Esotericism

In many of the early writings, or almost any writing, that pertains to the history or founding of Fremasonary, Esoteric Knowledge, is almost always stressed as the basis. As Freemasonary deals a lot with symbols and the meaning behind them it almost behooves us to understand what this is. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esotericism) it is defined in 2 ways. 1) knowledge is that which is available only to a narrow circle of "enlightened", "initiated", or specially educated people. 2) has come informally to mean any perception or knowledge that is difficult to understand or remember.

As a new mason I felt that the main thrust of my brothers was towards understanding life. Part of the "Take a good man and make him better" was to understand and learn more about my new brotherhood. So far I have spent almost a year reading many books suck as "Freemasons for Dummies", "Idiots Guide to Freemasonry", "The Builders", "What Masonry Means", and other beginning books. As well as , the most hard to read, Morals and Dogma.

After reading most of these I have felt that I had taken a step backwards as most of what I had read seemed to not make sense. I was only after talking to my brothers that I found out that the words themselves were not just the message but the symbolism that they created that also gave meaning.

With this in mind I have to ask if this is the first of many lessons that I will learn in my search for the light. That words them selves do not have power but the concepts or symbolisms them selves.

Should we as masons teach our new brothers the esoteric meaning of the multitude of literature that exists?