Before I begin, I have to disclaim what I’ll be saying. Everything I’m saying here, I’m saying on behalf of my own practice. Although a number of teachers and traditions have given me the immense benefit of their wisdom, I don’t speak on their behalf; I am not interpreting these teachings except insofar as I have received these teachings and strived to understand them within the context of my own spiritual practice and longings. That is, my understanding of the teachings I have received will always be limited, and although I continually hope for improved knowledge and greater insight, the understandings arising in my heart and mind will always be uniquely my own, subject to change and growth.

I don’t have the authority to provide you with a vision of a teacher’s or a tradition’s body of wisdom, so don’t look for those kinds of authoritative statements here. If, however, the practice you do and the practice I do happen to have some similar points, or if you feel that the particular homework I’ve done as a student is helpful in your own studies, I can be glad that we have found ourselves in the same classroom at this time and place.

Let’s begin.

**

The Devi said,

“This world that you are experiencing now is nothing but my power. The only remedy for your ignorance is to worship me as your innermost Self. Surrender yourself to me with one-pointed devotion and I will help you discover your true being. Abide in me as I abide in you. Know that even now at this very moment there is absolutely no difference between us.”

This excerpt is from (one translation of) The Devi Gita, wherein the Divine Mother speaks on many important subjects. Here, She tells in us several ways that She – Her power, specifically – is our only experience. All this experience includes us: our self-awareness, our proprioception, our vibrant kinetic being as well as the indwelling knowledge of our personality in all our boundaries and estuaries.

When read in the private echo chamber of our own head, this can seem like an astonishing and profound statement. That goddess, that radiant speaker who encompasses all of reality, is right here, at the foundation of my being! She’s me, and I’m Her!

When applied outside that little bony echo chamber, this statement can become a little harder to swallow. Sure, we can certainly acknowledge the Divine Mother in the eyes of our sangha, the community of worshipers and devotees who share our practices and path. Sure, we can probably acknowledge the Divine Mother in the eyes of our familiar circles – blood relations, friends, acquaintances, and so forth. Maybe in an abstract way we can apply this principle to all of reality – including humanity as a whole! The work of taking in and fully digesting this basic principle is the work of a lifetime. The work of many lifetimes, if you like.

There are any number of people who like to suggest that “goddess worship” (whatever that means) is the entitlement of a particular flavor of person. What the precise and universal recipe for creating this flavor is anyone’s guess, although there are a handful of common ingredients that people reach for when attempting to set aside times and places for flavors-of-people to get busy with the above-mentioned “goddess worship”. While I am, of course, entirely incapable of explaining the mental gymnastics that must be undergone to reach this desired conclusion within anyone else’s tradition(s) or practice(s), I can point this bit of scripture (and others) to reach a clear and straightforward conclusion about who is entitled (*cough*) to go about honoring, revering, celebrating, communing with, and yes even worshipping this supreme principle within the scope of my own engagement with a worship tradition.

Everyone. She’s speaking to everyone. “There is no difference between us.”

There is no convolution of personality, no quirk of physical manifestation, no boundary of psychology that prevents Her full and unrestrained power and personality from being present at every point in all of reality.

Yes, we may select times and places, and create conditions under which it becomes easier to *notice* this basic truth, but that doesn’t make the basic truth any more truthful. Similarly, this basic truth it doesn’t become less truthful just because we fail to acknowledge it – or choose to ignore it.

The selection and creation of times, places, and circumstances to notice this first and utmost truth must be done in a manner that references its wisdom at every stage. Rituals must be created so that all have the potential to self-include, else we run the risk of failing to acknowledge the pervasive and unrestricted presence of Who we are claiming to worship in the first place. These opportunities for worship and celebration can be created in a manner that preserves the integrity of a tradition and its manner of passing along knowledge. If, however, the human-level mechanics of a tradition – that is, the explanations and justifications for why people must be prevented from having the option to self-include, then a tradition must be reassessed as to whether or not it really takes seriously the Who that is being celebrated.

Who this Divine Mother is, what Her nature might be, and how She might choose to manifest is beyond my ability to contemplate. What I do know is that She is present in the people before me, as well as in all the other expressions of reality that I might come in contact with on a day to day basis. I can choose to remember Her words, or I can choose to forget them.

I welcome trans gender, gender variant, gender expressive, gender expansive, and gender peculiar human realities in my practice, along with those who identify in ways not mentioned. Whether or not an individual personality gets along with mine, or can abide by the rules of time/place/condition, or even wants to be part of my practice are all secondary considerations behind this first. First they are welcome – then they can choose to participate, or not, or to take care of their shit for a while and try again another time. First they are welcome – not because of my personal history, or the personal history of my friends, or the personal history of people I know, or the noble words people have spoken, or the hatred that makes me want to find a counterbalance in a sphere I can control, but because of a fundamental principle underlying my long engagement with a spiritual universe that leaves me continually humbled, speechless, and cherished. Ignoring that truth is to ignore the path itself; thus far I have never chosen to do so. Thus, all are welcome and will be welcome.

**

This blog entry has been written as part of a social media campaign utilizing the hashtag #TransphobiaIsASin . It was launched by the Co-Editors of the #BlackTransPrayerBook to “reframe the conversation about trans people in faith spaces on Tuesday, Jan 15th[.]”