Dear Friends;
This week, we celebrate International Woman’s Day. I chose 19yr old Joan of Arc for this week’s issue because she is a well-known figure in the West who imbibed both the feminine and masculine qualities. Pictured is a 1918 illustration of her created to inspire American women to buy war stamps during WW I to help support the American war effort.

The artist offered an excellent rendering of the gentleness of the feminine in harmony to the firmness of the masculine. With a bright, moon-like visage and slightly upturned gaze indicating humility, respect, and devotion towards a higher power, Joan is depicted wearing armour and holding an upraised sword imparting the Mars masculine of right action at the right time. You might even say this illustration is the West’s version of Ardhanarishvara, the form of Shiva indicating the complete synthesis of the masculine and feminine qualities, an example illustration of which I used last week.

The short life of Joan of Arc becomes an interesting metaphor for the interplay of the masculine and feminine qualities. Born in a French village during the Hundred Year’s War between England and France, Joan began experiencing visions of Christian saints telling her that her destiny was to help coronate Charles VII and push the English out of France. That she was able to inspire the French military to accept her as a leader is quite a remarkable story. That she maintained her commitment to Christ even as she burned at the stake (Jésus! Jésus!) is transcendent…

The masculine and the feminine. Two sides of the same coin. Two interlocking sets of qualities that form the basis of this whole Cosmos, including us. Indeed, the human experience reaches its full potential only when these qualities are allowed to express freely, without limiting the inherent potential of each.

I lived in the ashram of the enlightened spiritual master Gurumayi Chidvilasananda for over ten years. It was an amazing period of my life filled with experiences beyond typical human understanding — from the miraculous to the otherworldly. Yet, some of the most affecting experiences were the unscheduled moments when I saw who she was beyond the big crowds and the formal events. She was always anchored in a masculine/feminine aliveness that was so profound and vibrant I would fall into a state of ecstasy knowing I was witnessing my own destiny.

Once while working in the ashram kitchen, Gurumayi came striding in like a gas flame on high. She was Mars incarnate and chastised management for not preparing a special feast as it was the day a much beloved guru of the Siddha lineage had left his body. Mahasamadhi is when an enlightened being leaves their body through their own will and such a day is always celebrated for it signals their final merging into the Ocean of Consciousness.

After making sure management would not make the same mistake, Gurumayi came to the counter where several cereal box sized containers of spices were sitting on the counter and instructed a bowl to be placed on the floor to prepare the batter for bhajis, vegetable fritters. When I say bowl, I mean BOWL. The ashram was feeding 5 — 10 thousand guests at the time, so the bowls we used were rather large. I set the bowl on the floor and squatted down with a whisk and began whisking as one of the chefs threw in heaps of besan (gram) flour and water. Gurumayi then began to pick up a select number of spice containers and without looking at the label, dropped a portion of their contents into the batter. No measurement, no indecision, no taste test. One after another she threw in the spices like she was feeding a hungry dog biscuits.

As I stirred, I became lost in this show of complete awareness. I was witnessing perfection in action and I became ecstatic. Suddenly, I felt a rap on the top of my head as if someone had hit my crown chakra with a broom handle. Not painful, but definitely attention getting. I glanced up to see Gurumayi looking at me with an amused smile and indicating with a small gesture to stop whisking. Placing the bowl on the counter, Gurumayi turned away while the cooks tasted the batter. Perfect.

The bhaji batter Gurmayi had just spiced was exquisite, beyond compare. To see her take from an assortment of at least a dozen spice containers without looking and tossing with seeming abandon into the mixture without measuring was a profound testament to the state of complete freedom. In this simple display, she was demonstrating what it means to be a complete human being. Through decisive action and laser-like focus, she expressed the masculine and through gentleness, compassion, and intuition, she expressed the feminine.

As it was, her rap on my head opened a space within me, a clear indication of how energy can be harnessed for the benefit of all when supported by conscious action. I was like a drunkard the rest of the day, intoxicated on the experience of being alive, an experience I gained simply by being in her company.

Let me be clear: when we are completely involved in Life, Life answers back with Love. It matters not what you do, but how you do it. This is what it means to be half man and half woman and when we come to know this within ourselves, we have solved the mystery of our existence.

 🤗

David 🔆

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