So I recently discovered – or I should say re-discovered – a group/organization that sounds like something I myself would have created. I’m not quite sure what the confidentiality expectations are, so I’m not going to say what the group is. I can say that it is not the Freemasons.

Reading through the teachings and beliefs, I was struck by how much I related to them. It’s a group I learned about a long time ago, but I guess I never really looked too deeply into them. But for some reason – can’t quite remember how or why..? – I decided to investigate them more over the last week or so, even looking for mentions of them in my “go to” tome for that kind of stuff, “The Templar Tradition.” And lo and behold, there is an entire chapter devoted to them, and Gaetan states explicitly that the Templars recognized them as legitimate heirs of the primordial tradition.

I was starting to get a little skeptical, thinking I already “knew it all,” and was considering not joining because of that. I even sent an email to the order asking about that, and received a nice reply stating that the teachings would give me a deeper understanding of the concepts I have learned about over the last 30 years. It helped me to realize just how arrogant and egotistical I have been regarding this stuff – to think that I am the only person who has ever thought about this stuff… to think that over all the previous centuries, no one had ever thought to start an order focused on the things I think are important… to think I have really learned all there is to learn about that stuff. How horrible would that be? It would be terrible indeed.

So I saw the folly of my ways and decided to join the order. I received and started my first lessons yesterday, and really like what I have seen so far. Indeed, some of it is stuff that I have already learned or experienced, but there is no such thing as too much practice, and there have been some cool little nuggets of wisdom in there that I have appreciated. I am honestly blown away by how familiar it feels and just how closely it aligns with my own core beliefs. So instead of trying to start my own order, I am going to join an order that has been around for centuries, be humble, and learn all I can.

Instead of being jealous, or sad that I’m not the one who started it (seriously, how horrible does that sound? Yuck!) I’m grateful that I’m NOT the only one to think of starting something like this, and there is already a course of study and group of people that I can connect with. In fact, I just now got off the phone – someone from the member services offices called me directly to answer a question I emailed. Pretty cool… So yeah, instead of being stuck in self-pity today, I am opening myself up to new opportunities, getting back to some humility, getting back to being teachable, and embarking on a new quest. Exciting stuff! Thank you God 🙂