“WOMAN”

The correct perspective for the monastic

The following comment and quotation set forth a very real problem in understanding the meaning and intention of Eastern writings relating to male/female association. It seems beneficial to post this reply of Swami Nirmalananda Giri in our section on monastic life, especially since the bulk of the material in this section is addressed to men rather than women. This is because only a very tiny fraction of monastics in India are women–and there were only a handful of monastic foundations for women in India before that country’s independence. Consequently very little has been written for women on the subject of monastic life in general, much less regarding their conduct in relation to men. Therefore a one-sided impression is inevitable. Hopefully this article will alleviate the situation somewhat.

These words from Advice to Sannyasins–Part 2 by Swami Sivananda Saraswati, found on your website are cruel and hurtful:

“Woman is more venomous than the cobra. Cobra kills a man by a bite; but woman kills him by even a mere sight, and not only one life, but thousands of lives will be lost by contact with woman. Be ever vigilant. Maya is so very powerful. Be far away from women. Even if you have to serve women, mentally you must be far away from them. You should just do your duty (service) and run away.”

When read by Indian men and women, in the spiritual and cultural context in which they were written, Sivananda’s counsel to monks is not at all either cruel or hurtful. It is true that Westerners, without that context, may misconstrue them and think they are defamatory.

It should be noted that Sivananda speaks of “Woman” as an abstract concept–not of female human beings. He is speaking of the delusive image within the mind of the male human–an image that has been reinforced by many lifetimes of ignorance and lust, even if in this life the man inclines to purity and on the conscious level seems free from lustful attitudes toward women. He quite rightly tells monks to avoid casual and personal contact with women, lest their own subconscious (and often conscious!) negativity arise and harm both them and the women. In contemporary India women are much too trusting toward monks and associate with them as freely and openly as though they were close members of their own family. Terrible grief is often the result of this. Recently an American monk on pilgrimage wrote to us from India saying that he was not able to stay in the home of a devout family in the Himalayas because a short time before an Indian monk had been invited into that home only to run away with a daughter of the house after a few days.

Sri Ramakrishna, whose respect for women was a marked characteristic, often warned his male visitors against the destructive possibilities of “Woman and Gold.” He did not say “women”, but “Woman”–meaning it in the psychological sense of men’s mental corruption. (Actually the word he used was kamini, which means a woman as an object of lust–kama.) But when he spoke with women he warned them about “Man and Gold.”

Sri Ma Sarada Devi, the virgin wife of Sri Ramakrishna, continually advised her women disciples to never trust men, and she advised her male disciples to never trust women. She meant this in the sense of those of the opposite sex who would not observe a respectful reserve in regard to them. Sri Ma would not allow her female devotees to be present when male devotees came to see her, nor would she allow men in her house when women devotees were with her.

Readers in the lust-ridden West may find this distasteful, but serious sadhakas are not offended. It has been my observation for many decades that people who rave on about how the sexes should be considered “the same” and who shriek that it is “unspiritual” to observe a distance between male and female sadhakas because we are all “atmas” are usually sex slaves–or enslavers– angered at the suggestion they should distance themselves from the objects of their addiction. A truly spiritual man or woman understands well the potential dangers of association with the opposite sex, though blaming only the ignorance and delusion that produces such dangers–in themselves.

The twelfth chapter of Autobiography of Yogi has this instructive passage:

“My guru mixed freely with men and women disciples, treating all as his children. Perceiving their soul equality, he showed no distinction or partiality.

“‘In sleep, you do not know whether you are a man or a woman,’ he said. ‘Just as a man, impersonating a woman, does not become one, so the soul, impersonating both man and woman, has no sex. The soul is the pure, changeless image of God.’

“Sri Yukteswar never avoided or blamed women as objects of seduction. Men, he said, were also a temptation to women. I once inquired of my guru why a great ancient saint had called women ‘the door to hell.’

“‘A girl must have proved very troublesome to his peace of mind in his early life,’ my guru answered caustically. ‘Otherwise he would have denounced, not woman, but some imperfection in his own self-control.’

“If a visitor dared to relate a suggestive story in the hermitage, Master would maintain an unresponsive silence. ‘Do not allow yourself to be thrashed by the provoking whip of a beautiful face,’ he told the disciples. ‘How can sense slaves enjoy the world? Its subtle flavors escape them while they grovel in primal mud. All nice discriminations are lost to the man of elemental lusts.’”

It should be noted that Yogananda, though having both men and women living in his American ashram, demanded strict segregation of the sexes–a segregation that is rightly observed even now over half a century after his physical departure.

I had the inestimable blessing of living for a while in the Sivanandashram and being with Sivananda himself at least twice a day, and I can assure you that he had no dislike of women. The female monastics and sadhakas of the ashram were as respected as the males. However, a respectful and proper distance was observed on both sides. At the same time there was a remarkable familial feeling pervading the ashram.

Sivananda’s advice was for male monastics–sannyasis. If he had written something for women monastics–sannyasinis–he would have told them that Man was more venomous than the cobra!

Wise are those who are aware of their actual and potential weaknesses and act accordingly, not blaming the objects of their delusions, but their delusion itself. Those who do not guard themselves–and others–intend to fall into the snares of ignorance.