This is a Third Installment in a Series on Freemasonry and its Meanings.
This article is Copywritten and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the Secretary of St. Joseph Lodge No78
The Holy Grail of Speculative Freemasonry, Unity in Duality. Reaching Out To Find God's Presence.
Probably one of the most illusive symbols in Freemasonry is the "Point In A Circle". No one is able to date exactly when it came to be used as a tool for plane geometry much less know how the symbol came to be used in spiritual teaching, which means it was probably in use before the last cataclysmic ice-age(1) which would place it before the great flood of Noah.
In recent history, Euclid (323-283 B.C.E.), included it in Book I Postulate 3 of his book "Elements". Defined as drawing a circle with a compasses,
there is a certain point in the center of the circle such that all straight lines from the center to the boundary are equal. That is. "all radii are equal". In his Book III Proposition 18, Euclid teaches that a line drawn from the center intersects with a tangent and for Freemasons there are two parallel tangents. One represented as Saint John the Baptist and the other Saint John the Divine. It is a tradition among religions that Saint John the Baptist is celebrated on the Summer Solstice and Saint John the Divine celebrated on the Winter Solstice. Traditionally in Sacred Geometry, the ancient Gnosis teaches that the point or "inmost center" is described as the Pre-manifest Creator "Deity" from which all things originate thus uniting humankind with the "Eternal Source" from which all things are manifest. Thus the expression, "Unity In Duality" or "As Above So Below". The circle circumventing the point being the divine nature or lens through which all things are created in material form with the Word or "Logos" personified as Christ Incarnate, proclaiming God's Word or "Logos", through the Holy Text. As The Christ Jesus, taught to his disciples as told in the book of Matthew 6th Chapter Verse 10, "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done In Earth, As It Is In Heaven".
The symbol as taught in the lectures of Freemasonry I'll leave for you to experience personally through the ritual as it is through your own experience that establishes its value.
Through a knowledge of this higher plane of consciousness immediately above, or rather within, being infinitely more real than the physical world alone there is Unity In Duality. This is the potential divinity of every human-being in the power of the Indwelling Christ or Christos Principal that Jesus the Christ and his Disciples show through the Holy Texts. And this is how the early Christian sects taught until they were suppressed by those who did not understand. The individual must have a knowledge (Gnosis) as well as faith (Pistis). For is it not ignorance that is the cause of humanity's great pain? Yet the great attraction which is for the Christian to live by "faith" alone or a matter of belief in certain dogmas of the Church any different than the belief of the Moslem who rushes to death against the bayonets and bullets of the "infidel" believing there is assured of all the sensual joys of the Paradise described in the Koran?
It is through a higher plane of consciousness that we recognize the Indwelling Christ Principal. There are numerous references to the Indwelling Christ in Holy Scripture which I will expound upon in future installments. Although some cultures identify this point of origination for creation differently, there is a commonality to all Monotheistic belief systems. For example in Brahman teaching, Vedic spiritual texts explain that the root or "Cause" of the universe is actually the reality underlying it. The principal is the same. Some cultures anthropomorphize or deify the "Point In A Circle" attaching attributes that are really human character traits. Vedic scholars however in the Shankaracharia tradition recognize the Ultimate Cause as neither an object or subject but rather a Supreme Self or Atman underlying both that is Self-realizing and Non-personal. One Infinite Cause interweaves the two without personal attributes recognized as emotions in the human consciousness. Therefore there is Unity In Duality. For this reason, although Yin and Yang are traditionally interpreted as positive and negative, they are actually without emotions we humans perceive as being good or bad, right or wrong.
To read the first installment click here.
To read the second installment click here.
(1) Reference for cyclical climate changes in pre-history from the research of Dr. Louis A. Frank, "The Big Splash", Copyright 1990 Carol Publishing Company.
and Dr. Paul A. LaViolette PHd., Subquantum Kinetics, The Starburst Foundation.
In recent history, Euclid (323-283 B.C.E.), included it in Book I Postulate 3 of his book "Elements". Defined as drawing a circle with a compasses,
there is a certain point in the center of the circle such that all straight lines from the center to the boundary are equal. That is. "all radii are equal". In his Book III Proposition 18, Euclid teaches that a line drawn from the center intersects with a tangent and for Freemasons there are two parallel tangents. One represented as Saint John the Baptist and the other Saint John the Divine. It is a tradition among religions that Saint John the Baptist is celebrated on the Summer Solstice and Saint John the Divine celebrated on the Winter Solstice. Traditionally in Sacred Geometry, the ancient Gnosis teaches that the point or "inmost center" is described as the Pre-manifest Creator "Deity" from which all things originate thus uniting humankind with the "Eternal Source" from which all things are manifest. Thus the expression, "Unity In Duality" or "As Above So Below". The circle circumventing the point being the divine nature or lens through which all things are created in material form with the Word or "Logos" personified as Christ Incarnate, proclaiming God's Word or "Logos", through the Holy Text. As The Christ Jesus, taught to his disciples as told in the book of Matthew 6th Chapter Verse 10, "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done In Earth, As It Is In Heaven".The symbol as taught in the lectures of Freemasonry I'll leave for you to experience personally through the ritual as it is through your own experience that establishes its value.
