We desperately need to cultivate feminine energies within us, before it’s too late.
We all have a polarity within us — that of the masculine (active/force) and the feminine (receptive/form) — and we experience these through periods of action and periods of rest and integration.
As an active force, the Divine Masculine is responsible for progress and evolution. Unlike feminine energy, it gets stuff done in an efficient and orderly manner. As the nature of life is growth and change, we need that force, and we have needed it since the dawn of time.
But the shadow side of the Divine Masculine is its preoccupation with power and superiority. When masculine energy becomes corrupt, it results in the toxic patriarchal society we see today that is based on a foundational philosophy of “get, reject, use, and dominate.”
The consequence is a world full of racial, sexual, and religious intolerance; gender inequality; unrestrained materialism resulting in large-scale environmental decimation; raping and pillaging of the earth resulting in habitats unfit for its natural inhabitants, and climate change leading to huge natural disasters and social collapse.
“The divine feminine is a way of aligning with the vibrant love of the universe and channeling that through your body into creating, connecting, or loving — and it’s accessible to everyone, because no matter what, we all have a body.”
All traits innate to the Divine Feminine and Masculine are neutral, it’s only when they come out of balance that they become an issue. As the Buddha admonishes its the middle way that we need to live by. We live in a world of polarities and dualities. It is incumbent upon us in order to navigate life to balance the sacred feminine and the sacred masculine within us. As we do so not only are we benefiting ourselves but it ripples out to help transform our world.
As we seek to balance the Divine energies within we acknowledge the role that women have played in the evolution of humankind, often not being acknowledged or recognised - this month of March is Women’s history month which we’ll be celebrating, and ahead of International Womens Day 8/3/22 we align with the objective of Women’s Day is to express love and gratitude towards women’s’ contribution to our lives and society. It honours the power and struggles of women who have broken all barriers and reached the pinnacle of success in every sphere of life. Today, women across the globe actively participate in politics, education, social work, corporate, sports, IT, research & development, innovation and diverse fields, and have left their footprints.
The theme for this years IWD:
#BreakTheBias
Imagine a gender equal world.
A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.
A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
A world where difference is valued and celebrated.
Together we can forge women's equality.
Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.
Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.
We can break the bias in our communities.
We can break the bias in our workplaces.
We can break the bias in our schools, colleges and universities.
Together, we can all break the bias - on International Women's Day (IWD) and beyond.
Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead. Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough, action is needed to level the playing field.
Are you in? Will you actively call out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping each time you see it?
Will you help break the bias?
Cross your arms to show solidarity.
“Whatever glory belongs to the race for a development unprecedented in history for the given length of time, a full share belongs to the womanhood of the race”
Sacred Text
From Shaktisangama Tantra:
Woman is the creator of the universe, the universe is her form; woman is the foundation of the world, she is the true form of the body.
In woman is the form of all things, of all that lives and moves in the world. There is no jewel rarer than woman, no condition superior to that of a woman.[9]
Poem - Unknown
Today is a celebration for women all around the world,
Ladies who've dared to dream big, ever since they were little girls.
For the diversity and talent that lie within a feminine heart,
For the courage and determination that prevents us falling apart.
We can raise families and build businesses and be proud of all we've achieved
Where once over, visions of that scale, could never have been believed.
Ladies, stand up and be counted, smile at how far we have come
And Cherish every single day, as daughter, wife, companions or mum.
Don't let anybody tell you that there are set paths for you to follow
As a little girl with a passion, is an inspiring woman of tomorrow.
So celebrate all women, and acknowledge the great things they do
And tell a lady close to your heart, just how much she means to you.
Story
When civilisations begin to write down their laws, this is when the patriarchy becomes enshrined. There is a phrase on the Enmetena and Urukagina cones – the earliest known law codes from circa 2400 BC – that says “If a woman speaks out of turn, then her teeth will be smashed by a brick.”
