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[Alexandr Korol]

We’d say things like, “The Masons want something from me again,” or “Oh, the Masons sent another messenger.” We would say that kind of thing jokingly, just within our small circle. What else could we call that force when we didn’t know how to define it? And this was already after the first meeting with Big Alexander — and even after the second one, I think. At the first meeting, he told me about the Philosopher’s Stone, that I am the stone and must become a diamond. Then, at the second meeting, he told me that “those who know” had passed me that note, that they know absolutely everything, and that there are certain places of power, portals, and that I need to find them and take information from them. We had a couple more meetings after that, and that’s when he began to speak of certain “brothers,” saying I’d find a common language with the brothers, that I was being polished, mutating. When I would go through places of power and tell him something was happening to me, he’d say, “You’re mutating, you’re being polished, you’ll soon find a common language with the brothers.” And also, whenever he greeted me, he always did that three-time kiss — left, right, then again. I don’t know, maybe that meant something, maybe something secret — I don’t know. To this day, I don’t know for sure — there are only assumptions. Back then, in the city of Petersburg, where we had drawn the compass and square, that’s when the focus was drawn to it, but it was still the system that controls everything that created that emphasis. It made sure I would at least try to understand it through Freemasonry. So I began to decode all the old Masonic documents — their images, all kinds of illustrations — and I tried to decipher all those symbols. Then it immediately started to intersect with alchemy. Why? Because alchemy is connected to the Philosopher’s Stone. And that’s when I began trying to figure out what Kabbalah is, what Freemasonry is, what alchemy is. I started searching through all kinds of sources for where the Philosopher’s Stone is mentioned. And then I suddenly learned about the ladder to the East, and I thought, “Wow. A ladder to the East — that must be it. So I’m probably climbing that ladder. And maybe the Philosopher’s Stone isn’t literally located in the East.” And I began to see it that way.

But the options you described in your question — they’re all correct, they all apply. Yes, maybe I do need to study Eastern teachings, why not?