Through a knowledge of this higher plane of consciousness immediately above, or rather within, being infinitely more real than the physical world alone there is Unity In Duality. This is the potential divinity of every human-being in the power of the Indwelling Christ or Christos Principal that Jesus the Christ and his Disciples show through the Holy Texts. And this is how the early Christian sects taught until they were suppressed by those who did not understand. The individual must have a knowledge (Gnosis) as well as faith (Pistis). For is it not ignorance that is the cause of humanity's great pain? Yet the great attraction which is for the Christian to live by "faith" alone or a matter of belief in certain dogmas of the Church any different than the belief of the Moslem who rushes to death against the bayonets and bullets of the "infidel" believing there is assured of all the sensual joys of the Paradise described in the Koran?
It is through a higher plane of consciousness that we recognize the Indwelling Christ Principal. There are numerous references to the Indwelling Christ in Holy Scripture which I will expound upon in future installments. Although some cultures identify this point of origination for creation differently, there is a commonality to all Monotheistic belief systems. For example in Brahman teaching, Vedic spiritual texts explain that the root or "Cause" of the universe is actually the reality underlying it. The principal is the same. Some cultures anthropomorphize or deify the "Point In A Circle" attaching attributes that are really human character traits. Vedic scholars however in the Shankaracharia tradition recognize the Ultimate Cause as neither an object or subject but rather a Supreme Self or Atman underlying both that is Self-realizing and Non-personal. One Infinite Cause interweaves the two without personal attributes recognized as emotions in the human consciousness. Therefore there is Unity In Duality. For this reason, although Yin and Yang are traditionally interpreted as positive and negative, they are actually without emotions we humans perceive as being good or bad, right or wrong.
The symbol of the "Point In A Circle", alluding to mathematics dates long before the Christian Scriptures or even Pythagoras and Euclid for that matter. In Egypt about 3,600 years ago the Egyptian mathematician Ahmes, formulated a rule for 
determining 
the area of a circle corresponding to 3.16. In ancient China Liu Hui, approximated Pi up to 6 digits by approximating the areas of polygons to determine the area of a circle.
By measuring the outside circumference of a circle and dividing the number by the circle's diameter, the answer obtained is irrational or what is called a transcendental number 3.1415926 >. Pi, is not an exact number because it cannot be duplicated or constructed in a material form therefore is transcendent meaning it continues into infinity. To more understand the concept of the transcendental number, the human consciousnesses must transcend the material and conceive the non-material pre-existant. This is the goal of all who study Gnosis or Transcendentalism. And this is the central theme taught in the symbol being studied. [The concept of a transcendent reality relative to the material universe will be described in greater detail in future installments.] The "Point" within the circle, is pre-existent, meaning it is unmanifest or infinite and the "Cause" of that which is manifest or finite or material in the universe.
In consciousness, the finite (manifest) world cannot be self-aware or "self-operative" because it does not have the binding force or "Cause" (unmanifest) and therefore there is no absolute order either singularly or jointly. This explains the constant change in nature or what would be called the cycle of life and death of all that is created. In Dualism the manifest and unmanifest realities of life are only reflections of each other. We can realize this when seeing a reflection of ourselves looking at a pool of water or in a mirror. We see our self but it is only a reflection. Our real Self is the underlying cause of the reflection. Both are separate but still one reality. A conscious understanding in the relationship between that which is the Cause and its' reflection is needed if one is to transcend the material reality of life and integrate the two in daily life. Therefore, when we become Self-aware as a component of the "Cause" we become aware that we are a part of and have a relationship with all that is the Cause and there is "Unity In Duality", or what Pythagoras would call, "The Harmony Of The Spheres". Becoming aware of this Cause and the process people have used since before recorded time to become aware of this Cause will be the subject of my next installments.
determining 
the area of a circle corresponding to 3.16. In ancient China Liu Hui, approximated Pi up to 6 digits by approximating the areas of polygons to determine the area of a circle.By measuring the outside circumference of a circle and dividing the number by the circle's diameter, the answer obtained is irrational or what is called a transcendental number 3.1415926 >. Pi, is not an exact number because it cannot be duplicated or constructed in a material form therefore is transcendent meaning it continues into infinity. To more understand the concept of the transcendental number, the human consciousnesses must transcend the material and conceive the non-material pre-existant. This is the goal of all who study Gnosis or Transcendentalism. And this is the central theme taught in the symbol being studied. [The concept of a transcendent reality relative to the material universe will be described in greater detail in future installments.] The "Point" within the circle, is pre-existent, meaning it is unmanifest or infinite and the "Cause" of that which is manifest or finite or material in the universe.
In consciousness, the finite (manifest) world cannot be self-aware or "self-operative" because it does not have the binding force or "Cause" (unmanifest) and therefore there is no absolute order either singularly or jointly. This explains the constant change in nature or what would be called the cycle of life and death of all that is created. In Dualism the manifest and unmanifest realities of life are only reflections of each other. We can realize this when seeing a reflection of ourselves looking at a pool of water or in a mirror. We see our self but it is only a reflection. Our real Self is the underlying cause of the reflection. Both are separate but still one reality. A conscious understanding in the relationship between that which is the Cause and its' reflection is needed if one is to transcend the material reality of life and integrate the two in daily life. Therefore, when we become Self-aware as a component of the "Cause" we become aware that we are a part of and have a relationship with all that is the Cause and there is "Unity In Duality", or what Pythagoras would call, "The Harmony Of The Spheres". Becoming aware of this Cause and the process people have used since before recorded time to become aware of this Cause will be the subject of my next installments.
To read the first installment click here.
To read the second installment click here.
(1) Reference for cyclical climate changes in pre-history from the research of Dr. Louis A. Frank, "The Big Splash", Copyright 1990 Carol Publishing Company.
and Dr. Paul A. LaViolette PHd., Subquantum Kinetics, The Starburst Foundation.
