of men and women and salvation...

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