Here's a peek into what is rattling around in my head lately:
Most spiritual teachers are men and those women who have broken the mold are celibate, unmarried, or childless. Where are the teachings by women with children? And why do I have to look so hard to find them? If I've learned anything through motherhood so far, it's that I've learned a lot through motherhood! Mothers have much wisdom to offer the world. Birth alone is an incredibly powerful spiritual experience, but has, for some reason, been deemed by our society as a taboo topic of conversation. What accounts for this gap in contributions by women, particularly mothers? And how would the world be different if women and mothers were seen as gurus, priests, spiritual teachers, etc on the same level as men?
Our society clearly values the head much more than the heart. Thinking rules over feeling. Thoughts and opinions = strength. Feelings and emotions = weakness. This manifests itself in many ways, but becomes clear when we look at the abortion rate of Down Syndrome babies. We think that if they cannot think at optimum capacity, then it's not even worth living. But what if our society valued the heart as much as, or more than, the head? What if we valued feeling as much as thinking? Would people with Down Syndrome, those known to have an abundance of love and joy for everyone, be considered our revered teachers and sages?
Is it even possible to love my enemies in the world if I do not love the enemies within myself? If I hate parts of myself and treat those parts with scorn, how can I love the people in the world with similar characteristics? Is it true that I cannot truly love others if I do not love myself - and not just the nice parts of myself, but the awful parts, too?