Guest guest Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 dear maryann, Since you are such a voracious reader and you like to explore on this topic - the connection between shaktism and feminism, it is my pleasure to recommend to you the following book Is the Goddess a Feminist?: The Politics of South Asian Goddesses by Alf Hiltebeitel (Editor), Kathleen M. Erndl (Editor) It is available at amazon.com Editorial Reviews Religious Studies Review, January 2002 "A fascinating and provocative set of essays... richly successful." Book Description In India, God can be female. The goddesses of Hinduism and Buddhism represent the largest extant collection of living goddesses anywhere on the planet. Feminists in the West often draw upon South Asian goddesses as theological resources in the contemporary rediscovery of the Goddess. Yet, these goddesses are products of a male supremacist society. What is the impact of powerful female deities--their images, projections, textuality, and history--on the social standing and psychological health of women? Do they empower women, or serve the interests of patriarchal culture? Is the Goddess a Feminist? looks at the goddesses of South Asia to address these questions directly. Not a book about a single goddess or even about a variety of South Asian goddesses, the volume raises questions about images of deities as symbols and the ways in which they function. Contributors discuss contemporary Indian women who have embraced goddesses as spiritually and socially liberating, as well as the seeming contradictions between the power of Indian goddesses and the lives of Indian women. They also explore such topics as the element of male desire in the embodiment of female deities, the question of who speaks for the goddesses, and the politics and theology of Western feminist use of Hindu and Buddhist goddesses as models for their feminist reflections. ********************************************************************** maryann, please let us all know what you find and whether this book answers some of your questions... in ever loving service a fellow traveller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 tisdagen den 28 januari 2003 03.21 skrev asimhavahini > In India, God can be female. The goddesses of Hinduism and Buddhism > represent the largest extant collection of living goddesses anywhere > on the planet. Feminists in the West often draw upon South Asian > goddesses as theological resources in the contemporary rediscovery of > the Goddess. Yet, these goddesses are products of a male supremacist > society. If it is one thing that irritates me, it is the unability of the western mind to accept any other thought than their own. Just read "Yet, these goddesses are products of a male supremacist society." The goddesses are not a product of the human mind, or society, as little as the atom is a product of society. Society observes nature around us, and make conclusions, but does society create that nature? The goddesses is a description of nature that is around us, and here I mean nature in its widest sense. We look at the world around us, and then we create images and descriptions. These images and descriptions are a picture of what we see, a kind of approximation. This so that another human, seeing the same thing, will recognize the image or description. We observe the cosmic energy, Shakti, and then we describe it as a Goddess. If the scientist can't see that energy like that, maybe he should try harder. People who are not scientists cannot see the atom either. Does that mean that the atom is a creation of the scientist? No, he can prescribe a method with which anyone can see the atom. So there is also a prescribed a method so that anyone can see the subreme female energy, Shakti. The only limitation is the limitation we make on ourselves. How we decide how we want to limit ourselves, and then we will be thus limited. Once we know about the atom, we can utilise it for our purposes. It is available for that. And once we know about the cosmic energy Shakti, we can utilise that for our purposes. It is as simple as that. The only problem is that the atom is an energy inferior to us, and Shakti is an energy superior to us. Shakti has personality. That might come as a surprise to some, that think that we are the only personalities in existence. Or maybe as a misunderstanding of what personality is. In hindu teachings every superior energy has personality. Thus all the different gods as persons. That can make one think. Since if superior energies have personality, and energies on our level (us) have personality, maybe personality is simply a characteristic of energy. Which means that possibly even inferior energy has personality. Does an ant have personality? Possibly. But it is inferior to us, and we don't really care. Does an atom have personality? If personality is an intrinsic characteristic of energy, yes. People that are not scientists have figured out this relationships thousands of years ago,. They try to please the superior energies, their gods, and they get benefits in return. It is so simple that even a child can understand it. And it works. It is also how we work. If someone really tries to please us, we kind of get obliged to be kind to that person and give benefit. We get in debt. So the same way with the gods. Make offerings to them, and they get in debt to you. It is a kind of cosmic law, in the relationship between personalities. The thought can be mindboggling. But it is simple. Let's see, everthing is various manifestations of energy. That we know, and the scientists have already figured that out. Now add to that, that personality is an attribute of energy... Which means ... Everything has personality. The illusion of Maya is that there are dead things for our exploitation. But then, there are no dead things. Everything is alive with personality and energy. There is a unity of everything like that. Due to illusion, things just appear different, but actually are all of the same quality. There is the oneness. There is brahman. Prisni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 I guess. All I wanted to say is All is Amma.All is the Divine. no matter what form or religion OM Tat Sat Venya Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 , Prisni <pgd-prisni@a...> wrote: > > The goddesses are not a product of the human mind, or society, as little as > the atom is a product of society. Society observes nature around us, and make > conclusions, but does society create that nature? At one point, mathematics proved the earth was flat. That is because the people making the observations observed the "edge" of the earth at the horizon line, and science, math, etc. followed accordingly. At another point, another idea came into being, and mathematics grew to explain the world as spherical. You made a point in an earlier post that what we want to use the system for is important, too. Science uses its descriptions of reality to invent things, whether good or bad for society (e.g. microwave ovens, bombs). Spiritual concepts (or descriptions of reality) are used to invent things, too: prescriptions, proscriptions, explanations for behavior. For whatever differences may exist between the eastern and western mind, the question can still be asked: what do we do with our respective descriptions of reality, and what is the result? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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