By Dr. Pablo S. Trillana III
Contributor Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: June 18, 2010
Today, June 19, 2010, is the the 149th birth anniversary of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal and is 11 days before Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III will take his oath as the 15th President of the Republic.
Rizal never held any office even remotely comparable to the presidency. But Aquino can learn a thing or two about leadership from Rizal's life as an exile in Dapitan.
Immediately after returning to the Philippines on June 26, 1892, Rizal was charged with smuggling anti-friar leaflets. Without the benefit of a trial, he was then shipped out to Dapitan. He arrived in that lonely Mindanao outpost, "the edge of nowhere," as writer Leon Ma. Guerrero described it, on July 17, 1892 and stayed there until July 31, 1896.
Before the Dapitan interlude, Rizal's two incendiary novels, "Noli Me Tangere" (Touch Me Not) and "El Filibusterismo, " (The Filibuster) had made waves in the Philippines, opening the eyes of Filipinos to their dismal condition. The increasingly restive natives alarmed the colonial government. The latter would have been more alarmed had they discovered that on July 3, 1892, Rizal founded the La Liga Filipina, a sub-rosa organization whose aim was to establish an ideal society, whose members were pledged "to mutual protection against any adversity, to provide defense against violence and injustice, to stimulate education, agriculture and commerce, to study and apply reforms…"
In Dapitan, Rizal found not a hermitage but windows for effecting social change. Losing no time, Rizal talked his commandant-warden, Ricardo Carnicero, into granting him freedom of movement. In return, he promised not to escape.
Rizal put up a school for boys that became his laboratory for molding the "whole man." Besides the basic subjects of reading, writing, mathematics, Spanish and English, he taught his pupils boxing, swimming, fencing and sailing. Agriculture and community work was part of his curriculum, as well as lessons that could be imparted only by real-life experiences. Often, he took his wards on perilous field trips to test their mettle. Rizal's whole man must be not only mentally and physically fit, he must also have the bravura to cope with the unpredictable world outside the classroom where intelligence was needed most.
Rizal also built a hospital. He earned good fees from the wealthy but treated the poor gratis. He continued to write poetry, sketch and sculpt. At the urging of Ferdinand Blumentritt, his Austrian friend, he worked on a Tagalog grammar and learned Bisayan.
Fr. Pablo Pastells, then the Jesuit superior in the Philippines, began a lengthy correspondence with Rizal in the hope of saving the brilliant Ateneo alumnus from his "shipwreck of faith." Rizal obliged with an epistolary debate, substantiating his arguments with the writings of philosophers and historians whom he quoted from memory, because he had no access to a library. Rizal was also in touch with leading ethnologists, botanists and zoologists in Europe, to whom he sent specimens of unusual plants and insects and sketches of unfamiliar animals, flowers and shells found in Dapitan. As a result of this exchange, a frog, a beetle and a lizard were named after him.
Rizal also engaged in the copra and hemp business. He formed a cooperative to help break the Chinese trade monopoly in Dapitan. He helped fishermen increase their catch by teaching them scientific fishing methods. He built Dapitan's first water system, lit its streets, drained its marshes to prevent malaria and beautified its plaza.
He even played lotto and won, investing his winnings in a sizable farm in Talisay, a seaside barrio, which he turned into a working plantation.
Several times during his exile, Rizal demanded that he be brought to trial and face judgment, and that if there were no further reasons for his exile, be set free. But his pleas fell on deaf ears. In February 1895 Rizal met the 18-year-old Josephine Bracken, the adopted daughter of one of his patients. The two fell in love, but were forbidden to marry in church unless Rizal "retracted his religious errors," specifically his embrace of freemasonry. Instead of bowing to the clergy, Rizal chose to live with Josephine as his wife, believing there was no impediment to their union before the eyes of God.
In June 1896 Rizal was visited by Pio Valenzuela, Bonifacio's emissary, who informed him about the Katipunan and the imminence of revolution. Rizal refused to endorse Bonifacio's plans for an armed struggle because they appeared fatally inadequate, though he suggested revolutionary tactics that might help the Katipunan.
All told, Dapitan showed a facet of Rizal's character that is often overlooked because of his larger-than- life image as idealist-martyr: his down-to-earth notion of social change. So even as he aimed for the stars, his feet were firmly planted on the ground.
In transforming backward Dapitan into a progressive community, Rizal demonstrated that he had a full grasp of the demands of development such as education, health services, infrastructure, livelihood, agriculture, security and the many other factors that empower people to live a better life. Without patronage, without resorting to bribery or any shady arrangement, without the authority invested by high position, Rizal created a model community, a microcosm of what the Philippines could become given a leadership that cared for it, exactly as he had envisioned in La Liga Filipina.
