[MD] Taoism

[pholden at davtv.com]

Quoting Margaret Warren <carma at carmapro.com>:

> Marsha,
> 
> I'm sure I'm opening a big can of worms here -
> I'm not reading this book, but I do read a lot of 
> posts here that you make about yin vs. yang/
> man vs. woman issues and so on. 
> 
> The moment a woman demands her rights, she
> reduces herself to the level of a beggar. (this is not
> me, but Yoko Ono - yet I agree with it.)
> 
> Certainly it is true that over the course of history,
> women were not considered the same as men. 
> And there are still many countries in the world where
> women are brutalized by men. I am not saying that
> there hasn't ever existed or doesn't consider to exist
> problems related to gender issues. 
> 
> But it seems to me that continuing to look for problems
> in this area is a static pattern. 
> 
> I've owned my own business in a male dominated field for
> many years. I was in a male dominated rate when I was
> in the Coast Guard - working in electronics. I 
> have rarely, if at all, experienced any issues with men related
> to my gender. I'm considered by my colleagues and peers
> to be very feminine, yet regarded as competent
> and capabable as any and more so than a lot of other
> men as I work on computers, hardware, networks and so on.
> 
> I realize that 100 years ago - I would not have had the
> same options, but it's not 100 years ago. 
> 
> There are many books that I read on Taoism, Buddhism and
> so on - they were written thousands of years ago - they
> are not going to have the same social perspective we have 
> right now. It is changing - Pema Chodrun is one female 
> monk who runs a monastery in Nova Scotia. She also writes,
> lectures and is apparently taken seriously by her peers and 
> colleagues - I bet she didn't get where she is by 
> worrying so much about being a woman vs. a man. 
> 
> I think there are a lot of ideas that are very misunderstood
> about gender - even from the past. Men cannot have babies. 
> No matter what. They can certainly raise them, but they
> cannot experience the act of giving birth. I believe
> this is one reason why men did other roles - became 
> monks for example - while women went about the business
> of giving birth. Now we have options - we're over populated,
> women choose not to have children. Biologically, the pattern
> and the agenda is different. 
> 
> I don't read books on taoism looking for duality - equal
> time given to women - it actually seems at cross purposes
> with the MOQ to look for gender issues at all - those
> are just biological and social levels that change and
> correct themselves all the time. 

Well said! Thanks.

Platt 


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