Know the male, yet keep to the female.

"Know the male, yet keep to the female" is a phrase from the Tao Te Ching, a Chinese philosophical text meaning 'The Classic of the Way and its Power' written by Lao Tzu written about 2400 years ago and still relevant today.

Genetically speaking, we are more or less half male and half female with a bias towards one gender. This fact, philosophers and men of science have known and expounded for millennia.

Based on this fact, Lao Tzu (571 CE), advises us not to compartmentalise, but to understand and balance our masculine and feminine energies to be successful and live in harmony with all of existence.

The masculine in us (Yang energy) makes us more active and assertive, and the feminine (Yin energy) within makes us more passive and receptive.

The male's nature is aggressive. He thrusts and penetrates, whereas the female embraces and envelopes. An excess of one trait causes imbalances, making harmony difficult and impedes success.

It is not only about interaction between humans, an emphasis on living in balance with the natural order brings out the best within us.

It seems obvious, then why is it so difficult to embrace?

Over the past thousand years, our world has come to be dominated by Judeo-Christian-Islamic thought and practice. It promotes only the male (because their God is a male figure) while the female is reduced to almost total insignificance.

These societies and cultures are characterised by violence and intolerance. There is no peace, just short interludes between conflicts. Their aggression has brought them power and wealth and little else.

Now, these masculine societies are spent and fatigued. They are increasingly being challenged by societies that value the feminine. Hence the rise of Indic thought and culture. Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism are all based on Indic philosophy.

Indic philosophy states, 'duality pervades existence'. Every energy and phenomenon has an equal and opposite balancing energy. To mentally accept and emotionally embrace is to realise spiritual harmony with all of existence.

The terms 'Ardhangini' and 'Ardhnareshwar' have been used in Indic philosophy to describe the fact that we are 50:50 male and female. The same is also evident in the concept of 'Yin and Yang' in Chinese philosophy.

This simple but great understanding within the Indian and Chinese civilisations has facilitated their scientific, economic and social dominance of the world for thousands of years. India and China have together contributed more than 50% of global GDP for 1700 of the past 2000 years of Human history.

A question arises, 'If these philosophies are so advanced, then why did they fall prey to masculine philosophies espoused by Abrahamic religions?'

Civilisations are nurtured predominantly by the feminine characteristics of humanity. With increasing prosperity, Indic and Chinese civilisations focussed excessively on the feminine whilst failing to maintain their masculine qualities to the level required to confront the challenges of invasions by hyper-masculine societies.

If we are able to balance the male and the female inherent within us, it is quite likely that we will be both successful and happy.