DarwidHalim wrote:Padmashambhava said this in "THe pointing-out instruction to the Old Lady" in Treasures from Juniper Ridge
"First of all, the basic material of buddhahoos is within you. In particular, it is in human beings who have obtained the freedoms and riches. Morever, it is not such that the basic material for buddhahood is abundant in men and deficient in women. Thus, even though you have taken rebirth as a woman, you are not prevented from attaining buddhahood.
However, he did say something about women in "Instruction for Women on Attaining Enlightenment Without Abandoning Daily Activities" in Treasures from Juniper Ridge:
... Nevertheless, simple women like you have little fortitude. Having physical enemies, you cannot practice the Dharma but are forced into marriage. Your bad karma involves you in countless task, so you never think of the Dharma. Very few women succeed in Dharma practice, so embolden yourself with perseverance...
If you really honest and look carefully, generally woman is more emotional than a man. I don't know why, but this is the fact that I have seen in my life. This is also described in the book "Men from Mars, Women from Venus".
I actually read somewhere that it has something to do with the energy flow. Energy flow in the woman is slightly different with man.
Buddhist widom is very difficult to be penetrated with emotions. We need clear mind which is unaffected by emotions.
Dealing with error views itself is already very difficult.
Can you imagine if we need to deal error views + emotions, it becomes more more difficult.
Unfortunately, in past life and in the modern life within certain cultures, women have less freedom than a man. They have more works to do, that make them having less time to contemplate. It really makes things difficult for them.
Please don't misunderstand, it is not woman cannot become a buddha, but it is more difficult for a woman to become a buddha.
Speaking of errors in view... Where did you get yours?? You have evident bias towards female and have bought into some serious delusion or don't actually understand the context of that quoted passage. Many cultures define their male/female roles in specific ways, but it does not speak to either the male or female capability of realizing emptiness. Cultural and social conditioning have nothing to do with practice or Buddhahood. There are buddhas and women who have vowed to take their final rebirth in female form - Tara is one of them. To be woman is to be put against the grind of trial every day for everything you are and aren't worth just because of what's between your legs. It makes for great Buddhist practice. More men should vow to take rebirth as women. Unity means not one-sided. The unity of life is non-dual.
That women are 'more emotional' or 'less logical' is a myth. Women are conditioned in different ways from birth in how to express themselves-their focus is to harmonize with their environment-they are conditioned to see the world through the relationships between objects. Men are just as emotional, they are simply conditioned to view the world through object-oriented ways. Their focus is geared towards social dominance, if and when they're allowed to have an emotionality acknowledged at all by their own culture. It's a question of what priorities of that culture-type shapes in terms of its social norms of what is 'male' and what is 'female.'
This fact you've observed is your own creation. It is not a fact, it is a misperception, you are imputing cause to the object of 'emotional' to the being "woman" and not to the actual context of conditions within which woman operates. By the same token one could say, it is a fact men are more violent and rape, I don't know why, but it is fact. I call bullsh*t. It is a broad and gross generalization that shows your lack of understanding of women or men, but primarily, it demonstrates a lack of understanding of yourself.
In cultures where female is negative or weak, the repression in men's own 'inner feminine' can render the experience of their natural emotions more unstable, leading to all kinds of misdirected behaviors. IF anything, men who are given less tools to manage vulnerability because of a conditioning that habitually diminishes the qualities that would make them 'less of a man' can make men more 'emotional' when they feel those things that will expose them as 'lesser men.' You need tools to stay grounded. It is a male misunderstanding that vulnerability equals weakness.
For what Guru Rinpoche says in that second quote - Women have had physical enemies for a long time, it's called subjugation, so of course obtaining the means of realization is politically stifled for them. Marriage is a form of social protection for a woman in those environments, but with it come a lot of duties that can prevent a woman from meditating all day and having their laundry done for them. They have people to serve outside of themselves. We live in a world where the dominant perception is effectively male superiority towards the female gender. But if you are really honest with yourself, woman is the bearer of life. Men simply forget that they were loved unconditionally first by a woman - their mother.
Women and men are equally capable of reaching Buddhahood. In practice, women have to persevere harder to get any form of respect
from men in this world, that of Buddhism is no exception. In truth, women have no greater obstacle to realization itself, they just have greater obstacles in men. Realization is between you and your nature, no one else has the ability to stop it but you. Man or woman.
