Cronology of Masonic History

Color code indicating geographical origin of event:

White – United Kingdom
Maroon – Continental Europe
Blue – United States

1621: An “acception” occurs into the London Company of Freemasons, where men were admitted into a body of the company (1), p. 90

1631: An “acception” occurs into the London Company of Freemasons (1), p. 90

1641: Sir Robert Moray (one of the founders of the Royal Society in London) is initiated at Mary’s Chapel Lodge of Edinburgh; claimed to be the first non-operative initiation (1), p. 127, (2), p. 12-13, (7), p. 210

1646: Elias Ashmole, while taken prisoner by the Roundheads in Lancahsire, is “made” a speculative Mason in a lodge at Warrington, in Lancashire, England (1), p. 97, 99, (7), p. 210, (8), p. 22

1665: Randle Holme likely “made” a Freemason at a lodge in Chester (1), p. 103

1676: Passage in the publication “Poor Robin’s Intelligence” suggests an association of the London Company of Masons with the notion of an “accepted” Mason (1), p. 104

1682: Ashmole witnessed 6 men received into Freemasonry, four of which were members of the London Company of Masons (operative) (1), p.100, (8), p. 22

1686: Dr. Robert Plot, a natural philosopher, in his “The Natural History of Staffordshire” writes that eminent men were Masons, that Freemasonry was spread throughout the nation, and that there was a large parchment volume containing the rules and history of the Craft; uses the term “Lodg” for a meeting of Freemasons, which consists of at least 5 or 6 members; states that candidates present themselves with gloves, that they have secret signs, and that a fellow of the society is called an accepted mason; does not state that Freemasonry was “nothing more than a Rosicrucian ‘stunt’” (1), p. 106, (8), p. 23, (8), p. 23

1691: John Aubrey records that Sir Christopher Wren and others were adopted as a brothers, as Brethren of the Fraternity of the Accepted Masons w (1), p. 111

1709: The Tatler makes a reference to ‘free-masons’ (1), p. 114

1710: The Tatler mentions “the certain Company called the Free Masons” (1), p. 114)

1717: The first Grand Lodge is founded in London, consisting of four lodges: one (No. 4) at the Rummer and Grapes, Westminster; one at the Goose and Gridiron, St. Paul’s Churchyard; one at the Apple Tree Tavern, Covent Garden; and one at the Crown Ale House, Drury Lane (1), p. 170-171 [taken from Anderson’s Constitutions and The Complete Freemason by an anonymous author], (5), p. 78

1723: The Constitutions by James Anderson published; the two-degree sysem speculated to have been practiced by the 1712 lodge is confirmed (1), p. 180, 234

1723: A Mason’s Examination printed in three issues of The Flying Posts or Postman (1), p. 194

1724: Old Lodge at York constituted as a Grand Lodge (1), p. 179

1725: Grand Lodge of Ireland established (1), p. 179, (5), p. 79

1725: An old Lodge in the City of York formed itself into “The Grand Lodge of ALL England” or “The Grand Lodge at York” (1) p. 213

1727: Oldest written reference to the third degree, in lodge minutes of the lodge at the Swan and Rummer in London; fully established in a number of lodges by 1730 (1), p. 243

1728: English Grand Lodge of France assembled, changed to the Grand Lodge of France in the 1750’s (4)

1730: Prichard publishes “Masonry Dissected” and a vital set of “vital” changes may have been made to Masonic ritual (1), p. 165

1730: Grand Lodge of 1717 (The Premier Grand Lodge) in an effort to prevent irregular Masons from entering its lodges, inverted the modes of recognition of its first and second degrees (1), p. 195

1730: Duke of Norfolk, then the Grand Master of the (1717) Grand Lodge of England (Moderns), deputizes Colonel Daniel Coxe of New Jersey, a member of the Lodge at the Devil Tavern within Temple Bar, London, to be "the Provincial Grand Master of the Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania"; St. John's Lodge No. 1, at the Tun Tavern , is constituted, but not chartered (9) (11)

1732: Bro. Allen is elected Grand Master of Pennsylvania on St. John the Baptist's Day, as recorded in the Pennsylvania Gazette, June 19 - 26 of that same year. As Grand Master, Bro. Allen appointed William Pringle as Deputy Grand Master, and Thomas Boude and Benjamin Franklin as Wardens (9) (10)

1733: Part of the Grand Lodge of France broke away and created its own Masonic body, the Grand Orient of France; result of a dispute between Parisian and provincial lodges, and regarding the use of the Rite of Perfection by the Parisian lodge; this split mirrors the prior Modern/”Antient” split in England; The Grand Lodge of France was “Scottish” oriented, with the proliferation of higher degrees, and the Grand Orient of France choosing a “modern way” (4), (5), p. 23

1734: Ben Franklin is elected Grand Master of Pennsylvania (Modern Lodge) and publishes a reprint of Anderson’s “Constitutions” in America, the first Masonic book published in America (10)

1735: William Smith, a London publisher, produces the first Masonic “pocket companion” (2), p. 29

1745-1746: First concrete evidence of a mixed-gender lodge of adoption in Bordeaux (2), p. 93

1736: Grand Lodge of Scotland established (1), p. 179

1738: Second edition of the Constitutions published; names and dates added; “Entered Apprentice” and “Fellowcraft” terms borrowed from Scotish Masons ; three degree system is officially recognized (1), p. 180-182, 240

