It's 'that time of the month'. This morning sitting was all about being with body, and accepting brain's temporary dullness.
Feeling every cell, each vibrating at seemingly different frequencies, and pushing against each other, from all the extra turgidity. Tendons stretching in odd places. Blood pooling down at the place where it all started. Feeling all of it, and at same time craving sharp mind, quiet body. Random thought, this is why Buddha was not a woman. Just a thought, judging. Flash of awareness: to be with what is, that is the work to be done. Not easy, given lowered state of concentration, and fragmentation. Whole body is buzzing with hypersensitivity. Thought, 'handle with care', and smile. Really, better go back to breath, or at least try. Breathing through every part of the body that's screaming for attention. Not liking, being mostly body. Wishing for a return, soon to a more balanced state. Craving, noted.
Woman's experience of body is so profound, and different from men. Makes me wonder . . . how do feminine physical experiences shape women's spirituality? and fit within the context of otherwise largely male influenced spiritual structures?
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You seem to be implying that men's experience of body is not as profound. Do you have some evidence for this belief? You also seem to be claiming that women are underrepresented in the Buddhist spiritual structures of the West. My experience has been the opposite - that Buddhism is dominated by the feminine. My last retreat had one male instructor and four female, and every room of the center was decorated in an extremely feminine style with feminized portraits and statues of the Buddha (much of the art I see makes Buddha look like half man and half woman, as if we are unsure of which he was). Do you have some evidence to support your idea that men are over-represented in Buddhism?
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