How Thoreau's Walden Pond Mixed with the Ganges and Yoga Came to America with Swami Vivekananda

glance fell on the sword that was kept in the Mother's temple. I
determined to put an end to my life. When I jumped up like a
madman and seized it, suddenly the blessed Mother revealed Herself.
The buildings with their different parts, the temple, and everything
else vanished from my sight, leaving no trace whatsoever, and in their
stead I saw a limitless, infinite, effulgent Ocean of Consciousness. As
far as the eye could see, the shining billows were madly rushing at me
from all sides with a terrific noise, to swallow me up! I was panting for
breath. I was caught in the rush and collapsed, unconscious. What
was happening in the outside world I did not know; but within me
there was a steady flow of undiluted bliss, altogether new, and I felt
the presence of the Divine Mother."
Ramakrishna lived as a God-intoxicated devotee of the Mother for the rest
of his life, yet he was also moved to experience the goals and Gods of other
traditions. Accepting various teachers of the different mystical traditions of
Hinduism, he practiced Tantra, where he experienced the full ascent of
Kundalini Shakti, the highest goal of the yogis. He became a Vaishnaiva
Bhakti, or lover of Krishna. Recognizing Krishna to be the only male in the
Universe, Ramakrishna became his female devotee, acting like a woman,
dressing and gesturing as Krishna's lover. His speech changed and he became
feminine, moving freely with women, who accepted him as one of their own.
Finally, he attained the vision of Krishna and merged into Him, losing himself
utterly. Following the path of the Ram-Bhaktis, he tended an image of
Lord Rama as a baby. Ramakrishna filled with motherly tenderness, until he
was blessed with the vision of Rama himself.
Consumed with an overwhelming love of God, he quickly mastered
spiritual practices that usually demand a lifetime. There were even periods
when he adopted the devotional paths of Christianity and Islam, losing all
interest in the Divine Mother and became a Christian mystic and a Sufi
until he attained the ultimate goal or vision of that faith. He later said, “I went
by different roads but found myself at the end before the same king.”
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