Women and Kriya Yoga - Women and Spirituality

Does it matter whether one is a man or a woman on the path of Kriya Yoga? In this first post of the series, “Women and Spirituality”, Sadhguru looks at the role that gender plays, and how one can use it to their advantage on the spiritual path.

Women and Kriya Yoga ­- "Women in Spirituality" Series YouTube Video

Questioner: You have talked about kriya yoga being a path for the tough people. Are there any women kriya yogis on the path?

Sadhguru: There have been but very few, because kriya yoga demands a certain extreme sense of discipline and perseverance at certain stages of its sadhana. Generally, it is not that it’s not possible, but generally women didn’t choose kriya because they don’t like that kind of hardship. It is not necessary that kriya yoga should mean hardship, no. But biologically a woman is slightly disadvantaged when it comes to kriya yoga, not essentially so but to a certain extent she is disadvantaged. But what I have seen and known is the general kriya that was taught was mostly designed for a male because most of the practitioners were male.

So, generally only men walked the path of kriya yoga because it involved a certain discipline and it involved a certain “taking away” from the normal situations of life, which was not possible at all in this culture for a woman. Because by the time she was eight or nine she was married, by the time she was fifteen she had a child. So the question of she going into such atmospheres which kriya yoga demands was not available. So traditionally it got established like kriya yoga means it’s for men only, not because yoga is of that nature, because social conditions were of that nature.

So, all the practices that were designed and structured by various masters were all male oriented because their disciples were male. Accordingly they structured the processes. This does not mean no woman has walked kriya yoga path, I know many have, but they were a very small minority, so not too many practices were designed for them. But the systems that we have structured here are suitable for women also. They are doing well with their practices. So can a woman walk kriya yoga? Yes she can, but if she wants to walk kriya as a hundred percent path, she’s slightly disadvantaged, she’s come with a handicap, so she needs little extra effort if she’s willing to do that. But it’s always best if one wants to progress to mix all aspects of life to create a proper combination of these four dimensions of gnana, kriya, karma and bhakti. And in a woman generally the emotional dimension in her is more dominant than other dimensions, it’s good to make use of that. Why give up an advantage and take up a handicapped position? It’s better to make use of the advantages that she has.

Sadhguru speaks about how distorted perceptions have crept into culture and tradition, creating a bias against women on the spiritual path.

Indian spirituality has always been a rich mixture of men and women reaching the heights of their consciousness. A woman is as capable as a man when it comes to inner nature. It is only the peel, the body, which you call as a man or a woman. What is within is the same. The peel is not going to decide what one’s spiritual capabilities are.

In ancient times, women also wore the sacred thread because without it, they could not read the scriptures. Like a man, she could live within the marriage for ten to twenty years, and when she had the urge to become spiritual, she could renounce the family. However, when barbarian hordes invaded India, women slowly lost their freedom. The rules started changing. Maybe it was necessary for a certain period of time, because the physical situation was such that some restriction had to be placed on women for their own safety. But unfortunately it became the law. The first let down for a woman was when they declared that she cannot wear the sacred thread. It was also said that the only way she can attain mukti, or her Ultimate Nature, is by serving her husband. It was fixed that only a man could renounce.

Unfortunately, this sometimes continues even today. A woman is told that she has been born only to serve her father or her husband. People talk about the non-duality of existence and say, “Everything is one, but women are less.” In spite of the fact that a man knows that his existence depends upon her, if he cannot even accept her, his accepting all the dualities in the existence is simply out of question. The question of inferiority or superiority comes only in a prejudiced mind. It is just a question of two qualities. If a woman, out of whom a man is born, is inferior, how can man be superior? The possibility just does not arise. This problem is universal. It is not just about one gross man thinking like this. It has become a man’s way of life, a part of his very culture and religion.

Once, a certain social reformer went to Vivekananda and asked, “It is great that you also support women, what shall I do? I want to reform them. I want to support this.” Then Vivekananda said, “Hands off. You do not have to do anything about them. Just leave them alone. They will do what they have to do.” This is all that is needed. It is not that a man has to reform a woman. If he just gives room, she will do what is necessary.

Sadhguru: Akka Mahadevi was a devotee of Shiva. Right from childhood she had completely given herself to Shiva and she looked upon him as her husband. A king saw her one day and she was so beautiful that he wanted to marry her. Akka refused but then the king threatened her, “If you don’t marry me, I will kill your parents.” So, she married the man but she kept him at a physical distance. He tried to woo her but she kept saying, “I am not married to you. I married Shiva long ago. He visits me and I am with him. I cannot be with you.”

This was too much for the king to take and one day he decided, “What is the point of having a wife like this? How does one live with a wife who is married to some unseen man, somewhere?” There was no formal divorce in those days and he was just distraught. He did not know what to do. So he brought her to his court and asked the court to decide. When the court asked her, she kept talking about her husband elsewhere. This was not hallucinatory, it was 100% real for her. Your imagination, if it is empowered by life energies, it becomes reality, 100%.

The king got angry because in front of all these people, his wife was claiming that her husband was elsewhere. 800 years ago, socially it was not a simple thing to take for a king. So in great anger, he said, “If you are already married to somebody, what are you doing with me? Everything that you wear, the jewels, the clothes – everything is mine. Leave them here and go.” Those days in India, there was no way a woman even thought of leaving her husband’s house at all. But in the full assembly of the court, Akka Mahadevi – a young woman of 18 years – just dropped all her clothes and left. She refused to wear clothes from that day onwards.

Akka Mahadevi wrote hundreds of beautiful poems about Shiva and her devotion. Her devotion was such that every day she begged him, “Shiva let no food come my way. Let my body also express the longing and anguish that I am going through to become part of you. If I eat, my body will be satisfied. My body will not know what I am feeling. So let no food come towards me. If food does come into my hands, let it fall down in the mud before I put it into my mouth. If it falls in the mud, the fool that I am, before I pick it up, let a dog come and take it away.” This was her daily prayer.

Devotees are a completely different kind of people. They just have one foot in this world. Their ways of living and the power with which they exist is completely other-worldly.

Love & Grace,

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