User:Goethean/SRK/Bio/Islam/Vineeth

Islam and Christianity
In 1866, Govinda Roy, a Hindu guru who practiced Sufism, initiated Ramakrishna into Islam. Ramakrishna said : "I devoutly repeated the name of Allah, wore a cloth like the Arab Moslems, said their prayer five time daily, and felt disinclined even to see images of the Hindu gods and goddesses, much less worship them&mdash;for the Hindu way of thinking had disappeared altogether from my mind."

After few days of practice he had a vision of a "radiant personage with grave countenance and white beard resembling the Prophet and merging with his body".

Seven years later, at the end of 1873 he started the practise of Christianity, when his devotee Shambu Charan Mallik read the Bible to him. For several days he was filled with Christian thoughts and no longer thought of going to the Kali temple. One day when he was sitting in the room he saw on the wall a picture of Madonna and Child Jesus. He felt that the figures became alive and had a vision in which Jesus came and merged with him. In his own room amongst his Divine pictures was one of Christ, and he burnt incense before it morning and evening. There was also a picture showing Jesus Christ saving St.Peter from drowning in the water.

Referring to his experimentation with other religions Ramakrishna said : ""I have practised all religions - Hinduism, Islam, Christianity - and I have also followed the paths of the different Hindu sects. I have found that it is the same God toward whom all are directing their steps, though along different paths. You must try all beliefs and traverse all the different ways once. Wherever I look, I see men quarrelling in the name of religion - Hindus, Mohammedans, Brahmos, Vaishnavas, and the rest. But they never reflect that He who is called Krishna is also called Siva, and bears the name of the Primal Energy, Jesus, and Allah as well - the same Rama with a thousand names…""