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Article MASONIC PHILOSOPHY. ← Page 7 of 9 →
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Masonic Philosophy.
exact literal interpretation of the Soutras , affirms that all is a vacuum , a doctrine clearly connected with transcendental idealism ; another accepts the internal sensation or intelligence , declaring all the rest an illusion ; with these , conscience , or an innate sense , exists through all eternity ; a third , admits the actual existence of external objects , as well as of internal sensations , considering the first as perceptible through the senses , and the second as deducible through reason ;
the fourth believe that the perception of external objects is an operation altogether immediate or produced by the intervention of a visible likeness . These last also maintain that objects become known to us through this induction , but are not actually perceptible , and in this respect they form a new school , and have been sometimes designated as heretics . It will not be difficult to discover from this
summary view of the doctrines of Bauddhism the striking relations existing between them and the more celebrated theories which divide the European philosophy of modern times . This , however , may be said of the schools of Djainas and Bauddhas , that they have , in common with most others of Hindoo origin , one principal theory—that of
propounding to man , as the highest object of his aspiration , the means by which he can reach the goal of perfect and eternal happiness . They all agree in defining this state of beatitude by the word moukti or mosksha , which may be interpreted in a sense analogous to emancipation , deliverance from evil , enfranchisement from the ties of the world , transmigration , excellence , perfection , isolation , departure , immortality . But the more usual interpretation
of this expression with the Djainas and the Bauddhas is nirvana , which means a profound calm , a complete apathy , or rather , according to the etymology of the w ord , extinction of thought . In this acceptation the term designates a constant and unalloyed happiness , an ecstasy to which we arrive by different gradations , in discarding the errors of the flesh for the purification of the soul . This apathy differs very little from an eternal sleep .
We now arrive at those sects which lay claim to the highest degree of orthodoxy , and which resolve themselves into the two schools of Mimansa : the practical Pourva Mimansa , and the theological Outta Mimansa , also called Vedanla . The object of the Mimansa is to determine the sense of revelation , and to establish the fundamental
principle of duty ; it is consequently a school of interpretation , implicitly subjected to the authority of the Vedas , but at the same time pretending to explain them in a more clear and intelligible
manner . The practical school , which will first engage our attention , grounds its system upon a very obscure work , called " Soutras Mimansa " composed of aphorisms attributed to Djaimini , which are utterly unintelligible , and which are supposed to have been , at their commencement , accompanied by a commentary or oral explanation . tSome fragments of the original have been preserved , which clearly show their remote antiquity ; but the moat complete exposition , of these Soutras , is that of Subara-Swami , under the form of a
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Philosophy.
exact literal interpretation of the Soutras , affirms that all is a vacuum , a doctrine clearly connected with transcendental idealism ; another accepts the internal sensation or intelligence , declaring all the rest an illusion ; with these , conscience , or an innate sense , exists through all eternity ; a third , admits the actual existence of external objects , as well as of internal sensations , considering the first as perceptible through the senses , and the second as deducible through reason ;
the fourth believe that the perception of external objects is an operation altogether immediate or produced by the intervention of a visible likeness . These last also maintain that objects become known to us through this induction , but are not actually perceptible , and in this respect they form a new school , and have been sometimes designated as heretics . It will not be difficult to discover from this
summary view of the doctrines of Bauddhism the striking relations existing between them and the more celebrated theories which divide the European philosophy of modern times . This , however , may be said of the schools of Djainas and Bauddhas , that they have , in common with most others of Hindoo origin , one principal theory—that of
propounding to man , as the highest object of his aspiration , the means by which he can reach the goal of perfect and eternal happiness . They all agree in defining this state of beatitude by the word moukti or mosksha , which may be interpreted in a sense analogous to emancipation , deliverance from evil , enfranchisement from the ties of the world , transmigration , excellence , perfection , isolation , departure , immortality . But the more usual interpretation
of this expression with the Djainas and the Bauddhas is nirvana , which means a profound calm , a complete apathy , or rather , according to the etymology of the w ord , extinction of thought . In this acceptation the term designates a constant and unalloyed happiness , an ecstasy to which we arrive by different gradations , in discarding the errors of the flesh for the purification of the soul . This apathy differs very little from an eternal sleep .
We now arrive at those sects which lay claim to the highest degree of orthodoxy , and which resolve themselves into the two schools of Mimansa : the practical Pourva Mimansa , and the theological Outta Mimansa , also called Vedanla . The object of the Mimansa is to determine the sense of revelation , and to establish the fundamental
principle of duty ; it is consequently a school of interpretation , implicitly subjected to the authority of the Vedas , but at the same time pretending to explain them in a more clear and intelligible
manner . The practical school , which will first engage our attention , grounds its system upon a very obscure work , called " Soutras Mimansa " composed of aphorisms attributed to Djaimini , which are utterly unintelligible , and which are supposed to have been , at their commencement , accompanied by a commentary or oral explanation . tSome fragments of the original have been preserved , which clearly show their remote antiquity ; but the moat complete exposition , of these Soutras , is that of Subara-Swami , under the form of a