Ramakrishna Paramahams was born in 1836 to a poor Brahmin family in Bengal. In 1856, he became the priest of Dakshineswar Kali Temple, taking over the position of his recently deceased brother. He took on ritual and mythical roles, identifying the gods from Indian holy books. In 1865, he became a sannyasin, and began to study the teachings of Advaita Vedanta. His intuition of the validity of different approaches to the worship of God and the religious paths led him to practice both Christianity and Islam during later periods of his life. He died in 1886. His contributions can be found in the World Wisdom anthology, Pray Without Ceasing .