Wisdom Rising: Journey into the Mandala of the Empowered Feminine

When I discuss the masculine and feminine in this book, it does not matter whether you identify as male, female, or nonbinary, or what your sexual orientation may be: the masculine and feminine energies are alive within each of us and in our world. That said, there are rules and laws and cultural messages worldwide that specifically affect and dise

We, both men and women, need to work toward a united and creative partnership between genders and Mother Earth—an integration of spirit and matter. We must learn to leave something when we take something. We must learn to leave the best and the strongest, so it is present for future generations, and not to take the best for ourselves. As Chief Craz

What can we do to restore and heal the balance? In order to find balance, we need to equalize human rights and the economic situation of women and men; and we must move away from religions that model male dominance and into spiritual models of partnership and respect for our precious planet. It is by empowering the sacred feminine and by listening

Compassion is not a wishy-washy “anything goes” approach. Compassion can say a fierce no! Compassion is not being stupid and indulging someone and what they want. Trungpa Rinpoche called that “idiot compassion,”10 like giving a drug addict drugs.

Meeting our strong feminine energy, we will develop as women, and not as women trying to be like men or asexual beings. We are different, and until that difference is known, owned, and maximized, our true feminine potency and capacity to bring this world into balance will not be realized. The powerful, fierce feminine is very much a part of the psy

Like Tara, I firmly believe that at the absolute level we are beyond gender, and any notions of gender are limited and not our true nature. At a relative level, men and women are different, and that difference is precious. I am not in favor of women becoming more like men in order to be acceptable and successful. We don’t need more men, or more wom

a reference point in all religious traditions with a prominent feminine presence is an integration of spirit and matter, spirit and the body, which leads to spirituality being inseparable from daily life and to the divine as immanent rather than transcendent.

The extent of violation of women and violence to the earth perpetrated by men does not mean that all men are perpetrators. It is important to acknowledge that there are many forward-thinking males around the world who recognize these same problems and are working in collaboration with women to change them. While I am focusing on the need for the em

is a painful loss in our emotional lives and a disastrous loss for the safety of life on earth. In woman, it affects her central identity; and in man, it affects his ability to feel and value. The loss of the feminine in man causes him to feel moody and lonely. In woman, it causes her to lose faith in herself. We are slowly awakening to the crisis

Images of the devoted, peaceful mother have always been safe. Such images have always been acceptable in all cultures, even patriarchal ones; but there’s another level of reflection of the primal feminine experience that has not been present and that both men and women long for. And this is an experience that comes from the intuitive sacred feminin