PRUDENCE

By Wor. Bro. Rajeev Khandelwal

          M.W. the Grand Master, Rt. Wor. Brethren, V.Wor. Brethren and Brethren in all, as the Grand Chaplain, I have been called upon to deliver an oration on the nature and purpose of our Institution and I am indeed privileged and honoured to be again given this opportunity to share my thoughts with you, on this solemn occasion. It gives me immense pleasure to deliver this oration on the nature and purpose of our institution. This time my subject is Prudence.

Prudence as you all are aware is one of the 4 Cardinal Virtues in Freemasonry and our Rituals inform us, that it was amply practices by a large number of our ancient brethren.  In the charge after initiation, we are taught that as an individual, let prudence direct us always. What therefore is the importance of this virtue, which our rituals so amply highlight. That is the subject matter of this oration.

The word Prudence is derived from the Latin Word “Prudentia” and contracted from “Providentia”. What exactly therefore is Prudence? Definitions of the words are plenty and being an abstract terminology, different people define it differently. Aristotle down varied people have defined it variably. Right from “ Recta Ratio Agibilium” to“ Right reason applied to Practice”, we find many definitions of the word. “Wisdom in the way of caution and provision”; discretion; carefulness;  economy; frugality etc. "Prudence is principally in reference to actions to be done, and due means, order and method of doing or not doing something." Sir M. Hale. "Prudence supposes the value of the end to be assumed (Normally Good) and refers only to the adaptation of the means to achieve it. It is the relation of right means for achieving given ends." Whewell. Synonyms -- Wisdom; forecast; Providence; considerateness; judiciousness; discretion; caution; circumspection; etc.

                    Father Rickaby aptly renders it as "Right reason applied to Practice.” A better description will be: “An intellectual habit enabling us to see in any given state of human affairs, “what is virtuous and what is not”, and how to reach the one and avoid the other.” It is to be observed that Prudence, whilst possessing in some sort, an empire over all other moral virtues, itself aims to perfect not the will, but the intellect in its practical decisions. Its function is to point out which course of action is to be taken in any state of given circumstances. It indicates which, here and now, is the golden mean, wherein lies the essence of all virtue. It has nothing to do with directly willing the good it discerns. That is done by that particular moral virtue within whose province it falls. Prudence, therefore, has a directive capacity with regard to the other virtues. It lights the way and measures the arena for their exercise. Thus for example without prudence bravery becomes foolhardiness; mercy sinks into weakness, and temperance into fanaticism.           Prudence is correct knowledge of things to be done or to be avoided. Prudence resides in the intellect and is natural, i.e. acquired by our own acts and also supernatural, infused with sanctifying grace. As an act of virtue, Prudence requires three mental actions:

1.      Taking counsel carefully with our self and others,

2.      Judging correctly from the evidence at hand, and

3.      Directing the rest of our activity based on the norms we have established.

          Prudence is one of the four cardinal virtues; the others being justice, temperance, and fortitude. Prudence is first among the cardinal virtues and guides the others by setting rule and measure, applying moral principles to particular cases. Prudence is the virtue of the senses. It is the science of appearances. It is the outermost action of the inward thoughts. It is God taking decisions or thinking for humans. It is content to seek health of body by complying with physical conditions, and health of mind by the laws of the intellect. The world of the senses is a world of shows; it does not exist for itself, but has a symbolic character; and true Prudence recognizes the co-presence of other laws, and knows that its own office is subaltern; knows that it is surface and not the center where it works. Prudence is false when detached. It is legitimate when it is the Natural History of the soul incarnate; when it unfolds the beauty of laws within the narrow scope of our senses.

           There are various degrees of proficiency in knowledge of the world. It is sufficient, to our present purpose, to indicate three. One class lives to the Utility of the symbol esteeming health and wealth as a final good. The second class lives above this mark to the Beauty of the symbol; as the Poet, the Artist, and the Naturalist, and even a man of science. A third class lives above the beauty of the symbol also, to the beauty of the thing personified. These are wise men. The first class has common sense; the second has Taste; but the third has Spiritual Perception. Once in a long time, a man travels the whole distance, and sees and enjoys the symbol solidly; then also has a clear eye for its beauty, and, lastly, whilst he pitches his tent on this sacred volcanic isle of nature, does not offer to build houses and barns thereon, reverencing the splendor of the God which he sees bursting through each chink and cranny. This is Prudence Personified. This is to be achieved by all of us.

