Themes

"CLIO, n. One of the nine Muses. Clio's function was to preside over history -- which she did with great dignity, many of the prominent citizens of Athens occupying seats on the platform, the meetings being addressed by Messrs. Xenophon, Herodotus and other popular speakers."

"The Muses are turned gossips; they have lost The buskined step, and clear high-sounding phrase, Language of gods. Come, then, domestic Muse, In slip-shod measure loosely prattling on, Of farm or orchard, pleasant curds and cream, Or droning flies, or shoes lost in the mire By little whimpering boy, with rueful face— Come, Muse, and sing the dreaded washing day."

"The ancient Greek "oral poets" all had this anxiety about the deficiencies of their memories and always began poems by praying to the muse to help them remember. The invocation of the muses may have been a purely formal element by the time we encounter it, but it very likely reflected a real sense of the anxiety that the memory of forgetting could induce in a sensitive artist of an "oral society.""

"Most of the devotees with whom we spoke reported a significant drop in the number of people receiving knowledge starting from late 1973. This created a condition of financial strain which became critical when Millennium '73, an all-out extravaganza held in the Houston Astrodome where Guru Maharaj Ji was crowned 'Lord of the Universe,' proved to be an economic flop. ... DLM underwent significant organizational and ideological transformations. It no longer projected itself as a movement that would include all of humanity in its membership."

"I don't like this movement!"

"I'm going to check out this Knowledge, [a prepremie in a crazy cowboy outfit says,] because it's like putting your cock into a new woman, you've got to do it before you know what it's like."

"And then, nodding out toward the arena, [the uniformed policeman] said, real friendly-like: 'Ain't this just the damnedest thang you have ever saw?'[sic]"

"One T-shirted youth, trying to find an unlocked entrance so he could leave the stadium, said angrily. 'I came to check it out. but this is a real bummer. No one who was really God would let himself be put up on a throne like that.'"

"You couldn't help being a little 'blissed-out' yourself watching thousands of people freak out of their minds."

"These people are feeling better-that's why you don't see any scowl lines on their faces. I think one of the greatest evils in the world is the phrase 'I need. It comes from our ego, the 'me' position, the 'my' position. Now, notice these people in the Divine Light Mission. You won't hear them saying, 'I want this' and 'This is for me,' and they won't be fighting with each other. Watch the traffic guards in the hallways, and watch how the devotees listen to their authority. There's no battle with authority."

"I've come to the point where I know there is a Supreme Being and He is one with that 15-year-old boy."

"This is nothing, should have seen us in India, mate. We had to carry batons there. Loving words won't always stop people from comin' onstage y'know. Sometimes you got to bonk 'em."

"'I haven't been into acid much', a boy lying next to me says, 'just about a hundred trips or so.'"

"Lila, did you see that lila? [a young girl runs out of the landing strip waving her arms excitedly.] He surprised us, he played with us by coming down on the wrong landing strip!"

"I am meditating right now, as I talk to you ... But I cannot describe to you the Divine Knowledge any further than that if you haven't experienced it. Our Knowledge is not a religion, but an experience. Can I describe to you the taste of a mango before you have tasted it?"

"It's the great spiritual energy that Goom Rodgie gives off. When he is giving a talk, you'll see lots of premies just dozing off to sleep. His energy simply stuns them."

"A bearded premie from Boston, though no Krishna-symp, voiced disillusionment with the Divine Light treatment of the Krishnas. 'Rennie Davis, who is supposed to be such an advocate of free speech, isn't letting these folks have theirs. He's working with the police against these people.'"

"I don't know whether it's the air conditioning, but you can really feel something. [emphasis in original]"

"They must be drunk. When the real antichrist comes they won't even recognize him. He'll be too professional."

"The thing is that this life is a big car, and inside the car there is a big engine. And in the engine there is a carburetor, which is hooked up to a fuel line. In some cars, before the fuel line hits the carburetor, there is a thing called a filter that makes sure the fuel going into the carburetor is pure. So in this life, the filter for our minds is the Knowledge, and if we are not being filtered properly, many dirty particles enter our minds and eventually the whole engine is destroyed."

"Imagine if you wanted a Superman comic real bad. And you go all over asking people if they've got one. You go to all the bookstores and to all the kids in the colleges, and all the people on the streets and no one has one anywhere. And you're real depressed and you're sitting there in the park and this little kid comes up and says "Hey man, how'd you like a Superman comic." And you say, "G'wan. You don't have one." And this kid pulls it from out of his shirt and it is a genuine; a gen-u-ine Superman comic: and you look at it and say, "Hey man; this must be very expensive," and he says, "No, take it, it's yours. It's free." And you don't believe him but then you take it. He just gives it to you. Well if you can imagine that, you can imagine what Knowledge would mean to you."

"Try it, you'll like it."

