Carl Olson on 'Kali's Child'

[Guest guest]

Carl Olson on Kali's Child

 

...This rather sober,, slanted, an inaccurate portrait of Ramakrishna

is justifiably destroyed by the brilliance of this study because the

author allows us to witness the secrets that the orthodox leaders of

the religious movement have kept hidden for so long from the public.

 

….Kripal also demonstrates that the saint manifested homoerotic

proclivities for young boys, misogynic attitudes, played with his own

feces, gave suggestions of anal problems (for example, he

simultaneously entered ecstatic trances while defecating), and

probably practiced a ritualized form of cunnilingus. It is not wonder

that the leaders of the movement keep these actions and inclinations

secret from a public that they assumed would be unable to comprehend

such a complex figure.

 

Kali's feet set the stage for a discussion of Ramakrishna's placing of

his own foot on the genitals of young boys while in ecstatic trance,

his role as an incarnation and creator of an erotic community.

 

….the author suggests that the nature of the secret surrounding

Ramakrishna also involves approaching the subject from a variety of

dimensions: textual, political, psychological, social, ontological,

ritual, anal and theological.

 

...The book is a model of clarity, sensitivity, single-minded pursuit

of truth, a joy to read, an example that textual studies need not be

boring and deserves to be widely read by everyone in the field of

religious studies, Indian studies, and among educated readers in

general. If after revealing the secrets associated with the life of

Ramakrishna, it would be a crime for this book to remain a secret.

END OF QUOTES

 

Reference:

Pg. 201-202 of 'International Journal of Hindu Studies', vol. 1.1;

April 1997

Olson later became the 'Review Editor' of the Journal. He is

associated with Dept. of Religious Studies, Allegheny College,

Meadville, PA