Aquino can have no better mentor as he begins to govern a nation so hungry for a leader who treads the high ground but at the same time can translate his idealism into reality.
Dr. Pablo S. Trillana III is the supreme commander of the Order of the Knights of Rizal.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Aphorisms on Freemasonry by George Oliver
Selected aphorisms from The Book of the Lodge by George Oliver (1782-1867)
I: Freemasonry is a beautiful system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
II: If you remain silent when Freemasonry is attacked, you condemn by your actions what your conscience approves.
III: As you are a Christian Mason, you must on all occasions study to perform the duties of Christian morality, which are comprehended under the triple category of God, your neighbour and yourself.
IV: The benefits to be derived from Masonry are well described by Ovid and Horace, when they say, -"Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes emollit mores. Asperitatis et invidiae corrector et irae; " which may be translated thus: "To have learnt the liberal arts faithfully, softens the manners and operates as a fine corrector of ill-nature, envy, and anger.
V: To subdue the passions has been the universal aim of all mankind. All have placed their hopes upon it; and hence sprang the first idea of the Γνωθι Σηαυτον, which was inscribed on the portal of heathen temples, that it might prove a stimulus to virtue, of which it was the first lesson, and lead to the desirable consummation, in which all excellence was blended, of subduing the passions.
VI: If you intend to pursue the study of Masonry to any beneficial result, it is indispensable that you attend the Lodge regularly. This is your apprenticeship, and without it you will never become a bright Mason. There is no royal road to science.
VII: A Lodge is not to be understood simply as a place where Masons assemble for the dispatch of business, but of the aggregate body of its members. The latter is, strictly speaking, the Lodge; the former is only the Lodge-room.
VIII: An incompetent person in the chair of the Lodge, is like a hawk on the wing, from which all the inferior birds hasten to escape, and leave him the sole tenant of the sky. In the same manner, such a Master will cause the Lodge to be deserted by its best Members, and be left alone in his glory.
IX: If you mean to attend your Lodge, be there at the hour mentioned in the summons. Whoever is late, disturbs the Brethren, and interrupts the business of the Lodge.
X: When seated, recollect your situation. If you are an Officer, do your duty, and nothing more. If you are simply a Brother, your business is to hear, and not to speak. An officious interference is unbecoming in a Mason: it may do harm, and cannot, by any possibility, be productive of good.
XI: Be always obedient to the Chair. Obedience is a virtue of the greatest importance to your own character as a Mason, and to the general welfare of the Lodge. Without obedience Wisdom would be inoperative, Strength would lose its power, and Beauty its grace; and confusion and discord would soon banish the occupants of the holy ground.
XII: Never by any chance or persuasion suffer yourself to be inveigled into a party hostile to the Officers in charge of the Lodge. If you do, you will be a marked man, and your progress in Masonry will be rendered doubtful, if not altogether prevented.
XIII: During the period when serious business occupies the attention of the Brethren, you must not leave your seat, or engage in conversation with your neighbours, not even in whispers; neither should you move the chair or bench on which you are seated, or make any other noise to disturb the Master or his Officers in the orderly execution of their respective duties. Silence is the leading characteristic of a well-regulated Lodge. I have known many good Lodges spoiled for want of a due attention to these trifling particulars.
XXV: Never enter into a dispute with a cowan. Like the deaf adder he will stop his ears, and refuse to hear the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. No matter how clear are your facts, or how convincing your arguments, still he will turn an incredulous ear to your reasoning. Though you anxiously cry out, Oh, Baal, hear us, and even cut yourself with knives and lancets to bespeak his attention, there will be neither voice nor any answer, nor any that regardeth. You may as well endeavour to extinguish the sun by pelting it with snowballs, or to cut rocks in pieces with a razor, as to make any genial impression on the mind of a professed cowan.
XXVI: What is the reason Bro. ____ makes so little progress in Masonry? -Indolence. Why did Bro. ____ fail to establish a good character as the Master of his Lodge? -Because he was not an industrious person. Do you inquire why Bro. ____ never passed to the Second Degree? -I answer, because he was constitutionally idle. Indolence is the prolific parent of numerous other vices. Bad habits may be subdued, selfishness may be reformed, and passion held in check, but indolence is rarely, if ever, conquered.
XXX. Silence, secrecy, and calmness of temper, are the unmistakable marks of a genuine Mason. If you hear any one make an incessant boast of his knowledge, you may set him down as an empty chatterer. Noise is not wisdom. Those who ostentatiously proclaim their own merits may for a time enjoy the satisfaction of deceit, yet in the end their pretensions are sure to be unmasked.
XXXII. Do you hear a man boast of his abilities, his attainments, his dignity, or his position in life? Intrust him not with your secrets.
