Does Spirit or Soul have a Gender?

[sparklekaz]

Do you think a Spirit or Soul has gender? This is a question a guest in chat asked me this evening. I thought it was a really interesting question. I said, I believe in reincarnation. That a soul is born over time in male and female bodies. However, I guess it depends on whether you believe that spirit and soul is the same. Spirit may have gender, depending on most recent incarnation. Soul may be genderless or androgeonous. I'm not sure. What do you think?

[mojomojo]

From my understanding, and looking from a Christian spiritual perspective, man starts on the carnal level and can rise to soul level, this is the spark of God which lies dormant in everyone, when this is awakened, we can reach the level of soul.
But we can easily drop back to carnal level and back up again, there is meant to be two levels at soul level, one works from the intellect, people who like to express themselves on forums and such [like me], and the level that has prepared a place for spirit to dwell, only then can spirit enter.

We can pick up on energies and it can feel very much feminine at times, there is a difference, it is far more lighter, more subtle, another one people often ask, is if pets have souls, I would have to answer yes.

But having said all that, it could also just all stem from the subconscious, how can we tell for sure.

[aceofcups]

Hi Kaz..

It all depends on how one is using the terms to me.

MY two cents....Some of these concepts are archetypes and exist on the archetypal level of consciousness. Metaphoric symbols.

Esoterically... gender is not the right term perhaps.... there are two equal but opposite forces... one is usually active - yang forces... and the other half of whole equation is more receptive yin forces.. Spirit in its Absolute sense combines both as One.. Spirit in its process of manifestation takes on duality of both yin and yang. The Soul which comes out from Spirit at a "relative" level of individuality of mind and our being -- is usually considered more a Yin force in "relationship" to Spirit.

How these manifest in our personalities can take on a greater process of duality in a person.  Ultimately we have both masculine and feminine forces within us.

Can some souls be more active ( yang) and other souls be more receptive ( yin)?

We also have these dualities within our mind and emotions and even in our physical bodies. All in all no one answer works for all-- if it is more masculine or feminine... People as individuals, as personalities and souls work on and with different forces in the duality in different lifetimes no matter what gender their physical body is in one lifetime.

Some say the Enlightened Soul is a soul who has learn to blend their Masculine/Feminine forces to the ultimate degree...
In manifestation as a personality they ultimately  could be either gender.


peace

[sparklekaz]

Hi Ace,

I love your interpretation of this. Of course I have heard of yin and yang and I know that in metaphysical terms we all embody both male and female qualities, no matter what our gender. I just hadn't thought about that, when I was thinking of my own beliefs about whether soul has a gender. I really like the picture. What does REBIS stand for, and what is the significance of the numbers and where they are positioned on the grid.

Love and light
Kaz

[aceofcups]

Hi Kaz..  

The Rebis (from the Latin res bina, meaning dual or double matter) is the end product of the Alchemical Magnum Opus or Great Work.

The Two of Duality are shown in picture as two figures (male and female) who are now blended symbolically to become ONE. The symbols of the Sun and Moon and the planetary symbols of Mercury on top, plus Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are in the stars around the head of dual-headed figure. The streams of the planets comes out of the heart of the REBIS (symbolic that the Alchemical work is to blend both HEART and MIND going thru the stages which the planets represent to accomplish the Great Work of Transformation.

They hold in theirs hands respectively the Compass and the Ruler,,, (both symbolic symbols used in Masonry).

The REBIS figure stands on a Globe and on top of a tamed or Green Dragon ( symbol of the Ego)... the numbers 3 and 4 relate to the pyramidal image of lines within the globe, A pyramid symbol is a combination of a square (symbolized by number 4) at it's base.. and 4 triangles (a triangle is symbolized by the number 3) on it's top.

