In the Western Celtic tradition, the springtime is called the return of the solar energy when the sun starts to gather warmth and stimulates new creation within the soil, a process which begins to unfold in January. The solar energy or the fire element needs to combine with Mother Earth for the creation to be triggered.
Solar energy is often seen as a pure masculine energy, and in some religions and traditions, the sun is considered to be symbolic of the supreme cosmic energy or God and is often portrayed as a father figure or male deity. Thus, it is a balance of both the masculine and the feminine energies that is needed for the new growth to take place.
When we look at society today it is difficult to find a synergistic balance of these two energies. Instead, it is a particular form of the masculine energy that tends to dominate. This is the world of achievement and power through striving, busyness, and of information gathering rather than the acquisition of wisdom. These are the values that tend to be promoted in our materialistic society. They are often seen as the mark of success and the means to happiness, albeit often short-lived. But what is missing is the balance of this dominant masculine energy with the feminine: the spirituality, the ‘beingness’, the connection with the inner being, with God and with one another.
On the whole, nature is perceived as feminine and those who speak gendered languages will know this. In French, nature is la nature, for example. What can we learn by observing nature? From the natural world, we can certainly learn the art of stillness, endurance, perseverance and growth. Nature teaches us how to just ‘be’. William Wordsworth said, “Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher”.
Nature is indeed a great teacher. The persistent dominance of the impure masculine energy is perhaps why the feminine is consistently abused. This happens in relation to women in societies all over the world but also in relation to nature, which has, as we know, been plundered and abused consistently for decades in the name of progress.
Within the teachings of the Brahma Kumaris, it is understood that the original nature of the soul is a perfect balance between the masculine and feminine qualities. However, in a world which is so conditioned and polarised by gender, we easily lose that inner balance.
The founder of the Brahma Kumaris, Prajapita Brahma, was ahead of his time when, in the late 1930s, he put the administration of the community into the hands of a group of young women. Recognising the dominance of the masculine in society, he felt that it was especially the feminine energy of nurturing and caring that was needed to restore the balance. Henceforth, the organisation has been led by women.
But restoring balance to the world and creating a harmonious relationship with nature once again, starts not just within organisations but within the self. The prime tool of spiritual development taught by the Brahma Kumaris is meditation, and this is seen as a means of connecting to the Divine. The Divine or God is considered to be a being of light, like the sun, but we are encouraged to relate to this being as both the Mother and the Father. This enables each soul to develop the full range of virtues and powers needed to deal with the challenges of today’s world and also to create a better, more balanced world in the future.
Joanna Kitto is the Brahma Kumaris Environment Initiative Co-ordinator for the UK and Co-ordinator of BK activities on the Isle of Man in the British Isles.