Re: Hum Om .... Attn: Mary Ann

[Guest guest]

4/28/2003 1:25:57 PM

>I have recently

>been formulating a theory that each human being is both male

>and female, regardless of the outer manifestation of the body.

 

I completely agree. There is Ardhanarishwara (Half Man, half Woman)

in the Indian tradition exemplifying androgyny on the spiritual

level, a stage when the anima and the animus form an integrated whole.

There are also strong references in the Western system of Alchemy to

that effect....afraid I don't recall the exact buzzword(s). Maybe it

is for this reason that, in the Tantric tradition, the female

aspirant is advised to worship/study Shiva (The Male Divine Cosmic

Principle) , and the male, Shakti (The Female Divine Cosmic

Principle)....to integrate the complementary aspect within oneself.

 

"Jesus said to them:

 

When you make the two one,

and make the inside like the outside,

and the outside like the inside,

and the upper side like the under side,

and in such a way that you make the man with the woman a single one,

in order that the man is not man and the woman is not woman; ...

then you will go into the Kingdom."

~ The Gospel of St. Thomas

 

All Good Things,

Kapalik

[Guest guest]

Dear Kapalik: Namaste, and thank you for your post. It feels nice

to be agreed with. I have also been thinking that the Tantric

teachings about studying or worshiping the opposite sex actually

encourage a reliance on the outer, external body, rather than

encourage the understanding and development of the internal

body and a deep awareness of "om mani padme hum" that I am

speaking of. (BTW I love the Ardhanarishwara.)

 

About that passage from the Book of St. Thomas, at another

point in the Gnostic Gospels (possibly just before the passage

you quoted in that book, not sure) Mary tells Jesus that she is

afraid of Paul because he seems to hate women. Jesus then

tells her that the categories of male and female don't matter. But

he doesn't address Paul's anti-female energy, which is what I

wish could be addressed, because it is that tendency that has

distorted Jesus' message, and "it doesn't matter" doesn't seem

like a sufficient answer when it is men like Paul whose

interpretation of Jesus' message came to be what is known as

Christianity, and which underlies that which has caused pain

and death in the name of Christianity.

 

I am also wondering about calling male and female

"complementary" because again that may create the necessity of

an outer relationship. It doesn't mean that male and female can't

be complementary, but there's so much dogma about each

gender and their relationship to one another and how it should

be.

 

Om Namas Chandikaye

 

, Kapalik

<kapalik@s...> wrote:

> 4/28/2003 1:25:57 PM

>

> >I have recently

> >been formulating a theory that each human being is both

male

> >and female, regardless of the outer manifestation of the body.

>

> I completely agree. There is Ardhanarishwara (Half Man, half

Woman)

> in the Indian tradition exemplifying androgyny on the spiritual

> level, a stage when the anima and the animus form an

integrated whole.

> There are also strong references in the Western system of

Alchemy to

> that effect....afraid I don't recall the exact buzzword(s). Maybe it

> is for this reason that, in the Tantric tradition, the female

> aspirant is advised to worship/study Shiva (The Male Divine

Cosmic

> Principle) , and the male, Shakti (The Female Divine Cosmic

> Principle)....to integrate the complementary aspect within

oneself.

>

> "Jesus said to them:

>

> When you make the two one,

> and make the inside like the outside,

> and the outside like the inside,

> and the upper side like the under side,

> and in such a way that you make the man with the woman a

single one,

> in order that the man is not man and the woman is not woman;

....

> then you will go into the Kingdom."

> ~ The Gospel of St. Thomas

>

> All Good Things,

> Kapalik