Homosexuality, society and marriage

May 18, 1996

Q: I get a sense from the Marg community that homosexuality is wrong, taboo. How then do we include homosexuals into our community? They are Baba's children. Help me with this.         

     This is a very good question. All are the children of Parama Purus'a; all are the children. There are so many different people. Some are very great, some are very simple, some have done many wrong deeds. But all are the children of Parama Purus'a. None should be rejected, none should be exiled, none should be discouraged from the path of sadhana or the samgha of spiritual aspirants - not due to race, sex, sexual preference or any other difference. There are many, many people. Some have done many wrong deeds. You will not know these wrong deeds even and you bring them to the community. Others may be very good people but their ways are different.They should not be rejected for this. This is prejudice.        

     It is a cultural samskara. Within the framework of Indian society,homosexuality is taboo. It is considered very unnatural. Yet it is not unknown. But it is considered unnatural. It is true that there are those people who take to homosexuality due to disappointments and psychological difficulties which they are having. But it also true that there are those people who are not inclined to the standard attractions due to biochemical reasons and genetic reasons. So to say that these people should be excluded from society and banned until they become as the others is to ignore the facts of life. For these people have existed in every society you will find throughout the ages. And they will continue to exist. A place must be made for those who are a bit different.        

Q: In the United States there is a legislative effort to recognize homosexual marriages. How will Prout stand on this issue?         

     These people who engage in such relationships, they are not to be considered immoral. But they are to be given sanctuary. That is, in a Proutist society, they will have their own place, their unique place that is for them alone. They will hold a certain place in the society. They are not to be degraded. But, at the same time, homosexuality should not be encouraged. If it is the natural leaning of a particular person, they will find a way in which to express that leaning. They should not be encouraged, but at the same time they should not be diminished or demeaned for their preferences. If they find it is the road they must walk, then let them walk it and say nothing. So in this way, in a Proutist society, there must be acceptance of these people and a place for them. But not encouragement, for it is preferable that people maintain a heterosexual approach unless they cannot do otherwise. So these marriages are not to be condoned, nor are they to be denied.  

Q: Did you say that homosexuals need to live separately?         

     Not separately, but to have their place. Each human being must have a place, a welcome place in the society for who they are and what they are. They should not be shunned or treated as outcasts, nor should they be admired for their practices. But they should have a place, an accepted role in the society.

Q: In marriage blessings you often advise people to live like Shiva and Parvati. What does it mean to live like Shiva and Parvati?

       

     Very good. Shiva represents the ideal of manliness, and Parvati represents the ideal woman. So when the blessing is given to live as Shiva and Parvati it is to live as an ideal man and an ideal woman, united in marriage. For Shiva was a great sadhaka, a great lord, and in him there was the full manifestation of manliness; in him there was the full expression of viira, of manly power, or manly force. He was the ideal husband, for he was a great sadhu and had great compassion, yet he was strong and a very symbol of strength. Parvati, as his wife, was the symbol of the ideal women, for she was sweet and surrendering to her husband, but she was also strong and she had many great gifts and talents which she expressed in the world. Through her many of the tantras came to exist, for she facilitated the expression of Lord Shiva. And so in the marriage of Shiva and Parvati there is the marriage of two great saints to bring themselves in unity with each other in a spiritual fashion as well as in a physical fashion and to live the lives of great man and great woman. So when two people come together as Shiva and Parvati let them come together as an ideal man and ideal woman living a life dedicated to spiritual upliftment, expressing all of the greatness of manliness and womanliness so that the world might be a better place for their living in it.   

Q: Can it be said that Mahasambhuti has a preference for his role with collective upliftment or with the upliftment of individuals - that is, expressing through prota yoga or ota yoga?

       

     All the world lies within him. Every molecule of existence is a part and parcel of his expression. Every living being is within him. And he has great love for every living being. So it cannot be divided: is he for the human being or for the society? It cannot be divided, for he is for the welfare of each and every one, and all of those people collectively form the human society. It is his desire that all of the people may come to know the Great. And it is his desire that each and every one come to him, come to him - that each and every one come to know Parama Purus'a, that they have the opportunity in their lives to feel the all-attracting pull of the Great.        

     But, for this to happen, there must be a society which is moral, which supports and uplifts human beings. If the society has degenerated, has lost prama, if the society has become degenerated, then the human beings will become very dim, their minds will fall asleep. And when they are sleeping they cannot realize the great. In a society that has lost its balance you will find that the human beings . . . individuals become affected . . .  [section missing - tape recorder malfunctioned] They cannot experience the warm rays of divine love showering upon them. . .  [section missing - tape recorder malfunctioned]. They have not been given the opportunity to experience deep love, so they are deeply wounded, these people, and these people have a great deal of difficulty coming to know the Great. So when the society is healthy, when the society has restored balance, when the society is in harmony with all of life, then the life force comes in. When the children are young they come to be inspired by the greatness of the Divinity which is all around them, and in that inspiration they find that they see the light of Param Brahma.        

     When the society becomes degraded and this light cannot be perceived except by a very, very few, there is a need for an intervention so that the society will not degenerate further, so that the people do not suffer over much but may come to know the Great. So it cannot be said that Mahasambhuti prefers this social justice over the welfare of the individual. Nor can it be said that he takes form to shelter the individuals. For his care is for all, and collectively all compose the human society - and also for the plants and animals, for all the small creatures who walk upon the earth - that each and every one may get the opportunity to realize the Great, that each and every one might realize the potential that lies within them and live their lives to the very fullest, so that none will be harmed and downtrodden, so that animals do not live their life in a small pen, locked in their whole life, only eating the food and sleeping and not allowed to roam, not allowed to feel the rain upon their faces, not allowed to smell the green grass, not allowed to wander in the nature. What life is this for a living creature? It is very painful. So the creatures are calling, they are crying, both human and non-human, they are crying in pain. And due to that pain there must be some assistance.  [rest of session missing - tape recorder malfunctioned]