Sri Ramakrishna and the Divine Mother Kali

 Sri Ramakrishna’s spiritual life was marked by an intense love and longing for God. His desire was not simply to think about the Divine, but to experience it directly. Through this intense devotion, he attained the Divine Mother Kali.

His experience of Kali was part of a deeper spiritual search. After he had reached the Mother through devotion, teachers came to him and guided him further in his spiritual life.

At one point, Sri Ramakrishna began to wonder about people who had never had the opportunity to hear about Kali. If they had no knowledge of the Goddess, could they also reach God? This question led him to look beyond the particular form of worship that had become central to his own life.

He therefore turned his attention to other religious traditions. He experienced the Christian path and also the Muslim tradition. Through these experiences he came to the conclusion that the different religions lead toward the same Supreme Reality.

For Sri Ramakrishna, the many names and forms did not mean that there were many ultimate realities. The Divine was one, although it could be approached in different ways.

He expressed this understanding in the teaching:

“God is one, sages call him by different names.”

His experience thus brought together the devotion through which he had approached Mother Kali and the recognition that the same Supreme Reality could be reached through other religious paths.

Source & Note

This article is based on Elizabeth U. Harding’s Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar (Nicolas-Hays, 1993). The material has been edited and adapted for this publication.