The infinite "I" reveals an understanding of the spiritual nature of the genders. As usual for these topics, the theory is simple to state, but requires special perspective to appreciate. The book The Knowledge of Good and Evil is designed to help you gain that special perspective; it introduces the concepts of male and female only towards the end, even after solving the problem of good and evil. You need to glimpse the solution to the problem of good and evil to appreciate the infinite nature of male and female.
Understanding the infinite idea "male" is relatively straightforward. Understanding the infinite idea "female" is subtle and elegant, and needs a somewhat refined spiritual sensibility to be understood. One pitfall of entering this discussion is that we tend to identify ourselves with one gender or the other. We need to accept the spiritual completeness of our individual identity before we can begin to approach the infinite idea.
Since we are concerned with thoughts beyond the human dimension, the stepping off point for this topic is the most advanced human thinking around. I am not going to try to explain these advanced positions, as they are done better by their proponents. But the subject of male and female is so easily misunderstood, I want to review a few prerequisites before getting into the substantive issues at hand.
Our reference for observations about male and female has been men and women. We need to get way beyond this to understand gender in the realm of the spiritual and infinite. Male and female are spiritual qualities that make up wholeness, and EVERY individual has a claim to both through their spiritual identity. To paraphrase the beginning of the book's chapter Male and Female - everyone is identified by the infinite as its complete self-expression. So the qualities and rights of both female and male belong fully to each individual, regardless of human gender. Human conception says a coin in the air has two sides but can only land heads or tails. In the same way, our identity is only seen humanly, in a limited way, by individuals appearing either as males or females. But this limited view cannot interfere with the completeness of your spiritual identity.
The wholeness of infinity makes it natural for everyone to experience the oneness of the male and female. This encourages close relationships between males and females, completeness and satisfaction in individual identity, and social progress that recognizes the natural equality among individuals of all genders. Because individual identity is a likeness of the infinite, each individual's spiritual identity includes all the qualities of male and female. As our spiritual growth proceeds, this becomes increasingly apparent. The male and female qualities of the infinite are inherent in the spiritual identity of every individual woman and man, girl and boy. This is the starting point for discussing gender as understood at the level of the infinite I. The next step in understanding the nature of male and female is to review the solution to the problem of good and evil.
If you have glimpsed something of the sweetness of the infinite negative, you are ready to continue with the subject of male and female.
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