From an enlightened brother · 9 months ago
Next ,We hear about Pythagoras who influenced New testament Biblical Authors who modelled the life of Jesus after that of Pythagoras. The Life and Philosophy of Pythagoras
concerns. Pythais [Pythasis], the mother of Pythagoras, had a connexion with an Apolloniacal spectre, or
ghost, of the God Apollo, or God Sol, (of course this must have been a holy ghost, and here we have the
Holy Ghost) which afterward appeared to her husband, and told him that he must have no connexion
with his wife during her pregnancy--a story evidently the same as that relating to Joseph and Mary.
From these peculiar circumstances, Pythagoras was known by the same title as Jesus, namely, the son of
God; and was supposed by the multitude to be under the influence of Divine inspiration."
This most famous philosopher was born sometime between 600 and 590 B.C., and the length of his life
has been estimated at nearly one hundred years.
The teachings of Pythagoras indicate that he was t****ughly conversant with the precepts of Oriental
and Occidental esotericism. He traveled among the Jews and was instructed by the Rabbins concerning
the secret traditions of Moses, the lawgiver of Israel. Later the School of the Essenes was conducted
chiefly for the purpose of interpreting the Pythagorean symbols. Pythagoras was initiated into the
Egyptian, Babylonian, and Chaldean Mysteries. Although it is believed by some that he was a disciple of
Zoroaster, it is doubtful whether his instructor of that name was the God-man now revered by the
P****es. While accounts of his travels differ, historians agree that he visited many countries and studied
at the feet of many masters.
"After having acquired all which it was possible for him to learn of the Greek philosophers and,
presumably, become an initiate in the Eleusinian mysteries, he went to Egypt, and after many rebuffs
and refusals, finally succeeded in securing initiation in the Mysteries of Isis, at the hands of the priests of
Thebes. Then this intrepid 'joiner' wended his way into Phoenicia and Syria where the Mysteries of
Adonis were conferred upon him, and crossing to the valley of the Euphrates he tarried long enough to
become versed in, the secret lore of the Chaldeans, who still dwelt in the vicinity of Babylon. Finally, he
made his greatest and most historic venture through Media and Persia into Hindustan where he remained
several years as a pupil and initiate of the learned Brahmins of Elephanta and Ellora." (See Ancient
Freemasonry, by Frank C. Higgins, 32°.) The same author adds that the name of Pythagoras is still
preserved in the records of the Brahmins as Yavancharya, the Ionian Teacher.
Pythagoras was said to have been the first man to call himself a philosopher; in fact, the world is
indebted to him for the word philosopher. Before that time the wise men had called themselves sages,
which was interpreted to mean those who know. Pythagoras was more modest. He coined the word
philosopher, which he defined as one who is attempting to find out.
After returning from his wanderings, Pythagoras established a school, or as it has been sometimes
called, a university, at Crotona, a Dorian colony in Southern Italy. Upon his arrival at Crotona he was
regarded askance, but after a short time those holding important positions in the surrounding colonies
sought his counsel in matters of great moment. He gathered around him a small group of sincere
disciples whom he instructed in the secret wisdom which had been revealed to him, and also in the
fundamentals of occult mathematics, music, and astronomy, which he considered to be the triangular
foundation of all the arts and sciences.The Life and Philosophy of Pythagoras
WHILE Mnesarchus, the father of Pythagoras, was in the city of Delphi on matters pertaining to his
business as a merchant, he and his wife, Parthenis, decided to consult the oracle of Delphi as to whether
the Fates were favorable for their return voyage to Syria. When the Pythoness (prophetess of Apollo)
seated herself on the golden tripod over the yawning vent of the oracle, she did not answer the question
they had asked, but told Mnesarchus that his wife was then with child and would give birth to a son who
was destined to surpass all men in beauty and wisdom, and who throughout the course of his life would
contribute much to the benefit of mankind. Mnesarchus was so deeply impressed by the prophecy that he
changed his wife's name to Pythasis, in honor of the Pythian priestess. When the child was born at Sidon
in Phœnicia, it was--as the oracle had said--a son. Mnesarchus and Pythasis named the child Pythagoras,
for they believed that he had been predestined by the oracle.
