making the daily life sacred
On the level of ultimate truth, there is no distinction of male and female. However, our conditioning means that our approach is different, as we grow and develop.Women often ask certain questions when approaching meditation and Buddhism:
Can I have my spiritual life in the midst of my ordinary one?
I don't want to get rid of my ego - I need a stronger sense of self. Can I feel more confident, without having an inflated ego?
What does detachment mean? Can I love my children/partner and not be attached?
Can I be compassionate without draining myself? and look after myself at the same time?
Can I feel more fully present and good in my woman's body?
Can I make positive use of menstruation and menopause for meditation?
What do we mean by self?
Meditation opens up the strengths and beauty of our nature, and enables us to act spontaneously and appropriately in each moment, not from old conditioned habits. This takes us beyond the narrow sense of self, into a greater empowerment.
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the feminine
Why is it important to consider 'the feminine'?Lao Tzu said ‘Know the male, live in the female.’
What feminine and masculine qualities would provide a framework in which we could all develop our strengths?
In the culture we live in, masculine and feminine are defined in a certain way: strong and weak, active and passive, intellectual and intuitive, pushy and receptive, aggressive and compassionate - and so on. 'Masculine' qualities are valued, 'feminine' are seen as inadequate.
Are these qualities the best we could be?
The Tibetan meditation deities offer models for male and female that are rather different from what we are familiar with. They can offer us an opportunity for transforming our expectations.
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the Goddess
Women are creating a new spirituality around the idea of the 'Goddess.'Who is she?
Often we hark back to the imagined past as a source of inspiration for what we are doing now. We can easily get vague. People mean all sorts of things by the "Goddess" Often it's her more beautiful side than her death-dealing.
Goddess spirituality understands the 'Goddess' as the all-encompassing nature. Many specific goddesses arise out of her.
This new spirituality is for healing ourselves and the earth.
In this time of environmental crisis we can explore what forms would be most helpful.
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the Goddess according to Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism has a living tradition of one goddess, and many. The Great Mother is the all-encompassing primordial ground of being, Mother of all Buddhas Prajnaparamita. Then there are many goddesses, or dakinis, who embody various ways of manifesting enlightened wisdom in the world - peaceful, healing, energetic, constructively angry.The present moment of awareness is called the Mother of all Enlightened ones. It gives a space for realising our natural state. Moments of insight, the energy pathways in the body, are called the dakini.
Dido has worked with many of these dakinis or goddesses, in their traditional forms of practice. She offers creative ways of working with the Goddess and goddesses, in meditation and ritual, taking them to depth, so that insight into the nature of the Goddess can arise.
Our body, breath and mind are part of the universal mind. Practises of awareness help us meet this goddess. She is immanent in all things, and each one of us is the Goddess.
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nature
meditation and nature We go to a beach or forest to clear our heads, and find a good space from which to begin again. Nature is a great healer.
The peace we find in nature restores our sense of being alive. Fresh, luscious, profund. We are part of nature. Our blood is salty as ocean, we are made of the same water, earth, air and heat, the same molecules and space.Often we don't know how to integrate the spiritual feeling we get in nature, how to draw on the healing and regeneration, and take it back into our lives.
Through meditation we can find that peace and beauty within ourself as well. Our mind becomes like a clear pool at dawn, our wisdom the wisdom of forest trees. The 'natural state' is one description of the awakened state in Buddhism.
This is the spirit of our time.
We urgently need to feel this power of nature within us, and our connection and unity with nature around us, so we can care for our planet as if it were our self. For healing our planet, as well as our own lives.
This work can be helpful for activists and people working with the environment, sustainable lifestyles and so on, to connect our spiritual life and practical work with nature.
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women and nature
Many people now understand that we and our ecosystem are inseparably linked. Few yet see this in terms of 'feminine' ways of operating. It is crucial to make this link, if we are to create the kind of social change we need.Nature and women have become linked in our minds. Nature’s ecosystems have been felt as life-giving Mother. Women can proudly identify with nature.
Can we make use of the Goddess to help us create inspired sustainability and integration? Mother nature teaches us about supporting life, connectedness and beauty.
Is the Goddess, Mother Earth, Mother Nature, the Cosmic Mother, or Queen of Space? Is she Cosmic Consciousness? Are these the same or different?
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