The Simplistic View

Here is another of the ten interpretations from my paper on the symbolism of the Rough and the Perfect Ashlar.

II Simplistic View
This symbolic understanding considers the Rough Ashlar as representing the Entered Apprentice, new to the Craft and deficient in both knowledge and experience; the Perfect Ashlar represents the Master Mason with years in the Fraternity. I categorize this view as simplistic to the extent that the criterion used to measure the transformation of a man’s mental and spiritual nature is the quantity of years he has been a Mason rather than the quality of his Masonic life.

In some states, Lodges display stones to represent visually a Rough and a Perfect Ashlar. While meditation on these stones would assist the comprehension of an individual's transformation, the simplistic view merely sees it this way: that’s the candidate when he comes in and this is what he should look like when he’s finished.