Women, Men and Self Realization

Women and self-realization. It is much easier for women to attain to spiritual liberation than it is for men to do so.

A woman's subtle physical body accepts light in this world much more readily than does a man's. It seems a curious fact then that throughout the short-lived history of spirituality in this world there have been very few self-realized, enlightened women. There are a number of reasons for this, and whether you are a man or a woman it is essential that you understand these reasons, accept them and utilize them. As a man you can further the realization of all women when you understand these basic principles. As a woman you can, of course, advance yourself and all other women when you understand these basic principles.

I'd really like to divide this discussion into two sections. The first section will be, I suppose, more historical in the sense that we'll be considering why women have not attained enlightenment, and then in the second section we will perhaps look at some things that women can do to foster and attain enlightenment. Also there will be some consideration as to what men can do to foster the enlightenment of women.

To begin with, let us establish that there is no difference between men and women on the deepest levels. Each one of us has a soul, a jiva, a self. That is to say, beyond the surface there is a particle of being which is larger than eternity, which is our existent and extant reality. It is neither masculine nor feminine; it's both. Yet in a particular lifetime, in a particular incarnation or series of incarnations, we will manifest as male or female, and just as the physical body of the male and female are somewhat different, so the subtle physical body of the male and female are different. But on the deepest levels there is no difference; we are all one.

However in self-realization it's necessary to integrate, to some extent, the physical and the subtle physical with the absolute. We have to work through these terms. If we live in a highly developed country, we have a certain frame of reference through which we view our experience. If we live in an underdeveloped country, we have another frame of reference. We have to deal with the physical. It affects us. So in self-realization, the physical and the subtle physical affect us.

The subtle physical body of a woman is very different than that of a man. While both are composed of luminous fibers of light, the subtle physical body of a woman conducts light, or vibrates with light, at a different rate than that of a man. The subtle physical bodies of men are much denser. They're much more tightly packed. The subtle physical body of a woman is much more pliant. So, in my estimation, it's much easier for a woman to absorb and retain light and to change. In other words, the subtle physical body of a man is more fixed, a woman's is more pliant and that's the most important thing in self-realization, in enlightenment - the ability to make tremendous and rapid transcendences, to constantly change and reshuffle ourselves again and again in the white light of eternity.

Women are essentially much more powerful than men are. The kundalini flows through them much more readily. The problems are really very few. The primary reason why more women don't attain enlightenment is that they have a misunderstanding of their purpose as women.

Women think of themselves as being women, and they're not. Women have a preconceived notion of what it means to be a woman, and this notion is incorrect. This notion has been given to them by our society, history, men and other women. Everything is reversed in this age. Men appear to be more powerful than women, while the opposite is really true. What appears to be light is dark and what appears to be dark is light.

For a woman to attain liberation she has to realize that she has everything she needs within herself. Women have become dependent upon men in our society. They feel that they have to draw power from a man. They build their identities around men or around their children, and in doing so they do themselves and all women, and men, a great injustice. In order for a woman to attain enlightenment she must realize that her true aspect is power. If she thinks of herself as being feminine - in the sense of the term that "feminine" means weak, gentle, constantly self-effacing, always cleaning up the house for others - then she's misunderstanding her power and her purpose. This is an image that has nothing to do with what really exists.