XXXIV. When in the Lodge, beware of contentions brethren. Truth is as little an object with them as brotherly love. They will wrangle against truth as freely as against error, whether defeated or victorious, they will still argue and quarrel, question and dispute, until they have banished every right-minded Brother from the Lodge.
LVII: How many disputes arise out of trifles! And how greatly would they be diminished if every one would deliberately ask himself this question -- whether is it better to sacrifice a point which is of no value, or to lose a friend more precious than rubies?
LIX: Before you pronounce a man to be a good Mason, let him pass the Chair. That is the test which will infallibly display both virtues and failing, mental imbecility and moral strength. If he pass through his year of apparent honour, but real trial, creditably, he will have nobly earned the character of a worthy and intelligent Mason.
LXII: When a cowan critises the science, answer him not, but listen attentively to his words. They may perchance recall some point, part, or secret to your recollection, which has escaped your notice, for the castigations of the cowan are not without their use and benefit; "Like the toad -- ugly and venomous, Which wears a precious jewel in its head."
LXV: Esteem the Brother who takes a pleasure in acts of charity, and never babbles about it; take him to your bosom, and cherish him as a credit to Masonry and an honour to mankind.
LXIX: Be very cautious whom you recommend as a candidate for initiation; one false step on this point may be fatal. If you introduce a disputatious person, confusion will be produced, which may end in the dissolution of the Lodge. If you have a good Lodge, keep it select. Great numbers are not always beneficial.
LXXI: He is a wise Brother who knows how to conclude a speech when he has said all that is pertinent to the subject.
XCIII: The great secret for improving the memory, may be found in exercise, practice, and labour. Nothing is so much improved by care, or injured by neglect, as the memory.
XCVII: As the Lodge is opened with the rising sun, in the name of T.G.A.O.T.U. , and closed at its setting in peace, harmony, and brotherly love, so, if you have any animosity against a Brother Mason, let not the sun sink in the West without being witness to your reconciliation. Early explanations prevent long-continued enmities.
-----------------------------------
November 5, 1782 - March 3, 1867
One of the most distinguished and learned of English freemasons, George Oliver is remembered as a laborious antiquary and author on both masonic and ecclesiastical themes.
While his erroneous theories and fanciful speculations on the early history of Freemasonry must be rejected, his laborious researches and genuine scholarship requires that he be placed as the founder of what may well be called the literary school of Freemasonry.
Initiated: 1801
Saint Peter’s Lodge, Peterborough
Provincial Grand Steward: 1813
Provincial Deputy Grand Master, Lincolnshire: 1832
Past Deputy Grand Master, Massachusetts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Albert Mackey.
I: Freemasonry is a beautiful system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
II: If you remain silent when Freemasonry is attacked, you condemn by your actions what your conscience approves.
III: As you are a Christian Mason, you must on all occasions study to perform the duties of Christian morality, which are comprehended under the triple category of God, your neighbour and yourself.
IV: The benefits to be derived from Masonry are well described by Ovid and Horace, when they say, -"Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes emollit mores. Asperitatis et invidiae corrector et irae; " which may be translated thus: "To have learnt the liberal arts faithfully, softens the manners and operates as a fine corrector of ill-nature, envy, and anger.
V: To subdue the passions has been the universal aim of all mankind. All have placed their hopes upon it; and hence sprang the first idea of the Γνωθι Σηαυτον, which was inscribed on the portal of heathen temples, that it might prove a stimulus to virtue, of which it was the first lesson, and lead to the desirable consummation, in which all excellence was blended, of subduing the passions.
VI: If you intend to pursue the study of Masonry to any beneficial result, it is indispensable that you attend the Lodge regularly. This is your apprenticeship, and without it you will never become a bright Mason. There is no royal road to science.
VII: A Lodge is not to be understood simply as a place where Masons assemble for the dispatch of business, but of the aggregate body of its members. The latter is, strictly speaking, the Lodge; the former is only the Lodge-room.
VIII: An incompetent person in the chair of the Lodge, is like a hawk on the wing, from which all the inferior birds hasten to escape, and leave him the sole tenant of the sky. In the same manner, such a Master will cause the Lodge to be deserted by its best Members, and be left alone in his glory.
IX: If you mean to attend your Lodge, be there at the hour mentioned in the summons. Whoever is late, disturbs the Brethren, and interrupts the business of the Lodge.
X: When seated, recollect your situation. If you are an Officer, do your duty, and nothing more. If you are simply a Brother, your business is to hear, and not to speak. An officious interference is unbecoming in a Mason: it may do harm, and cannot, by any possibility, be productive of good.
XI: Be always obedient to the Chair. Obedience is a virtue of the greatest importance to your own character as a Mason, and to the general welfare of the Lodge. Without obedience Wisdom would be inoperative, Strength would lose its power, and Beauty its grace; and confusion and discord would soon banish the occupants of the holy ground.
