The Feminine is the ground of Being.
The Feminine in us gives birth to the Masculine, which then holds the space for the Feminine to flow in a greater field. This then becomes the ground of being which again births the Masculine which holds the space…the awareness growth spiral…
The masculine and feminine in us are discovered, not invented or envisioned or defined. Roles of men and women as well as different genders come and go and but the elemental archetypes remain. They are a part of one another in the same way as yin and yang are a part of one another. As we mature we pass through a more feminine phase, then a more masculine, then F/M/F/M which becomes more internal as a person embodies their Spirit more fully, the dance moving in a spiral of growing awareness.
The Masculine and Feminine of Just About EverythingAncient writings tell us that all manifest existence is Feminine, (Mother Nature) and the consciousness of it is Masculine. Within the vast Feminine of it all, everything is also M and F. So generally speaking, form and structure is masculine and the flow of relationship is feminine.
Hence an actual musical instrument you would say is M. The music is F. As there is F and M in everything, within music the rhythm is M, the melody is F.
We would say that movement is F and stillness is M. So the actual notes are F, the silence between the notes is M…
Within movement, calmness is F while excitement is M.
Sensitivity is a flower
The opening to the world, to the other, in order to simply let in what is there, to feel it on ones skin, in ones heart, is like the opening of the petals of a flower. It is the feminine movement.
The ability to go into the other, the tree, to go into the bird to feel the joy of flight, to go underneath what the personality of another is presenting and feel what is hidden, is a masculine movement and is like the stamen of the flower. So the petals open and allow in what is presented, the stamen is symbolic of penetrating to find what the other is feeling underneath.
Social systems are masculine since they have form. Within social systems the capitalist system is masculine, since it reinforces the individual, the entrepreneurial spirit and so on. The communist system is feminine, as it it is based on sharing, community etc. Of course, both being systems, they suffer the same essential difficulties inherent in trying to systematize human life.
We tend to grow in a leap-frog kind of way in a feminine,masculine, feminine,masculine sort of fashion. Children’s bodies are soft and flexible (more feminine) and out of that place arises an adult body which is harder and stronger (more masculine).
The free flowing movement of thought in younger ones (feminine) gets modified by the ability to discriminate and focus (more masculine), which then means that creative thought (feminine) can become more expanded.
At each stage the masculine holds the space for the feminine to flow with an ever-increasing ability… So that those who hold a strong masculine can use that capacity for flow in a greater field. And then, out of that, another masculine level is born to hold the space for a deeper level of feminine flow.This is for everyone….. I have a masculine body so I find it easier to develop masculine ways to hold space. Then my capacity to surrender and to love can reach to another depth. Women tend to be the converse. Of course these are general tendencies and some men and women are other way around and some already have the intertwining of these great archetypes internalised but the inner principles hold. ‘Thinking’ and ‘doing’ is considered to be masculine and ‘being’ and ‘feeling’ is considered feminine. Thinking and doing are born of being and feeling.
When a person becomes conscious (M) of their underlying motivations and conditionings and desires, the quality of the thinking and doing alters dramatically and becomes more expanded (F). Instead of feeling and being as unconsciously conditioned or repressed, they become the conscious motivating force rather than the unconscious one.
Usefulness:
When you take care of the inner world the outer world is easy as the M is born of the F.
“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” – Carl Jung
This is the dynamics of Tantra.
It is this way for the relating between people just as it is for the relating between sub-atomic particles or internally within one person.The question always for the masculine is. “What level of the feminine am I holding space for in this instant?” And the constant question for the feminine is , “What am I birthing right now, in this moment?”
In Tanaiki these principles are consciously at work
Surrender and control breath
The ‘in’ breath is feminine, the ‘out’ breath is masculine. When the focus is on one more than the other, it is called feminine or masculine breath.
Sometimes when there is a controlling element such as in the Ujjayi breath, (called “the ocean breath” or “victorious breath”), the element of focus on controlling the sound gives it its masculine characteristic even if the in and out breaths are equal.
Another masculine breath is the “bellows breath” which is the movement of strong in and out breaths like a set of bellows.
Common feminine breaths are crying and laughing even though they are a bit staccato. The surrender breath of rebirthing is extremely useful to use – on its own as a breath session or followed by a strong masculine breath like bellows breath. Used in conjunction with the hara/third eye kriya when the body/mind is expanded this combination can completely alter the attitude toward healing or completing unfinished business or toward maintaining an expanded state. It often produces altered states on its own.When pandiculating and moving in a conscious fashion, we allow the breath to do what it wants, either controlling or surrendering or simply in flow; laughing or crying or raging or orgasming– all good.
The deep study of relaxation is essential for the study of conscious expansion. If you practise expansion it will force you to rest. So the ability to rest consciously goes hand-in-hand with expansion. This means for most people that their lifestyle will have to alter to accommodate the changes. The personality undergoes quite dramatic change as well so you may find that you will increase or change your circle of influence. Watch animals relax, they are the experts.
Consciously expanding oneself for long durations will create a deep desire for rest in the body.
There is a very great deal of resistance to opening into the larger field. This is the conflict between cultural conditioning and homeostasis on the one hand and the need to grow into the bigger place on the other, propelled by the natural entelechy of life…
So even after only one day of expansion exercises the sleep will be deep that night (unless there is too much “unfinished business” arising or the energy levels are to high – in which case additional exercises will be required). If a person seriously undertakes the business of growing themselves up and regularly expands consciously, then there will be periods of “crashing”. These will be days at a time when the body and psyche just do not want to do anything.
It is important to pay attention to this natural intelligence and not obey our cultural conditioning to keep ‘doing’. If you do… the consequences will hurt…