                    Prudence does not challenge Nature, and ask whence it is. It takes the laws of the world as true, whereby man's being is conditioned, as they are, and keeps these laws sacred that it may enjoy their proper good. It respects space and time, climate, wants, sleep, the law of polarity, growth, and finally accepts death as a reality. It revolves to give bound and period to his being, on all sides, the sun and moon, the great formalists in the sky, and accepts that here lies stubborn matter which will not swerve from its chemical routine. Here is a planted globe, pierced and belted with natural laws, and fenced and distributed externally with civil partitions and properties, which imposes new restraints on the young inhabitant. Prudence recognizes these as virtual realities and does not argue against their existence per se.

           We eat the bread of a produce, which grows, in the field. We breathe the air, which blows around us, and live on the surface already made for us. Time, which shows so vacant, indivisible, and divine in its coming, is slit and peddled into trifles and tatters. A house is to be painted, a lock to be repaired. I want corn, wine or oil, or meals, or salt; or I have a headache; then the income tax; and an affair to be transacted with a man without heart or brains; and the stinging recollection of a very awkward moment, these eat up the daily hours. Do what we may, summer will have its heat: if we walk in the woods, we must feed mosquitoes: if we go fishing, we must expect a wet coat. Prudence expects us to recognize these unqualified facts of life and to live with them peacefully. Prudence pleads with us to accept that there is no use working against these fundamental realities of nature and Life.

                    Similarly on the other hand, Nature punishes any neglect of prudence. If you think the senses final, obey their law. If you believe in the soul, accept it as a reality. It is like vinegar to the eyes, to deal with men of loose and imperfect perception. The beautiful laws of time and space, once dislocated by our inaptitude, are holes and dens. If we disturb a beehive by rash and stupid hands, instead of honey, it will yield us bees. Our words and actions to be fair must be timely and productive. I have often witnessed  criticism of Lodge officers doing some Masonic Ritual by some very senior brethren, and I am reminded of the shiftless and unhappy men who are not true to their senses or Masonic teaching. We should always remember that Our Remarks and Criticism must be aimed at producing something positive, productive and value additions. “Judge with candor and admonish if necessary with friendship” that is Prudence, we as masons must follow.

           One is Always taught to exercise prudence, for it can prevent future remorse and regret of loss or failure. “How many times do we judge people on face value, act in haste and then repent at leisure”. So many who have initiated major projects have subsequently regretted their actions or blamed their destiny, just because they failed to assess their situation Prudently and competently. Such people are doubly in error: one for inadequate deliberation and second for criticizing fate. However great a person’s goal, always take the proper precautions required to attain it. If you do not formulate a realistic plan of action and carefully weigh potential advantages and drawbacks, either you are not serious or you are just plain imprudent. The efforts and actions of such people is often more harmful than their inaction.

 

           Prudence and safety measures are important resources for achieving our goals. It is a serious error to be careless and negligent of anything that eventually might cause you to fail or to be accused of various things by others. Smart people envisage in advance all possible drawbacks and problems, and then figure out how to solve them or deal with them appropriately if they should arise. As one of our traditional sayings express it: “It is better to catch a burglar before he breaks into your home.” Embark upon every duty after you have carried out the proper planning and have taken due safety measures. Be wary of those steps that do not result in any material or intellectual benefit or make any value addition. Every work undertaken without taking adequate precautions is triviality, a sure sign of foolhardiness. People demonstrate their own virtue and worth through the success they achieve after facing very tough trials and awkward circumstances. Their success under adverse conditions depends primarily on formulating a realistic plan and then sticking to it. Prudence demands us to be flexible and change our plans according to the changed circumstances. Accordingly, a person’s worth and virtue are proportional to the resulting success, and one’s success is proportional to the degree of Prudence exercised before setting out on the venture.

            Being prudent however does not mean being fearful and withdrawing. A person doing nothing can never make any mistake. But that does not make such inactive person any better. Nor does action without proper preparation and planning have anything to do with being courageous and bold. Being excessively cautious may many a times cause some damage, but people can recover from them. However, the indiscreet and heedless actions of those who think imprudence is heroism are very risky and dangerous. We must reject such attitude, Instead, we must prefer the slow, peaceful road, even if it means a longer travail affected by more sorrow, yet ultimately successful.

           Your true stature before the Creator is measured by your energy and the greatness of your aims. The clearest sign of these two elements is that you willingly sacrifice your own comfort and desire for the prosperity of others. Can you imagine any greater sacrifice than to step on your own dignity for the sake of social well being, to hold your temper even when you feel like shouting, to limit your own desire at a time of personal prosperity? That is what prudence advices and teaches us, always to follow, as one of the law of social behavior.
           In war, it is unwise to consider only the daring of a victorious army and disregard the fact that its success derives from strategic planning. Similarly, it is unwise to attribute success to heedless daring, thereby downplaying the critical importance of Prudent planning and forethought. Prudence requires taking into consideration (and seeking to mitigate) the jealousy, rancor and hostility of all those who may be incited against our efforts and work. However, the very act of non-aggressiveness means it will not provoke an equal and opposite effort by others to hinder our work, it is therefore less risky and less likely to bring about failure and disappointment. By contrast, every bold and aggressive action provokes and inflames hostility in someone and, therefore, there is bound to be much anxiety about its consequences.