Also shown on globe are lines of the four direction with a center circle symbolizing a Core Unity. The globe is held up on the wings of Doves.



peace

[alvinw3]

In my understanding in The way of the Eternal or The Shariyat Ki Sugmad our Bible Soul has no gender and nether does God or Sugmad Soul learns through male and femal bodys which is nesery to learn, lets say soul in the male body ganes heaven once Soul reaches the Soul plane soul is put back to Its oringenal form like it was befor it was sent to the lower worlds. And the true God doesnot have a gender. On the Soul plane the ruler Satnam has a male figure which many religions call It the father, but the true God kept Its form as it was in the begining. I can go on to explain but in heaven soul is a nutral atom

[alvinw3]

No Soul can enter into the worlds above the Sat Lok without being complete within Itself-without having completed the cycle of balance and having entered into the oneness of Its own self. And in the end, as it is said,It becomes the original Soul, as God first put on earth. This Soul had the qualities which God wanted but could not be manifested unless Soul was first split into tao particular aspects the negative and the positive, for both to develop.
The two aspects of Soul will come together again upon the Fifth Plane, the region of Sat Lok, and there be rejoined befor Soul can enter any of the higher worlds. God puts the Soul back together again, in such a way that it seems that the Soul was always in Its original state, and Soul can now return to God to take Its place within the orbit of the divine nameless heven of mercy and love.
Be not dismayed, for all Souls must undergo this process, even the divine messengers such as Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad and others

[alvinw3]

In the book by Paul Twitchell the Tigers Fang Paul and Rabataxar Taraz, not sure I spelled Tarazes name right, any way the take a Soul Travel experance to the Astral casual, Metal Ana Soul Plane all the way to God It Self, and explain what they see and are taught by the rulers on esch plane

[alvinw3]

Soul does have a gender on the material plans phical, astral ,causal plane and mental plane, but once It reaches the Soul plane, when its done with Its schooling, It goes through the prosses above

[mushin]

hi Mushin here a new member, I know very little about Buddhism and could be wrong but my understanding was that the natural energy where made of doesn't have a gender until we are reborn within the illusion and our sex depends on the sex we are most attracted to at the time of our rebirth.

[aceofcups]

Hi Mushin... welcome to forum and site. What is your definition of gender in a spiritual sense you are using?

I think the Absolute has no duality or separation.. but the process of duality exists as soon as manifestation on any level appears. But, using gender as terms for two processes of energy throws people off to only think in terms of male-female humans. Duality is a grand principle of nature and consciousness.

just my two cents.. read over other earlier posts in this thread.

thanks for joining us

peace
ace

[mushin]

hi there aceofcups Mushin here still learning, I was thinking along the lines that the spirit would be without gender but you got me thinking, could the spirit after rebirth still be gender neutral and conditioning dictates the rest. With each rebirth our character would evolve thru personal experiences and on rebirth back into the illusion conditioning would decide our sex within the illusion, but again the spirit would still be gender neutral, am I on the right track aceofcups. It's been nice chatting to you and look forward to your reply, Mushin.

[gruntal]

This is long story I don't have time to get into but interestingly doing channeling sessions we would access an Ascended Master who almost always was masculine. But on occasion a female Master would pop up. We were told it was just the female aspect of the accustomed Male Master. Same Master but the channeled dialog was noticeably mushy and more nurturing. Being a ( supposedly ) misogynist that drove me crazy! But it was a good object lesson. Because a Master has to be a combination of everything ( except different animal species as I understand ) and that means in the end we are both male and female and get to choose what form to use for what specific purpose. So soul is much more then what identity it assumes an any one incarnation.

[aceofcups]

Mushin, i think we are on same overall track... let me explain further -- Spirit is aligned with the balance of dualities.-- so you can call it gender-neutral.   I think our Soul, the home base of many-lifetimes in which some lifetimes are masculine and some are feminine. The Soul is at a different level then Spirit within us.  To me the Soul is an evolving part of our Being. And chooses lifetimes with our inner guides to what our Soul and our karmic predicament needs to learn.   Our Being is conscious on multiple levels of awareness... our waking minds and emotions of our personality is limited in our total awareness of knowing who we totally are.  In that analogue the Soul is our Higher Self.

To me lots of our awareness is relative and all relative parts are ultimately a semi-illusion.. but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The computer I am using to type this can be consider a relative illusion in relationship to Absolute Awareness of Reality. We live in the Whole and also relatively in it's parts.

Being that our Souls are evolving -- Can we have a Masculine Soul or a Feminine Soul? and can one gender preference exist over many lifetimes?   I think if we have lived many lifetimes in one gender we can get a essence of one energy gender over the other.  But eventually the Soul seeks to be closer to Spirit and moves towards ultimately balancing out those energies.   It can use the creative yang energy of it's Being to be a creative gender and into engendering.   Or it can be a more compassionate and loving energy of it's Being and use the ying receptive force.

