One day another visitor to the temple started telling Ramakrishna about Isha, as Hindus call Jesus. Ramakrishna was tremendously inspired by the story of Jesus' life, and felt his commitment to Hinduism slipping away. From now on he would be a Christian! He sat in front of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Isha in her lap and went into ecstasy.
One day shortly after adopting this new religion, Ramakrishna was astonished to see a foreigner with a face glowing radiantly coming directly toward him. " This is Jesus Chirst!' he realized. The radiant man walked right up to him and then merged into his heart, throwing the master once more into unspeakable states of bliss.
Ramakrishna resumed his duties as a priest of Kali, but now he also told people, " Christianity is a true faith, too. If you practice Christianity sincerely, it will take you to God".
In his life, Ramakrishna tested three great faiths, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. He found, through direct experiential practice, that although each religion differed drastically in doctrine, all of them were legitimate spiritual paths. Any one of them could do the job of bringing us home to God.
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