PRUDENCE: A VIRTUE

                        Prudence as I have already pointed out is a virtue, which makes us understand what we need to do and what we need to avoid in any state of given circumstances. It indicates to us the sure and legitimate means of attaining a praiseworthy end. It, therefore, determines the use we must make of our efforts and intelligence of our mind to turn us aside from what we might have to regret in our undertakings or actions of life. Still, it is possible in general that we may be mistaken in our judgment; but we will not be sorry if we acts with prudence; for the matter we are judging is either evident or doubtful. In the former case, we cannot be mistaken; and in the latter, before deciding we must brings in all the requisite attention to make sure that we say only what we knows is truth, and that we take as conjectural only what is doubtful.  But to carry out the functions of Prudence properly, we must take care to make use of the different elements it includes, which are eight in number: MEMORY, INTELLIGENCE, DOCILITY, SKILL, REASONING, FORESIGHT, CIRCUMSPECTION, AND PRECAUTION.
1) Memory: Prudence requires that we apply to the future the experience of the past. Even our Rituals inform us so. Nothing is more like, what is going to happen, than what has already happened. We must profit from the experiences of the Past; and from the experiences of the past we must derive wisdom in Present.  All our laudable endeavors will come good, only if based on Wisdom. Our own Rituals teach us so, and we must accept them fully.

2) Intelligence. Prudence requires that we grasp fully the matter we are dealing with, and the means most appropriate to achieve our aim.  Thus Prudence requires us as a scholar to prepare ourselves carefully before each lesson we give to others. For the needs to recall to mind with precision the principles which can easily slip our memory, and which, if forgotten, might lead us to serious mistakes. Take for example our Rituals. If not prepared and delivered intelligently, it only tends to negate what it seeks to achieve. Intelligence also allows us to express ourselves with the dignity and propriety which become a good ritualist, and without which what we recite might often inspire boredom and lack of interest. All this obviously demands preparation and effort; and if, while neglecting either, one expects God to make for the deficiency by an extraordinary help, this expectation would resemble the temerity of a man who tempts God, rather than the security of the one who rightly trusts in His goodness and power.

3) Docility: Sometimes docility is an important tool to achieve our goal, rather than headlong plunging into unknown or stormy waters. Resistance, Quarrels and Arguments no matter how right you think you are, rarely produce the desired results, but always enmity and disorder.

4) Skill: This concerns the ability and efficiency in carrying out the projects one has decided upon. Thus, prudence demands that we should always prefer the means, which seem to us the most proper and are within our reach to insure the success of what we have undertaken. It demands the application of the skill, that we have already acquired and to be prepared to acquire more and newer ones, if necessary. We must also always be prepared to remain a Student of the nature. Remember an Apple ripens only till it is green and rots on becoming red. Let us never become that red Apple.

5) Reasoning: This means applying the art of reasoning correctly so as to avoid the errors one might fall into. We must excel in this art, so as to lay down unquestionable principles in the work we undertake, and to deduce from their execution the certain and sure consequences, which will follow. Remember always that Sound reasoning is a sure road to success.

6) Foresight. This is the wise arrangement of the means which lead to the end desired; or, if one prefers, it is the action of the mind by which we recognize in advance what may happen, following the natural course of events. Under the first aspect, prudence requires a time to deliberate, if he does not wish to expose himself to see an undertaking fail; in like manner it forbids him to spend too much time deliberating, if he does not want to lose the occasion for acting appropriately. Prudence, moreover, regulates and modifies our other virtues, it assigns its proper rule to each thing; it considers how it foresees and coordinates all the virtues. Prudence also makes us look ahead at how useful or not, the means we may use will turnout to be, so as to reject them or make use of them in greater confidence.

7) Circumspection: This is a reflected attention, which thoroughly examines a plan before giving it final approval. Thus, a prudent person will not act unless he has carefully considered what he has to do and how he has to do, and he will make it a practice to choose the most appropriate methods, given the circumstances of time, place, finances, temperament and persons.

8). Precaution: Finally, precaution carefully avoids the inconvenience in what one may wish to carry out. This is why a prudent person will take adequate precautions to avoid pitfalls and failures. This will also lead him not to do things for which he may be blamed for, or may be scandalized by. Finally, it is through prudence that he will so regulate all his external conduct that his endeavors are usually successful.

