A historic meeting took place in 1868. Two spiritual masters, veritable emperors of the spiritual realm, met in Varanasi. One was a mighty yogi, a Shiva in earthly garb, with miraculous powers at his fingertips and compassion as belongs only to men of God, who in his awesome lifespan of 280 years revelled in and revealed the power of spirituality to an astounded world. He was Sri Trailingaswami of Varanasi. The other was an innocent child of the Divine Mother, both a devotee and knower of God, who had plumbed the depths and reaches of spirituality by the sheer power of longing and tears, and one who at times got so immersed in the contemplation of God that it was impossible in his own lifetime to consider him as separate from the divine. He was Sri Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar.

While Sri Ramakrishna conducted the worship of Mother Kali at Dakshineswar, and whose spirit was ever engaged in the quest for truth, asked: “Is it true that there is a Mother of Bliss in the universe? Is it true that She lives and guides the universe? Or is it all a dream?' The thought of having a vision of the Divine Mother so possessed him that for days he would weep and say, 'Mother, is it true that Thou exists, or is it all imagination?' As the urge for the realisation of God intensified, he lost all other interests in life. His mind was concentrated on the one idea of the vision of the Mother, he made an attempt to end his life with the sword that was kept in the shrine. He immediately experienced a flowing current of intense bliss with which flowed the knowledge of the Mother and fell unconscious. Thenceforth, his life was ever tuned to a divine presence which worked and expressed itself through his deeds and words.

Sri Trailingaswami too showed in his lifetime that one could surely see God if one really felt that desire intensely enough. He would often go into deep meditation before the four feet tall statue carved in stone, of Mother Kali known as Mangala Devi at Varanasi. After an hour he would come out of his contemplation and would call his Mother Supreme. Graciously Mother Supreme would walk into his presence in the form of a little girl. Sometime later, the Swami would ask his Mother Supreme to go to Her place, and She would obey like a little girl. The Swami would always talk about the presence of consciousness in earth and stone. He would explain that the thing within does not die. The subtle body remains full of desires and it will take on another body in order to satisfy these desires. I have to understand the nature of energy. It is not perishable, it can only be transformed. The universal energy, Shakti, is called the Mother. All the goddesses are nothing but energy. The Feminine Principle or the Mother is said to be the beginning, the middle, and the end-srishti, stithi and vinasha. I have a little of that energy and I am supposed to transform it, instead I merely rotate. Energy thus converts into desire and that rouses more desire till I realise I am being used so that energy can rotate. The body and the mind are mere instruments. I need to understand, I need to say “enough” and step out. Finally, I need to understand that actually I never entered but only believed I had entered and hence the problems were created. This is Advaita. And it believes that I create my own reality. Actually, I am always in control.

Note: The author wrote a book on Trailingaswamy entitled The Walking Shiva of Varanasi, published by Richa Publications, New Delhi in 2005