Kali Devotion Is not a Cult of Political Outrage

The original purpose of Kali devotion was not to make a cult of our outrage, or to solidify our identity around anger: but quite the contrary, to transcend rage by embracing it in the abyss of a greater whole, a wave in love's vast ocean.

Only in that unconditional embrace may we see our bitterest enemy as Mother Kali herself, in her more distressing disguise. Without resistance, the healing heart of Wisdom enfolds our fury, transforming it into ananda. Then we know that, in the final analysis, both love and anger are made out of one energy, which is pure bliss.

In much the same way that New Age culture appropriates the science of Yoga as mere exercise for the body, so we appropriate Mother Kali as a political icon for the ego of the offended party. But she will not be mocked. Kali knows no left or right. Her abysmal love swallows them both in the dark face of a beauty so intense it melts our edges.


Picture: 'Jai Kali Ma,' Sri Ramakrishna adoring Mother Kali