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Summary of Question:Women And Dasam Dawar
Category:Meditation
Date Posted:Friday, 11/09/2001 4:26 AM MST

WJKK

WJKF

...can someone plz answer the following questions...they have been bugging me for the last few months now.....

QUESTION...

...... there are countless refernces to 'dasam dawar'... and 'nine doors and the ultimate hidden one ' in the SGGS.... as far as i am aware the nine doors... are refernced to '9 main body holes' and the tength door is an opening to do with the 'astral/spiritual body'..........

.......as a student of medicine... we come to find that women have ONE EXTRA opening ..the 'birth canal'...of which men have no 'visible equivalent'.... sooo the refernce to the ten doors... seems not to apply to women.... i mean it doesn't make sense......i am sure the Gurus wouldn't have written ten doors otherwise.. I AM COMPLETELY LOST... can someone PLEASE give me a logical explanation.....
.....

QUESTION.....
in the 'worldly' sense women have equal status/advantage to men...but it always seems that in the 'spiritual' side of things women are always lagging behind/ disadvantaged/oppressed.....

if u look at all world religion you see the systematic degradation of womens spiritual lives be it 10% or 100% it happens... in sikhism it seems that Guru Nanak Dev jee broke the shackels of the women folk..... BUT throughout the SGGS the spiritual seeker is assumed to be a man... ie in terms of the use of masculine terminology .... 'your family your wife..etc..'.....

......if we look at the world religions ALL PROPHETS WERE MEN..... don't women qualify for that honour... doesn't GOd think that women are worthy of that... or were women just made for procreation.... something which leads to excess attachement (moh)... a hindrance on the path of spirituality...

....bitcheness/jealousy/possesivness come easily to women ..are these the 'qualities' which have been bestowed on us...

.....were women made just to serve 'men'... and stand second to them...

.....somethimes it feels that (like the other religions have assured us womenfolk)..i will have to be born again as a man to achieve anything on the spiritual path....

-very dissillusioned khalsa

:(

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REPLY
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Dear Khalsaji-
Sat Nam. Everyone has nine holes: 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils, 1 mouth, 1 urethra, 1 anus. Everyone has a 10th gate, which is the space at the top of the head: when a baby is but a few weeks old this space is open; it closes as a baby grows. But the subtle opening is always there, gated, waiting to be opened with the light of the One.

Women indeed have a birth canal. So, women have 11 gates. It would have been confusing to write scripture and refer to 10 gates, but 11 for women. Everyone has this 10th gate. Do not consider the 'omission' of this gate to mean that women do not count. The Gurus preached that women INDEED do count: it is significant that throughout Siri Guru, the soul is considered to be a BRIDE. It is significant that Guru Nanak's FIRST disciple was his sister, who recognized him long before anyone else. It is significant that 10th master knew his AMrit needed something and asked his wife, what?

Check out this site: http://www.hope.at/sikhism and look at the section on Sikh women, one of the best I've seen.

You are correct that all the major religions of the world seem to fear women by giving them second class status. THe exception is the SIkh faith, which teaches that all women and men are equal in God's eyes. Unfortunately, Sikhs everywhere have conveniently forgotten this and succumbed to cultural practices that degrade and disrespect women. Don't believe for a MOMENT that women ARE second class. Understand that there was an age when women ruled the world. We are now in an age where men rule the world (and the religions reflect that), but that age is ending. The Aquarian age we are entering will be an age of TRUE partnership, where women command their rightful place in all things, they command equality and respect, and they co-rule with men, not above or below men. Yes, we still have a long way to go when we look at this world, but think of it this way: until women everywhere command their place in their individual lives, then we will not command it universally. Think globally, but act locally, in and of your
self. I am not saying be a raging feminist, I AM saying do not let anyone put you down because of your gender, and work to eliminate any sense of self-disrespect you have absorbed because you are female. Keep company with people who respect men and women as people, and as the light of GOd, and nothing less.

Understand too, that deep down, many men are awed by women because we give life to others. This is so awesome that some anthro-historians have interpreted men's domination of women as a way to control this life-giving, as a way to make up for the fact that they do not give life. Does that mean they're right??? No.

If you study Jaap Sahib, you will find that all the deeds of the Creator described by Guru Gobind Singh do not, fundamentally, involve gender. While we on this planent ascribe gender to many of the deeds listed in Jaap Sahib, if you look at it, you will see that the Creator is ALL those deeds and more, whether or not mere humans are male or female who do them. Think about that. The Creator is BOTH male and female and S/He is neither. This inequality is a fabrication of human minds, not the ONE Mind.

While I am sometimes troubled by the male gender dominance in SGGS, I remind myself that Siri Guru is, fundamentally, gender-free. I'm not talking about individual words, I am talking about the sound-current of Siri Guru and the blessings bestowed by reading of Shabd Guru do not involve gender and are bestowed equally. True spirituality, dear Princess Khalsa, is ALWAYS beyond gender.
Guru rakha,
-DKK



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