Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna
In a book now marked by both critical acclaim and cross-cultural controversy, Jeffrey J. Kripal explores the life and teachings of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth-century Bengali saint who played a major role in the creation of modern Hinduism. Through extended textual and symbolic analyses of Ramakrishna's censored "secret talk," Kripal demonstrates that the saint's famous ecstatic and visionary experiences were driven by mystico-erotic energies that he neither fully accepted nor...
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In a book now marked by both critical acclaim and cross-cultural controversy, Jeffrey J. Kripal explores the life and teachings of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth-century Bengali saint who played a major role in the creation of modern Hinduism. Through extended textual and symbolic analyses of Ramakrishna's censored "secret talk," Kripal demonstrates that the saint's famous ecstatic and visionary experiences were driven by mystico-erotic energies that he neither fully accepted nor understood. The result is a striking new vision of Ramakrishna as a conflicted, homoerotic Tantric mystic that is as complex as it is clear and as sympathetic to the historical Ramakrishna as it is critical of his traditional portraits.In a substantial new preface to this second edition, Kripal answers his critics, addresses the controversy the book has generated in India, and traces the genealogy of his work in the history of psychoanalytic discourse on mysticism, Hinduism, and Ramakrishna himself. Kali's Child has already proven to be provocative, groundbreaking, and immensely enjoyable."Only a few books make such a major contribution to their field that from the moment of publication things are never quite the same again. Kali's Child is such a book."—John Stratton Hawley, History of ReligionsWinner of the American Academy of Religion's History of Religions Prize for the Best First Book of 1995 Journal of Asian Studies - David Haberman [Readers] with a tolerance for scandal will be rewarded with a disturbingly delightful celebration of a complex mystic and his particular brand of religion.
ForewordPrefaceA Note on TransliterationList of AbbreviationsIntroduction: Approaching the Secret1Defining the Study: Recovering the Text and Revealing the Secret1The Mystical and the Erotic14Ramakrishna's Tantric World24The Study's Symbolic Structure: Kali's Child33The Hindu Unconscious37Ch. 1Kali's Sword: Anxious Desire and the First Vision47Kali's Sword48From the Village to the Temple, 1836-185653A Textual Study of Ramakrishna's "Anxious Desire": Discerning a Vocabulary of Desire63Ramakrishna's "Anxious Desire" in the Eyes of His Contemporaries77"Her Sword as His Flute"83Ch. 2Kali as Mother and Lover: Interpreting Ramakrishna's Tantric Practices85Kali as Mother and Lover87The Secret Years: Textual Considerations90The Secret Years: The Practices according to the Puranas, 1856-1861101The Secret Years: The Practices according to the Tantras, 1861-1865112The Hero and the Child130Cleaving the Bitch in Two142Ch. 3Kali on Top of Siva: Tantra and Vedanta in Ramakrishna's Teachings and Mystical Experiences145Why Is Kali on Top of Siva?147The Secret Years: From the Practices according to the Vedas to the Jesus State, 1865-1868150The Mansion of Fun and Its Tantric Form170The Love-Body of the Goddess185"Ramakrishna Paramahamsa"196Ch. 4Kali's Feet: Ramakrishna's Descent into the Forms of Man199Kali's Feet201The Coming of the Disciples, 1868-1885204The Change and the Secret of the Dislocated Hand219Phallic Love and the Incarnation's Erotic Community230Ramakrishna's Foot: The Sinful Touch of God238Ramakrishna Viparitarata240Ch. 5Kali's Tongue: Shame, Disgust, and Fear in a Tantric World243Kali's Tongue246The Last Days, 1885-1886: The Secret Revealed and Concealed252Gauri's Question264Lover-and-Gold277The Secret Door287"Bite Your Tongue!"304Epilogue: The Fog of Bliss307Conclusion: Analyzing the Secret309Emerging from the Fog of Bliss: Defining the Secret310Sexuality and Mysticism: Realizing the Erotic317Appendix: Some Historical and Textual Aspects of Ramakrishna's Secret Talk329Notes337Works Cited363Index371
\ David Haberman[Readers] with a tolerance for scandal will be rewarded with a disturbingly delightful celebration of a complex mystic and his particular brand of religion.\ — Journal of Asian Studies\ \ \ \ \ BooknewsAn exploration of the gender reversals implicit in the writings about Ramakrishna, raising questions about the sexuality of a man many regard as a saint, the relationship between sanctity and insanity, and the status of historical data that have been filtered through a hagiographic tradition. Examines the textual evidence about Ramakrishna in Bengali and English, and looks at aspects of Hindu mysticism from a Western psychological perspective. Of interest to Indologists, historians of religions, and students of cross-cultural psychology and gender. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)\ \ \ John Statton HawleyOnly a few books make such a major contribution to their field that from the moment of publication things are never again quite the same. [Kali's Child] is such a book.\ — Hisory of Religions\ \
