[Buddha-l] Sumedho Talk/Why can't a woman be more like a man?

[Hal Cooper]

JW-Bridge> Another question pops up:  why did my friend who became a Karma
Kagyu nun also have to swear that she wasn't a god?  I wouldn't have
mistaken her for one, but she had to make several such affirmations as part
of her ordination ceremony.  Do gender anxieties play a role , here?

Hal > I asked <plug>  http://www.buddhapowers.org/  </plug> about this
question after the Ajahn Sumedho lecture last night.  He said men have to
swear to stuff like that too.  It just keeps people humble at the beginning.
I got the sense there is a little bit of gender anxiety involved.

Ven. Sumedho gave an interesting talk.   Often he said we should not be
intimidated by our competition based society.  It was a bestowal of
fearlessness for people who must live in a nation with pervasive ideas of
being the best and winning.  Ven. Sumedho explained that these competitive
values didn't work very well for him when he was cultivating as a young
monk.  He wanted to be the very best monk and achieve the highest
realizations, but this striving attitude got him all bound up.  Ven. Sumedho
advocated a sense of being intuitive and open to the present moment.  He
also advocated the ordinary nature of things.   Awakening is just an
ordinary way to be.  It's all the conditioning of our society that makes
problems for us.

He wasn't down on the US.  He thought the US to be well run, people are
well off and there are quite a few opportunities to cultivate. Clearly, the
intuitive type people in the room felt some fear and intimidation from the
greater society around us.  These were people questioning the grinding
nature of existing in the capitalist nation state.  Ven. Sumedho explained
that peace comes from the heart first.  If we can help people uncover the
peaceful heart, greater peace between groups will become more possible.  It
was great to get some strength and reassurance from someone who knows.

Ven. Sumedho had a deep voice with a very slight lisp, and seemed quite
healthy and happy.    The room was hot and packed with people.  It was like
the head of a pin.  We couldn't even stretch out our legs because as more
people came, the host would ask people to push in and make more room.  This
was our reality.  This was our moment.  There were probably more comfortable
places to put ones' body, like a movie theatre or fancy air conditioned
night club, but these people were willing to endure some bodily discomfort
for the chance to learn about wisdom and concentration.  The people were all
very interested in developing an open, intuitive mind. Many people made
offerings and the Sangha was well represented.