ABOUT WOMEN

                                                               WOMENS..

 

  

              ARE THE OBSTACLES TO ENLIGHTENMENT THE SAME FR A MAN AS FOR A                    WOMAN?

  

         YES, BUT EH EMPHASIS IS DIFFERENT. GENERALLY SPEAKING, IT IS EASIER FOR A WOMAN TO FEEL AND BE IN HER BODY, SO SHE IS NATURALLY CLOSER TO BEING AND POTENTIALLY CLOSER TO ENLIGHTENMENT THAN A MAN. THIS IS WHY MANY ANCIENT CULTURE INTINCTIVELY CHOSE FEMALE FIGURES OR ANALOGIES TO REPRESENT OR DESCRIBE THE FORMLESS AND TRANSCENDENTAL REALITY. IT WAS OFTEN SEEN AS A WOMB THAT GIVES BIRTH TO EVERYTHING IN CREATION AND SUSTAINS ANS NOURISHES IT DURING ITS LIFE AS FORM. IN THE TAO TEACHING, ONE OF THE MOST ANCIENT AND PROFOUND BOOKS EVER WRITTEN, THE TAO, WHICH COULD BE TRANSLATED AS BEING, IS DESCRIBED AS " INFINITE, ETERNALLY PRESENT, THE MOTHER OF THE UNIVERSE, NATURALLY, WOMAN  ARE CLOSER TO IT THAN MEN SINCE THEY VIRTUALLY "EMBODY" THE UNMANIFESTED. WHAT IS MORE, ALL CREATURES AND ALL THINGS MUST EVENTUALLY RETURN TO THE SOURCE. ALL THINGS VANISH INTO THE TAO. IT ALONE ENDURES. SINCE THE SOUCE IS SEEN AS FEMALE, THIS IS REPRESENTED AS THE LIGHT AND DARK SIDES OF THE ARCHETYPAL FEMININE IN PSYCHOLOGY AND MYTHOLOGY. THE GODDESS OR DIVINE MOTHER HAS TWO ASPECTS. SHE GIVES LIFE, AND SHE TAKES LIFE.

             WHEN THE MIND TOOK OVER AND HUMANS LOST TOUCH WITH THE REALITY OF THEIR DIVINE ESSENCE, THEY STARTED TO THINK OF GOD AS A MALE FIGURE. SOCIETY BECAME MALE DOMINATED, AND THE FEMALE WAS MADE SUBORDINATE TO THE MALE.

           I AM NOT SUGGESTING A RETURN TO EARLIER FEMALE REPRESENTATION FO THE DIVINE. SOME PEOPLE NOW USE THE TERM GODDESS INSTEAD OF GOD. THEY ARE REDRESSING A BALANCE BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE  THAT WAS LOST A LONG TIME AGO, AND THAT IS GOOD. BUT IT IS STILL A REPRESENTATION AND A CONCEPT, PERHAPS TEMPORARILY USEFUL, JUST AS A MAP OR A SIGNPOST IS TEMPORARILY USEFUL, BUT MORE A HINDRANCE THAN A MAP OR A SINGPOST IS TEMPORAILY USEFUL, BUT MORE A HINDRANCE THAN A HELP WHEN YOU ARE READY TO REALIZE THE REALITY BEYOND ALL CONCEPT AND IMAGES. WHAT DOES REMAIN TRUE, HOWEVER, IS THAT THE ENERGY FREQUENCY OF THE MIND APPEARS TO BE ESSENTIALLY MALE. THE MIND RESISTS, FIGHTS FOR CONTROL, USES, MANIPULATES, ATTACKS, TRIES TO GRASP AND POSSES, AND SO ON. THIS IS WHY THE TRADITIONAL GOD IS A PATRIARCHAL,CONTROLLING AUTHORITY FIGURE, AN OFTEN ANGRY MAN WHO YOU SHOULD LIVE IN FEAR OF, AS THE OLD TESTAMENT SUGGESTS. THIS GOD IS A PROJECTION OF THE HUMAN MIND.

            TO GO BEYOND THE MIND AND RECONNECT WITH THE DEEPER REALITY OF BEING, VERY DIFFERENT QUALITIES NEEDED. SURRENDER, NONJEDGEMENT, AN OPENESS THAT ALLOWS LIFE TO BE INSTEAD OF RESISTING IT, THE CAPACIY TO HOLD ALL THINGS IN THE LOVING EMBRACE OF YOUR KNOWING. ALL THESE QUALITIES ARE MUCH MORE CLOSELY RELATED TO THE FEMALE PRICIPLE WHERE AS MIND- ENERGY IS HARD AND RIGID, BEING - ENERGY IS SOFT AND YIELDING AND YET INFINITELY MORE POWERFUL  THAN MIND. THE MIND RUNS OUR CIVILIZATION, WHEREAS BEING IS IN CHARGE OF ALL LIFE ON OUR PLANET AND BEYOND. BEING IS THE VERY INTELLIGENCE WHOSE VISIBLE MANIFESTATION IS THE PHYSICAL UNIVERSE. ALTHOUGH WOMEN ARE POTENTIALLY CLOSER TO IT, MEN CAN ALSO ACCESS IT WITHIN THEMSELVES.

               

                AT THIS TIME, THE VAST MAJORITY OF MEN AS WELL AS WOMEN ARE STILL IN THE GRIP OF THE MIND. IDENTIFIED WITH THE THINKER AND THE PAIN- BODY. THIS, OF COURSE, IS WHAT PREVENTS ENLIGHTENMENT AND THE FLOWERING OF LOVE. AS A GENERAL RULE, THE MAJOR OBSTACLE FOR MEN TENDS TO BE THE THINKING MIND, AND THE MAJOR OBSTACLE FOR WOMEN THE PAIN- BODY, ATTHOUGH IN CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL CASES THE OPPOSITE MAY BE TRUE, AND IN OTHERS THE TWO FACTORS THE TWO FACTORS MAY BE EQUAL.