Lecture tours in the UK and US
After the Parliament of Religions, Vivekananda toured many parts of the US as a guest. His popularity gave him an unprecedented opportunity to communicate his views on life and religion to great numbers of people. During a question-answer session at Brooklyn Ethical Society, he remarked, "I have a message to the West as Buddha had a message to the East." On another occasion he described his mission thus:I do not come to convert you to a new belief. I want you to keep your own belief; I want to make the Methodist a better Methodist; the Presbyterian a better Presbyterian; the Unitarian a better Unitarian. I want to teach you to live the truth, to reveal the light within your own soul.
Vivekananda spent nearly two years lecturing in the eastern and central United States, primarily in Chicago, Detroit, Boston, and New York. He founded the Vedanta Society of New York in 1894. His demanding schedule eventually began to affect his health, and in Spring 1895 he ended his lecture tours and began giving free, private classes in Vedanta and yoga. Beginning in June 1895, he gave private lectures to a dozen of his disciples at Thousand Island Park, New York for two months. Vivekananda was offered academic positions in two American universities (one the chair in Eastern Philosophy at Harvard University and a similar position at Columbia University); he declined both, since his duties would conflict with his commitment as a monk.
Vivekananda travelled to the United Kingdom in 1895 and again in 1896. In November 1895 he met an Irish woman, Margaret Elizabeth Noble, who would become one of his closest disciples, known as Sister Nivedita (a name given her by the Swami, meaning "dedicated to God"). On his second visit, in May 1896, Vivekananda met Max Müller, a noted Indologist from Oxford University who wrote Ramakrishna's first biography in the West. From the UK, he visited other European countries. In Germany, he met Paul Deussen, another renowned Indologist.
Vivekananda's success led to a change in mission, namely the establishment of Vedanta centres in the West. He adapted traditional Hindu ideas and religiosity to suit the needs and understandings of his western audiences, who were more familiar with western esoteric traditions and movements. An important element in his adaptation of Hindu religiosity was the introduction of his "four yogas" model, based in Raja yoga, which offered a practical means to realise the divine force within, a central goal of modern western esotericism. In 1896, his book Raja Yoga, an interpretation and adaptation of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, was published, becoming an instant success; it became highly influential in the western understanding of yoga, in Elizabeth de Michelis's view marking the beginning of modern yoga.
Vivekananda attracted followers and admirers in the US and Europe, including Josephine MacLeod, Betty Leggett, Lady Sandwich, William James, Josiah Royce, Robert G. Ingersoll, Lord Kelvin, Harriet Monroe, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Sarah Bernhardt, Nikola Tesla, Emma Calvé and Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz. He initiated several followers, including Marie Louise (a French woman) who became Swami Abhayananda, and Leon Landsberg who became Swami Kripananda, so that they could serve the mission of the Vedanta Society. He also initiated Christina Greenstidel of Detroit, who became Sister Christine, with whom he developed a close father–daughter relationship.
While in America, Vivekananda was given land to establish a retreat for Vedanta students, in the mountains to the southeast of San Jose, California. He called it "Peace retreat", or Shanti Asrama. There were twelve main centres established in America, the largest being the Vedanta Society of Southern California in Hollywood. There is also a Vedanta Press in Hollywood which publishes books about Vedanta and English translations of Hindu scriptures and texts.
From the West, Vivekananda revived his work in India. He regularly corresponded with his followers and brother monks, offering advice and financial support. His letters from this period reflect his campaign of social service, and were strongly worded. He wrote to Akhandananda, "Go from door to door amongst the poor and lower classes of the town of Khetri and teach them religion. Also, let them have oral lessons on geography and such other subjects. No good will come of sitting idle and having princely dishes, and saying "Ramakrishna, O Lord!"—unless you can do some good to the poor". In 1895, Vivekananda founded the periodical Brahmavadin. His translation of the first six chapters of The Imitation of Christ was published in Brahmavadin in 1899. Vivekananda left for India from England on 16 December 1896, accompanied by his disciples Captain and Mrs. Sevier and J.J. Goodwin. On the way, they visited France and Italy, and set sail for India from Naples on 30 December 1896. He was followed to India by Sister Nivedita, who devoted the rest of her life to the education of Indian women and the goal of India's independence.
