Sharanagati

(from a talk on woman’s roles with Swami Tirtha, 13.08.2018, Ludashto)

Thank you so much for coming! We are here to discuss some aspects of women’s life and also spiritual practitioners’ life in general. I am not an expert in your topics, I am only an observer. But I have the deep conviction that you can gain some knowledge in two different ways. One is: you expose yourself to the experience. And the other is: you observe things happening around you. I’m an observer. And may I share some of my opinion with you, just to give some thoughts? 

What are the two main heavenly bodies in our sky? The Sun and the Moon. The Sun is the male power and the Moon is the female power. If you check out the entrance of our temple room, you see the Sun and the Moon united over the entrance. Because it is said that wherever these two signs are there, nothing wrong can enter, no bad influence can enter. What does it mean symbolically? It means that the two different principles are united in a higher synthesis. So it is not a question of who is better or who is worse, who is first, who is second – that is not the question. The question is difference. And difference is good for unity. And separation is good for meeting. Of course, union is also good for separation, but that’s another topic. 

So, the Sun represents the obvious, the Moon represents the hidden. Therefore, some say that the real enlightenment and the real mystic revelation will come in darkness, it is under the Moon, under the sign of the Moon. Because the Sun dominates the daytime. But it is so hot that you faint, you don’t get high realizations, you’re simply just knocked out. What does it mean? That the open secrets are dominated by the Sun and the hidden secrets are dominated by the Moon. The Sun, we can say, is intelligent; the Moon is intuitive. So don’t be offended when some will say that women are not intelligent. It is not a bad word, it shows that you are different. You are supposed to be intuitive. 

Once I was invited to some devotees. A lady was driving me to the home of another lady. This was the first time that I met the lady of the house. We were sitting by the table and her first question was: “What is your opinion about women?”. I said, “You know, they have less brain capacity and are secondary human beings.” She was a little surprised and she asked: “Maharaj, where do you want to sleep? Because you will not sleep in my house.” Then the other lady who was driving me said: “Alright, and who will drive you home?” Since that time our friendship is established. Really, because then the discussion turned to another direction. Because anatomically it is said that a woman’s brain is a little less in weight. A man’s brain is a little more in weight. That you can measure. So there are differences. But it doesn’t mean one is better than the other. They are different! And in our tradition it is said that the appetite of women is higher than that of men. Also it is said that the fire of kama is higher in women than in men. But their ability to give advice is twelve times higher than that of men. Why? Because you are intuitive. Men are lost in the labyrinth of their thoughts. While you know, by nature you know. It is said, a woman knows what to do; a man has to decide. And it takes such a long time. Others say that women, as a gender, have some 300,000 years of genetic advance compared to men. So there are differences. Women are much better for survival. These are some body and mind features that you have.

(to be continued)