                    Lastly I must state that we sin against prudence in two ways, by defect or by excess. One sins in the first way by hastiness, thoughtlessness, temerity, lack of attention to what one is doing, lack of consideration; by light-headedness, negligence, inconstancy, blind attachment to one’s own opinions, blind confidence in merely human resources, etc. One sins in the second manner by false prudence, which Scripture calls “Prudence of the flesh.” It judges only by the senses and has no other object in view, than to satisfy some ill-regulated love, or too high an opinion of self; thus it anxiously bothers about temporal concerns, either in the present or in the future; and the means it uses to succeed in what it undertakes are guile, fraud, and deceit.

                    This Sir, in my opinion is the sum and substance of the word “Prudence”.It’s proper use makes people Healthy, Wealthy, Wise, and Living legends. It makes them successful and held in high estimation amongst their fellow mortals. It is a double-edged sword and lack of Prudence results in hasty decisions to be repented at leisure. One must always use it to one’s advantage. Wise men have understood this fact long time back and no wonder a vast majority of our ancient brethren constantly followed it as one of the Four Cardinal Virtues? Then what about us? Should we not acquire it as one of the Four Cardinal virtues in our behavior both as a man and as a Mason, both in and out of our home, and both in and out of the lodge. I leave it for you to decide. Thank you.

PRUDENCE

1.    Rebuke popular sins, tricks of trade.

2.    Prudence not moral cowardice.

3.    Prudence is practical wisdom, sagacity in adapting means to ends and in foreseeing consequences.

4.    Preserve the position in which you can instruct, reprove, rebuke all parties.

5.    Or to take a partisan attitude in a case when you can conscientiously avoid it. Be candid.

6.    Or to run in debt at any time.

7.    Or to moderate a meeting when you are personally interested in the result.

8.    Or to have no definite agreement about salary, when in employment.

9.    Or to disburse the poor funds of the church.

10.           Or to be the secretary of the church.

11.           Or to be an advocate of either party.

12.           Or to be a voluntary party in a case of discipline.

13.           Or the treasurer.

14.           Nor worldly expediency, or policy. Beware of this.

15.           Nor suffer your family to do it.     

16.           Nor alcohol as a beverage.   

17.           Nip all controversy in the bud.

18.           Never use tobacco or opium, or other narcotics.

19.           Never let anyone think you fear to do your duty to all classes.

20.           Never fear to be faithful. Fear is a snare.

21.           Never belong to any secret society.

22.           Look to all teachers within your parish. 

23.           Lead, but don't attempt to drive.    

24.           Keep your eyes open to probable results.

25.           Keep out of suspicious company, or temptation.

26.           It is imprudent to:  Settle when a considerable minority is against it.

27.           Insist on the discharge of domestic and social duties.

28.           Insist much on confession to the injured.

29.           If party questions arise, either anticipate them, or reserve your fire for the right time.

30.           Honor rulers, teach their duty.

31.           Hold fast constitutional remedies to bad laws.

32.           Expose and rebuke sin in high and low places.

33.           Especially the suspicion that you have contention in your own family.

34.           Encourage people to do and give, and do not scold them for not doing and giving.

35.           Don't try to please everyone, this will shake confidence and bring you into bondage.

36.           Don't practice that which may need reproof.

37.           Don't listen to tale-bearers, but rebuke them.  

38.           Don't inculcate extravagant doctrines.

39.           Don't give your example in favor of misspending time or money.

40.           Don't get mixed up with any strife.

41.           Don't favor donation seeking parties.

42.           Don't encourage worldly professors in getting up fairs, parties and worldly projects.

43.           Don't commit yourself, and pretend to instruct, when you are not well informed.

44.           Discourage news-mongers, busy-bodies.

45.           Beware of Extravagant notions of dress, over or under dressing.

46.           Be wise and charitable in treatment of other denominations.

47.           Avoid places that may beget suspicion.

48.           Avoid any appearance of self-will.

49.           Avoid all that needs explanation and apology.

50.           Avoid a controversial spirit, or preaching. Be candid.

51.           Avoid a complaining spirit.

52.           Always ask, "What will result if such practices become general? If  all should copy?"

53.           Also, to marry an unspiritual wife.

54.           Also, to live under such circumstances.

55.           Also to marry whilst in debt, especially if wife is poor.

56.           Also political fraud and slanders.            

57.           Also on the punctual payment of debts.

58.           Also on restitution. Powerful restraints.

59.           Also a dictatorial spirit, it provokes resistance.

60.           Aim to please God in all things. This is true prudence.