At the systemic level, the Rough Ashlar represents the philosophical recognition that imperfection itself is the engine of growth. In this episode, we explore how unfinishedness creates motion, why discomfort fuels innovation, and how a wider, compassionate perspective emerges when we see that all systems—including ourselves—develop because of the tension between what is and what could be. Here the Rough Ashlar becomes a lens for humility, interdependence, and the continuous unfolding of change.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Imperfection is the source of growth, innovation, and systemic change
• Humility arises from recognizing roughness as a universal human condition
• A systemic view reveals how imperfections generate the structures and opportunities of the world

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:00 –0:00:08 — “If the sort of second level or relational reflective understanding of the rough ashlar is the foundation of charity and compassion, the third level of the rough ashlar is the beginning of understanding of humility.”
• 0:00:25 –0:00:41 — “As we pursue the systemic understanding of the rough ashlar at a kind of holistic level, you come to grips very quickly with the notion that it is the rough ashlar itself which creates the impetus for all change growth and development.”
• 0:00:41 –0:00:52 — “Without the imbalance of the idealized solution, the perfect ashlar and the current state, nothing would ever progress in the world.”
• 0:01:57 –0:02:12 — “It is the discomfort or example of sitting on rocks on the ground that gave rise to things like chairs. As you start to look around the situations in your life, you'll begin to get a much more systemic understanding of how these imperfections feed each other and give rise to the systems we have.”
• 0:03:24 –0:03:34 — “Have compassion and create emotional space for the imperfections of the world and how they interact and how they give rise to the present moment.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

1. The Ashlar and the Question of Growth

Explores how unfinishedness and imperfection form the foundation for Masonic development, directly paralleling the systemic perspective of the Rough Ashlar.

2. Staying Unfinished – Holding Tension Between Work and Result

Reflects on the continuous process of becoming, resonating with the systemic “perfect mistake” framing in this episode.

3. The Master Mason Series – Part III: The Workman and the Work

Examines non-duality and the unity of creator and creation—a natural extension of the systemic, compassion-oriented view of imperfection described here.

Creators & Guests

• Brian Mattocks - Host