The Subjection of Women is an essay by philosopher and political economist John Stuart Mill. Mill argues in favour of legal and social equality between men and women. He writes that ‘the legal subordination of one sex to the other’ is ‘wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement’ (p. 1).
The Subjection of Women was published in 1869. This is a second edition, dating from the same year.
At the time that Mill wrote The Subjection of Women, women could not vote. A married woman was not a separate legal entity from her husband, and any property or money she owned came under his governance.
A common justification for women’s inferior legal status was that they were morally superior to men, and therefore better restricted to the home, where they would be protected from the polluting influence of public life and could shape the morals of the future generation. Mill argues that this is illogical: ‘there is no other situation in life in which it is… considered quite natural and suitable, that the better should obey the worse’ (p. 142).
It was widely believed that women were more emotional than rational, and did not have the intellectual capabilities of men. Mill argues that if women seem emotional, passive and apolitical, it is because they have been brought up to be so. In making this claim, Mill echoes Mary Wollstonecraft’s A vindication of Womens rights published almost 70 years earlier. Mill insists that until society treats men and women equally, it will be impossible to know the natural abilities of women, or whether there are inherent differences between the sexes.
In 1830 J S Mill met 22-year-old Harriet Taylor. They did not marry until 1851, after Taylor’s husband had died, but Mill insisted that she inspired, contributed to and revised all his mature writings. Harriet Taylor died in 1858, more than a decade before Mill wroteThe Subjection of Women, but he nevertheless attributes much of the essay to her. Mill says that though he had been committed to the principle of equality before he met her, she taught him the ‘practical’ consequences of women’s legal subordination. Critics differ in their opinions of how much of The Subjection of Women is Taylor’s work.
It’s starting to realise that Equal Voting Rights is still ongoing into the 21st century and happened in the following countries in the years below:
1893 New Zealand1906 Finland 1915 Denmark, 1918 Austria, Germany Poland - Women over 30 1915 UK 1928 women UK over 21 1931
1931 Spain, 1944 France, 1950 India, 1957 Malaysia, Zimbabwe, 1962 Iran Morocco 1971 Switzerland, 1989 Namibia
1993 Kazakhstan, Moldova, 2005 Kuwait, 2011 Saudia Arabia
What is immediately notable is the extended timeline for equal voting powers to be given. This is a reminder that whilst many of us may feel that formal equality has been in place for a considerable period of time, for many countries this has not been the case. Furthermore, the persistent nature of this inequality worldwide indicates that the assumptions underpinning gender inequality are often resistant to change.
Women’s livelihoods were historically significantly dependent on who they married as their roles were typically seen as being to raise children and manage the home whereas the husband earned the income and acted as the head of the household and prime decision-maker. Upon becoming married wives fell under the protection of the husband and often became one person in the eyes of the law affording them no rights to own property or to retain their earnings – all of which became the property of their husband.
Women also faced restricted inheritance rights, typically limited to personal effects, rather than land or property, and where primogeniture was in place – where the eldest son inherited the property – the female heirs could only benefit in the absence of a male sibling (the removal of male primogeniture for succession to the British throne, where the eldest male child is preferred to the female, in favour of absolute primogeniture (the first born regardless of sex) was enacted as recently as 2013). Even where the wife had wealth in her own right prior to marriage, this became the property of the husband upon marriage.
Science of Mind Reading
I believe that as we honour the Divine Love that is within us, we will overcome the inequalities of the world.
BODY MEDITATION
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PRAYER OF INTENTION
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MOVEMENT PRAYER #3
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BUDDHIST REFLECTION
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Rumination
“Woman is a ray of God. She is not that earthly beloved: she is creative, not created.” – Rumi
Benediction
May the God of all consolation bless you in every way and grant you peace all the days of your life. May he free you from all anxiety and strengthen your hearts in his love. May he enrich you with his gifts of faith, hope and love, so that what you do in this life will bring you eternal happiness. Amen.**
Song
Tasha Layton: I Got You.