I saw the headlines glassed in a row of junky newspaper dispensers; Jill Carroll has been released.I smiled and cried, and then I thought of this quotation - one more from the Yogi Bhajan calendar:
"There is nothing more beautiful and priceless than a learned woman. A learned woman can create a god, while God, once in a while through meditation for millions of years, can create a learned woman. Your learning can enter the bloodstream of the generations that will follow. It can bring grace and dignity to the place where you live. It can build a new nation and a new time."
I'm uncomfortable with the implication that this is a difficult creature to manifest, any more than it would be were she male, but it's a lovely sentiment overall.
5 comments:
I don't think that statement excludes the notion of the equal rarity of the "learned" male...
Just my two cents, however...
I'll see your two cents and raise you...
"A learned woman can create a god, while God, once in a while through meditation for millions of years, can create a learned woman".
For the first part, can you truly claim that a God needs to be created by a learned man or woman?
Viewed in the context of the semi-literate, contumelious hucksters and snake-oil vendors who head today's major "religions", Public Access Cable evangelist hucksters; bearded, foaming-at-the-mouth, Death to America Imams; and passive, "I want a third option" non-committal, bohemian hipster-fag coffee-shop Buddhists, at least to me, discount the entire statement.
At least God creates enough learned people to cast a cynical eye on the lot of them. How about this little nugget of wisdom from an old Jethro Tull album cover:
"In the beginning Man created God; He Saw that It was Good, and did lean upon Him heavily".
Well, the profundity of Jethro Tull's metaphysical ruminations aside, I think that one can clearly speak of the virtues of a "learned" woman as rare without assuming the speaker means "unlearned" or ignorant men are equally rare.
Personally, I find those who take the time to pick up a book or spend an hour or two in quite contemplation ARE rare, regardless of gender. That's really the crux of it all. One's ability to accept the quite moments without frantically trying to kill or anesthetize these moments with fluff and filler is the perfect metric for determining one's potential.
Eh, ya pays your money, you takes your chances...
Dear Sgt. Aytch -
Of course the boast of a "God," is a claim bound to raise a few hackles; my intent is not to blaspheme. I'm not strictly a follower of Christianity, but it has its own great merit.
I shouldn't take the quotation too seriously, or literally rather, but I do think a great woman can give the world that of which it is so seriously deprived - great people who have manifested their potential. I think good Fathers are fully capable of this, too.
Thank you for teaching me a new word today, contumelious.
Husk-ster (I mean that in the nicest possible way) -
Yes, there should be more introspection, more reading, more listening, more building up of the interior - the inner architecture of a person. TV, glossies, drugs, even the telephone constantly keep us from the betterment of ourselves. Not that diversions aren't valuable, even necessary at times. But this quietude is the basis for great thought, great work, kindness, strength, knowing oneself, and intimacy with others.
And that's what it's all about, at least for me.
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