Freemasonry and spirituality
According to the „Alte Pflichten" (Old Charges), the first printed constitution of the Freemasons, dating from 1723, the Mason, if he rightly understands the Craft, will be neither a narrow-minded denier of God nor an unbound free spirit. Freemasons are to be bound only to that religion in which all men are agreed. Our Brother Fritz Uhlmann put it aptly more than ninety years ago: Freemasonry is the attuning of human life to the harmony of the universe. This process unfolds in the experience of our Masonic symbolism within the framework of time-honoured rituals. The individual experience within our temple reaches far beyond what can be put into words, and leaves, as it were, in the heart of each brother his own Masonic secret.
Masonic morality and ethics
The morality of Freemasonry is bound neither directly to a philosophical system nor to a religious confession. Rather, it is founded upon a common store of universal principles which teach man to perfect himself and to love his fellow men. In all religions and philosophies are to be found the traits of a wisdom shaped by the greatest apostles and prophets of humanity, inspired by the noblest stirrings of the human heart and refined by the hard experiences of life and history. Freemasonry strives to unite the intellectual, ethical and aesthetic values in solidarity, so as to attain a harmonious wholeness of human action.
Masonic virtue
By virtue, Freemasonry understands the capacity, in the widest sense, to do good, and the fulfilment of one's duties toward society and family, free from egoism and vanity. It teaches the exercise of virtue as the highest quality of morality and as a steadfast fidelity of action toward the inner ideal — an ideal which, when circumstances demand it, may even call for sacrifice. Virtue is understood as a realisation ever to be perfected, for Freemasonry knows that man is susceptible to temptation and weakness. Yet the continuing endeavour of the spirit proves itself an effective bulwark for the preservation and strengthening of virtue.
Masonic duty
For Freemasonry, duty means respect for the rights of others and of society. At the same time, man has duties toward himself. In this sense, Freemasonry encourages him to remain true to his ideals and to bring his conduct into accord with them. Masonic duty consists in orienting oneself, in every situation, to standards of conduct which arise from one's given word, from the ideal one has taken up, and from the good chosen out of inner conviction — often against powerful outward hindrances, and even when this demands sacrifice. Masonic duty is, in its essence, the unshakeable calling of the spirit to virtue.