Tantra and Women

August 5, 1996

     I will speak tonight upon the topic of tantra as it relates to women. You know, in the far distant past there were many practices given to the ladies. Lord Shiva brought tantra into a systematic approach. But tantra had its first origins before the time of Shiva, in the ancient matriarchal societies. Then the practices, developed first by women in those ancient societies, were established and systematized by Lord Shiva.

      Tantra was not given for men, it was given originally first to women and later become practiced primarily by men but in the beginning it was not for men. It was developed in those ancient societies where the Goddess ruled and the power of women was in the forefront. Over time, with the decline of the position of women, these practices were altered and became primarily the practices of men initiates. But even at the time of Shiva and for several thousands of years afterwards, there were women who were initiates and who formed schools or societies in which the tantric practices thrived. Over time these were rooted out and as the women lost status they also lost their rights to these practices, which first came about in the society of women.

     Now it is said that Shiva gave the tantras and in fact he did. They were given to his wife Parvati and conveyed to others. Those teachings contained many mystical practices for the development of the human being and practices which were directly designed to dispell darkness and ignorance from the human mind. Now is a different age. Many things have changed. Women again move to the fore front, but their ancient roots have been covered in the darkness of the past and their spiritual roots are unknown to them.

     Now women emerge and the time of the Mother comes again, but now she will share her throne, and male and female will co-exist in the kind of harmony. The age of patriarchy comes to a close and with it the dominance of men over women. You know, in this age of patriarchy, one of the greatest sins that was done against women was to instill in them a dislike for their feminine bodies. This is the greatest harm that patriarchy has done to women. Because the root of female power both physically and spiritually lies in her body. Women come to feel shame for that which they should feel proud. They come to feel revulsion for their own sexuality. It has been held upon the alter of patriarchy that the ideal woman is a virgin. She has no connection with her body, she is pure and prestine, because she is untouched, because she has separated her spirit from her femininity, thus she becomes the ideal of patriarchy, the disembodied woman.

     You know, in the ancient times this was not an ideal. The ideal was that of the mother who gave birth to life and fed all the world from her breast. She is the Mother of life, not a virgin. And so in those ancient times, the ideal for a woman was that of the mother, rich with life, fertile, filled with abundance. She is the Goddess who nurtures the world and it is in this life that the spiritual power of women is truely alive. A women is not more sanctified by virginity, nor holy by abstinence. She is the mother of life and her body is the temple of life. This is the ancient teaching.  From her all life has come and by her love, by her compassion, by her infinite grace, her children will be fed and grow and thrive upon her breast.

      So you see, the power of women is thus in their womenhood and in their bodies, not in the disembodied virgin who has never felt or experienced her womenhood. Now in the ancient schools where tantra was taught and practiced for the transformation of consciousness, the transformation of self from identification with the little to the great. The women in their mystery schools learned to see themselves as extensions of Mother, of the great Goddess from whom all life has sprung. They learned to appreciate their womenhood and to make that womanhood the source of their spiritual potentiality, of their spiritual knowledge.

      So you see, what is the tantra for women? In the path of tantra, all that is limited, all that is confined, all that is immature becomes transmuted. That which is small comes to identify with the Great and all that is hidden becomes revealed. There can be no a hidden part, no secrets that are not known and no shame for your femininity. It is your greatness, your womanhood is your greatness and from this you may become as the Great Mother of all life, one whose divine compassion feeds the earth and who gives birth to divinity in love. So you see in the path of tantra, the rights of a woman to her own body are foremost.  She cannot think she is merely dis-embodied. She must recognize her womanly expression and mature in that expression, transmuting the physical into the psycho-spiritual so that the girl becomes the mother, becomes the goddess herself. And do you know, this goddess is the wife of Lord Shiva. She is the complement of Purusha.

     Now there are those who in the arrogance of patriarchal appraoches began to say that women cannot achieve full liberation because she can only become the goddess, she can only identify with Prakrti and not Purusha and therefore she cannot attain full and complete liberation.  This was the thinking of those men who dominated the religious thought of perhaps the last four or five hundred years. But these men were only foolish, old men. They did not see clearly due to their prejudicies. Otherwise they would have clearly see that the female form like the male form has both Purusha and Prakrti.

     Though as the woman matures she becomes the mother, and as the mother matures she becomes the goddess, the mother of all life, still, as these foolish men did not realize, Purusha and Prakrti are close like this(Baba was crossing the index and middle finger) and the goddess is not apart from her beloved. She is one with him. These two are in an endless dance, Purusha and Prakrti and in that endless dance  they come ever together in divine union.  A woman who has fully surrendered herself into this dance of her divine femininity  will find that she is but  a reflection of the Supreme cognitive entity. And in her great compassion for the infinite creation which has sprung from her and which she keeps alive with her love, she will come to find her greatest joy in fullfillment of her union with her divine spouse, the divine infinite consciousness which is at the base of all created beings. And so creation will come to its resting point in the Supreme cognition.

       Thus through the tantras and the pursuit of the feminine, a woman may pass not only into the realm of the Goddess but into the full realization of the cognitive witnesship of manifestation. This path is the ancient path of tantra given for women many of thousands of years past.

     Today again it becomes relevant as women emerge from the darkness of oppression and begin to experience themselves and the divinity of their feminine forms.  When the heart is open, when the mind is clear, the mother may emerge with her great compassion for all beings and show herself in her daughters. Then this world will take a different turn .

Are there questions?

Baba, the practices of Astaunga Yoga are given for men, how these practices can be arranged to adapt to women's needs?

     It must be remembered that the differences between women and men  are only in the first three kosas. Other than that there is no difference. So that which is directed to development of the lower kosas will require some separate development, that which is directed to the upper kosas may be the same. You see, the body and the mind associated cannot be ignored, it cannot be ignored and it is a mistake when it is done. Therefore, there must be practices, there must be teachings to  awaken and direct these energies. But the time has not yet come for these teachings. Women have just now emerged from the darkness and oppression of patriarchy  and they have not come to respect their bodies as yet.  They have not come to respect  themselves as women. How can the teachings be given when the women will not receive them?  If you want the teachings you change. You accept yourself as woman. Then the teachings can be given. Alright.

Baba, these teachings  are they the same as what women in the ancient  schools, mystery schools practiced?

     They are adapted. You see, the time has changed. The time is not the same, the ancient schools were in the matriarchal period  and some few thousands years after that.  But those women, that time period has passed for ever from the world. And the time that comes  is yet again different.  It will not be the same, and so the teachings cannot be  the same, there will take aspects of those teachings for the mother rises again, but they will not be identical. There was a serious problem in that time, you know. For over time the position of men become very poor, very bad and it is the reaction to that that has caused the rise of patriarchy and the total rejection of women that occurred during the patriarchal period.  So  it is as if  imbalance is  one way then it is another. So this will be a time of balance in the human race and in the human psyche, for human beings have matured. They are more intelligent, they are more prepared. So during this time, the spiritual practices must reflect this. And though there are similarities, though  based  in those ancient practices, still the tantras for this time must be a little adjusted.

Baba, how will these teachings be given?

     They are already coming forward upon the planet and they will come in more clarity. I will give these teachings for women, but not as yet. They begin to emerge. You will find them from many sources, but the time is not ready for the tantras. Still the women are not ready. But it will come and it is the Mother who will heal this wounded earth. Without women coming to the front, this planet will die. Let the mother come at the time of need and save the children. And that their daughters embody her power and her strength. Alright.