Mother Earth is hurting
And everyone is searching
For that feminine energy
– India Arie

As we collectively heal our culture, we are conscious that to heal is to deepen our capacity to honor the sacred feminine.  One realization after the other, our appreciation for all the facets of the feminine unfold.  The Holy Mother Durga gives way to the Sacred Bitch Artemis of classical European mythology, and then to the Passionate Tutu Pele of Hawaii and all the faces of the Changing Woman of the Navajo mythology.

One facet of the feminine that is still not yet fully appreciated in our culture is our ability to receive.

It is sacred to be helped.
To be loved.
To be fed.
To be taught.

In the Vedic system, our left side is the feminine, receptive side.  Our right side is our masculine, active side.  Each of us has the power to give and receive.  Not only that, but our health and wellbeing depend upon a balance of forces.

In the trajectory of American history, it has been a part of our national story to take pride in our rugged individuality. Because European Aristocracy was such a toxic and abusive system, it really was necessary for independence from the prior system to become a prime value in our culture.

Moving from abusive dependence to a wholesome interdependence is a transition still in process.  

To truly move into balance, we must value our power to receive as much as we value our power to create and give.  The student who receives the teaching is just as necessary to a true transmission of insight as the teacher is.

We also need to recognize when someone taught us.  Maybe we were afraid and they consoled us.  Maybe we were wild and reckless and they tamed us.  Maybe we received their teaching in private, and don’t have to acknowledge them. Maybe we received their teaching through our own suffering, and we don’t want to acknowledge them.  True humility dictates that we acknowledge their contribution to our lives, anyway.

When we have been inspired by someone, we say thank you.  As the Tibetan Buddhists, teach, when someone says they made it on their own, you know that’s not true.  We’ve all had help since the day we were born and took food from our mother’s bodies.  The only honesty is to acknowledge all we have received, with gratitude.