About Riding the Tiger
for Women™

Durga is an 8-armed beautiful, compassionate, but fierce goddess of Hindu mythology who is always depicted riding either a lion or a tiger.  She came forth when the demon Mahishasura had been wreaking havoc on the world after receiving a boon that no demon or man or god would ever be able to conquer him. Of course, the power went to his head, and he started hogging all the resources and oppressing everybody and everything else in creation.  

The gods didn’t know what to do about this.

Finally, somebody realized that, in his arrogance, the possibility of being defeated in battle by a woman had never occurred to the demon—and maybe this loophole in his boon could be exploited!  So the council of gods sent Durga to deal with this very destructive menace.

Sure enough, after a number of fascinating encounters in which the demon tried to seduce her with his worldly riches and  masculine swagger, he sent his henchmen to bring her to him by force. Durga killed each successive army until the demon himself entered the battle.  Finally, with the assistance of the female consorts of all the other gods, the goddess Kali, and her ferocious feline ally, Durga killed the demon, and the world was again free to thrive!

Women Cultural R/Evolutionaries of our time—especially those of us who were initiated as change agents in the ‘60s and have since had a lifetime to garner wisdom and experience—are uniquely qualified to deal with the many forms of ignorance and patriarchy-based oppression that are endangering the survival of human life on our planet today.

            "The world will be saved by the Western woman."

                                                                      —The Dalai Lama

The Call of Riding the Tiger

Our '60s Generation's Legacy

In our youth, we helped fuel dramatic cultural change in many areas.  Although the changes had been instigated by a few pioneers who came before us, our generation turned them into major Movements and new ways of living that were adopted by millions of people:

• The Civil Rights movement. Equal rights for people of all races and ethnicities.
• The Women’s Rights movement. Women in the workforce with a much wider range of employment options.  Bodily sovereignty.  Economic autonomy.
• The Sexual Revolution.  Cultural and religious restrictions on sex were loosened.  Birth control and legalized abortion made it possible for women to enjoy sex without fear of unwanted pregnancy. 
• The Holistic Health movement.  Looking beyond the conventional Western medical model to include diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors.  Openness to other more esoteric approaches to health.
• The Consciousness movement.  Looking into Eastern religions and spiritual practices. Use of hallucinogenic drugs to help break through to other (less conditioned) experiences of reality.
• The Disability Rights movement.  Rights and accessibility for people with disabilities.
• The Environmental movement.  Addressing challenges of climate change, habitat destruction and rapid species extinction, industrial-scale pollution, etc.
• The Anti-War (Peace) movement.  “Make Love Not War,” and the 10-year effort to end the Vietnam war.

We wanted to create a better world, and we did manage to blow up many outmoded rigidities in the old systems.  Many of us got “real jobs” and shifted focus to raising our families.  The generations that came after us kept things moving and contributed new solutions.  

Our Unfinished Work

Contemplating the limited time we might have left, we see that much of our r/evolutionary work is still unfinished, and it pulls at our hearts and souls.

And now, with the rise of right-wing backlash, it looks like almost everything we worked for is in danger of being destroyed or reversed.

This is a huge source of distress for most of us, and we are casting around for how best to deal with it.  WTH???  WTF???  What are we going to do???  Doomscroll the latest news and get our energy from outrage adrenaline?  Ignore the chaos and retreat into our spiritual practice or whatever mundane pleasures we can still find?

A New Approach—

I feel we need to go even deeper than we already have and take a holistic approach.  With the wisdom of age and the perspective of how previous efforts worked out, we have a chance to take our work farther.

What might this look like?

• Strengthen ourselves by filling in aspects of development that we might have spiritually bypassed before.
• Contribute to our family line through helping with grandchildren. 
• Engage in some form of “activism” that resonates most deeply for us—Supporting a cause? Starting a "retirement" business? Writing a book?
• Regardless of the outer form of our life, we need to at least hone our ability to Be the Change We Want to See!

An Invitation to Riding the Tiger

What better way to spend our remaining years than to discern and align ourselves with what remains of what we came here to do, to become our unique version of a True Elder—Vital, Impactful, Fulfilled.

Let’s come together, go deeper, complete our work (inner and/or outer) for this lifetime, and support each other in accomplishing it!