The Gender of God...by James Bean

"God is neither male, nor female, nor neuter gender. God is neither
good nor bad; He is beyond the dualities of the material world. God
is the Power that 'Just Is'". (Jagassar Das, Kabir Satsang of Canada)

Many in the mystical traditions teach that God is beyond gender, is a
Formless Ultimate Reality, a non-duality transcending all perceptions of duality and illusion existing in a state of timeless pure spirit. Yet, quite often these same mystical orders use the personal pronoun "He" when referring to God, not "IT". Why is this you may ask? This passage from the book, Streams of Nectar, by Darshan Singh explores how we as human beings usually relate to God: "In trying to convey this soul/Oversoul [God] relationship to us the Saints and Mystics have had to resort to various analogies. Jesus spoke of it in terms of 'father and son." Shri Ramakrishna spoke of it in terms of 'mother and child.' Mirabai spoke of it in terms of 'husband and wife.' Like Saint Teresa of Avila and Mystics throughout the world, John of the Cross depicts the relationship of the soul and God as that of lover and Beloved, of bride and Bridegroom. As the relationship develops, the lover awakens to his or her lover and is changed into love itself. This is the transformative power through which the human becomes divine." This is about the feeling of intimacy one has or would love to experience with the Supreme Being. Most spiritual traditions have a concept of worship, what Indian paths call "Bhakti", a term meaning love and devotion for God. Conceiving of God as a cosmic or divine "IT" does not seem to resonate with most of us. Can we be madly in love with an "IT", a thing, even a divine Thing, like an inanimate object such as a rock, chair, or machine? Most understandably feel the idea of God as "IT" to be distant, frosty cold, and clinical. I suspect this is why those who prefer to relate to a personal God of love do so with masculine or feminine language, even if according to their own theologies, God possesses both male and female aspects, or perhaps is even beyond gender altogether at the Ultimate Level, the Most High region, the True State transcending all the dimensions of time and space. I also find the usage of personal pronouns "Him" or even "Her" for God to simply be a convenience of language.