Religious Identity
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One of the most recognized and beloved of the great saints of India, Ramakrishna (1836–1886) is best known for his devotion to the Divine Mother, the Goddess Kali. He was also founder of the Vedanta Society that now has branches in many major cities throughout the world. The doctrine of Vedanta is based on Hindu tradition, but Ramakrishna was also versed in comparative religious traditions as well. It is a characteristic of Hindu tradition to honor and respect all religions. Ramakrishna’s life was marked by many unusual spiritual phenomena. His birth was predicted to both his parents individually as being especially devoted to both Vishnu and Shiva, two of the Hindu Trinity. Early in life Ramakrishna was a nature mystic, occasionally falling into rapturous unconsciousness at the sight of great beauty or, on one occasion, when playing the role of Shiva in a play. He was the youngest son of a poor family that was of the Brahmin (priestly) caste. When his oldest brother went to Calcutta to teach Sanskrit and serve as a priest in the temple consecrated to the Goddess Kali, he invited his youngest brother, then 17, to assist him in his priestly duties. When this brother died just 1 year later, Ramakrishna took over as priest in the temple. It was at that point that he underwent a profound change, dedicating himself entirely to the service of the Divine Mother. He became so engrossed in religious life that he sometimes lost track of time. Nonetheless, this was a period of dark yearning for the young Ramakrishna. His ardent spiritual thirst was for darshan – a vision and teaching of the Divine Mother. At one point he almost committed suicide, and it was then that the Divine Mother first appeared to him. As he taught later, when yearning is as strong as that of a drowning man gasping for breath, then we will be given the gift of knowing God. (cited in Kakar 1991: 16f).
After this first powerful mystical experience, his appetite was whetted for more. Whenever he received visions of the Goddess, he would beam with joy, and enter into samadhi, which is a deep and intense meditative state wherein the ego enters into unspecified, formless, featureless consciousness, and then he would frequently become unconscious. When there was any diminution in the sense of her presence, he would loudly wail and become breathless. His family worried about him; they took him to an Ayurvedic doctor for treatment and even tried an exorcist. He gradually passed through this initial intense spiritual phase. Subsequently his family arranged a marriage for him with the 6-year old Sarada Devi. He complied with their wishes but never had any intention of consummating the marriage. In later life he envisioned his wife as the Divine Mother herself and worshiped her.
Teachings For Ramakrishna taught that Bhakti yoga, or the life of devotion, is the quickest, surest path toward union with the Divine. From this perspective, all desire can lead one to God. The passions of life are all redirected toward God rather than toward the objects of the world. Devo
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