As a child I attended Methodist church with my friends. It was a nice environment, but to me it was more of a social environment rather than a spiritual experience.

In my thirties, I married but always seemed to be restless and searching for something. I remember I would scour the books at the local library looking for 'something' but in those days the libraries did not stock metaphysical or mystical books, especially in the south in the 1960s.

I eventually managed to find books about people with psychic abilities, mystical experiences, and spiritual beliefs that were not considered to be the 'normal' religious views of the time.

I read everything I could find. I was fascinated by these writings, even though I was not necessarily inspired to follow any of those particular paths.

One day I heard about a group of people who had broken off from the Catholic Church, called the Charismatic Catholics. They distributed bookmarks which read, "Expect A Miracle." This led me to visit their bookstore and it felt like I had found home. In the bookstore were many books about miracles, astrology, tarot, world religions, and alternative religions. On a lower shelf in a back corner of the room was the book, The Sayings of Yogananda. I remember it was only $1.25 and I thought, "Well, I can afford to blow that much."

I took it home and absolutely devoured it that very night. I was lying in bed reading to my husband as I was having "Aha" moments. My husband was not interested with my newly found treasure.

The thing about that $1.25 was that in reality we did not have any money at all, so in order for me to have spent it for a book there had to have been a good reason. On top of that, after I finished reading Sayings, I returned to the little bookstore. In the blink of an eye, I bought a brand new, hardback edition of Autobiography of a Yogi for a whopping (at that time) $2.95. I immediately devoured that one, as well. Soon I was writing to the SRF Headquarters for more information. In the book was a photo of SRF at Encinitas, CA, and I was literally enchanted. Also in the books was a description of the Lessons and that did it. I was hooked.

It turned out that to my good fortune there was a new SRF meditation group starting up in Austin and I asked to be put on their mailing list. Almost immediately I received a welcome letter. I met with the group and together we began the Austin, TX, Meditation Group.

One of the women had been to Headquarters on retreat at Encinitas, as well as to Convocation, the annual gathering of devotees.

Her enthusiasm bolstered my determination to follow this path.

During this time I did not know if my marriage would survive, but I stuck with this path and had decided that if my marriage failed I would move to California.

The next summer I attended convocation and talked with one of the nuns about getting a job at Mt. Washington, and we also discussed my joining the monastic order. After I returned to Texas, I received a letter from her inviting me to come and stay at Mother Center as a guest. In that period of my life, I was planning to move to Los Angeles no matter what, so Sister was providing me an opportunity to try out the monastic life first. I mentioned to her that I had been married four times and could not seem to find true love.

The sweetness of her responses was just what I needed at the time. She said to me, "Oh, my dear, we are all looking for love." That touched me so. It was so real. In a nutshell, it explained my entire life and my incredibly painful soul-searching. I stayed at headquarters for a few months, but then I moved back to Texas for one more try to make the marriage work.

In the final year of it, I met my father-in-law for the first time. When he learned I was a member of SRF, he related his stories of meeting Yogananda! I was dumbfounded! What a surprise and a twist to the final chapter of my marriage story!

He had lived in the suburbs of Los Angeles in the late 1940s and worked for an advertising agency. When Yogananda was ready to create the mailing process for the SRF Lessons he hired my father-in-law's advertising agency to set up the direct mailing for the Lessons.

My father-in-law went to Mt. Washington on several occasions to meet with Master! I persuaded him to write his memories of Master, which I later sent to SRF.

I recall that one of his most striking memories was that Yogananda was so attuned to someone he made you feel you were the most interesting person he had ever met. He said that Master was beautiful in every way, a perfect balance of the masculine and feminine qualities. Although my father-in-law did not join SRF, he said that his memories of Yogananda were of an enduring nature he never forgot.

Before long, I felt it imperative that I move to California. I left my husband, the local Austin group, my job, the dogs, and the cats. I felt a soul call to make this dramatic transition and I knew that I could no longer wait.

I went by bus straight to Encinitas. I did not know where to go or what to do. I had an innocent idea that I would just go and hang around the ashram and people would tell me what to do and that somehow I was going to be blessed with unending benevolent direction. I smile now when I think about it; however, I did find that all people at SRF was amazingly welcoming and offered to help in any way they could do.

I lucked out and landed a job at a local newspaper. I was able to attend early morning meditations with the nuns in the retreat chapel. I enjoyed this time immensely and it helped to ground me as nothing had before. I was able to live in CA for several years before moving to the southeast.

At one point during my spiritual journey, I had a dream in which I was hit and killed by a car. I was lying on the lawn of our house. I was dead and everyone was standing over and looking at me. They were horrified. I was not. I raised my head and looked across my body and feet to where I saw Master peaking around the corner of the house. He was smiling and signaling for me to come. I got up and went to him. I left my body to do this and did not turn around to look back.

To me this was solid verification that Master is my Guru. This dream is still very vivid to me. I consider it my "Dream of Dreams."

Later when my brother committed suicide I had to be careful to not seem too detached, or appear unfeeling and cold to my family. I knew it was not the end for him and that he was okay. I had Master's teachings but the family did not. The teachings were my resolve to stand unshaken and remain calm.

These teachings give a person great peace of mind and security. At times it seems that the rest of the world is crazy, but in my opinion it is because they don't have the Guru and the Lessons to help them feel protected. We know there is life after death. And Master is always available to us.

For years I have practiced the presence of God using affirmations and chanting.

This helps me to associate with Yogananda's presence. Without even realizing it, I will find that I am silently chanting, "Thou are my life, thou are my life..."

It is a blessing to have these many tools.

I think that a vegetarian diet and practicing the Energization Exercises are vitally important. The two physical disciplines are important to calm the body and the mind, which help in meditation.

The remaining higher techniques develop smoothly because of them.

I would advise new devotees that this path is the best for spiritual development, even though it is not for everyone.

The key is to find what works for you and stick with it. Being fortunate enough to follow our Guru and this path is everything to me and gives me a reason to keep pursuing Self-Realization. I know the benefits, and they are many. No longer do I look outside of myself for peace and security.

This path also gives me great understanding of any question I ask. One of the biggest blessings is the ability to cognize and appreciate whatever comes to me, no matter what it is. I am very thankful. Everything seems to be satisfied in the Guru-disciple relationship.