1738: Pope Clement XII issues a Bull denouncing Free-Masonry (1), p. 191; lodge membership is condemned and Freemasonry is charged with being a new form of religion (2), p. 18

1750: William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, Grand Master of the Moderns' Grand Lodge at London, deputized William Allen Provincial Grand Master for Pennsylvania, and he erected the first Provincial Grand Lodge in Pennsylvania (11)

1751: Pope Benedict XIV issues a Bull denouncing Free-Masonry (1), p. 191

1751: In The Hague, a lodge of men and women used French as its primary language and left a list of its officers in both the masculine and the feminine (2), p. 19; recorded as the earliest known women’s lodge in Europe (2), p. 93; the earliest extant ritual intended for women’s participation anywhere in Europe is that for the Loge de Juste in the Netherlands, and written in French

1751: Rival Grand Lodge of the “Antients” founded, believing that they practiced a more ancient and purer form of Masonry (emulating more operative rituals and principles); called the “The Most Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons” (1), p. 193, 197

1756: First edition of Ahiman Rezon, by Laurence Dermott, published as Constitutions of the “Antient” Fraternity (1), p. 198-199

1756: Dutch Freemasons organize their national system of authority and governance, the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands (2), p. 21

1760: Grand Lodge of England changes its rules to require the Bible on lodge altars (until then Anderson's Constitutions was acceptable), and originally candidates were not asked to express a belief in God ("the laws and ritual of the original Grand Lodge in 1723 required no more of its initiates on the subject of religion than that they should be good men and true, men of honor and honesty, obeying the moral law") (3)

1763: Earliest written French ritual text for women is written by the Count de Clermont, Grand Master of French Freemasonry (2), p. 100-101

1771: Minutes of the Grand Lodge in The Hague record that “England promises not to grant constitutions anymore to lodges within this territory” and the London Grand Lodge declares the Dutch Grand Lodge “free and independent” (2), p. 65

1774: The Grand Lodge of Paris chooses to establish a national assembly, where representative from all over the country had one vote (2), p. 23

1774: The Grand Orient of Paris officially recognizes and votes female lodges as Masonic organizations (2), p. 97

1779: The “Grand Lodge of England, South of the River Trent” is formed led by William Preston, and authorized by the Grand Lodge at York (1), p. 213)

1779: Culmination of female Masonic ritual evolution with the publication of La vraie maconnerie d’adoption, by Louis Guillemain de Saint Victor, which became the most popular ritual (2), p. 108)

1785: Mark at which there were likely over 1500 women Freemasons in Europe (2), p. 24

1799: The Grand Lodge of France changed its name to the “Scottish Grand Lodge of France” and merges with the new formed “Supreme Council of France” in 1805 (4)

1809: Lodge of Promulgation founded by the Moderns with the purpose of communicating the ancient landmarks and instructing masons of Modern lodges in the alterations necessary (1), p. 219

1809 (April): The “Moderns” become convinced that a union with the “Antients” was essential and that they must take the first steps, leading to the passing of a resolution that “it is not necessary any longer to continue those measures which were resorted to, in or about the year 1739, respecting irregular Masons, and do therefore enjoin the several Lodges to revert to the Ancient Land Marks of the Society” (1), p. 218)

1811: The “Antients” pass a resolution that “a Masonic Union on principles equal and honourable to both Grand Lodges, and preserving inviolate the Land Marks of the Ancient Crafts, would, in the opinion of this Grand Lodge, be expedient and advantageous to both” (1), p218-219

1813: The “Modern” Premier Grand Lodge of “Moderns” the Grand Lodge of “Antients” unite into the United Grand Lodge of England (1), p. 221

1821: The Central Grand Lodge is created by the Supreme Council of France to manage the 3 first degrees of the AASR. The Supreme Council of France keeps its management for the 4th to the 33rd degrees.

1848: The new ideas of Secularism, Liberty and Hope begin to depict the voice of the French people and many Freemasons accept these new ideas. The Grand Orient of France begins to consider revision of its Constitution. The idea of secularism and free-thinking was slowly growing in the lodges of the Grand Orient of France until 1877 (4).

1849: France (GOdF) followed the English (UGLE) lead by adopting the "Supreme Being" requirement, but pressure from Latin countries produced by 1875, the alternative phrase "Creative Principle".

1868: Grand lodges in the U.S. begin to withdraw their recognition of the Grand Orient of France (GOdF) when the GOdF recognized a Masonic group called the "Supreme Council of the A. and A.S. Rite of the State of Louisiana," which was not recognized by the Grand Lodge of Louisiana. As printed in the Louisiana Proceedings, “one of the reasons the GOdF recognized this ‘Supreme Council of … Louisiana’ is because that group allowed the initiation of men ‘without regard to nationality, race, or color.’ The GOdF report mentioned "civil and political equality … between the white and colored races," opposition to slavery, and the necessity of its abolition” (3) (5), p. 23

1869: GOdF passed a resolution that neither color, race, nor religion should disqualify a man for initiation (3)

1873: “To avoid the Central Grand Lodge being hit by the Secularism movement, the Supreme Council of France imposes that all documents should begin with ‘To The Glory of The Grand Architect Of The Universe, under the name and the auspices of the Supreme Council of France, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’” (4)

1875: The Supreme Council of France and the Central Grand Lodge adopt the definition of the Lausanne Communication about the Grand Architect of the Universe which says “The Grand Architect of the Universe is the Principle Creator of the Universe” (4)

