* Chaitanya || * Hakuin Ekaku || * Ramakrishna || * Swami Vivekanand
* Sri Aurobindo || * Ramanna Maharishi || * Swami Shivanandji Saraswati
* Parmahansa Yogananda || * Meher Baba || * J. Krishnamurti || * Swami Muktananda
* George Gurdjieff || * Poonjaji || * Swami Chinmayananda || * Satya Sai Baba
* Mata Amritanandmayi || * Swami Shyam|| * Osho Rajneesh || * Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
* Swami Ram || * Dalai Lama || * Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji || * Swami Niranjananda


Chaitanya

1534
Chaitanya- an enlightened Indian mystic, died in 1534. He communed with the divine through singing and dancing.

Hakuin Ekaku

1768
Hakuin Ekaku an enlightened Japanese Zen master died in 1768. His famous "Song of Meditation" begins as "all beings are from the very beginning Buddha's. It is like water and ice. Apart from water, no ice. Outside living beings no Buddhas".



MASTERS OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURY


Ramakrishna

1836 - 1885
Ramakrishna was born in Bengal. He served as a temple priest on the banks of the Ganga near Calcutta. He developed an intense devotion to the goddess Kali at an early age. His enlightenment came after meeting a monk called Totapuri.

When invited to an intellectual religious debate, Ramakrishna welcomed it with the following statement " I do not argue because I am the argument. Just let him come-(he proponent of the debate, a Calcutta intellectual and a academician)-I do not know the scriptures, I do not need to know them. I know the truth-why should I bother about borrowed knowledge? I do not have any education I do not know how to prove something or disprove something, but I do not need to know-my presence is the proof-just let him come." After his death his wife Shraddha was recognised as a mystic in her own right and lived until 1920.

The Ramkrishna Mission is at the Institute of Culture, Gol Park Calcutta 700029. A cultural and educational centre it has an extensive library, a daily lecture routine and other events.

Ramakrishnas disciple Vivekananda was first guru to visit the West. He was followed later by Paramhansa Yoganand.

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