This article first appeared in Australia’s Insight Magazine. A previous version appeared in my blog “Wisdom Wednesdays”.
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The New Masculinity -Brian Piergrossi
As I travel in many different places giving workshops, retreats, classes, speaking engagements and life coaching, I tend to find one common question being asked in spiritual communities around the world: ‘Where are all the men?’
These communities, with a few exceptions, tend to be overwhelmingly female, with a predominately feminine energy present in both the women as well as the minority of men who are there.
What I see slowly emerging, however, is the divine play of both truly awakened, authentic feminine and masculine energies in the human consciousness..
In our mainstream culture, masculine values dominate the social structure and culture,while the feminine, if it is even acknowledged to exist, or understood at all, is still most often viewed as weak, weird, or somehow inferior. Thus, many women and men in our Western culture try very hard to repress their feminine energy and adopt masculine qualities so they can be “successful” in the mainstream world.
However, once people move out of the mainstream culture and into more alternative, spiritual, progressive communities, one finds exactly the reverse. The masculine energy is viewed as the bringer of violence, destruction and domination, while the feminine qualities are thought very highly of as that which brings peace, kindness and compassion to the world. If only women were in charge, the world would be more peaceful and humane is a common sentiment. In these communities you will find men embarrassed and shameful of their masculinity, trying very hard to repress it so that they can be more feminine, which is equated as being more “spiritual”.
The truth is, from the perspective of awakened consciousness, both masculine and feminine qualities are beautiful, both are equally spiritual, and both are essential for the deep, divine play of life and spirit. Masculine values such as courage, adventure, risk-taking, assertiveness, aggressiveness, competitiveness, linear/rational thinking, independence, emotional detachment, etc. are not bad at all. The real question is, what level of consciousness are they coming from?
At this point in our human evolution, most of what we have seen of masculine values has come from the ego consciousness. From the perspective of ego consciousness we are separate entities in a dangerous world. We must struggle and fight with other separate entities for our survival. In this so-called “dog-eat-dog”philosophy, you must get yours before someone else does. From this fear-based consciousness of separation, masculine traits are indeed very destructive and create great suffering. They perpetuate violence, abuse, domination, rape, murder, war, imperialism, rampant materialism, destruction of nature etc .
It is important to realize, it is not masculine energy that is destructive and violent, however, it is masculine energy when it is used in service of the ego that is destructive and violent.
Something, however, has begun to happen on the planet right now. Certain individuals with a masculine essence are stepping outside the realm of the ego consciousness into a new, higher consciousness where things are not seen as separate and scary, but rather as interconnected and One.
From this new Unity Consciousness, these very same traits in the masculine energy do not bring violence but rather are an extremely positive force on the planet. They bring forward higher levels of love and presence in the world. The masculine energy in the human dimension is beginning to leave a consciousness of fear and entering a consciousness of love. I call this “The New Masculinity”.
From the new masculinity, new frontiers and challenges are faced not so much on the external level but on the internal level.
Those with a masculine essence want to be brave in the face of fear.
Can we be brave enough to truly live in the spirit of love?
Have the courage to open ourselves again, and be vulnerable to another human being?
Can we take risks to follow our heart?
Can we see the evolution of our consciousness as a great spiritual adventure?
Use our rational/linear minds in service of our hearts and the higher intelligence of God/Spirit?
Be tough and strong in protecting those who are less fortunate and may need our help?
Can we be assertive and courageous in our words and our decisions for the truth, even when it may be scary to do so?
Be strong and steady emotionally when life brings unexpected challenges?
Can we be willing to die for love? Even better, can we actually be willing to live for it!?
Can we use our gifts and highest creative potential for the highest benefits of all beings?
The new masculinity say ‘Yes’.
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Brian Piergrossi is an international life coach, spiritual teacher, writer and co-founder of The Big Glow Online Community. He leads workshops, retreats. classes and speaking engagements worldwide on bringing more awareness to every aspect of our lives and our world . He is the author of ‘The Big Glow’ and the forthcoming ‘Life Artists Manual’ from which this article is an excerpt. More info on Brian Piergrossi at: http://thebigglow.com/aboutbrian
You can also find Brian on Facebook: http://facebook.com/brianthebigglow
