Gender 3

“Due to the ignorance of strong identity with the body, male-female ideas and prejudices have dominated the social fabric.”

—Sadhguru

Ladies and Gentlemen and all those who have not made up their minds; the Supreme Court of India has recognized a third gender and has legalized their existence. It is a social and legal validation that has been long overdue. Right from ancient times, the third gender was a recognized factor in Indian culture, there never was any persecution but there was no equal status either. Though this is a welcome decision by the highest court in the nation, it also opens up a gamut of issues of public office, marriage, property, cultural implications to bathroom use. Justice to the third gender is good but sensitivities of ladies and gentlemen have to be taken into account.

Ardhanarishwara, as Shiva is known, is not of the third gender but the peak of the masculine and feminine. Neither this nor that is not the goal, but the peak of both is. A balance between the two is not obliteration or the birth of the third. Being beyond the duality is not in denial of the dual nature of physical existence. On one level, Yoga also means the Union of masculine and feminine within oneself. There is no need for strong identity with any one of these, as life is a manifestation of both. All of us were born because of the meeting and mingling of male and female. In turn, our being male or female need not be carried in our minds in a big way; the body will do it anyway. Male-Female is body’s business. There is no need to extend it beyond the body. It is not an identity but a body structure. Due to the ignorance of strong identity with the body, male-female ideas and prejudices have dominated the social fabric.

Strong sense of being man or woman means that you are too identified with your reproductive organs. If you must be identified with some part of your body, try the brains. It could work out better for you and a more healthy social fabric could be woven. One way of describing consciousness is – your identity has shifted from body parts to cosmic proportions. In this lies the possibility that the very intelligence of the cosmos can be harnessed.

Here I am at iii, TN. Spring is just about bursting. Spring is about fresh leaves, flowers, birds and bees, pollination and repopulation. Ladies and gentlemen, human species is not endangered, no need to feel encouraged.

Let us make it happen,

Love & Grace,

Sadhguru