Is Menla male, female, or?
The subject of gender of buddhas is interesting. It appears that most though not all historical buddhas are male. There may be no one definitive answer that pleases everyone as to why this seems to be so. My opinion is that the the female mind may be by nature closer to the enlightened state and because of that the struggles of females to attain enlightenment may be less dramatic headline material. However, this is a strictly amateur attempt to answer that question. It does seem that the gender of some original person playing the role of Menla was male. Furthermore, in some accounts, he had a younger brother, also involved in healing who seems to have faded from sight.
On my last visit to the Ven. Thrangu Rinpoche, I asked about the gender of the Menla we visualize and call on. He said that that Menla is beyond gender. I really appreciate that. In speaking to art historians, it also seems that while most traditional statues of Buddha cast him in a male body, if you look closely you can see that his features are very soft and he actually embodies both male and female features.
In any event, I think it is very helpful to see Menla as both beyond gender and also lighting up the best qualities of each, as much as those qualities can be distinct. Another way to see it might be that ordinary conception of gender are illusory, and based on habitual thinking and social stereotyping. Maybe, as is said, when we are awake, we see through all our delusion and how to bring out the best in every situation.
