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We had reached the car. I unlocked Jennifer's door and went around to the driver's side. Since Jennifer already had released the catch, I opened the door and got in.

After fastening our seat-belts, I started the car, checked for traffic and pulled out into the street. Once underway, I completed the thought that had been suspended while getting into the car.

"Efficiency is not just a matter of finding the cheapest way of doing something, end of story. Efficiency is the cheapest way of doing something while still fulfilling one's duties of care: to oneself; to one's employees; to customers; to the community and to the environment.

"For example, although the cost, in terms of dollars and cents, entailed by producing a given product or service through procedure 'x' may be the most efficient, nevertheless, procedure 'x' may not be the most efficient in terms of over-all social costs. If the use of procedure 'x' depends on the oppression and exploitation of people, here or elsewhere, which leads to war, revolution, social violence and/or the dissolution of individuals and society, then, the true costs of procedure 'x' only can be assessed by factoring in the not-so-collateral damage that is being introduced as a result of the use of procedure 'x'.

"As much as corporate planners and bean counters might like to deny the fact, issues of compassion, justice, charitableness and morality have integral roles to play in any consideration of questions of efficiency. Indeed, as a general rule, any notion of efficiency which excludes these values will, sooner or later, end up costing both individuals and society a great deal in order to clean up the mess that ensues from the problems generated by such narrowly and ill-conceived notions of efficiency. Indeed, corporate planners and politicians are dealing in false-economies to the extent their policies do not take into consideration the more complex, interrelated and subtle dimensions of efficiency.

"Feminists want a capitalistic democracy that will live up to its promises of freedom, justice and equality for all of its participants. But, the question is: can this kind of system, any more than communism, have its potential and promise realized without the guiding presence of a real spirituality which is capable of curtailing the activities of the false self in which both capitalism and communism traditionally have, in actual practice, been rooted- openly in the case of capitalism and clandestinely in the case of communism?"

Having finished what I believed was an application of, or addendum to, the sort of perspective that Jennifer seemed to have been espousing, I asked: "Is there anything in what I've said that you feel is inconsistent with, or distorts, the position which you have been developing in relation to feminism?"

Jennifer shook her head and replied: "For the most part, I've never thought along the lines that you are suggesting, David, but I don't have any problems with what you are saying. In fact, it provides some interesting ideas which invite further exploration and reflection."

Her words gave me the confidence to push the envelope of our discussion a bit further. Threads from the fabric of my life seemed to rapidly unravel before my awareness as I started to raise the next issue.

"Is God a She or a He?" I inquired.

"Neither," Jennifer responded "Nor is Divinity an It," she added.

"What Divinity makes manifest on different levels of Being, however, can have either masculine or feminine properties and characteristics ... or, some sort of combination of the two. The feminine and the masculine are not so much things as they are relational principles through which God weaves together various levels of Divine manifestations.

"In general, the feminine gives expression to the tendency or capacity of a Divine manifestation to be receptive and sensitive to, or resonate with, the way in which some other dimension of Divinity is being manifested. In addition, the feminine principle is a medium through which certain kinds of Divine attributes involving creativity, nurturance and birth, broadly construed, are manifested.

"The masculine principle, on the other hand, gives expression, in general, to the tendency or capacity of a Divine manifestation to activate, act on, influence and engage various other dimensions of Divine manifestation. The masculine principle also serves as a medium through which certain kinds of Divine attributes of creativity and nurturance are manifested. These latter qualities are different from, but complementary to, their feminine counterparts.

"Every manifestation of Divinity will give expression to both feminine and masculine principles. In some manifestations, however, feminine tendencies may predominate, while in other cases, masculine properties or characteristics may have ascendency.

"According to the mystical perspective, every aspect of Being is a locus through which Divinity is manifested. Every locus transmits or reflects Divine manifestation in accordance with its capacity to do so.

"Every capacity is unique. Consequently, every capacity has a unique way of transmitting or reflecting Divine manifestations. Moreover, every capacity has a unique way of giving expression to both the feminine and masculine principles that are inherent in Divine manifestations.

"On different occasions, one and the same capacity may give reflected expression to various combinations of masculine and feminine properties. In other words, on some occasions, a given capacity may reflect or manifest a certain ratio of feminine to masculine properties, while on other occasions, the same capacity may reflect a different ratio of feminine to masculine properties.

"The biological form associated with a given capacity does not exhaust the spectrum of possibilities which are inherent in such a capacity. Biology is only one facet of capacity.

"Therefore, even when a biological form is sex-typed as being, say, male, the underlying, extra-biological capacity with which the biological form is associated still can serve as a locus for giving reflected expression to Divine manifestations that, on a given occasion, may have a predominantly feminine character. Thus, a male biological form can give expression to such feminine properties as being receptive and sensitive to, or resonant with, some aspect of reality.

"Similarly, the fact that a biological form may be sex-typed as female does not necessarily determine what package of feminine and masculine properties may be manifested through such a biological form. The underlying, extra-biological capacity with which the biological form is associated still is able to serve, under the right circumstances, as a locus for giving reflected expression to Divine manifestations that, on a given occasion, may have predominantly masculine properties. For example, on a given occasion, when the masculine principle is in ascendency in a female biological form, the individual might exhibit various dimensions of that principle such as engaging, activating or acting on some other aspect of reality.

"A great deal of confusion exists because people want to think about feminine and masculine properties or characteristics only in terms of biological sex-types. In reality, sex type is only one example, and a very limited one, of masculine and feminine principles in action.

"These principles also manifest themselves through concepts, emotions, values, intentions, beliefs, attitudes and actions. Furthermore, the feminine or masculine character of these concepts, emotions, etc., will not necessarily be a function of the sex-type of the individual through whom these concepts and so on are being given expression.

"In fact, as far as the mystics are concerned, far more important than an individual's biological sex-type is the issue of false self and true self. These two kinds of selfhood will give expression to feminine and masculine principles in very different ways.

"As a general rule, irrespective of whether the principle being given expression, on any given occasion, is predominantly feminine or masculine, if the locus through which it is being manifested is the false self, the principle will tend to be colored, shaped and oriented by the character of the false self. When this occurs, the result is invariably problematic, either for the individual or for others or for both.

"On the other hand, if the locus through which a predominantly masculine or feminine principle is being manifested is the true self, then the character and qualities of this self will be shaping, coloring and orienting the way in which the principle is being given expression. When this is the case, the result is invariably constructive, either for the individual or for others or for both.

"The masculine and feminine dimensions of Divine manifestation are neither 'good' nor 'bad' in any conventional sense. They are what they are, and they are capable of being given expression in an infinite array of settings and circumstances, as well as in an infinite set of possible combinations of relating to, and modulating, one another in those settings and circumstances.

"Considered from a mystical point of view, gendering and patriarchy constitute but one kind of attempt by the false self to skew and delimit the way in which masculine and feminine principles can be given expression in our lives. More specifically, gendering and patriarchy give expression to the false self's attempt to use sex-typed biological forms as an arbitrary basis for determining how roles, power, responsibilities, resources, opportunities, duties and identities are to be distributed within families and society in a manner that is advantageous to some false selves but not to others, and which is disadvantageous to all true selves."

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