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Is
the 'Weaker'
Sex
Spiritually
Stronger?
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| While
modern women reclaim their dignity within various religions,
or as individuals on the spiritual path, not all male spiritual
teachers view spiritual matters in sexist terms. Since men still
hold the balance of power within the established religious traditions,
males with 'progressive' views may not be being heard. Here
are a few such voices for your inspiration, starting with a
contemporary, independent view: |
"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 cultures instinctively chose
female figures or analogies to represent or describe the formless
and transcendental reality... Women [ ] virtually 'embody' the
Unmanifested...
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 representations
of 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
his teaching supports the transcendence of such gender-related
terms and views]...
'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."
Eckhart Tolle |
335:1
This section (of the translation of the
Zohar ), is another all-sufficient proof of the teachings maintained
throughout the Qabalah, namely, that Man and Woman are from
the creation coequal and coexistent, perfectly equal one with
the other, This fact the translators of the Bible have been
at great pains to conceal by carefully suppressing every reference
to the Feminine portion of the Deity, and by constantly translating
feminine nouns by masculine. And this is the work of so-called
religious men!
S.L. MacGregor Mathers |
33. The duality of God is expressed
in the book of Genesis as follows: "Let us make humans in our
image, after our likeness. So God created humans in his own
image; male and female created He them; and called their name
Adam."
34. From which, the Shakers insist, that it is the male and
female in humans that is peculiarly the "image of God." In this
conclusion they further strengthen themselves from the Apostle
Paul, who affirms that the order of the "Godhead," and the "eternal
creative power of God," which would otherwise be invisible to
humans, are "clearly seen, by", through and in, "the things
that are made."
35. Consequently, if this be admitted, it follows, from the
undeniable fact that all the things which God has "made" are
dual; beginning with the mineral kingdom, which, from the "old
red sandstone" to the very latest geological formation, exhibit
the action of two forces, the positive and negative, which forms,
in the vegetable kingdom, gradually resolve themselves into
male and female types, from the fern to the polypus; and, in
the animal kingdom, they are progressively developed from the
polypus up to the simia tribes; and ultimately they culminate
in man and woman, the image of God their Creator.
36. It seems scarcely possible to resist this evidence of a
dual order, so "clearly seen" throughout all the domains of
nature; or to admit it, without proving that God also is DUAL,
Father and Mother, the image and likeness of humans, made male
and female.
These excerpts of Shaker Scripture were written
in 1893.
We extended the term 'man' to 'human' to convey the inclusiveness
inherent in the text. |
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"Women are endowed with seven
kinds of powers* while men only have three. It is sinful to
look down upon women. Wherever women are honoured, there is
prosperity and happiness. Women should never be slighted or
treated with disrespect. A home in which the housewife sheds
tears will be bereft of all prosperity."
Sathya Sai Baba
*This quote does not elaborate on what the seven qualities
are,
but the introduction indicated that they are mentioned in
ancient Indian texts.
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"Women know
things. They just do. They can't always express it clearly,
but sometimes their wisdom is couched in a form we (men) can't
recognise. But they really do know things. They tend to notice
and name things long before we notice them. They somehow seem
to notice things about relationship. It's worth listening...
Dammit, they are usually right - not totally right, but they
have some pretty large grains of truth. If you believe this,
it's easier to listen. If you don't believe it, life will eventually
teach you that it's true. Unless you are a very slow learner.
That's a bold assertion, and I am sticking to it."
Steve Vinay Gunther, from his book How a Man
Loves a Woman |
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