The path of the masculine is that of awareness. And awareness brings you to a point where you become master of your own being. That is the meaning of swami. The feminine path is that of love and love brings you to an ultimate point where you can mother the whole of existence. And that is the meaning of ma.

A woman in her ultimate flowering becomes a mothering energy, she can mother the whole of existence. She feels blessed and she can bless the whole of existence. When a man arrives at the ultimate point he does not become a father, he does not become a mother, he simply becomes a master, master of his own being.

Love and awareness, these are two paths. When I say masculine, I don’t mean that all males are masculine. And when I say feminine, I don’t mean that all females are feminine. There are women who will have to pass through the path of awareness, I would like to call them swamis too, but that would be a little more confusing. As it is, it is already too crazy, so I resist that temptation. But sometimes it comes to me that I see a woman taking sannyas and I feel like calling her swami, not ma. Then sometimes a man comes, very effeminate and looks more feminine than any woman. Sometimes it even happens, that Mukta sits by my side and she has to tell me, “He is a man.” She has to remind me, otherwise I may give him a ma name.

But remember, some women are there, nothing wrong in it and some men are there and nothing wrong in that either, who will pass through the opposite path, the contrary path.

There was a very famous saint in Kashmir, Lalla was her name. She remained naked. She is the only woman, enlightened woman, who remained naked. Many enlightened men have remained naked, but she is the only woman. It is very easy for a man to remain naked, it is very difficult for a woman to remain naked; the very feminine quality is to hide. The female is not an exhibitionist. But Lalla remained naked and she became such a famous saint in Kashmir that Kashmir says, “We know only two names, Allah and Lalla. We respect only two names, Allah and Lalla.” She was a swami, I cannot call her a ma.

And there is another precedent. In the Jaina tradition, one woman, Mallibai, became a master – a tirthankara. But Jainas have changed her name from female to male. Instead of calling her Mallibai they call her Mallinath, the name is changed from a woman’s to a man’s. And the reason seems to be right. Because to be a Jaina tirthankara is impossible for a woman, unless the woman is a woman only in the body. The path is of will and awareness, it is not of love and devotion. The path is of struggle, the path is not of surrender. So I absolutely agree. They have done right when they changed the woman’s name into a man’s name. She must have been a woman only for the name’s sake, deep down she had that male energy.

I call a woman “ma” because if she flowers and comes to the seventh – sahasrar – she will become a mothering force. I call the man-sannyasins “swami” because when they come to their ultimate flowering they will simply feel that they have become masters of their own being. Both are the same, but one is a male interpretation of the same experience, another is a female interpretation of the same experience.