XII: Never by any chance or persuasion suffer yourself to be inveigled into a party hostile to the Officers in charge of the Lodge. If you do, you will be a marked man, and your progress in Masonry will be rendered doubtful, if not altogether prevented.
XIII: During the period when serious business occupies the attention of the Brethren, you must not leave your seat, or engage in conversation with your neighbours, not even in whispers; neither should you move the chair or bench on which you are seated, or make any other noise to disturb the Master or his Officers in the orderly execution of their respective duties. Silence is the leading characteristic of a well-regulated Lodge. I have known many good Lodges spoiled for want of a due attention to these trifling particulars.
XXV: Never enter into a dispute with a cowan. Like the deaf adder he will stop his ears, and refuse to hear the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. No matter how clear are your facts, or how convincing your arguments, still he will turn an incredulous ear to your reasoning. Though you anxiously cry out, Oh, Baal, hear us, and even cut yourself with knives and lancets to bespeak his attention, there will be neither voice nor any answer, nor any that regardeth. You may as well endeavour to extinguish the sun by pelting it with snowballs, or to cut rocks in pieces with a razor, as to make any genial impression on the mind of a professed cowan.
XXVI: What is the reason Bro. ____ makes so little progress in Masonry? -Indolence. Why did Bro. ____ fail to establish a good character as the Master of his Lodge? -Because he was not an industrious person. Do you inquire why Bro. ____ never passed to the Second Degree? -I answer, because he was constitutionally idle. Indolence is the prolific parent of numerous other vices. Bad habits may be subdued, selfishness may be reformed, and passion held in check, but indolence is rarely, if ever, conquered.
XXX. Silence, secrecy, and calmness of temper, are the unmistakable marks of a genuine Mason. If you hear any one make an incessant boast of his knowledge, you may set him down as an empty chatterer. Noise is not wisdom. Those who ostentatiously proclaim their own merits may for a time enjoy the satisfaction of deceit, yet in the end their pretensions are sure to be unmasked.
XXXII. Do you hear a man boast of his abilities, his attainments, his dignity, or his position in life? Intrust him not with your secrets.
XXXIV. When in the Lodge, beware of contentions brethren. Truth is as little an object with them as brotherly love. They will wrangle against truth as freely as against error, whether defeated or victorious, they will still argue and quarrel, question and dispute, until they have banished every right-minded Brother from the Lodge.
LVII: How many disputes arise out of trifles! And how greatly would they be diminished if every one would deliberately ask himself this question -- whether is it better to sacrifice a point which is of no value, or to lose a friend more precious than rubies?
LIX: Before you pronounce a man to be a good Mason, let him pass the Chair. That is the test which will infallibly display both virtues and failing, mental imbecility and moral strength. If he pass through his year of apparent honour, but real trial, creditably, he will have nobly earned the character of a worthy and intelligent Mason.
LXII: When a cowan critises the science, answer him not, but listen attentively to his words. They may perchance recall some point, part, or secret to your recollection, which has escaped your notice, for the castigations of the cowan are not without their use and benefit; "Like the toad -- ugly and venomous, Which wears a precious jewel in its head."
LXV: Esteem the Brother who takes a pleasure in acts of charity, and never babbles about it; take him to your bosom, and cherish him as a credit to Masonry and an honour to mankind.
LXIX: Be very cautious whom you recommend as a candidate for initiation; one false step on this point may be fatal. If you introduce a disputatious person, confusion will be produced, which may end in the dissolution of the Lodge. If you have a good Lodge, keep it select. Great numbers are not always beneficial.
LXXI: He is a wise Brother who knows how to conclude a speech when he has said all that is pertinent to the subject.
XCIII: The great secret for improving the memory, may be found in exercise, practice, and labour. Nothing is so much improved by care, or injured by neglect, as the memory.
XCVII: As the Lodge is opened with the rising sun, in the name of T.G.A.O.T.U. , and closed at its setting in peace, harmony, and brotherly love, so, if you have any animosity against a Brother Mason, let not the sun sink in the West without being witness to your reconciliation. Early explanations prevent long-continued enmities.
-----------------------------------
November 5, 1782 - March 3, 1867
One of the most distinguished and learned of English freemasons, George Oliver is remembered as a laborious antiquary and author on both masonic and ecclesiastical themes.
While his erroneous theories and fanciful speculations on the early history of Freemasonry must be rejected, his laborious researches and genuine scholarship requires that he be placed as the founder of what may well be called the literary school of Freemasonry.
Initiated: 1801
Saint Peter’s Lodge, Peterborough
Provincial Grand Steward: 1813
Provincial Deputy Grand Master, Lincolnshire: 1832
Past Deputy Grand Master, Massachusetts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Albert Mackey.
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