Shri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) is regarded as the most significant Hindu saint of the last two hundred years. In India, he stands at the threshold of modernity and has significantly influenced it. Shri Ramakrishna, who came from a farming background, served his entire life as a priest in the temple of the goddess Kali in Dakshineshvar near Kolkata. Even as a child, he had visions; as a priest, he underwent years of strict asceticism. His teachings impressed the intellectual elite of Kolkata, who visited him in Dakshineshvar. In his last decade of life, he imparted a transcendent love of God (bhakti) that went beyond the barriers of the caste system, social classes, and religious communities to a close circle of his students through daily spiritual conversations. Ramakrishna's conversational style is simple, sometimes coarse, yet filled with great imagery and immediacy.