Ramakrishna
Paramahansa was a great religious leader of India. He was born in a Brahmin
family in the Hooghly district, West Bengal. He taught that God-realisation
is the only goal of life. Visions, trances, ecstasies crowded upon him
and most of his time was spent in intense spiritual activities.
Paramahansa
proceeded under various spiritual guides to experience the whole gamut of
mystical relationship described in Hindu scriptures. Ramakrishna reaffirmed
on the basis of his own spiritual experiments that all creeds and religions
led ultimately to the same goal. He exhorted people not to waste time squabbling
over this or that religion but to seek God with pure and dedicated heart.
His sayings and story of his life remain to this day a major source of religious
guide-lines. Under his great influence he attracted to him a group of young
disciples. Outstanding among them was was Swami Vivekananda.