Masonic ritual has so many references drawn from the Judaeo-Christian sacred texts that we can lose sight of the fact that many Brethren belong to other faiths. Increasingly in England the fraternity is made up of those whose religious and cultural imprint come from other countries and other continents. Hence the holy book on which aspirants take their vow will often not be the Bible that traditionally rests on the Master’s pedestal or altar.
    An important document has been written, The Volume of the Sacred Law in Multi-Faith Freemasonry which is the work of Chhotalal Pattni, whom I first met at a lodge meeting where I was privileged to hear that talk for the first time.
    Chhotu was brought up in the Hindu faith, one of whose holy texts is the Bhagavad-gita, although characteristically he eschews all mention, in Freemasonry, of sectarian attitudes. He first came to England in 1962. I asked him if, living in a society that was not centred on the Hindu religion, his religion had become diluted.
    ‘On the contrary. When I came here I was not deeply involved in religion. A few things were ingrained, such as being a vegetarian. I used to go to a Christian church, and I would close my eyes and pray to my own God, because I knew I was in a holy place. At a parish tea afterwards, the priest asked me why I was a vegetarian, and I told him it was because of my religion. He said “It must be a second-class religion that doesn’t allow you to eat meat”. I told him “You as a priest should not utter those words”.
    ‘He apologised, and told me to come as often as I wished to pray in his church.’
    Chhotu was distressed by this attitude, and explained that the church didn’t exist to serve the teacher, but ‘it’s the pupils who interpret a religion for their own inner benefit.’

EMIGRATION TO KENYA

Chhotu was born in India and when he was eight years old emigrated to Kenya with his mother and his brothers and sisters. It was December 1943, and as regular passenger ships had been requisitioned because of the war, they had to make the crossing from India to Mombasa by dhow. It took twenty-eight days, and his uncle died on the journey.
    It was the first time Chhotu had seen a storm at sea, and it made a deep impression. The Captain said that he would not keep a body on the ship, as spiritual harm could come from doing so, and he wanted to carry out a burial at sea. Chhotu’s mother, because of the Hindu custom, wanted a cremation, which could not be carried out in the night time, and begged the captain to wait until dawn. At 5.30 in the morning, the first rays of sunlight were to be seen, and his mother then agreed to the burial. Within forty-five minutes the storm had abated! Was this divine intervention?
    He went to school in Nairobi and later went to England, studied law and was called to the Bar in 1956, after which he returned to Kenya to practise law.
    While he was in Nairobi as a student, he went to the British Council, where he saw masonic symbols, and he was told that it was something to do with mystical science.
    ‘They said to me, “Why don’t you join Freemasonry once you are qualified?” and I said “No, because I know that they insist on drinking and eating meat and so on.” They said, “No, that’s not true.” “How do you know?” I asked.
    “Because I am a Freemason, and that’s not the case. If that is the objection, then you can discount it.”
    ‘I joined Freemasonry, and once I had joined I started reading more and more about it. I got my third degree after two years, and I learned the first degree tracing board lecture in fifteen days. It made a very big impression on me – I learned what the aims and objectives are.’
    ‘Did the first degree tracing board impress you with its spiritual import?’ I asked.
    ‘I started to understand that the Volume of the Sacred Law was important and that you have to guide your actions by the precepts it contains. More than that, I found that there was nothing contrary to the religion that I practised.’
    I asked, ‘Although there was nothing contrary, did you perhaps find that there were connections to your religion?
    ‘Yes, I could find plenty. Freemasonry teaches you how to be honest, how to be virtuous, how to be honourable, and that is also what my religion taught me. It takes you beyond the reading of the book. If you give education to one child, he will look after the whole family. This is more virtuous than giving food for one day to the family. If you give a man fish, he feeds the family for one day – give him a net, and he feeds the family for life.’
    So there are no conflicts between the Hindu religion and Freemsonary?
    ‘On the contrary – Freemasonry ensures that any divisions due to the Indian caste system are set aside when you enter the lodge, so that you can be united spiritually.’

BHAGAVAD-GITA

Were there many parallels between Bhagavad-gita and masonic philosophy?
    ‘The general principle is that the Bhagavad-gita will tell you, using the reincarnation philosophy, that every man is rewarded according to his merit and ability. The principle behind the Great Architect rewarding or punishing as we have obeyed or disregarded His divine commands is the principle of karma preached by Krishna. To do action is your duty, but the fruits of it are in the hands of someone else, namely of the Great Architect, or the Lord, but the day that you do an action with the view of gaining the fruits of that action, it is not valid. It has to be a disinterested action. In chapter twelve of Bhagavad-gita we read “Try to act giving up all results of your work and try to be self-situated”, a clear reference to the Centre. The Koran is very similar – you must do the action without any desire or hope of reward.’
    In fact the Bhagavad-gita is replete with principles corresponding to masonic practice. Chapter five has clear resonances with the first degree.
    ‘A liberated person is not attracted to material sense-pleasure. The selfrealised person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates on the Supreme.’ The prayer in the first degree takes on added significance when we read chapter sixteen: ‘These transcendental qualities belong to godly men endowed with divine nature’.
    But the most striking references in Bhagavad-gita are those which resonate with the third degree. ‘Those with the vision of eternity can see that the imperishable soul is transcendental, eternal, and beyond the modes of nature.’
    What does Chhotu think about the present-day state of Freemasonry in England?
    ‘I think Freemasonry is becoming more of a society which is the instrument of the people who govern it, rather than a society which you would stay in and enjoy. There is too much politics. There is so much tug of war, and it has become worse over the years. Now the scriptures and the deeper meanings are restricted to one little class of the learned people – the older generation, and it is not dispersed among the majority, who often become fork and knife masons, and then they go away; it is becoming like a social club. Then there are others, where there is no brotherly love or compassion; charity means you have to look at other people and give with compassion. We were taught to be masons in our hearts.’
    ‘If you could change Freemasonry what would you do?’
    ‘The problem is not with the Rulers – it is the middle-ranking Freemasons who have become totally motivated by power. I would like to see some changes there.’

WEST LONDON MASONIC CENTRE

Chhotu was responsible with others for the setting up of the West London Masonic Centre in Ealing. In 1982 they found a hospital and nurses home that was about to be demolished. By recruiting lodges who would give £3,000 each in return for shares in the venture, they got together six lodges who were the core of the enterprise. In 1983 the then Pro Grand Master Lord Farnham consecrated it, and very soon they had over ten lodges, and needed more space.
    They obtained planning permission to build an extension, and now there are fifty-five lodges and twenty Royal Arch chapters meeting there, serving approximately two thousand Freemasons.
    A Freemason in his heart and in his spirit, who combines his love of the Craft’s spiritual essence with practical every-day life, and who has worked throughout fifty years for the good of his Brethren – such a man is highly prized in Freemasonry, and his knowledge of how to apply spiritual principles through the practice of his Craft can only be of benefit to the many who come in contact with him.
    All references from Bhagavad-gita are taken from the translation by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Bhagavad-gita As It Is (Bhaktivedanta Book Trust), 1983.