"You want to be the richest man in the world? I can make you rich. I have the only currency that doesn't go down ... People think I'm a smuggler. You betcha I am. I smuggle peace from one country to another. This currency is really rich. But if you think I'm a smuggler then Jesus Christ was a smuggler and so was Lord Krishna and Mohammed."

"It's really fantastic and really beautiful to see you here, the Millennium program will start tomorrow and it'll really be fantastic, it'll be incredible ... and soon people will get together and finally understand God. ... There's so much trouble in the world, Watergate is not only in America, it exists everywhere."

"Isn't it about time you all get together and help me bring peace to this Earth?"

"This is a festival not for you or me. It is for the whole world and maybe the whole universe."

"This year the most Holy and significant event in human history will take place in America."

"No one Mason has the right to measure for another, within the walls of a Masonic Temple, the degree of veneration which he shall feel for any Reformer or the Founder of any Religion. We teach a belief in no particular creed, as we teach unbelief in none."

"The masonic Religion should be, by all of us initiates of the higher degrees, maintained in the Purity of the Luciferian doctrine.… The true and pure philosophic religion is the belief in Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil."

"The Druids were the Masons of very ancient times... At the head of the Druids was a woman, who bore the title of Mother of the Druids."

"As regards the lodges of Freemasons. It is quite certain that among them are many that are purely political and very harmful. In some countries, with the rarest exceptions, Masonry has degenerated into buffoonery. Such a degeneration of originally highly moral and beautiful inceptions is very tragic, and the Great Teachers feel inexpressible grief because of it. Bear in mind also that today there is an unprecedented amount of the most terrible black magic and sorcery, and this is almost everywhere. Often, not bad but ignorant people are caught in this black trap. (17 February 1934)"

"Some of you may perchance wonder that the war against the Catholic Church extends so widely. Indeed each of you knows well the nature, zeal, and intention of sects, whether called Masonic or some other name. When he compares them with the nature, purpose, and amplitude of the conflict waged nearly everywhere against the Church, he cannot doubt but that the present calamity must be attributed to their deceits and machinations for the most part. For from these the synagogue of Satan [cf. Book of Revelation 2,9 and 3,9] is formed which draws up its forces, advances its standards, and joins battle against the Church of Christ."

"The desire to do something that shall benefit the world, when neither praise nor obloquy will reach us where we sleep soundly in the grave, is the noblest ambition entertained by man. It is the ambition of a true and genuine Mason. Knowing the slow processes by which the Deity brings about great results, he does not expect to reap as well as sow, in a single lifetime. It is the inflexible fate and noblest destiny, with rare exceptions, of the great and good, to work, and let others reap the harvest of their labors. (p. 316) Masonry propagates no creed except its own most simple and Sublime One; that universal religion, taught by Nature and by Reason. It reiterates the precepts of morality of all religions. It venerates the character and commends the teachings of the great and good of all ages and of all countries. It extracts the good and not the evil, the truth, and not the error, from all creeds; and acknowledges that there is much that is good and true in all. (p.718)"

"A Freemason, therefore, should be a man of honor and of conscience, preferring his duty to everything beside, even to his life; independent in his opinions, and of good morals, submissive to the laws, devoted to humanity, to his country, to his family; kind and indulgent to his brethren, friend of all virtuous men, and ready to assist his fellows by all means in his power. (p. 113) The great distinguishing characteristic of a Mason is a sympathy with his kind, He recognizes in the human race one great family, all connected with himself by those invisible links, and that mighty network of circumstance, forged and woven by God. (p. 176) The practical object of Masonry is the physical and moral amelioration and the intellectual and spiritual improvement of individuals and society. (p.218) Masonry represents the Good Principle and constantly wars against the evil one,... at everlasting and deadly feud with the demons of ignorance, brutality, baseness, falsehood, slavishness of soul, intolerance, superstition, tyranny, meanness, the insolence of wealth, and bigotry. (p.221) The true Mason labors for the benefit of those that are to come after him.. To plant the trees that, after we are dead, shall shelter our children, is as natural as to love the shade of those our fathers planted. p. 312."

"Though Masonry neither usurps the place of, nor apes religion, prayer is an essential part of our ceremonies. It is the aspiration of the soul toward the Absolute and Infinite Intelligence, which is the One Supreme Deity, most feebly and misunderstandingly characterized as an "architect." Certain faculties of man are directed toward the Unknown — thought, meditation, prayer. The unknown is an ocean, of which conscience is the compass. Thought, meditation, prayer, are the great mysterious pointings of the needle. It is a spiritual magnetism that thus connects the human soul with the Deity. These majestic irradiations of the soul pierce through the shadow toward the light. p. 1."