1877: GOdF, at its general assembly, proclaims absolute liberty of conscience as a right belonging to every man, and out of respect for this liberty they expunge from their Constitution a dogmatic formula, which seemed to a great majority of the members to be in contradiction with liberty of conscience. (3)

1877: The Grand Orient of France suppresses the invocation “To the Glory of the Grand Architect of the Universe” in its rituals. The United Grand Lodge of England breaks its relationship with the GOdF because of “irregularity” (4)

1877: The United Grand Lodge of England decided to break its relationship with it because of “irregularity” (4)

1879: Following differences among members of the Supreme Council of France, twelve lodges withdrew from the Grand Orient de France and founded the Grande Loge Symbolique de France. One of these Lodges, Les Libres Penseurs (The Free Thinkers) in Pecq, reserved in its charter the right to initiate women as Freemasons, proclaiming the essential equality of man and woman (12)

1882: The Lodge Les Libres-Penseurs in Le Pecq, France, initiated Maria Deraismes, a well-known feminist writer and activist. This was against the rules of the Grand Orient, who closed the Lodge(12).

1893: Maria Deraismes and Dr. Georges Martin, created the Droit Humain (the first Grand Lodge of Co-Masonry) in Paris, a Masonic organization open to both men and women, which eventually spread to all continents, including in the United States where it is known as Co-Masonry (first form of non-adoptive co-gender Masonry, and has members in 60 countries world wide) (12)

1894: The Central Grand Lodge becomes fully independent of the Supreme Council of France and changes its name to “The Grand Lodge of France,” an independent Masonic body, managing the AASR blue lodges, continuing the Regular French Masonry (4)

1902: The Order of Universal Co-Freemasonry in Great Britain and the British Dependencies was founded by Annie Besant and officers of the Supreme Council of the French Maçonnerie Mixte (known today as The International Order of Co-Freemasonry, Le Droit Humain (12)

1903: The first Co-Masonic Lodge in the USA was instituted under Le Droit Humaine by the French professor Muzzarelli in New York. He founded the first Alpha Lodge in Charleroi, Pennsylvania and more than 50 others within four years before leaving the United States of America in 1908 (12)

1911: creation of the first Belgian Lodge of the Droit Humain, in Brussels (12)

1918: Grand Lodge of Louisiana enthusiastically recognizes the Grand Lodge of France and re-recognizes the GOdF, leading several other U.S. Grand Lodges to do the same (3)

1945: Anne-Marie Gentily, presiding over a meeting of assembled Lodges of Adoption in Paris, France, founded the Union Maçonnique Féminine de France (The Women's Masonic Union of France) (12)

1955: The Grand Lodge of France adopts of declaration of principles, centered maintaining the glory of the Grand Architect of the Universe, the requirement of Masons taking their obligation on the compass, square, and Volume of the Sacred Law (Bible), forbidding discussion of religion and politics, and maintaining the Old Charges (4)

1955: Pierre de Ribaucourt, Edouard de Ribaucourt’s son, 30 Grand Officers of the GLNF and the lodges “Les Philadelphes” and the famous “Le Centre des Amis”, create a new Grand Lodge : The “French National Grand Lodge – Opera”, changed to “Traditional And Symbolical Grand Lodge” (GLTS or GLTSO). In 1982 (4)

1976: George Washington Lodge N° 1 was granted Masonic Charter by the "Conseil de l'Ordre", and the G.M. of the "GRAND ORIENT DE FRANCE (13)

1977: A Covenant was signed between the G.O.D.F and G.W.L. N° 1, A.L .in the Or .of New York to establish relations of fraternal friendship. George Washington Lodge N° 1 requested and was granted full membership to the International Masonic organization known as C.L.I.P.S.A.S. which stands for " Centre de Liaison et d'Information des Puissances Signataires de l'Appel de Strasbourg“. C.L.I.P.S.A.S is a federation of autonomous Masonic powers covering several continents (13)

1994: The Supreme Council of American Co-Masonry, The American Federation of Human Rights, was reformed by members of the Grand Inspector General of the Thirty-third Degree. Also known as, this now-independent obedience, which has its headquarters in Larkspur, Colorado, has since become American Co-Masonry, the largest Co-Masonic organization in the United States (12)

2001: Le Droit Humaine formally expelled four senior members of the British Federation over several disagreements. Following these expulsions, approx. 70 members resigned. The defecting lodges reformed as the American Federation of Human Rights, the Honorable Order of American Co-Masonry, the Eastern Order of International Co-Freemasonry, and a number of smaller orders (12)

2005: Several lodges declared their independence from the Anglo-American Masonic system and formed a confederation of sovereign lodges under the banner of "United Grand Lodge of America" (6)

2007: Several more U.S. lodges declared their independence from the Anglo-American Masonic system and the Council of the Order was convened to formalize our relationship with our brethren in France and throughout Europe. The Council voted unanimously to change the name of the United Grand Lodge of America to the Grand Orient of the United States of America to better, and more precisely, identify it with the existing currents of 'Modern' Free-Masonry throughout the world (6)

2008: The Grand Orients of France and the Grand Orient of the United States signed a Treaty of Amity fully recognizing one another as sovereign Masonic powers (6)

