I like to read self-help / psychology / spiritual books, and I'm currently reading A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson. I wasn't relating it to RPW, but last night I read a portion about feminine energy, being passive and "attractive," and learning surrender - and found it RPW relevant. I thought it was interesting and just wanted to share. The book is slightly new-agey, slightly spiritual - but this excerpt, I think, really does a good job defining femininity, and the power in putting out open, receptive (aka feminine) vibes - instead of controlling, forceful (aka masculine) ones:
"We’ve basically been taught that it’s our job as responsible adults to be active, to be masculine in nature—to go out and get the job, to take control of our lives, to take the bull by the horns. We’ve been taught that that’s our power. We think we’re powerful because of what we’ve achieved rather than because of what we are. So we’re caught in a Catch-22: we feel powerless to achieve until we already have. If somebody comes along and suggests that we go with the flow, maybe lighten up a little, we really feel hysterical. After all, we’re total underachievers as is, as far as we can see. The last thing we can imagine doing is becoming any more passive than we already are.
Passive energy has its own kind of strength. Personal power results from a balance of masculine and feminine forces. Passive energy without active energy becomes lazy, but active energy without passive energy becomes tyrannous. An overdose of male, aggressive energy is macho, controlling, unbalanced, and unnatural. The problem is that aggressive energy is what we’ve all been taught to respect. We’ve been taught that life was made for quarterbacks so we exalt our masculine consciousness, which, when untempered by the feminine, is hard. Therefore, so are we—all of us, men and women. We’ve created a fight mentality. We’re always fighting for something: for the job, the money, the relationship, to get out of the relationship, to lose weight, to get sober, to get them to understand, to get them to stay, to get them to leave, and on and on. We never put away our swords.
The feminine, surrendered place in us is passive. It doesn’t do anything... the feminization process... [is] a quieting of the mind. It is the cultivation of personal magnetism.
If you have a pile of iron shavings and you want to arrange them in beautiful patterns, you can do one of two things. You can use your fingers and try to arrange the tiny pieces of iron into beautiful, gossamer lines—or you can buy a magnet. The magnet will attract the iron shavings. It symbolizes our feminine consciounessness, which exerts its power through attraction rather than activity.
This attractive, receptive, feminine aspect of our consciousness is the space of mental surrender. In Taoist philosophy, “yin” is the feminine principle, representing the forces of the earth, while “yang” is the masculine principle, representing spirit.... Our feminine self is just as important as our masculine.
The right relationship between male and female principle is one in which the feminine surrenders to the masculine. Surrender is not weakness or loss. It is a powerful nonresistance... The female allows this process and is fulfilled by surrendering into it. This is not weakness on her part; it is strength."
bettertogether143 5y ago
Thank you so much for sharing this. I downloaded the book and have read it twice since you posted. It spoke to me deeply. I've also read The Way if the Superior Man and I feel like this book was the closest thing to the feminine counterpart that I have found, in that it seems to really guide toward wholeness as a woman. Very satisfying.
I've now started A Course in Miracles. Very new-agey but so far, powerful.
Pixie0310 5y ago
I'm glad it helped! I haven't read A Course in Miracles yet, but it's on my to-do list. This one is definitely amazing, and I love the concept of surrender in general. My all-time favourite is The Untethered Soul - and by the same author, The Surrender Experiment. Just great reads.
MrsMandelbrot 5y ago
I don't comment too much on this sub because I feel a little out of place here. I keep subscribed though because there is this kernal of truth if you sift through. Marianne Williamson is great, I'm glad you brought her up. I have read a lot of her stuff but not A Return to Love so will definitely be getting my hands on a copy. If you aren't totally turned off by some REALLY new age stuff, I highly recommend checking out the Net of Light. There are 3 books and the third one especially talks a lot about the planet's yang energy being too strong and how the we can use the feminine yin to bring our world back into balance.
Pixie0310 5y ago
I haven't read anything else by her - I love the book The Untethered Soul, and this was recommended to me based on that. But it's excellent. I will look into the Net of Light - always looking for new ways of seeing the world. :)
MrsMandelbrot 5y ago
[Net of Light] (https://netoflight.org)
If you can get past the premise/source, there is some really good content here.
LonesomeSidLeon 5y ago
For some reason people believe that Surrender is Subservience, and it is not. Surrender is insanely sexy when its done right. Subservience is boring and clingy.
Pixie0310 5y ago
Agreed. The proper form of surrender isn't based on blindness, ignorance, or desperation. It's a strong, principled choice. I like the C/FM analogy because I see the dynamic requiring a self-discipline I can relate to the military. It takes a lot of strength to stay respectful, know when to be quiet, and be consistently supportive. To respect the authority you've chosen, and be truly vulnerable and trusting.
It's much easier, and less happy, to be messy, sloppy, angry, wild - and ultimately, alone.
LaneysWorld2 5y ago
That sounds beautiful! Often women who refuse our kind of thinking and philosophy simply don't understand that submission is our strength.
It's build on trust, love and the desire to support and respect a man who did everything to prove he is worthy of it. We want to surrender to such a man.
light-----------dark 5y ago
Brilliant! Thank you for sharing.