He was liked by one and all in the village because of his sweet nature and talents in various fine arts. He, however, was not too fond of going to school because his keen intellect found out that the so-called education is for earning money only and does not bring real wisdom. He lost his father at the age of seven. He became more serious from then on, but he did not change his ways and habits. Also he was seen visiting monks who stopped at his village on their way to pilgrimage. He would serve them and listen with rapt attention to the arguments they often had among themselves over religious issues.

Meanwhile, the family's financial position worsened everyday. Ramkumar - his elder brother , ran a Sanskrit school in Calcutta and also served as priest in some families. What he earned was pitifully small and he could not send any money home regularly. He decided to bring Ramakrishna to Calcutta to study Sanskrit, do some priestly work and make some money of his own. Thus Ramakrishna came to Calcutta and started helping Ramakumar in carrying on his priestly duties.

About this time, a rich woman of Calcutta, Rani Rashmoni, founded a temple at Dakshineswar. She approached Ramkumar to serve as a priest at the temple of Kali and Ramkumar agreed. Thus he and Ramakrishna came to stay at the Dakshineswar temple. Soon after that, Ramakumar passed away and Ramakrishna then became the priest of the Kali temple there. When worshipping the deity, he began to ask himself if he was worshipping a piece of stone or a living Goddess who could respond to his worship? Nagged day and night by this question, he began to pray to Kali - "Mother, you've been gracious to many devotees in the past and have revealed yourself to them. Why would you not reveal yourself to me? " He would weep bitterly and sometimes even cry out loudly while worshipping. At night, he would go into a nearby jungle and spend the whole night praying. One day he was so impatient to see Mother Kali that he decided to end his life. He seized a sword hanging on the wall and was about to strike himself, when he saw light issuing from the deity in waves and was soon overwhelmed by those waves. He lost all external consciousness and experienced unspeakable Divine Bliss.

Not content with this, he prayed to Mother Kali for more religious experiences. He specially wanted to know what truths other religious systems taught. Strangely enough, teachers of those systems came to him when necessary as if directed by some Divine dispensation, and what is more surprising, he reached the goals of those religious systems in no time.

He married to an exceptionally pure lady - Sri Sarada Devi. Together, they demonstrated a married life of unspeakable mutual love and co-operation that was totally untarnished by any carnal desire. Sri Ramakrishna's life was the perfect example of renunciation of all worldly attachments and the ego.

Soon word spread about this remarkable man and people of all sections of society began to come to him. He taught the basic truths of religion through simple parables, metaphors, songs and above all, by his own life. His important teachings are -

• Ramakrishna taught no creed or dogma. His only concern was man's uplift. There is infinite moral and spiritual potential in man. To develop that potential is man's foremost duty in life. He taught man to strive to develop that potential without wasting time over sense-pleasures or sectarian quarrels.
• Sincerity and faith would make a person realize this immense spiritual potential.
• Religions are like so-many paths leading to the same goal, i.e., God. Man reaches his religious goal when he attains his highest moral development.
• God is both personal and impersonal. For most people, it is difficult to conceive an impersonal God, so to begin with, God is to be thought of as a person; otherwise God is impersonal and beyond thought and speech.
• Be in the world but not of it. Perform your duties as well you can, but do not count too much upon the fruits of your action. Try to feel as if you are only a tool in the hands of God.
• Religion is an experience. Religion makes no sense unless its truths are experienced. Is your thirst satisfied? Not unless you drink water when you are thirsty.
• God is everywhere but He is most manifest in man. So serve man as God. That is same as worshipping God.