Sufiman

"The Sufi men stood in a circle around the perimeter of the room, their swords held upright and vertical in front of them. They did not move or speak. They held a silent, strong circle of protection, a contained chamber within which the Sufi women taught, offering powerful wisdom from their lineage."    

Recently I got lucky – or engineered some luck – and visited my ashram (Lee’s School) for 6 days to be in the company of women, most of them my sangha sisters and most of us elders. We sat in circles of conversation, contemplation, study and discussion. We spent one evening learning to do the “bottle dance” (from fiddler on the roof) dancing around with water bottles on our heads!

All the circles and activities were twined together by good food, good company, sunlight, and deep practice in a place on planet earth that is super-charged with prana-shakti. So – like I said – I got lucky.  

In one of the circles of elder women, the topic came up regarding the health, or otherwise, of the masculine and feminine principles in the world and in ourselves. One of my fierier sangha sisters argued with passion that the Feminine Principle is doing fine. (This being in response to a meme in the culture that says we need to awaken shakti, strengthen a wounded feminine, and so on). I felt my whole body-mind immediately agree her. I DO feel that the Feminine Principle - in me and in my life - is strong. Healthy, alive and well. My sangha sister went on to say that it is the Masculine Principle that is weak. And blessings on her that she asserted that it is not just weak out there in "those men" but inwardly in “us women”. I have thought so much about this idea since being in that circle. And now I am writing about it. Read on.

It seems to me that there is a Sacred Masculine, a secular masculine and a wounded masculine. Sacred Masculine is that in me that has the capacity to be upright and inner-body-bright, vertically aligned between heaven and earth in attitude and posture. It is that in me which wishes to keep me from falling away from the clear light of my own central channel (sushumna). The Sacred Masculine principle helps me to stay steady, not waver, when outer circumstances (physical, injury, illness, old age; mental emotional anxiety, grief, anger, disappointment, politics, etc.) are challenging. The Sacred Masculine – in its power, protectiveness and ability to stay in place - is in service to the arising of the Sacred Feminine which includes original tenderness, sweetness, vulnerability and innocence but also sadness, grief, broken-heartedness and longing.

Then there is the secular masculine. The secular masculine in me is strong enough. It knows how to be a good worker. Work out. Be strong for the sake of being strong (rather than in service). The secular masculine in me is that personality construct which tends to be a workaholic.

And thirdly is of course the wounded masculine which I can so easily find examples of in the world and in history. And in myself. The wounded masculine also knows how to be strong and tough and uses that strength to do harm. The wounded masculine in me is that personality construct which tends to be a bully. I sometimes bully myself in fact. And bullying is not just about the physical. There is passive aggressive and subtle bullying which is even bully-er than the physical.   

An image for a healthy Sacred Masculine came to me through a description offered by another of my sangha sisters. She told us of her experience of attending the world parliament of religions where she was in a teaching space offered by the Sufis. The Sufi men stood in a circle around the perimeter of the room, with their swords held upright and vertical in front of them. They did not move or speak. They held a silent, strong circle of protection, a strongly contained chamber within which the Sufi women taught, offering powerful wisdom from their lineage.    

The work of cultivating the sacred Feminine and Masculine, of healing and restoring the balance of the world, is mine to do within the chamber of my own heart-mind-body. That feels wonderful and urgent. Wonderful because I can’t change others or the world – not really. I can only do my own work. And urgent – because I must do my own work. Live and practice in such a way that cultivates a strong silent, protector energy in service to the opening of an equally strong original tenderness and love. Letting Love in. Letting innocence and sweetness arise and also learning to bear the sadness, loneliness and longing of the broken heart that only God can heal.