Many strange legends have been preserved concerning the birth of Pythagoras. Some maintained that he
was no mortal man: that he was one of the gods who had taken a human body to enable him to come into
the world and instruct the human race. Pythagoras was one of the many sages and saviors of antiquity
for whom an immaculate conception is asserted. In his Anacalypsis, Godfrey Higgins writes: "The first
striking circumstance in which the history of Pythagoras agrees with the history of Jesus is, that they
were natives of nearly the same country; the former being born at Sidon, the latter at Bethlehem, both in
Syria. The father of Pythagoras, as well as the father of Jesus, was prophetically informed that his wife
should bring forth a son, who should be a benefactor to mankind. They were both born when their
mothers were from home on journeys, Joseph and his wife having gone up to Bethlehem to be taxed, and
the father of Pythagoras having travelled from Samos, his residence, to Sidon, about his mercantile agoras was not an extremist. He taught moderation in all things rather than excess in anything, for
he believed that an excess of virtue was in itself a vice. One of his favorite statements was: "We must
avoid with our utmost endeavor, and amputate with fire and sword, and by all other means, from the
body, sickness; from the soul, ignorance; from the belly, luxury; from a city, sedition; from a family,
discord; and from all things, excess." Pythagoras also believed that there was no crime equal to that of
anarchy.
All men know what they want, but few know what they need. Pythagoras warned his disciples that when
they prayed they should not pray for themselves; that when they asked things of the gods they should not
ask things for themselves, because no man knows what is good for him and it is for this reason
undesirable to ask for things which, if obtained, would only prove to be injurious.
The God of Pythagoras was the Monad, or the One that is Everything. He described God as the Supreme
Mind distributed throughout all parts of the universethe Cause of all things, the Intelligence of all
things, and the Power within all things. He further declared the motion of God to be circular, the body of
God to be composed of the substance of light, and the nature of God to be composed of the substance of
truth.
Pythagoras declared that the eating of meat clouded the reasoning faculties. While he did not condemn
its use or totally abstain therefrom himself, he declared that judges should refrain from eating meat
before a trial, in order that those who appeared before them might receive the most honest and astute
decisions. When Pythagoras decided (as he often did) to retire into the temple of God for an extended
period of time to meditate and pray, he took with his supply of specially prepared food and drink. The
food consisted of equal parts of the seeds of poppy and sesame, the skin of the sea onion from which the
juice had been t****ughly extracted, the flower of daffodil, the leaves of mallows, and a paste of barley
and peas. These he compounded together with the addition of wild honey. For a beverage he took the
seeds of cucumbers, dried raisins (with seeds removed), the flowers of coriander, the seeds of mallows
and purslane, scraped cheese, meal, and cream, mixed together and sweetened with wild honey.
Pythagoras claimed that this was the diet of Hercules while wandering in the Libyan desert and was
according to the formula given to that hero by the goddess Ceres herself.
The favorite method of healing among the Pythagoreans was by the aid of poultices. These people also
knew the magic properties of vast numbers of plantsPythagoras' teachings are of the most transcendental importance to Masons, inasmuch as they are the
necessary fruit of his contact with the leading philosophers of the whole civilized world of his own day,
and must represent that in which all were agreed, shorn of all weeds of controversy. Thus, the
determined stand made by Pythagoras, in defense of pure monotheism, is sufficient evidence that the
tradition to the effect that the unity of God was the supreme secret of all the ancient initiations is
substantially correct. The philosophical school of Pythagoras was, in a measure, also a series of
initiations, for he caused his pupils to pass through a series of degrees and never permitted them
personal contact with himself until they had reached the higher grades. According to his biographers, his
degrees were three in number. The first, that of 'Mathematicus,' assuring his pupils proficiency in
mathematics and geometry, which was then, as it would be now if Masonry were properly inculcated,
the basis upon which all other knowledge was erected. Secondly, the degree of 'Theoreticus,' which dealt
with superficial applications of the exact sciences, and, lastly, the degree of 'Electus,' which entitled the
candidate to pass forward into the light of the fullest illumination which he was capable of absorbing.
The pupils of the Pythagorean school were divided into 'exoterici,' or pupils in the outer grades, and
'esoterici,' after they had passed the third degree of initiation and were entitled to the secret wisdom.
Silence, secrecy and unconditional obedience were cardinal principles of this great order." (See An