Sri Ramakrishna (1836-86) is regarded by his followers as an incarnation of God and he attracted a number of disciples, the best known in the West being Swami Vivekananda. Information about Ramakrishna's close disciples, who formed a monastic order after his death, has been available for some time, but little has been known about his close "householder" disciples, who continued to live as members of society performing their normal worldly duties while committing themselves to a deeply spiritual life. In 28 short biographies the author looks at Ramakrishna's principal lay disciples and shows how they exemplified various facets of their master's teaching. Moreover, this book presents a more complete picture of Ramakrishna himself, including many new stories about his life.