THE ROLE AND THE NATURE OF THE FEMININE 

February 3,1995      

     I wish to discuss the role of women, the nature of the feminine and surrender to Parama Purusha. You know, it is path of the woman's nature to be receptive. The female is, in the physical stratum, the receptive vehicle, the creator of the life force and the one from which the creation springs, from which the offspring come. So it is the role of the female, to be receptive, to be creative and to be nurturing of life. These are the feminine qualities and characteristics. They are basic to the physiology of the female. They are also basic to the psychology of the female, because of the physical body that is inhabited, a certain psychology arises. Now, in the development of  masculine and feminine aspects there is a reflection of Cosmic principle. There is within the Universe, a fundamental causal principle and there is a creative principle, from which the created Universe has sprung and upon which it feeds. So, both of these aspects are in the Macro Cosmos and also in the micro cosmos, in the duality of male and female, in each and every species.     

     So this polarization of opposites is a part of the operative dynamic within the Universe. It is manifest in the Macrocosm, in the Microcosm, in the manifestation of living beings or throughout the Universe. And even in what is the microscopic Microcosm, you will find the same principles reflected. So they are  very universal principles. That which you call masculine represents and is an expression of the causal function, that which underlies creation and from which all creation stems. The feminine is the receptive vehicle for this causal expression. Parama Purusha is the underlying Consciousness from which the entire Cosmos has sprung. He is the fundamental cause behind all creation. From this causal entity, from this undifferentiated consciousness, through the manifesting principle, the Shakti, He finds the expression in the manifest Universe.      You see, you have the causal principle, the underlying consciousness and you have the creative principle, the operative principle which takes the causal expressions of Parama Purusha, the underlying consciousness and forms it into the manifestation. This is the feminine function to express, to create and then to nourish  the creation. For Prakrti must not only create the manifest Universe, but she must nourish it, move it along through the evolutionary flow to maturation at which time Parama Purusha may again call the created beings unto Himself. So it is the function of Prakrti to create, to receive, to create and to nourish. It is the function of Purusha to be. It is the quiescent consciousness in all expression. He is unchanging. Prakrti is always changing. She is shifting and moving this created Universe. That is Her special gift. Purusha is unchanging, He is ever quiescent, ever self-absorbed and it is only by the influence of Prakrti that He manifests in this created Universe. But He is not opposed to this process. He gets great pleasure from Her dance. But He Himself does not shift, does not change, though the entire Universe is created from His body. His Consciousness is the very substance of all creation. Prakrti, Herself is composed of Him. He is the ruler of Prakrti, but His rule is very passive. He is equipoised, He is beyond the reach of good and evil. All of these are the creations of Prakrti. Purusha is always in a position of equipoise. And all of His wishes are carried fort, by whom? By Prakrti. Even His desire to bring the living beings back into Himself, to withdraw the creation back into Himself. He can not manifest alone. He must utilize the gifts of Prakrti to do so.     

     So Purusha is expressed in the masculine and Prakrti in the feminine. But you know,  human beings are not simply their sexual identities, they are complete beings, each in themselves. And each has both Purusha and Prakrti in their own existence. But it is true that in the physical stratum and also in the psychic stratum that there is this influence of these dominating factors. The physiology of the female expresses the functions of Prakrti. The physiology of male expresses the functions of Purusha, but Purusha and Prakrti are not to be separated like two sides of the paper, they exist together. So within the woman there is both Purusha and Prakrti and within the man it is likewise. That is why the old thinking that a male body is necessary for full enlightenment  is erroneous. Male or female body, full enlightenment may be attained.                                                              Now, the female must receive, must create and express and must nurture that expression. So, she is the one to create the offspring and to carry fort the line of evolution. This is her domain. When a woman turn to a spiritual life, it is best if she does not try to become a man, meditating in a masculine fashion, ignoring her physiology attempting to neutralize her sexuality. This is one approach. But I would say, for most women it is not the best approach. It is better if she becomes fully a woman, if she enjoys her womanhood and becomes not less feminine but perhaps more feminine taking  the sweet and receptive qualities, taking the Lord as her Beloved, finding the unity with the Divine as a woman, soft and receptive willing to receive, willing to express His love, willing to give nurturance to all living beings.    

     So the feminine qualities become spiritual qualities. They can be most beneficial to a woman. These very qualities that can be impediments in a spiritual path, she is so absorbed with raising the children, taking care for family, doing so many tasks in the world, she has little time for spirituality. It is an distraction for many women and they can not find the time. But the same tendencies of mind that draw women from the spiritual life may, in fact, be the very tendencies which enhance the spiritual life of a spiritually oriented woman. So when she is receptive, wholly feminine, ready to receive Divine love, allowing to permeate her being  and to rule over her, willing to express his Divine flow through her creativity, through her creation in the world and willing to serve all living beings as His children, all life, animate and inanimate as the children of Her Divine Husbands. Such a woman should spend time each day singing the praises of her Lord. She should dress herself very pretty for Him, comb her hair very nicely for Him, be very sweet and attractive for Him, sing to Him, write poetry for Him, serve Him in little ways and in the great ways. Such a woman is a lover of God. His will rules her as a ruling husband and she does all she can to please Him, to serve His will, to express His wishes until she is so blended with Him that she can not tell what is His will or her own. For she has surrendered herself completely unto Him and in fact, you know Prakrti is ruled by Purusha. Though He does not make demands on her, He is the ruling entity. She is composed of Him, He lies within her as her essential nature, for Prakrti is formed of Purusha. So the woman will take Her Lord as her Beloved, will realize that He is a ruler of her. But even her own most essential being is ruled by Him, is in fact composed of Him, that she has no separate existence of her own, that she is entirely His. Such a woman will get lost in the flow of her Divine husband until there is only His will and His expression, manifesting in her creative and life giving expression. Such a woman has nothing of her own. There is nothing she acquired to and says: this is mine. All belongs to Him, everything belongs to Him. He is source of all creation and all creation lies within Him. So all belongs to Him, she belongs to Him , all her acts are done by His will. He has given her the power of action. Even the mind, she thinks  is her own, it is His mind. He is the ruling entity of her. All that she thought she was, she discovers, He is, He is the ruler absolute. So there is a Union between Purusha and Prakrti and there is only one where they appear to be two.      So only  surrender yourself before the Divine Purusha with all of your feminine hearts and all of your feminine ways. It is a very special gift for a human being, deeply immersed in spiritual life to acquire a feminine body. For the secret path may be more accessible in a feminine form than in a masculine form, though there are those in masculine form who also do this practice. It is easier if a feminine form is taken. So feminine form is advantageous at certain stage of spiritual developments. For this Union of the masculine and feminine, form the Divine together of duality  into singularity. For the dissolution of all dualities, Prakrti must surrender herself without reserve to Purusha, she can not hold one iota, she must keep herself completely over to Him. The and only then will His Divine Love flow through her without any reservation, any restriction, so that all that is created is His direct expression.     

     So, my daughters, you follow the path of love, for this the secret mystery of Tantra as it relates to women.