. It is ego, or vanity, that starts wars. It is ego, or vanity, that joins radical and/or violent causes so that a person can feel like the exclusive holder of truth and then look down on those they consider ignorant. As the prophet suggested, all the evils of this world can be traced back to ego, or vanity. So, the Master Mason can do his part to be a better man by disciplining or eliminating his egotism.

The tool the Master Mason is given to accomplish this is the trowel, to spread the cement of brotherly love. This is saying that to curb his ego, and make the third and final step to clarity he learns to treat all men on the level, as his equal. None are to be treated as better or worse than he, all are brothers. When he can truly believe in brotherly love without reservation, he has conquered his ego.

When a Master Mason Can treat others in this way, he is exercising discipline of his emotions, discipline of his mind, and discipline of his ego. With success in these three steps that Masonry lays out for him, he is well on his way to clarity.

[The Idaho Freemason, Apri1 2007]