WHERE WERE YOU FIRST MADE A MASON

Were you instructed to analyze the answer you gave during initiation?  Ritual, at first glance provides many of the fundamental ideas that define our direction as Freemasons. When our mentor instructs us on the value and purpose of asking, we begin that journey within, examining your life.  'In my heart'-  if that is the case then what does it mean to you?  The heart isn't a lodge room.  Are we lead to believe the heart represents courage, compassion, dedication, love?  And if that is the case, are we then to assume we have been an unacknowledged mason long before we have been enlightened? It seems a stretch but I suppose we could say great musicians, great mathematicians had the potential long before they applied themselves and revealed their talent. But why would we go there except in a moment of altruistic madness?  At that level of abstraction, much context would be gained at the expense of lost meaning, or are we talking about a phenomenologists dream? Most of us will need a briefing on this aspect of philosophy before plunging into the abysse.  Would I be wrong to ask a brother about his sense of what he has experienced; his outlook, so unique that within the confines of his mind, he makes and finds overlap in consciousness?  Exceptional brethren could guide this conversation. They would educate us without making us feel self-conscious or inferior. They would listen to our step by step growth, gaining a better sense of our strengths and weaknesses. The latter gives us reason to focus on the goal, betterment, and motivation for additional effort.  If I think I am not a good friend- what then is the difference between me and my ideal self?  What would it require of me to be that ideal self? Private conversations with the mind are influenced by an insightful mentor. Find yours and find yourself.