by Devaki Devi Dasi
Within our spiritual practice and its culture we can find universal
principles and also details. The principles have to be preserved at all
cost. Unless we maintain the principles we can easily lose them, in the
name of reformation and modernizing. And as a result the purity and
spiritual potency will also be lost. This happened in all other spiritual
cultures, such as Christianity for example. Some hundred years ago we could
find so many principles of spiritual culture present, but now they are all
lost and forgotten. And as a result Christianity has lost also in its
spiritual power. I remember two elderly matajis from Switzerland sharing
how in their childhood men and women were sitting separately in the
catholic church – on one side the men, on the other side the ladies. So even
in Christianity the clear understanding was there, that the attraction
between men and women distracts us from the Lord, and thus the genders
should better be kept separately. Of course now, in the modern days, this
would be an unimaginable practice.
So the principles are universal and have to be preserved. But the details
might vary according to time, place and circumstance.
In our Vaisnava culture it is a clearly established principle that a woman
is considered contaminated when she has her menstruation. This is a
principle. The details of application was that in former days she would not
even leave the house. One reason for this was also, because there were no
suitable toiletries available, and women were using rags and cotton wool
instead. Of course, one could easily make a mess out of oneself, and thus
one was not seen in public. These days we maintain the principle of
understanding, that she is not clean, but the detail of application might be
different, and the ladies do move around, etc.
Another principle is that a woman should be viewed as mother. Canakya Pandit
says it, and Srila Prabhupada says it many times throughout the Bhagavatam
and in his lectures. The fact that Prabhupada addressed some of his lady
disciples as ‘Prabhu’ is however a detail – according to time, place and
circumstance. Unless we clearly distinguish between principles and details,
it can easily happen that we take a detail and try to establish it as a
principle. In this example it would mean that just because Prabhupada
sometimes addressed women in this way, we establish it as a universal
principle that every woman should be seen and addressed as Prabhu. But no –
the more we have developed the recommended vision of seeing every woman as
mother, the more we want to address her in such way.
Another such principle is that Sannyasis should not associate with women.
In former days this was so strictly applied that a Sannyasi would not even
speak with a woman. However, today Sannyasi Gurus accept women disciples,
give darshan and write letters to women. They accept a conscious risk for
the sake of preaching. Nevertheless, the principle of a Sannyasi not
allowing himself to internally be dependant on women and not enjoying
intimate dealings with women – even in a most subtle form – has to be
maintained, otherwise the purity will be lost and fall-downs will take
place. So again, the principle has to be preserved, whereas the details
might differ according to time, place and circumstance.
The same is there with the principle of woman’s protection by her father,
husband and son. This principle has to be maintained, since it is Krsna’s
system for protection. Of course, the ultimate protector is Krsna and Srila
Prabhupada. Nevertheless, Krsna advises that a living man should protect a
woman. If we dismiss this good advice, we cannot be surprised if so many
unwanted things will happen to us women. How exactly the principle of
protection is lived might differ according to time, place and circumstances.
In former days a woman would never travel alone, because traveling meant
walking – there were no planes, trains or busses. So naturally a woman would
never walk long distances without the protection of a man. Nowadays
traveling looks a little different, and often it simply means that devotees
take us to the airport, and devotees receive us at the destination. Although
recently even flying has become more dangerous also.
The protecting role of the father, husband and son might also be accepted
by spiritual fathers and sons, understanding ISKCON as our extended family.
It is not always easy to distinguish between principles and details. It
requires deep understanding of the topic, and maturity. And some details
might maintain the principles more than others.
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