(1) Jones, Bernard E. Freemasons’ Guide and Compendium, Cumberland House, 1950

(2) Jacob, Margaret. The Origins of Freemasonry: Facts and Fictions, Penn, 2006

(3) Bessel, Paul. “U.S. Recognition of French Grand Lodges in the 1900s”, Heredom: The Transactions of the Scottish Rite Research Society -- volume 5, 1996, pages 221-244]

(4) Jaunaux, Bro. Laurent. “Concise History of the French Regular Freemasonry”, Regular Grand Lodge of Belgium. Website: http://www.masonicnetwork.org/blog/2009/concise-history-of-the-french-regular-freemasonry/

(5) Dedopulos, Tim. The Brotherhood: Inside the Secrets of Freemasons. Carlton, 2006

(6) Grand Orient of the United States. Website. www.gomasons.org

(7) Yates, Frances A. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment. Routledge, 1972

(8) Ridley, Jasper. The Freemasons: A History of the World’s Most Powerful Secret Soceity. Arcade, 1999.

(9) The Pennsylvania Freemason. Website: http://www.pagrandlodge.org/freemason/0106/page12-13.html

(10) Sachse, Julius F. “The Masonic Chronology of Benjamin Franklin”, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 30, No. 2 (1906), pp. 238-240 Online: http://www.jstor.org/pss/20085334

(11)Coil, Henry W. (1961). Article "America, Introduction of Freemasonry into," pp. 30-31. Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia (rev. ed. 1996). Richmond, Va: Macoy Publ. Co.

(12) Wikipedia, “Co-Freemasonry” website. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-Freemasonry

(13) George Washington Union. Website. http://www.georgewashingtonunion.org

(THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS)
Compiled by Bro. Kris Hartung
Praxis Lodge, Boise Idaho

Grand Orient of the United States
www.praxislodge.org

Masonic Information Overload?

I was speaking on the telephone the other day with a very experienced Brother who has been committed to the Cause for quite some time. We were brainstorming and exchanging ideas about developing this website when he mentioned that there may be too much information already out there on the Internet about Freemasonry. I believe the challenge in our new age of information and communication is to manage our time and be able to sort and filter the mass of information we literally have at our fingertips. In the world of yesteryear, Freemasonry was provincial in nature and each organization of Masons pretty much kept to themselves and developed independently. The system of 'recognition' created adversaries and bonds within each group at the expense of true Masonic Principles and the greater good of the Craft. However, we no longer live in a world of isolation. The young tech-savvy Seekers of Light who represent the future of our Fraternity are searching the Internet for meaning and purpose and are confronted with this 'Masonic information overload.'

Mindful of the nature of the challenge, the goal of Freemason's Digest is to enhance the Masonic educational experience by gathering information from wherever it exists in the electronic media and displaying it side by side in a neutral venue within the 21st Century marketplace of Masonic thought. There are Masonic ideals expressed everywhere on these pages and there are dedicated Masons actively involved in spreading Light within every organization represented. I ask that you take a careful look at everything you see. Your search has been made a little easier so that you can spend more time in study and contemplation.

Freemasonry is a matter of the heart. Where do you most observe the Brotherly Love, Relief, Truth - Liberty, Equality, Fraternity that you already feel in your heart? Find your own path and make a commitment. Choose a path that engages the future. Get involved and make a difference!

Stephen Quest .'.

editor@freemasonsdigest.info

Who is Sister Margaret Downey?

On November 30, 2010 Sister Margaret Downey became the first female Grand Orient USA Freemason to be initiated in the United States, forever changing the face of Freemasonry in America.

Margaret Downey was born into a multi-cultural family in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Margaret grew up in a highly prejudiced southern society in the 1950s. She became concerned about discrimination and its effects at an early age and has devoted her life to ending all forms of it.

Reading the literary work of Thomas Paine and Robert G. Ingersoll enabled Margaret to develop a keen sense of revolutionary thought. She became an openly declared Atheist and activist in her twenties.

Free from the constraints of religious dogma and patriarchal systems, Margaret became involved with the feminist movement. Margaret fought for basic rights such as freedom of expression, freedom of choice, personal family leave for working parents, equal pay, and promotional opportunities for women.

Margaret was also involved in anti-smoking issues due to her concern about children’s health. Twenty-five years ago, her activism for controversial issues nearly cost Margaret her job. The initiatives for which Margaret worked and sacrificed are accepted as rational practices today. As a single mother, Margaret was willing to jeopardize her income to fight for equal rights and respect for women, freedom of choice, freedom of expression, and freedom from religious intrusion.

Margaret founded the Freethought Society (FS) and the Anti-Discrimination Support Network (ADSN) in 1993. In 1994 Margaret founded the Thomas Paine Memorial Committee.

Through her activism, she has assured the placement of Freethought literature in university and public libraries, and the avocation of rational thinking. Through city proclamations, Margaret has established “Freethought Week” and “Thomas Paine Day” in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The City of Philadelphia also recognized “Privacy Week” thanks to a proclamation submitted by Margaret in March, 1997.

Margaret is editor and publisher of the bi-monthly newsletter published by FS. Margaret enjoys presenting an assembly entitled “the Life of Thomas Paine” to elementary school children as often as possible. As a free-lance journalist Margaret, pursues stories of discrimination, choice in dying, humanitarian lifestyles, and family planning. Her newsletter concentrates on activist issues, political and religious satire, separation of church and state, and the advancement of freethought.

The Thomas Paine Memorial Committee has established proper recognition for the memory of Thomas Paine in various Pennsylvania cities including Philadelphia, Lancaster, and York. Margaret is also the author of city proclamations in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and in Garden Grove, California. She also authored the Philadelphia City Council Resolution that declares June 8th as Thomas Paine Day.

