The Spiritual Capacity of Women
For the most part in this world, men have had much more freedom than women to accomplish what they can in their lives. So this post is primarily directed to women…
As a very young child, meaning is yet undefined. Feelings rule experience. This continues until the feeling of fear is extrapolated into fearful ideas. This only occurs after and to the degree of learning language. The more sophisticated the skill of language, the greater the facility of intelligence. The greater the intelligence, the more the attachment to ideas tends to prevail. This attachment, in turn, increases the degree of egotism, but it is fear that is the root cause of all egotism and the resulting diminishment of others and world circumstances.
Poor language skills are typically equated with less intelligence. Less intelligence happens as a consequence of poor or no education. Is the development of greater language skills also the basis for increased degrees of egotism? No, greater language skills plus fear creates greater egotism. Why? Clinging to knowledge as a possession becomes the base phenomena of egotism. Mohamed compared Christ’s analogy of the difficulty a rich man has getting into heaven, to the chances of an intelligent man getting into heaven, stating that an intelligent man’s chances are thousands of times less likely. It is ego that can not be eliminated that is spoken of here. When a rich man gives away his possessions, they are gone and all the representative egoistic motives also. But when an intelligent man gives away his knowledge he still retains it, and all the reasons for egotism also remain. It is much harder to divest oneself of egotism when its sources of clinging still remain.
Some men have thought that the Manifestations (founders of world religions) addressing all their teachings to men was a compliment or an affirmation that men were somehow superior to women. The truth here may be likened to Jeshua saying, “I have not come for the righteous, but the sinners.” Where it has not been deleted by men, it has been noted by Manifestations that women have superior minds to men. This is also represented in current biological science. Further, men have been in charge of the world as far back as most history exists, which demonstrates the poor job that has overall been done. Power and greed have been the primary goals. Were it not for the characteristics of strength and the gift to women of being the carriers of life and the first teachers, women would have long ago been in full charge of the world.
Women, when clearly focussed and not seduced by the egotistic games of the world, are much more capable of developing in superior ways to others. Awakened women tend to focus on nurturing and caring and not so much upon aggrandizement through intelligence, often not realizing this is the essence of the growth of consciousness – in other words, awakening. Men tend to use intelligence to become further enwrapped in egotism and power.
Some women have questioned the apparent unfairness of Manifestations (founders of world faiths) only being men, or their highest ruling bodies only being men. Those women do not realize that these stations are a mercy to men from the Infinite, and a chance for them to offset their inferior potentials both spiritually and in brain capability.
How can this be so? Buddha (as handed down by spiritual yogic traditions) taught that women were capable of attaining enlightenment (the highest states of consciousness) in the midst of their daily activities. This is further demonstrated as true, by the life story of Dipa Ma (a female Buddhist saint) and the numbers of female students that attained enlightenment in the midst of worldly duties. Men have required full renunciation of their ties to greed, lust, power, dependence upon luxury, and materialism in order to free them from distractions of the world sufficiently to grow to spiritual full awakening. This is also amongst the teachings of some of the world’s aboriginal cultures. Although the last Manifestation Baha’u’llah has said that all can directly access the influences of the Most Sacred directly without intercession, few men have yet made such an attainment.
Hence it is easy to see that women in the process of awakening do not have as much trouble with ego as men. Why? Because women do in fact have superior brains to men and higher inclinations towards caring. They need only stay out of the traps of ego and power well perfected by those dominating society over the last few millennia to soar high above the heads of almost all men.
There is another factor often not reckoned when discerning growth, and that is the giving and sacrifices a person makes in raising children and caring for the elderly and infirm, lovingly. This is the essence of true spiritual consciousness. Not any amount of meditation or mindfulness can do this. Though Buddha said the latter are useful tools, he also said they do not lead to enlightenment. Those relatively few men who escape the traps of ego can soar as high as any woman even if it tends to be more difficult and more work for them. No attainment of any kind of strength or power or knowledge can do this. Men who have a much more difficult time are able to soar so high through purely spiritual means alone and do so only if they can relinquish all attachments to the world. Why do more women attain greater spiritual heights than most men? Because of women’s propensity for loving kindness and compassion, which many men find difficult. Many more do not even consider these qualities to be of any value.
If all the women in the world were given equal access and opportunity for the fullest and most practical forms of education and the full encouragement of their society for aiming to become their very best, it would not be long before women would be running the world and world peace would be well established and protected. This whether by politics or by creative endeavor will not make a difference.
I await the day for this light to be revealed.
In all fairness to men, it is only delusion and ego that mislead anyone, be it man or woman. It is only the unawakened that purposely does damage in the world. There have been many great and benevolent male exemplars, teachers, leaders in life, politically, in the sciences, in creativity, and in human development and spiritually. There are many men who have given their lives in sacrifice to improving the world, in standing up for equality, in the name of unconditional caring and justice. In the Buddhist world as in other faiths, there have been many men who have reached the height of spiritual attainment and beneficence, and so by their emitting of life energy, they’ve become lights so that the world may better learn to see.
* As a footnote to women: It is important that as you become aware of your own personal potentials and your potentials in conjunction with others, to not be as harsh to men as some men have been to you (personally, or as a group), and to make it a point to not treat men as poorly as women have been treated by some men. To mirror such mistreatment would surely tarnish any ascendency that women already inherently have easier access to.
Remember that the Infinite has gifted you with the capacity to bring forth life and be the first teachers. Surely this is evidence of not only your ascendence but also a call to the maternal and deeper love within you, to shower that love forth upon all life fairly and with wisdom. As the forbearers of life, you are also charged with the responsibilities of leadership in the ways of being in daily living and conduct. Your example is your highest teaching, even to those that can not or do not see. Often we plant seeds in the seasons and do not see the fruit of our sowing.
Do not initially rely upon the support of other women who have been weakened in their own self-belief. Instead, open the venues of education to them as best you can and educate through serving as a loving and patient example. Yet be fierce in your diligence and adamance of your spiritual values. Do not let anyone tell you are not spiritual or good enough as a justification to get you to do what they want. Beware of this crassest form of manipulation. Realize that your real strength comes from the Infinite as do the gifts you have been given. Do not judge yourself or others harshly for your own past. You cannot be judged for what you did not know. You cannot influence what you did not or do not understand. What you do from here on is truly your choice and counts first to you, then can help all other women and even all humankind.
** Finally to all: It is only through learning the ways of goodness that any healing occurs in the hearts of others, or healing in the world can happen. Heal the heart of another and you will heal yourself, ridding yourself of your past burdens of pain.