This blog has been translated into Chinese.
During my 2010 Women Standing in Their Power workshops—workshops that focused on how to rebalance the feminine/masculine energies within, how to reclaim your power as a woman and participate in the crescendo of female power on the planet so men can have a reaction in order to do their work of reclaiming the energy of the heart—whenever I opened up for questions, half of the questions asked were about men!
I’ve been meditating on this and when I drill down into the energy of the majority of the questions, I see that the underlying sentiment is “Oh, my God, we’re going to be leaving our men behind!”
I’ve had to cast my mind back over the past 30 years—years I’ve spent eradicating my own female conditioning—to find this sentiment within myself. It is something I haven’t focused on for awhile. I worked for 17 years with a spiritual teacher who helped his women students reclaim their power beginning back in the early 1980s and for the majority of that time—with minor exceptions—I’ve been celibate. So men don’t play a significant part in my life.
I’ve have to remind myself that most women have men in their lives who play very significant roles. Some women are still dependent upon their men for a livelihood. Some women wouldn’t be comfortable living alone and being celibate.
I do recall vividly one more recent memory captured in Unplugging the Patriarchy, the moment where Jackie and I are standing in the British Museum and it dons on me that I’m about to completely unplug myself from the fear-based, male-dominated patriarchal system. I remember the terror that came up and how difficult it was for me to work with it and finally bring it to rest.
But while the question of Are we leaving our men behind? is not in the forefront of my consciousness, I can perhaps offer some insight on the subject. What strikes me first is that this is not a question asked by a woman standing in her power. This question is only of concern to a second-class citizen. This question is fear-based.
Women and men have very different jobs to do at this time in history if they want to rebalance the feminine/masculine energies within themselves. It is time for women to reclaim their power and move forward onto the front lines of consciousness. This, of course, means throwing off their conditioning as second-class citizens, standing as the powerful beings they are, and speaking and acting their truth. Men, on the other hand, need to reclaim the energy of the heart and, for most men, that will only be accomplished once they have processed their reaction to the crescendo of female power that is happening on the planet.
In other words, there is a progression as we move into the new age: First, women standing in their power. Next, men reacting and processing their response to female power so they can reclaim the energy of the heart and support the evolution of second-class citizens.
Every human being faces a choice at this time: Do you remain aligned with the third-dimensional, fear-based, male-dominated, patriarchal society? Or, do you take up residence in the new multi-dimensional, love-based, egalitarian paradigm that has come online?
It is necessary to give each human the time and space needed to make that decision. And, unless someone seeks out your help, there’s really not much you can do to assist him or her in making that choice.
I once heard Gangaji say that sometimes, the kindest thing you can do for a drowning person, is to put your foot on their head and push them back under the water!
As women, we need to let the men in our lives make their own decisions. And perhaps that does mean leaving them behind for the time being. Perhaps that means being willing to lose someone we love.
If we want to help the men in our lives, our best bet is to do our job as women really, really well, i.e., reclaim your power and stand in it as fully as you can. Let people react. Let them have their process. Respond impeccably when someone asks you for help. And don’t let someone else’s reaction or reluctance keep you from what you know in your heart you need to do.
If enough women take up the banner of Women Standing in Their Power and ride out onto the front lines on consciousness, the vibration of the balanced feminine/masculine energy will be very strong—strong enough to attract many of the stragglers.
So I guess if you ask me the question “Are we leaving our men behind?”, my answer has to be, “In most cases, yes.”
Now, if you are a woman, let me ask you: “Are you strong enough to do that?”