As ADSN’s founder and president, Margaret has represented the interest of the nontheist community (since 1995) at several United Nations conferences and spoke at the United Nations Freedom of Religion and Belief meeting in New York City. She attended the 2001 United Nations Freedom of Religion and Belief Conference in Madrid, Spain.

Margaret is a past board member of the American Humanist Association and the Thomas Paine National Historical Association. She is a current board member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, The Humanist Institute, the Godless Americans Political Action Committee, Advisory Board Member of the Robert Green Ingersoll Museum, and the Atheist Alliance International.

Margaret has been a guest speaker on National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation and Radio Times. She has also been featured on radio programs in Texas, South Carolina, California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York, and Georgia, and most recently in China. Always willing to travel, Margaret accepts national and international speaking engagements.

http://www.gomasons.org/who-is-sister-margaret-downey-first-grand-orient-female-freemason/

The Art of Now - Six Steps to Living in the Moment

We live in the age of distraction. Yet one of life's sharpest paradoxes is that your brightest future hinges on your ability to pay attention to the present.

By Jay Dixit, published on November 01, 2008 - Psychology Today

A friend was walking in the desert when he found the telephone to God. The setting was Burning Man, an electronic arts and music festival for which 50,000 people descend on Black Rock City, Nevada, for eight days of "radical self-expression"—dancing, socializing, meditating, and debauchery.

A phone booth in the middle of the desert with a sign that said "Talk to God" was a surreal sight even at Burning Man. The idea was that you picked up the phone, and God—or someone claiming to be God—would be at the other end to ease your pain.

So when God came on the line asking how he could help, my friend was ready. "How can I live more in the moment?" he asked. Too often, he felt, the beautiful moments of his life were drowned out by a cacophony of self-consciousness and anxiety. What could he do to hush the buzzing of his mind?

"Breathe," replied a soothing male voice.

My friend flinched at the tired new-age mantra, then reminded himself to keep an open mind. When God talks, you listen.

"Whenever you feel anxious about your future or your past, just breathe," continued God. "Try it with me a few times right now. Breathe in... breathe out." And despite himself, my friend began to relax. You Are Not Your Thoughts

Life unfolds in the present. But so often, we let the present slip away, allowing time to rush past unobserved and unseized, and squandering the precious seconds of our lives as we worry about the future and ruminate about what's past. "We're living in a world that contributes in a major way to mental fragmentation, disintegration, distraction, decoherence," says Buddhist scholar B. Alan Wallace. We're always doing something, and we allow little time to practice stillness and calm.

When we're at work, we fantasize about being on vacation; on vacation, we worry about the work piling up on our desks. We dwell on intrusive memories of the past or fret about what may or may not happen in the future. We don't appreciate the living present because our "monkey minds," as Buddhists call them, vault from thought to thought like monkeys swinging from tree to tree.

Most of us don't undertake our thoughts in awareness. Rather, our thoughts control us. "Ordinary thoughts course through our mind like a deafening waterfall," writes Jon Kabat-Zinn, the biomedical scientist who introduced meditation into mainstream medicine. In order to feel more in control of our minds and our lives, to find the sense of balance that eludes us, we need to step out of this current, to pause, and, as Kabat-Zinn puts it, to "rest in stillness—to stop doing and focus on just being."

We need to live more in the moment. Living in the moment—also called mindfulness—is a state of active, open, intentional attention on the present. When you become mindful, you realize that you are not your thoughts; you become an observer of your thoughts from moment to moment without judging them. Mindfulness involves being with your thoughts as they are, neither grasping at them nor pushing them away. Instead of letting your life go by without living it, you awaken to experience.

Cultivating a nonjudgmental awareness of the present bestows a host of benefits. Mindfulness reduces stress, boosts immune functioning, reduces chronic pain, lowers blood pressure, and helps patients cope with cancer. By alleviating stress, spending a few minutes a day actively focusing on living in the moment reduces the risk of heart disease. Mindfulness may even slow the progression of HIV.

Mindful people are happier, more exuberant, more empathetic, and more secure. They have higher self-esteem and are more accepting of their own weaknesses. Anchoring awareness in the here and now reduces the kinds of impulsivity and reactivity that underlie depression, binge eating, and attention problems. Mindful people can hear negative feedback without feeling threatened. They fight less with their romantic partners and are more accommodating and less defensive. As a result, mindful couples have more satisfying relationships.

Mindfulness is at the root of Buddhism, Taoism, and many Native-American traditions, not to mention yoga. It's why Thoreau went to Walden Pond; it's what Emerson and Whitman wrote about in their essays and poems.

"Everyone agrees it's important to live in the moment, but the problem is how," says Ellen Langer, a psychologist at Harvard and author of Mindfulness. "When people are not in the moment, they're not there to know that they're not there." Overriding the distraction reflex and awakening to the present takes intentionality and practice.

Living in the moment involves a profound paradox: You can't pursue it for its benefits. That's because the expectation of reward launches a future-oriented mindset, which subverts the entire process. Instead, you just have to trust that the rewards will come. There are many paths to mindfulness—and at the core of each is a paradox. Ironically, letting go of what you want is the only way to get it. Here are a few tricks to help you along.

1: To improve your performance, stop thinking about it (unselfconsciousness).

