13 Sep 2009 —
Question
Q136: Man or Woman?
Question 136:
“Would you like to be reborn as a man or a woman in your next life? Why? (And please state whether you are a man or a woman in this life)”
Please make your answer clear and brief (maximum 5 or 6 lines).
I’d rather not be born again, but it looks like I’ll be back so I would choose to be a man. I’m female in this life, and my view is biased, but I think that a male has more support to be himself and look like his natural self.
I am a woman, and IN CASE I HAVE TO BE REBORN AGAIN, i would like to be reborn as a Man to balance my feminine/masculine aspects and qualities and deeds,,, like the yin/yang, white/black, hot/cold, day/night, positive/negative, winter/summer, darkness/light… (and one can not exist without the other)
I feel that we should play both roles one after another to become really balanced in the next life. For me it is just a fair game…
I am a woman in this life and dont want to be back but if born again I would want to be a woman again as Amma too is a woman and Amma has made womanhood a thing to be proud of because of qualities like patience,sacrifice and love!!
I am a man and if at all another birth is there for me I would like to born a male again since I dont feel any difference manhood and womanhood. Hence I don’t like to change my gender without any reason.
I am born as a woman in this life. If I need to be reborn again because of my karma in this life, I would like to be reborn as a woman in India. God has given women the ability of patience, forbearence, beauty, thinking with heart, compassion, LOVE and so on….
🙂 am a girl…..
i wanna a rebirth if only Amma too is der in my next life….Then, i’d like to be a Man, so that i can be a brahmachari, with Amma…..Always be next to Amma,clinging on to Her saree…
I’m a female and Amma’s devotee. I leave it on Amma to liberate me or bring me back. The one thing that is important to me is, if I come back I must remember with all my heart, mind and soul, my full devotion for Amma. Then any gender will be worth living.
i am a woman and though i think women have qualities like tolerance, patience and love, men are also innocent and loving depending on their mood. The main thing is to be with Amma – in the robe of either man or woman.
It is Amma’s Divine Leela to give me birth once more or let me merge with Her. Gender doesn’t matter, as we all have the masculine & feminine energies/aspects within us, we have to develop them. Amma is there to guide us. Even if I take birth again, I’ll still be Her child & that’s what matters. Jai Ma!
i want to be reborn as both… half man, half woman. meaning i want to have a perfect balance of male and female attributes. the physical body doesn’t matter to me.
Woman, because they are the best… And i AM biased… 😛
Amma has proved that self realization can be attained by woman too…So it really doesn’t matter!
Everyday I prayer OH My Divine MAA please merge me with you. so, no question of rebirth.
Ideally I would not like to be reborn. But if there is no choice then I would like to be reborn as Amma’s child, meaning very close to Amma.
If I have Amma (Divine Mother) with me all the time as a Constant Experience of the SELF with full awareness, I don’t care what sex I am born as. Otherwise, I would prefer to be born as a man for it is the man who has the courage to overcome difficulties and to keep “compassion” and “human love” within the practical limits.
arrow28 you forgot Amma is a woman with total courage and compassion and very practical.
As AMMA says, “There’s a man within a woman and a woman within a man”. So, we really get the entire package, whether we like it or not.
@arrow28, i disagree with you. I don’t understand what you mean. What makes you assume that women don’t have courage to overcome difficulties, compared to men? What is keeping compassion within practical limits? eh???
The scriptures say that a woman that has attained masculine qualities, is “manlier” than a man. Don’t believe me? Ask AMMA!
The body/mind flow is temporary,its nature is(in a come and a go).To me suffering is equal for both men and women when mind ‘thinks’we are or ‘are not’ this form . Why not ask the real question and find out conclusively beyond intellect or form(who one is)The mind that constantly’wants’is a big distraction from knowing the true reality.
This is an interesting question because it can only be answered hypothetically. It’s the individual’s karma that makes a life as a man or woman more or less difficult. The greater “authority” and easier mobility, and sometimes even more freedom, more common to men can be cancelled by difficult personal karma. A woman who suffers from the physical pain of being a woman and the attitudes and restrictions sometimes imposed by men, can have marvelously fulfilling relationships in a motherly role than no man can enjoy. Then one has to ask oneself, is the purpose of life to have it easier or to evolve, to change for the better through challenges? Hmmm. Certainly can learn a lot by being a woman! Examining the “merit” of the question in a superficial way, I’d say it’s more fun and enriching to be a woman but easier to be a man in this kind of world.
iDevotee… Please don’t get me wrong. Nothing against women. AMMA was born a jivanmukta (a self realized soul). As I understand, the Ultimate reality (The Absolute) has no sex. When God choses to be born a woman there is a Mission She fulfills. Amma’s compassion and love are Divine. It is not selfish as other beings’. A man devoid of compassion or love is a beast. In HER own words “every being is a woman until and unless they know their SELF”.
