I have a seminar to go to, a seminar organised as an exercise in
remembering Ambedkar....
my mind mulls the notions of equity and inequity, exploitation and
justice, and how societies are organised in a fashion that is essentially
tilted to favour the few against the interests of the many, disinherited by the
powerful from that which rightfully must be shared by all...
I’ve been called many names for thinking so, marxist, anarchist,
anti establishment, feminist...even a rogue. Those names have only fueled my
desire to explore the truth of my assumptions and my convictions have gathered
strength over the years...
These inequities that one witnesses on a daily basis are
everywhere, some take culture specific forms, but in their essence they are
universal...patriarchy is one such universal. it pervades all forms of social
ordering, the material, religious and the spiritual domains as well, all
equally coloured with its iniquitous taint...god, as created by
modern man is a ...man, in his world men and women are different beings, ( not
biological counterparts of the same species) and the rules that ought to order
their different worlds should naturally be different. That’s Gods will and this
is what religion ordains. One does not treat apples and oranges the same now,
does one?!!!
A few years ago I asked a very dear friend a question. I asked him
if it were possible for women to attain Moksha, to be liberated from the cycle
of endless birth, suffering and death. The attainment of Moksha is the highest
end that a Hindu can aim for, it is the reward that one hopes that one will
attain for having absolved all sin through penance and righteousness. I asked
him this as he, a Brahmin was engaged in the exercise of memorizing the Geeta,
sought to live a spiritual life, performed the Yagna everyday and desired to
imbibe the ideas of the Geeta in his everyday life and living.
he thought for a while and then his answer was this.
'There is no outright denial of Moksha for women that I have come
across. However, women are beings whose consciousness is affected by the notion
of love. Love creates attachment, that generates desire, desire in turn
generates pain...therefore its extremely difficult, if not impossible for women
to attain Moksha.'
(inherent in that argument is the confession that men don't
love, not quite the same as women do)
That’s an argument that effectively cleaves the man from the
women...they are two different beings, could have come from two different
planets, could not be treated the same. That vision must inform the decisions
that my friend, very modern, seemingly egalitarian, even benevolent, takes in
the course of his dealings with men and women. That idea lubricates the synapses
of his cerebral cortex, no wonder he can never quite treat women right...
Where had I heard that argument before?
Draupadi was denied heaven 'cause she loved Arjuna more than she
loved the others.
Two and a half thousand years ago a distraught Gautami stood
outside a Mandapam in Vaishali, where the Buddha was then residing.She had cropped her hair, she wore a red robe
and had walked barefoot from Kapilavastu. She sought to intercede with the Buddha,
the man she had raised from infancy, to permit her and the several Sakya women
who had made the journey with her, admission into the Buddhist Sangha. She had
asked for this when the Buddha had returned to Kapilvastu and had been denied
twice. Presenting him now with a done deal had not worked either, and there she
stood, lost and teary, denied outright again.
Ananda saw her...walked in and sought to argue with the Buddha in
her favour. Leave it be, the Buddha said, it cannot be done.
Ananda persisted, Master, he said, the Brahmins believe that women
and the Shudaras are unclean, and therefore cannot attain salvation...must we
leave them to that fate? Has Gautami not displayed enough merit to earn her the
right to salvation?
All women I believe are shudras, denied equity not only in this
world, but even in the next. They are not 'full' human beings, quite not the
same as men...that is essence of all inequity that manifests itself in
draconian ways all around us...it is the essence of patriarchy.
The Buddha eventually, after considerable persuasion by Ananda, relented
and allowed the creation of a separate Sangha for Bikhunies...he did eventually
recognize that women had the ability to seek and obtain salvation, just the
same as men did. that for me was a giant leap forward toward a religion that
was egalitarian in principle, even though patriarchy with its nefarious
insidious ways may have severely affected the practice of that principle.
Mahavir, the 24th Tirthankara of the Jains and the Buddha's contemporary was
more revolutionary and permitted women ascetics with ease... his followers
however are cleft between the Digambaras, who believe that Nirvana is only
possible if the body is so neglected as to give up the wearing of clothes. As
this is socially unacceptable for women, the women of this sect are denied
Nirvana. The Svetambaras, the other Jain sect however have Bikhunies and treat
women with greater equity, including an acceptance of the idea of the salvation
of their souls.
Modern religion however, is patriarchal, and endorsed the man /
woman hierarchy in full measure, the earlier matriarchal cults subsumed,
morphed , to meet the needs of patriarchy (but that for another day!)
Just as inequity flows from the idea that men and women are different
beings, equity must flow from the notion that they are essentially the
same...individuals all, human beings all, equal , though each one specially,
able...
That's a world view that i hope will come to fruition in the
future...no matter how distant that moment in time may be...I look forward to
it...
Vinny
12/4/14
.jpg)