I've never felt comfortable on a dance floor. My movements feel awkward. I feel like people are judging me. I never know what to do with my arms. I want to let go, but I can't, because I know I look ridiculous.

"Loosen up, no one's watching you," people always say. "Everyone's too busy worrying about themselves." So how come they always make fun of my dancing the next day?

The dance world has a term for people like me: "absolute beginner." Which is why my dance teacher, Jessica Hayden, the owner of Shockra Studio in Manhattan, started at the beginning, sitting me down on a bench and having me tap my feet to the beat as Jay-Z thumped away in the background. We spent the rest of the class doing "isolations"—moving just our shoulders, ribs, or hips—to build "body awareness."

But even more important than body awareness, Hayden said, was present-moment awareness. "Be right here right now!" she'd say. "Just let go and let yourself be in the moment."

That's the first paradox of living in the moment: Thinking too hard about what you're doing actually makes you do worse. If you're in a situation that makes you anxious—giving a speech, introducing yourself to a stranger, dancing—focusing on your anxiety tends to heighten it. "When I say, 'be here with me now,' I mean don't zone out or get too in-your-head—instead, follow my energy, my movements," says Hayden. "Focus less on what's going on in your mind and more on what's going on in the room, less on your mental chatter and more on yourself as part of something." To be most myself, I needed to focus on things outside myself, like the music or the people around me.

Indeed, mindfulness blurs the line between self and other, explains Michael Kernis, a psychologist at the University of Georgia. "When people are mindful, they're more likely to experience themselves as part of humanity, as part of a greater universe." That's why highly mindful people such as Buddhist monks talk about being "one with everything."

By reducing self-consciousness, mindfulness allows you to witness the passing drama of feelings, social pressures, even of being esteemed or disparaged by others without taking their evaluations personally, explain Richard Ryan and K. W. Brown of the University of Rochester. When you focus on your immediate experience without attaching it to your self-esteem, unpleasant events like social rejection—or your so-called friends making fun of your dancing—seem less threatening.

Focusing on the present moment also forces you to stop overthinking. "Being present-minded takes away some of that self-evaluation and getting lost in your mind—and in the mind is where we make the evaluations that beat us up," says Stephen Schueller, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Instead of getting stuck in your head and worrying, you can let yourself go.


2: To avoid worrying about the future, focus on the present (savoring).

In her memoir Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert writes about a friend who, whenever she sees a beautiful place, exclaims in a near panic, "It's so beautiful here! I want to come back here someday!" "It takes all my persuasive powers," writes Gilbert, "to try to convince her that she is already here."

Often, we're so trapped in thoughts of the future or the past that we forget to experience, let alone enjoy, what's happening right now. We sip coffee and think, "This is not as good as what I had last week." We eat a cookie and think, "I hope I don't run out of cookies."

Instead, relish or luxuriate in whatever you're doing at the present moment—what psychologists call savoring. "This could be while you're eating a pastry, taking a shower, or basking in the sun. You could be savoring a success or savoring music," explains Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychologist at the University of California at Riverside and author of The How of Happiness. "Usually it involves your senses."

When subjects in a study took a few minutes each day to actively savor something they usually hurried through—eating a meal, drinking a cup of tea, walking to the bus—they began experiencing more joy, happiness, and other positive emotions, and fewer depressive symptoms, Schueller found.

Why does living in the moment make people happier—not just at the moment they're tasting molten chocolate pooling on their tongue, but lastingly? Because most negative thoughts concern the past or the future. As Mark Twain said, "I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." The hallmark of depression and anxiety is catastrophizing—worrying about something that hasn't happened yet and might not happen at all. Worry, by its very nature, means thinking about the future—and if you hoist yourself into awareness of the present moment, worrying melts away.

The flip side of worrying is ruminating, thinking bleakly about events in the past. And again, if you press your focus into the now, rumination ceases. Savoring forces you into the present, so you can't worry about things that aren't there.


3: If you want a future with your significant other, inhabit the present (breathe).

Living consciously with alert interest has a powerful effect on interpersonal life. Mindfulness actually inoculates people against aggressive impulses, say Whitney Heppner and Michael Kernis of the University of Georgia. In a study they conducted, each subject was told that other subjects were forming a group—and taking a vote on whether she could join. Five minutes later, the experimenter announced the results—either the subject had gotten the least number of votes and been rejected or she'd been accepted. Beforehand, half the subjects had undergone a mindfulness exercise in which each slowly ate a raisin, savoring its taste and texture and focusing on each sensation.

Later, in what they thought was a separate experiment, subjects had the opportunity to deliver a painful blast of noise to another person. Among subjects who hadn't eaten the raisin, those who were told they'd been rejected by the group became aggressive, inflicting long and painful sonic blasts without provocation. Stung by social rejection, they took it out on other people.

But among those who'd eaten the raisin first, it didn't matter whether they'd been ostracized or embraced. Either way, they were serene and unwilling to inflict pain on others—exactly like those who were given word of social acceptance.

How does being in the moment make you less aggressive? "Mindfulness decreases ego involvement," explains Kernis. "So people are less likely to link their self-esteem to events and more likely to take things at face value." Mindfulness also makes people feel more connected to other people—that empathic feeling of being "at one with the universe."

