Being a man in society today comes with many challenges. We are taught that it’s not OK to cry or be vulnerable. Some cultures have a certain ‘machismo’ or ‘macho’ culture that includes social pressure to be self-reliant, and to be the protector and provider for the family unit. The meaning of what it is to be a man has been obscured, ridiculed, labeled as ‘toxic’ or ‘exaggerated’ to criticize or denigrate characteristics of being man related to power, code, responsibility, and honor.
Then, as the ultimate challenge to manhood, men who want to ‘reform’ or ‘do better’ but with nowhere to turn, and with seemingly everything about being a ‘man’ offensive to someone, oftentimes are pressured into becoming more like women.
So in the end, society is killing the concept of man.
All is not lost for men, however. A wise man once said:
“Whatever, on its destruction or intellectual analysis, ceases to convey an idea, like a vase of water, is relatively existent; all else is ultimately real.” ~unknown Tibetan Lama
Those who study wisdom traditions know that this effort to destroy manhood lacks skillful inquiry and is doomed to fail. The above quote applies to the war going on about the construct of gender. It implies that anything that is not ultimately real will “cease to convey an idea” upon its destruction.
Hermetic and Universal Law teach us that gender is not a construct, it is ultimately real. Even after academia has completely destroyed the concept of gender through many faulty and baseless arguments, they can never destroy the universal truth that nothing can be created in this world without the masculine energy conjoining with and reacting to the feminine.
Even upon its ‘destruction or intellectual analysis’, the concept of gender still conveys an important idea—that where we come from is gendered and there are ultimate differences between the two which allow for creation and manifestation to happen.
So, not only is ‘being a man’ not going away, masculinity and ‘being a man’ has a meaning distinct from the character and experience of being a woman. It’s up to us to discover a renewed, authentic masculinity that both men and women can rely on to do what it’s uniquely designed to do: initiate, order, force, and connect.
‘Being a man’ is a practice, and it’s perfection arises in the continual effort to be a better man, and thus is an effort never quite complete.