But, a man has a natural abillity to overcome emotional weakness. A woman’s natural ability is to be compassionate and she can easily fall prey to wrong circumstances. When you climb the spiritual ladder a man has a better chance to survive harsh circumstances to get to realize the SELF. But there are exceptions. All this is from reading Amma’s books.
I am female and want to come back to Mother Earth as female. I feel balance within and honor the masculine. I love Mother Earth, the beings that inhabit it, the creatures that bring so much awe and delight, and love the feminine body that births and holds life with heart and nurture. . Amma said she would continue to incarnate until all of Her children have returned, and where Amma go,there go I. I commit to be with Amma until the last light is turned out on this awesome garden creation with all creatures that make me laugh and cry. I love the experience of Spirit in matter. . .
@ashramlane,
i agree totally. A woman’s life is full of challenges, compared to a man’s life. What’s the fun in having it easy? I totally agree.
@arrow28, a woman has more courage than man would admit. It is Her compassion that has sustained woman for centuries despite the wrongs done to Her. And this despite the fact that most women aren’t self realized. That’s the power of love and compassion.
AMMA is self realized, yet She went through all the physical limits imposed on women, by Nature and by Society. Read her biography. There are scores of women that have attained Self Realization. I know many men that are not courageous. So to say that man is more courageous than a woman is just gross ignorance. Sorry! Gender doesn’t decide courage.
arrow28 thanks for quoting Amma’s words “every being is a woman until and unless they know their SELF”. Since most of us want to merge in Amma, then the right attitude would be to accept either gender and use its natural qualities in a positive, spiritually progressive way so as to balance the male and female in us.
I would definitely like to be born as a Male again in my next life. I think men are not that body-conscious. There is a huge cosmetics industry out there just because women are more body conscious then men. As Amma says, body consciousness in humans(either men or women) will only take us away from our goal of attaining the Absolute Reality.
I am a female. In the next incarnation also I would like to be borne as a female.
Actually the question doesn’t even arise, because the Hindu scriptures & great saints like Meerabai’s life teaches us that, “Lord Krishna is the only ‘Purusha'(Man), all the rest of creation is ‘Prakriti'(female).
Thats precisely why even great saints (by gender men) assumed themselves to be ‘gopis’ longing for Lord Krishna with pure love.
@Amma my Mother – Men are less body conscious? eh? Another big generalization!
@rjspeach – very true. The only real man is God. All the others are either “Women” or “We-men”.
It matters to be born as a man. History shows that men have been in the forefront both in the material and spiritual fields. This world is created and maintained favouring men. Even Krishna in Bhagavad Gita says that the spiritual path can also be followed by “men of low nature and women also”. Women are blessed now because of Amma’s merciful presence alone; otherwise all religions seem to be structured for men only and biased against women.
@vijayane,
Man has a pretty bad history of “crime” against women. When “Man” stops distorting religions so that he can “rule” over women and the world, maybe women will be able to come to the forefront. And maybe history can be changed. And by the way, what Krshna meant in the Gita was that everybody can practice spirituality. Please don’t equate men of low nature with women. Women are blessed and have always been blessed.
Maybe, God wasn’t satisfied after he created man, that’s why he created a nobler and more refined creature, the WOMAN! 🙂
I never want to be born again on this earth. I want to attain Moksha as soon as possible.. and if born, any sex is fine as long as i am a dedicated disciple of Amma.
Well, as long as I have fully let go of my female body from this life, it doesn’t matter what I will be in my next life. As long as Amma is there, I will be happy.
My parents had given me name of a female and the body structure also. In case there is another incarnation for me I would like to be born as female only. Because one unfullfilled wish is there, of course I think I will be born again to fullfill that wish.
In this life, this form is female. With Amma’s grace perhaps this will be my last lifetime. Otherwise to be born as whatever is needed most, perhaps strong women are needed most on the planet right now.
i am a male this birth… and the question literally confuses me… 🙂 i would like to be a “small boy” (I would like to take birth in Ashram and live there only…) in the next birth always next to Amma.
I’m in the male body and wish to be born as a small bird in the male form and be all life in AMMA’s arms. Human body, I find it very difficult whether male or female and so the prayer for the body of a small bird.
I am MALE, and as far back as I can recall, I have always wanted to have the beautiful body of a FEMALE, though I have never spoken about it with anyone (and probably never will, which causes me great suffering). On my current journey for Self-Discovery, in order to understand the reason why, I have come to believe, I have had many, many existences, the majority of which were probably FEMALE, which the reason I feel so strongly about it.
Neither.. I would prefer Immortality, beyond gender,roles and attributes.Isn’t the purpose of spirituality to achieve perfection and realize the Absolute? Let us aim then wholeheartedly at It.