Mindfulness boosts your awareness of how you interpret and react to what's happening in your mind. It increases the gap between emotional impulse and action, allowing you to do what Buddhists call recognizing the spark before the flame. Focusing on the present reboots your mind so you can respond thoughtfully rather than automatically. Instead of lashing out in anger, backing down in fear, or mindlessly indulging a passing craving, you get the opportunity to say to yourself, "This is the emotion I'm feeling. How should I respond?"

Mindfulness increases self-control; since you're not getting thrown by threats to your self-esteem, you're better able to regulate your behavior. That's the other irony: Inhabiting your own mind more fully has a powerful effect on your interactions with others.

Of course, during a flare-up with your significant other it's rarely practical to duck out and savor a raisin. But there's a simple exercise you can do anywhere, anytime to induce mindfulness: Breathe. As it turns out, the advice my friend got in the desert was spot-on. There's no better way to bring yourself into the present moment than to focus on your breathing. Because you're placing your awareness on what's happening right now, you propel yourself powerfully into the present moment. For many, focusing on the breath is the preferred method of orienting themselves to the now—not because the breath has some magical property, but because it's always there with you.


4: To make the most of time, lose track of it (flow).

Perhaps the most complete way of living in the moment is the state of total absorption psychologists call flow. Flow occurs when you're so engrossed in a task that you lose track of everything else around you. Flow embodies an apparent paradox: How can you be living in the moment if you're not even aware of the moment? The depth of engagement absorbs you powerfully, keeping attention so focused that distractions cannot penetrate. You focus so intensely on what you're doing that you're unaware of the passage of time. Hours can pass without you noticing.

Flow is an elusive state. As with romance or sleep, you can't just will yourself into it—all you can do is set the stage, creating the optimal conditions for it to occur.

The first requirement for flow is to set a goal that's challenging but not unattainable—something you have to marshal your resources and stretch yourself to achieve. The task should be matched to your ability level—not so difficult that you'll feel stressed, but not so easy that you'll get bored. In flow, you're firing on all cylinders to rise to a challenge.

To set the stage for flow, goals need to be clearly defined so that you always know your next step. "It could be playing the next bar in a scroll of music, or finding the next foothold if you're a rock climber, or turning the page if you're reading a good novel," says Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who first defined the concept of flow. "At the same time, you're kind of anticipating."

You also need to set up the task in such a way that you receive direct and immediate feedback; with your successes and failures apparent, you can seamlessly adjust your behavior. A climber on the mountain knows immediately if his foothold is secure; a pianist knows instantly when she's played the wrong note.

As your attentional focus narrows, self-consciousness evaporates. You feel as if your awareness merges with the action you're performing. You feel a sense of personal mastery over the situation, and the activity is so intrinsically rewarding that although the task is difficult, action feels effortless.


5: If something is bothering you, move toward it rather than away from it (acceptance).

We all have pain in our lives, whether it's the ex we still long for, the jackhammer snarling across the street, or the sudden wave of anxiety when we get up to give a speech. If we let them, such irritants can distract us from the enjoyment of life. Paradoxically, the obvious response—focusing on the problem in order to combat and overcome it—often makes it worse, argues Stephen Hayes, a psychologist at the University of Nevada.

The mind's natural tendency when faced with pain is to attempt to avoid it—by trying to resist unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and sensations. When we lose a love, for instance, we fight our feelings of heartbreak. As we get older, we work feverishly to recapture our youth. When we're sitting in the dentist's chair waiting for a painful root canal, we wish we were anywhere but there. But in many cases, negative feelings and situations can't be avoided—and resisting them only magnifies the pain.

The problem is we have not just primary emotions but also secondary ones—emotions about other emotions. We get stressed out and then think, "I wish I weren't so stressed out." The primary emotion is stress over your workload. The secondary emotion is feeling, "I hate being stressed."

It doesn't have to be this way. The solution is acceptance—letting the emotion be there. That is, being open to the way things are in each moment without trying to manipulate or change the experience—without judging it, clinging to it, or pushing it away. The present moment can only be as it is. Trying to change it only frustrates and exhausts you. Acceptance relieves you of this needless extra suffering.

Suppose you've just broken up with your girlfriend or boyfriend; you're heartbroken, overwhelmed by feelings of sadness and longing. You could try to fight these feelings, essentially saying, "I hate feeling this way; I need to make this feeling go away." But by focusing on the pain—being sad about being sad—you only prolong the sadness. You do yourself a favor by accepting your feelings, saying instead, "I've just had a breakup. Feelings of loss are normal and natural. It's OK for me to feel this way."

Acceptance of an unpleasant state doesn't mean you don't have goals for the future. It just means you accept that certain things are beyond your control. The sadness, stress, pain, or anger is there whether you like it or not. Better to embrace the feeling as it is.

Nor does acceptance mean you have to like what's happening. "Acceptance of the present moment has nothing to do with resignation," writes Kabat-Zinn. "Acceptance doesn't tell you what to do. What happens next, what you choose to do; that has to come out of your understanding of this moment."

If you feel anxiety, for instance, you can accept the feeling, label it as anxiety—then direct your attention to something else instead. You watch your thoughts, perceptions, and emotions flit through your mind without getting involved. Thoughts are just thoughts. You don't have to believe them and you don't have to do what they say.


6: Know that you don't know (engagement).

You've probably had the experience of driving along a highway only to suddenly realize you have no memory or awareness of the previous 15 minutes. Maybe you even missed your exit. You just zoned out; you were somewhere else, and it's as if you've suddenly woken up at the wheel. Or maybe it happens when you're reading a book: "I know I just read that page, but I have no idea what it said."

