The relationship between Ramakrishna and Vivekananda began in November 1881, when they met at the house of Surendra Nath Mitra. Ramakrishna asked Narendranath (the pre-monastic name of Vivekananda) to sing. Impressed by his singing talent, he invited him to Dakshineswar. Narendra accepted the invitation, and the meeting proved to be a turning point in the life of Narendranath. Initially Narendra did not accept Ramakrishna as his master and found him to be a "mono maniac", but eventually he became one of the closest people in his life. Ramakrishna reportedly shaped the personality of Narendranath and prepared him to dedicate his life to serve humanity. After the death of Ramakrishna, Narendra and his other monastic disciples established their first monastery at Baranagar.
The message of Advaita Vedanta philosophy, the Hinduism tenet, inspired by Ramakrishna, the nineteenth century doyen of revival of Hinduism, was ably and convincingly transmitted by Vivekananda, his illustrious disciple first at the Parliament of the World's Religions held from 11 September 1893 at Chicago and thus began the impressive propagation of the Ramakrishna movement throughout the United States. (Also included in this movement was a message on the four yogas ). The two men thereupon launched the Ramakrishna Mission and established the Ramakrishna Math to perpetuate this message and over the years the two organizations have worked in tandem to promote what is popularly called the Ramakrishna Order and this legacy has been perpetuated not only to the western world but to the masses in India to this day. Vivekananda, who was an unknown monk in the United States as of 11 September 1893, before the start of the Parliament, became a celebrity overnight.
After lecturing at the Parliament, Vivekananda travelled between 1893—1897 and 1899–1902 in America and England, conducting lectures and classes. Vivekananda delivered two lectures in New York and England in 1901 on Ramakrishna, which were later compiled into a book — My Master. Vivekananda said — "All that I am, all that the world itself will some day be, is owing to my Master, Shri Ramakrishna."
Background
Ramakrishna's background
Ramakrishna was born to a Brahmin family in a small rural village in Bengal. His speech was in a rustic dialect. Right from his childhood, he showed inclinations of paranormal behavior. At the age of 16, he came to join his older brother at Dakshineswar in a new temple where his brother was working as a priest. In 1856, after his brother's death, Ramakrishna succeeded him as a priest of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple, but Ramakrishna did not concentrate on formal worships. He was in pursuit of the highest spiritual knowledge. He conducted religious experimentation, learned about different shashtras from Bhairavi Brahmani, Tota Puri, and others; his spiritual education in Advaita Vedanta is largely attributed to Tota Puri who was the resident monk at the Dakshineswar Kali Temple in 1865. It is believed he achieved the highest spiritual knowledge.
Ramakrishna attained spiritual excellence and was fully enlightened about a few truths, which greatly influenced his knowledge of social complexities of life. He had put to practice the tenets of religions such as Hinduism in all its ramifications, Islam and Christianity which made him comment: "I have found it is the same God toward whom all are directing their steps, though along different paths."
Vivekananda's background
Vivekananda was born Narendranath Datta on 12 January 1863 in Calcutta into an aristocratic Bengali kayastha family. In his early youth, Narendra joined a Freemasons' lodge and a breakaway faction of the Brahmo Samaj led by Keshub Chandra Sen and Debendranath Tagore. Narendra's initial beliefs were shaped by Brahmo concepts, which included belief in a formless God and the deprecation of idolatry.
Meeting at Surendra Nath Mitra's house
Surendra Nath Mitra was a noted householder devotee of Ramakrishna, who used to visit Mitra's house in Calcutta to deliver spiritual lectures. It was in Mitra's house where Ramakrishna met Narendranath for the first time in a spiritual festival. In this festival as the appointed singer could not attend for some reason, young Narendranath, who was a talented singer, was requested to sing songs. Narendra sang few devotional songs and Ramakrishna was impressed by his singing talent. He invited Narendra to come to Dakshineswar and meet him. Though it was their first meeting, neither Ramakrishna nor Narendra counted this as their first meeting.