Manly P. Hall's Speech at the Philosophical Research Society Cornerstone Dedication

     Friends,

    We hope that you will have continuing pride of the right kind, an internal satisfaction and peace for having helped to make possible something that is so sorely needed in our time, a clear statement that we will not be limited, or held, by those principles or teachings which we do not regard as sufficient to be of the common good for all men. And that in perpetuating these principles that we do believe and that we do affirm, that each one of us is making a valid contribution to life — and not only to our own life, but to that Greater Life which moves through all of us.

   Before the cement is placed, I would like to ask all of you to join with me, for a few moments, in prayer:

    Eternal Father, Master of all builders, Grand Master of architects and of all who would construct for man, the living temple of an eternal life. We ask the blessings of Thy love and understanding upon this frail effort of our hands. We ask Thy presence in this work which we are seeking to do for the greater glory of Thy name.

    Eternal Father, bring peace and blessings into this house. Assist us to so live that Thy presence shall be with us, in the going out and in the coming in. We ask that this place be sanctified against all these forces and circumstances which may cause mortals to lose sight of Thee.

    We ask Thy presence, and we ask for the strength to so live and so conduct ourselves that Thy presence will be with us, justified by our own conduct.

    We ask that we may have depth of understanding to love one another, to serve one another, to overlook all weaknesses and failings of the flesh, and unite in the common service of man’s common need: the need for love, and truth, and right example, and dedication, and devotion — not only here, but in our private lives and in all our contacts with our fellow men.

    Into Thy eternal keeping, Great Father, we place this house as our offering. We ask Thy loving guidance, we ask Thy presence in all our works, we seek only to serve Thee, and not for the glory of ourselves. We ask that the future shall bring to this house when we are gone, others wiser and better than ourselves. We ask not that this be a monument to any person, but an eternal monument to the spirit of truth-seeking and truth-loving in all men. We hope that the foundations we have laid will be used by others who will grow further and do more, and more greatly spread the needed message, which we believe to be right and proper.

    Into this house, O Father, we welcome all Thy children. Let not race nor creed nor sect divide us. We search honorably, we desire honorably that Thy presence, as represented by this sun at high noon — a light that shines upon all men — shall shine into this house and into our hearts, and from our hearts, to all who need.

    Eternal Father, bless those who have helped, bless those who are helping, bless those that shall help, and keep this work clean and honest and right, and forever dedicated to the majesty of Thy name.

    We ask this humbly, as Thy servants, awaiting the works that Thou wouldst have us do. Bless all who need; comfort all who mourn; and to those who come here, let inspiration and truth and righteousness move their lives toward Thy purpose and Thy service. We ask it in Thy Eternal Name, Great Father of works.

    Amen.


    Friends,

    Our foundation is the sincere belief in the basic good in all men.

    We believe that the time has come when divisions, separations, and conflicts can no longer be endured if we are to survive. We therefore seek to build here a place of union, where the members of the five living religions of the world can meet as brothers; where no creedal limitation will ever divide men; for we would not have a wall of creeds, but an open door in human hearts to that God which is the Father and the Power of all things.

    In our foundation, we have recognized the three great instruments of the Divine Purpose: religion, philosophy, and science. We believe that these, divided, have brought a terrible hardship upon mankind, that in the reunion of these, we have the perfect servants of the Eternal.

    We seek in religion to establish men of good faith and good hope, regardless of the names of their creeds or sects, establish them upon the security of their own internal conviction, helping them to live strong and true and right, and to come here without fear that we shall try to take away from them anything which they believe to be true. We wish to take nothing — we wish only to give more, if it is our power or privilege to so do.

    We believe in philosophy because we believe that the great philosophical principles of the ages, as taught through time by the most respected and honored of human beings, that these great teachings and these great principles are of eternal utility inasmuch as they are based upon man’s universal veneration of One Divine Power: the eternal beauty of the Universe and the eternal goodness of man’s nature. We feel that this belief, so sacred, so noble, and so long held, must be sustained, preserved, and protected by every means available to us. Therefore, we dedicate a part of our work to the carrying on of these principles for which men have lived and died. And let us try, in every way we can, to prove that these good ones have not lived or died in vain, that we have recognized them and known them.

    We believe that science, the youngest of our great branches of knowledge, is potentially one of the richest and most beautiful, and that the scientist is peculiarly and wonderfully endowed with powers and capacities by which he can become a great and wonderful servant of the Divine Principle at the root of Life. We know and believe that as time goes on science will richen, deepen, idealize, and become a peculiar priesthood to worship Deity eternally through the wonders of the divine works; for in these divine works, we have the eternal evidence of the Divine Power which lies behind works and is the power of God in the presence of all things.

    We believe in cultivating all useful knowledge, and we invite all of you to make every possible use and advantage of the various facilities which we offer. We firmly hope, also, that here we have set up a pillar in the world in which we live, a column that shall stand, and that in this Western world it will grow and increase until it represents a real and enduring power, working for good, working for Principle, working for Truth through the consecration of individuals who believe these things and do not wait for others to do the work but do it themselves, for in this way only can the work be done. We feel that this example may help others in doubt, uncertain, young people growing up in a world of uncertainties to realize that there are in this world foundations in eternity, foundations in principles and in truths, foundations that shall not fail.

    It is impossible for me in any way to express to all the friends who have helped in these works for the wonderful things they have done. For years they have brought flowers to our meetings; they have helped to bring displays of our books and publications to libraries, schools and institutions; they have continuously and unceasingly dedicated themselves to the purposes for which we stand. It is a great and solemn responsibility to be thus the center of a purposed endeavor, but I would like to also say that let us not feel that I am any such a center at all. I am only working with you trying in my own way, in the same way that you are trying, to do something that my heart and soul tell me we all want to have done.

    We do not want this in any way to be a personal loyalty — but a loyalty to Principle, a loyalty to Truth. Our own staying in this world is but short; others must come after. And we want for those others only one thing: not that they shall continue anything that I have done, not to be true to me, but to be true to Truth, to be true to Principle, to correct the errors that I have made, to go further than I can ever go. All that I ask and beseech of you is your kindly friendship, one with another, and all together with us here, in order that we may do the best we can for you, and for those whom we do not even know, from whom we hear so frequently by letter or by request for help. We want to help, we know you want to help, and in the spirit of this helpfulness, we cannot fail to make a richer life for ourselves and others. And out of this richness, we make our great and solemn offering to that Power which is the guardian of all richness, the guardian of all treasures. And for this little building that we stand before today we hope there is in the Universe an archetypal house, a universal temple of which this is the symbol and sign; and that this great and archetypal house shall hover above us and over us, and all the works that shall be done here shall be done in the name of that invisible Power and that great house where all men dwell together in fraternity and brotherhood.

    To have you here today, friends, is a wonderful experience. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. But the real thanks that must come to you will come in the silence of your own lives and in the interior realization that you have united yourselves together in the service of the building of a better world for ourselves and those who come after us, for our own coming years, and for our children, and for their children. In this spirit, we set up this house, and in this spirit, we accept together the God in you which has made this possible, and we worship it and respect it in you. And we ask for you all of the enlightenment and understanding and the peace that surpasseth understanding.

    We thank you all, we are grateful, we are very humble, we appreciate and we hope to continue to be worthy of your confidence, and also that in the time to come, when we have gone, others will carry on good works in the name of the Master of all good works. We thank you.