The Worshipful Master addressed a lodge of EAs, “Tell me why you were hoodwinked.”
The first EA stood and said, “So I couldn’t see the lodge and brethren until I had taken the obligation.”
The Master said, “That is true, and is certainly something that any dutiful EA should know. But if Masonry is a system of allegories, what else might be a meaning of being hoodwinked?”
Another EA replied, “Without sight we were forced to rely upon our ears, so this teaches us to always listen carefully.”
“That is a good lesson indeed, and one might think you had just stepped out of the Middle Chamber. Is there anything else?”
A third EA said, “We are all blind in one way or another, yet one is strong where another is weak. Thus through brotherly love we help, aid and assist each other.”
The Master smiled. “Very good. You are only an apprentice, and yet you hold the trowel like a master. What else can be said of being hoodwinked?”
A fourth EA answered, “When hoodwinked we see nothing, yet we see everything. The light of the mind flashes and movement and forms appear in the void of pure awareness.” Then he looked at his companions and grinned.
The Worshipful Master shook his head. “For a moment you played with the jewel of Grand Master Hiram Abif, but a thief has stolen what should have been treasured.”