These autopilot moments are what Harvard's Ellen Langer calls mindlessness—times when you're so lost in your thoughts that you aren't aware of your present experience. As a result, life passes you by without registering on you. The best way to avoid such blackouts, Langer says, is to develop the habit of always noticing new things in whatever situation you're in. That process creates engagement with the present moment and releases a cascade of other benefits. Noticing new things puts you emphatically in the here and now.

We become mindless, Langer explains, because once we think we know something, we stop paying attention to it. We go about our morning commute in a haze because we've trod the same route a hundred times before. But if we see the world with fresh eyes, we realize almost everything is different each time—the pattern of light on the buildings, the faces of the people, even the sensations and feelings we experience along the way. Noticing imbues each moment with a new, fresh quality. Some people have termed this "beginner's mind."

By acquiring the habit of noticing new things, says Langer, we recognize that the world is actually changing constantly. We really don't know how the espresso is going to taste or how the commute will be—or at least, we're not sure.

Orchestra musicians who are instructed to make their performance new in subtle ways not only enjoy themselves more but audiences actually prefer those performances. "When we're there at the moment, making it new, it leaves an imprint in the music we play, the things we write, the art we create, in everything we do," says Langer. "Once you recognize that you don't know the things you've always taken for granted, you set out of the house quite differently. It becomes an adventure in noticing—and the more you notice, the more you see." And the more excitement you feel.
Don't Just Do Something, Sit There

Living a consistently mindful life takes effort. But mindfulness itself is easy. "People set the goal of being mindful for the next 20 minutes or the next two weeks, then they think mindfulness is difficult because they have the wrong yardstick," says Jay Winner, a California-based family physician and author of Take the Stress out of Your Life. "The correct yardstick is just for this moment."

Mindfulness is the only intentional, systematic activity that is not about trying to improve yourself or get anywhere else, explains Kabat-Zinn. It is simply a matter of realizing where you already are. A cartoon from The New Yorker sums it up: Two monks are sitting side by side, meditating. The younger one is giving the older one a quizzical look, to which the older one responds, "Nothing happens next. This is it."

You can become mindful at any moment just by paying attention to your immediate experience. You can do it right now. What's happening this instant? Think of yourself as an eternal witness, and just observe the moment. What do you see, hear, smell? It doesn't matter how it feels—pleasant or unpleasant, good or bad—you roll with it because it's what's present; you're not judging it. And if you notice your mind wandering, bring yourself back. Just say to yourself, "Now. Now. Now."

Here's the most fundamental paradox of all: Mindfulness isn't a goal, because goals are about the future, but you do have to set the intention of paying attention to what's happening at the present moment. As you read the words printed on this page, as your eyes distinguish the black squiggles on white paper, as you feel gravity anchoring you to the planet, wake up. Become aware of being alive. And breathe. As you draw your next breath, focus on the rise of your abdomen on the in-breath, the stream of heat through your nostrils on the out-breath. If you're aware of that feeling right now, as you're reading this, you're living in the moment. Nothing happens next. It's not a destination. This is it. You're already there.

Feedback From The Quarries

Hiram. I just read the info you sent me very interesting Mr. Hiram Abiff’s subnation on Free Masonry He will be proud that you used his thought of mind Hiram I haven't been to the lodge since they tried to deny Hiram Abiff from entery because he did not have a suit on The new 2010 Master said in the Tresle Board that no brother will ever be turned away because he is not dressed in a suit and tie . He said that is not being a Mason to turn your brother away from the lodge. I wonder what he would say if he knew that is why there are several members not going to the lodge because of what happened to Hiram Abiff. Hiram I hope that you have a very successful year of 2010 May GOD guide your fingers to promote MASONRY in every faccit Keep the electronic air ways open MAY YOU open some eyes and ears of the so called elite in MASONRY THAT THEY SCREW UP AN OPPORTUNITY IN JERUSALEM TO GREATLY ENHANCE THE FRATERNITY OF MASONRY THAT WOULD HAVE BENIFITTED SERVERAL MASONS HIRAM THEY WERE SO IGINORATE AND BLIND AND ZEALIOUS OF WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO THAT THEY WERE CALLING US REBELS BECAUSE WE WERE TRYING TO CHANGE MASONRY IN ORDER TO HELP THOUSANDS OF OUR BROTHERS IN TO THE FUTURE OF MASONRY. Today I turned 72 years young I feel great . I am looking for day to come that ALL MASONS ARE MASONS MAY GOD SEND YOU HELP TO PROMOTE MASONRY AS IT SHOULD BE. IF you would like to give me a land line here goes 123.456.7890 BEST WISHES TO YOU C U LTR YOUR BROTHER HIRAM
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My Brother I know that Hiram is proud of all the Brothers that are giving a hand to assist YOU in promoting a new life in Masonry . Those that have been trying to dim our NEW LIGHT will be past by on the wayside because of their ignorance Keep the air ways open so this time HIRAM will help the MASONRY movement suceed where all others have failed. It is time for all GOOD MASONS to step over the line and give the assistance to the MOVEMENT for the enhancement of MASONRY to prevail to it's highest protential . I KNOW that THE GOD ALMIGHTY is watching us and will give to us HEAVENLY GUIDANCE so that we the laborers of the CRAFT will be sucsessful at attaining our goal.Keep up the good work BROTHER THIS MISSION needs to be completed. THANK YOU HIRAM