"An occult fraternity, which has endured from very ancient times, having a hierarchy of officers, secret signs, and passwords, and a peculiar method of instruction in science, religion, and philosophy. . . . If we may believe those who, at the present time, profess to belong to it, the philosopher's stone, the elixir of life, the art of invisibility, and the power of communication directly with the ultramundane life, are parts of the inheritance they possess. The writer has met with only three persons who maintained the actual existence of this body of religious philosophers, and who hinted that they themselves were actually members. There was no reason to doubt the good faith of these individuals -- apparently unknown to each other, and men of moderate competence, blameless lives, austere manners, and almost ascetic in their habits. They all appeared to be men of forty to forty-five years of age, and evidently of vast erudition . . . their knowledge of languages not to be doubted. . . . They never remained long in any one country, but passed away without creating notice."

"Blessings. Under this heading should come the various types of blessings such as are given in the Church, in Freemasonry, and by the pupils of our Masters.... The second type of blessing is that which is uttered by an official appointed for the purpose, through whom power flows from some higher source..."

"The Masonic year begins in March because the Egyptian mysteries were celebrated at the spring equinox and were related to the cult of the sun: in fact, although the sun is reborn at the winter solstice, it does not begin to exert its fertilizing power on the universe until the spring equinox."

"If the Freemasons had wanted to take a saint of the Catholic Church as their patron, they would have designated exactly who they chose. On the contrary, they remain vague: they call themselves Brothers of St. John, but which St. John, the Precursor or the Apostle Evangelist? They do not care and solemnly commemorate both of these figures, St. John of Winter and St. John of Summer."

"We thank Thee, Father, for the happy fellowship of our Fraternity, and for all Thy bounties spread before us. Grant that through these blessings we may be strengthened and refreshed for Thy service."

"We thank Thee, Architect Above, For good food and brotherly love. Relief for all in need we pray, Thy Truth, our Aid from day to day."

"May the Great Architect of the Universe bless His gifts to our use, and whilst partaking of His benefits, make us ever mindful of the needs of others. So mote it be."

"Gracious and Great God Almighty, the Masonic cornerstone lies in the northeast corner, between the north, the place of darkness, and the east, the place of light. Thus it reminds us that we are ever to be progressing from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge. Help us in the next twelve months to enable those of our fraternity on whose lives the shadow of our influence may fall to know more about Freemasonry. Guide the leadership we will elect today so that nothing may interrupt the light which flows from the Great Light in Masonry upon the Holy Altar to the station of the Master in the East. We pray all of this for Your name's sake, Amen. (Opening prayer at the 18 March 1989 Stated Meeting at Waco, Texas)"

"Living God, remind us as we prepare to depart just who we are as Masons. We are supposed to be men who would rather yield up our lives than forfeit our integrity. We are supposed to be men who believe that selfishness must die in us if we are truly to live. We are supposed to be men who believe that the soul is immortal, and that this has consequences for our lives on this earth right now. Keep us ever mindful of those teachings from the Sublime Degree and enable us to put them into practice in our daily living. Amen. (Closing prayer given during the 16 January 1988 Meeting at Weatherford, Texas)"

"Great Artificer of the Universe, teach us how to use the three great lights in Masonry to guide us in discharging our duty to You, our neighbor, and to ourselves. Show us how to make use of the Holy Bible in learning and doing out duty to You, O God. Assist us in squaring our actions through virtuous living in all our relations with our fellow human beings. Enable us to use the compasses in marking out our duty to self. Guide us with the light from these three helps as we conduct our business in this assembly. All this we pray for Your Name's sake. Amen. (Delivered at the opening of the 15 March 1986 Stated Meeting at Weatherford, Texas)"

"The Lord bless us and keep us; the Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us; the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, and give us peace, both now and forever more. Amen."

"Merciful and Eternal God: We thank Thee for the peace and serenity that comes to us in times of grief when we stop and realize that Thou art ever in our presence. We pray Thee, Our Father, to teach us day by day that we are but pilgrims and strangers upon this earth, that here we have no continuing city. As the ties of family are broken one by one and kindred and friends pass from our sight, give us the grace to place our affections more and more upon the things that are spiritual and enduring now and forever more. Amen."

"Masonry propagates no creed except its own most simple and Sublime One; that universal religion, taught by Nature and by Reason. It reiterates the precepts of morality of all religions. It venerates the character and commends the teachings of the great and good of all ages and of all countries. It extracts the good and not the evil, the truth, and not the error, from all creeds; and acknowledges that there is much that is good and true in all."

"Thus Masonry disbelieves no truth, and teaches unbelief in no creed, except so far as such creed may lower its lofty estimate of the Diety, degrade Him to the level of the passions of humanity, deny the high destiny of man, impugn the goodness and benevolence of the Supreme God, strike at those great columns of Masonry, Faith, Hope, and Charity, or inculcate immorality, and disregard of the active duties of the Order."

"To sow, that others may reap; to work and plant for those that are to occupy the earth when we are dead; to project our influences far into the future, and live beyond our time; to rule as the Kings of Thought, over men who are yet unborn; to bless with the glorious gifts of Truth and Light and Liberty those who will neither know the name of the giver, nor care in what grave his unregarded ashes repose, is the true office of a Mason and the proudest destiny of a man."