How all of theses higher forces playing out in our personalities.. has many variations and karmic entanglements.

peace
ace

[mushin]

hi aceofcups I've just noticed your breeze of dawn quote, can I ask you more about this quote. Do you have more information on this doorway, my main question would be how long do you keep retreating back into the illusion before you walk thru the door, still learning aceofcups so I may of got the quote wrong.

[aceofcups]

Hi Mushin... I love the poetry of Rumi,, it has great spiritual depth and can be understood on many levels to me.

The poem touches upon the metaphoric duality of being awake and being asleep.   To try to answer your question, to me it would depend on the level of awakened consciousness in a person's Being in their multidimensional existence.   Probably over many many lifetimes and likewise learning expereinces in the majority of humans to "fully" wake up.   But that does no rule out the many other awakenings we can and do have on a smaller scale in our psychological and spiritual awareness. And if examine ourselves and others - this going back and forth between some degree of being awake (in many situations) and some degree of getting hook up (attached again) to the ego and it's conditioned (relatively illusory) personality traits and limitations is a constant struggle of the spiritual Path and life.

But an Awakening (of some sort and at whatever level) is always open in the Present Moment of Existence.

peace
ace

[mushin]

hi aceofcups I got a little distracted by your quote, there's so much I want to discuss with you even thou I understand and believe every thing your saying I sometimes struggle finding the right words so I don't come across as a odd ball. I'm 53 and only started talking to fellow Buddhist in the last couple of months. The little contact I've had have not been favourable when I've tried discussing such subjects we are discussing so openly.

[mushin]

hi aceofcups well here goes I experienced a very small awakening a year ago last September, except for my wife I never discussed it with any body else. For a very short time after the experience it left me feeling very isolated and the feeling of loneliness which only lasted a short time was over bearing, but that soon past when I realized we was part of something much bigger. Even thou it was only a small awakening it was enough for me to see clearly why I experienced what I did in this life and beyond. It was enough for me to walk away from 27 years working for the NHS and prepare to retrain in mental health a job I've always wanted to do. Even thou my awakening was small I do find it mentally exhausting stepping out of the illusion, I'm hoping one day my words will flow like yours when discussing the subject. At the moment what filled my head was enough to be getting on with and I'm trying to catch up. So I've retreated back into the illusion to clear out my emotional baggage before stepping out a new. I was quite a selfish person in this life which I never realized before. That's been replaced with a overwhelming feeling, a need to fulfil my purpose of putting other before myself, this now seams to give more pleasure then ever before. to make sure I haven't just gone mad I would love to discuss the subject with somebody like yourself that clearly knows more on the subject then me. I hope I haven't scared you off aceofcups but if you have any doubts at what I'm saying hopefully with your knowledge on the subject as we start discussing the subject they will fade.

[aceofcups]

Hi Mushin,   I think your story is a wonderful addition to our Forum.  We are all very varied but connected here but we each have our own unique struggles, issues, awakenings and hopefully still growing.   Personally, I think going back into blending emotional psychological understanding with spiritual understanding is a kind of advance step which a lot of so- called "New Agers" like to by-pass.   I have come across that blending of the two ways of understanding ourselves a bit more in Buddhism then other religions at times.  Feeling disillusioned, is quite a typical response for many when parts of ego viewpoints drop and a deeper spiritual awareness starts to shine through.  When Light shines through semi-Illusion.  The light brings to light more and more of our semi-illusionary living. And also shines upon the Path and journeys we need to take.

We each have our own story...Personally, I feel connected to the esoteric in all religions and been connected to various esoteric study groups for almost the last 50 years. I don't feel connected more per-say to Buddhism.  I honor Buddhism, Hinduism, esoteric Christianity, Sufism, Kabbalah, Shamanism, Alchemy or anyway humans have found to connect to the higher within.   I myself had many inner experienced milestones of openings to deeper wisdom at different stages and ages in my life.   A near death experience an 13, a profound awakening experience at 21 - and even more openings and dealing with inner struggles and likewise joy after the awakening experience.   It's an ongoing evolving process to me.  The inner tests and self-evaluation both become more subtle I've found as we evolve.

As you say in your post - I think we become less focused on personal self-oriented activities and move more towards compassionately sharing and helping others in wherever our life environment takes us.

Inner and outer must eventually work hand-in-hand.

peace
ace