The most important aspect of Freemasonry is the "open secret" or plainly recognized truth that there will never be a better world until there are better people in it. Although Freemasonry has a huge fund of esoteric knowledge about higher human development, it can be boiled down to a single statement: "Masonry makes good men better." That statement should always be amplified by at least this much: "Not better than others, but better than themselves-through self-improvement." More broadly, our fraternity makes good men better through self-directed growth in body, mind and spirit, influenced and inspired by Masonic teachings and guidelines. Freemasonry has to do with freeing people from ego-centered consciousness. It does so by emphasizing character development, value realization, abiding faith in God and the highest sort of patriotism. In Freemasonry, we ourselves are the rough stone which is to be hewn and polished into an ashlar fit for building the Temple of God. So the possibility of making good men better is one which extends from ordinary, everyday matters to the farthest range of human nature, traditionally called God-realization, spiritual freedom, liberation, unity consciousness, cosmic consciousness, nondual consciousness and, most commonly, enlightenment.