“Hariharan: The Journal of Esoteric Freemasonry” is a scholarly journal aimed at encouraging high quality, academic level discourse on the esoteric aspects of Freemasonry. The journal is open access – and forever will be – while standing independently from and outside of the jurisdiction of any Grand Lodge (with due respect to all), and is not bound by membership to any particular practice or ritual of Freemasonry. Whether one is a man or woman, a member of the fraternity or not, a scholar or a student, whether one has a PhD or never went to school, whichever part of the world they are placed in, one is eligible to access and submit articles to the journal – we put no barriers to the pursuit of enlightenment while maintaining a high level of rigour in our discourses.

All correspondence to the journal should be to the editor-in-chief via email, sent to eic@hariharan-journal.org.

The journal is named after a fine gentleman, Hariharan Devarajan Sr., because this journal draws inspiration from his conduct and attitude towards life and freemasonry. Bro. Hariharan could have chased after several ranks for personal glory – which certainly a large part of the fraternity appeared to be doing – but such ambitions were not in his nature; he sought only to live by the ritual, and in accordance with the tenets of freemasonry. His conduct reflected having seriously contemplated not merely freemasonic ritual, but the finer, esoteric points thereof. He did not need to be a member of some lodge of research, nor did he need to have elaborate titles to validate his wisdom. This journal seeks to attract similar people who, irrespective of rank and affiliation, have a genuine interest in the pursuit of the esoteric mysteries of freemasonry.

Moreover, the name Hariharan means the union of two deities in Hinduism – Vishnu and Shiva. This union of two, seemingly distinct at the surface level into a coherent whole, is the recurring motif within freemasonry; be it a pillar on the left and right when conjoined, be it the ciphers of the Kabbalah, be it even the emergent gestalt of the various degrees. Thus, the name Hariharan is fitting for a journal that – besides being open to all – also seeks to promote lodge-goers and ritualists with the more esoteric side of freemasonry.

Lastly, the name Hariharan belonging to the Vedanta school of Indian philosophy, welcomes all researchers of esoteric freemasonry to pursue esoteric wisdom beyond one ‘volume of sacred law’; while it is beyond doubt that masonic lore is embedded in the tales of the Holy Bible, referring to other volumes of sacred law throws immense light on the understanding of the subject matter being contemplated.