{"id":24658,"date":"2025-04-10T15:48:05","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T13:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/2025\/04\/the-feminine-principle-in-spiritual-practice\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T18:42:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T17:42:03","slug":"the-feminine-principle-in-spiritual-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/the-feminine-principle-in-spiritual-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"The Meeting of the Buddha and the Goddess"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

What would Buddha have taught if he had been a woman? What if our spiritual journey shouldn’t just be a linear one, but also one that takes place in circles, perhaps even in spirals?! A journey of insight that may also include allowing ourselves to feel lost! <\/p>

The feminine principle also means darkness. It is what we do not yet know. It goes where we have strayed from the path of the familiar. <\/p>

Here is a (non-historical) Sutra written by Rick Fields that fits wonderfully with the topic:<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\n<\/svg>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Very Short Sutra on the Meeting of <\/span><\/span>the Buddha <\/span><\/span>and the Goddess<\/span><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u2013 by Rick Fields \u2013<\/span>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Thus have I made up:<\/p>\n

Once the Buddha was walking along the forest path
In the Oak Grove at Ojai, walking without arriving anywhere
Or having any thought of arriving or not arriving
And lotuses shining with the morning dew
Miraculously appeared under every step
Soft as silk beneath the toes of the Buddha.<\/p>\n

When suddenly, out of the turquoise sky,
Dancing in front of his half shut inward looking eyes,
Shimmering like a rainbow or a spider\u2019s web
Transparent as the dew on a lotus flower,
-The Goddess appeared quivering
Like a hummingbird in the air before him.<\/p>\n

She, for she surely was a she
As the Buddha could clearly see
With his eye of discriminating awareness
Was mostly red in color
Though when the light shifted
She flashed like a rainbow.
She was naked except
For the usual flower ornaments
Goddesses wear
Her long blue hair was deep blue,
Her two eyes fathomless pits of space
And her third eye a bloodshot
Ring of fire.<\/p>\n

The Buddha folded his hands together
And greeted the Goddess thus:
\u2018O Goddess, why are you blocking my path.
Before I saw you I was happily going nowhere.
Now I\u2019m not sure where to go.\u201d
\u201cYou can go around me,\u201d said the Goddess,
Twirling on her heels like a bird darting away,
But just a little way away,
\u201cOr you can come after me.
This is my forest too,
You can\u2019t pretend I\u2019m not here.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that the Buddha sat
Supple as a snake
Solid as a rock
Beneath a Bo tree that sprang
Full leaved to shade him.
\u201cPerhaps we should have a chat,\u201d he said.
\u201cAfter years of arduous practice
At the time of the morning star
I penetrated reality, and now .. \u201c
\u201cNot so fast, Buddha.
I am reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The earth stood still,
The oceans paused,
The wind listened
\u2013 a thousand arhats, bodhisattvas, & dakinis
Magically appeared to hear
What would happen in the conversation.
\u201cI know I take my life in my hand,\u201d said the Buddha
\u201cBut I am known as the Fearless One
\u2013 so here goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he & the Goddess
Without further words
Exchanged glances
Light rays like sunbeams
Shot forth
So bright that even
Sariputra, the All Seeing One,
Had to turn away.<\/p>\n

And then they exchanged mind
And there was a great silence as vast as the universe
That contains everything
And then they exchanged bodies
And clothes
And the Buddha arose
As the Goddess
And the Goddess
Arose as the Buddha
And so on back & forth
For a hundred thousand kalpas.<\/p>\n

If you meet the Buddha
You meet the Goddess,
If you meet the Goddess
You meet the Buddha.
Not only that. This:
The Buddha is the Goddess,
The Goddess is the Buddha.
And not only that. This:
The Buddha is emptiness
The Goddess is bliss. <\/p>\n

And that is what
And what-not you are
It\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

So here comes the mantra of the Goddess & the Buddha,
the unsurpassed non-dual mantra.
Just to say this mantra, just to hear this mantra once, just to hear
one word of this mantra once makes everything the way it truly is: OK.<\/p>\n

So here it is:
Earth-walker \/ sky-walker
Hey silent one, Hey great talker
Not two \/ not one
Not separate \/ not apart
This is the heart
Bliss is emptiness
Emptiness is bliss
Be your breath,
Ah
Smile, Hey, And relax, Ho
Remember: You can\u2019t miss.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

In my video blog post, you can watch a Dharma talk<\/strong><\/a> in which I explore the topic further.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n<\/div>\n
\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tYoutube<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

You can find more videos on my video blog<\/a><\/strong> and YouTube channel<\/a><\/strong>.
Ps. I’m always very happy when people subscribe to my YouTube channel \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What if awakening isn’t a straight path, but a spiral? This Sutra invites you to encounter the feminine principle in meditation \u2013 the darkness, the unknowing, the true Buddha path. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":23265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,280],"tags":[306,389,336,341,344,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-24658","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-blog","9":"tag-body-habitation","10":"tag-buddhism","11":"tag-deep-rest","12":"tag-dharma","13":"tag-female-spirituality","14":"tag-silent-retreat"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24658"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28675,"href":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24658\/revisions\/28675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soulteachings.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}