My first experiences with the Self Realization Fellowship was through Yogananda's Restaurants. I personally remember the most the one in Encinitas because that one and the one in Hollywood were probably the best Vegetarian restaurants in California. And both of these restaurants were established by the author of "Autobiography of a Yogi", Yogananda.
He first came to the U.S. in 1914 to California and the U.S. and though he spoke all over the U.S. his biggest following was in California and specifically Los Angeles and San Diego and likely San Francisco. So, when my parents moved to San Diego they took me because our religion was Lacto ovo Vegetarian (which means we were vegetarian but also ate eggs and milk products) which is a diet that vegetarians tend to eat more in India by the way.
When I first went to India in 1985 I got to see Indian vegetarians up close by the way which was interesting to me at the time and still.
Anyway, when I got to be in my teens I realized that I really identified with Yogananda because he was an intuitive like me who could see into the heaven realms like I can too. In India holy men often can see into the heaven realms like Yogananda and myself by the way. I can usually look at a person's aura and see how gifted they are in a few seconds and I can also see what they are doing with their abilities and whether they are scary or good.
So, at about college age I was single and tall and picked up a lot of hitch hikers if they looked safe to pick up. I would buy a box of books of the paperback "Autobiography of a Yogi" and often if I had talked with the people and they seemed open to it I would give them one of the copies of "Autobiography of a Yogi" because in the late 1960s and early 1970s many people were open to growing in spiritual ways.
However, when I got married and had a son I stopped picking up hitch hikers almost entirely except in an emergency where lives were at stake.
So, to make a long story short I identified with the kinds of spiritual experiences that Yogananda had as a young man and felt very touched by this so I used to give out these books to hitch hikers for several years while I went to college in my VW Bug.
I had at 18 for college a 1965 VW Bug that was blue. I added a camber compensator and added and exhaust extractor for the loud sound and put Sears steel radial tires on it so it was a really fun and loud car and I loved shifting it for the sports car sound from 1st through 4th gears with chrome wheels around Los Angeles and as far north as Mt. Shasta, California during those days.
In 1968 I bought a Camaro with a 327 engine which at one point I drove at 145 miles per hour and it was just fine at that speed. However, in late 1969 I decided to stop working and go back to college and my parents took over payments to my Camaro because I had been working a few years and decided seriously to return to college when I was about 22. So, I went to Palomar College and San Diego State University for 2 years until I married at age 26 and had a son very quickly.
But, my spiritual connection to Yogananda and to Sai Baba continued and they both appeared to me and counseled me on Mt. Shasta during my 20s while I communed with the Mountain with friends mostly at a place called Horse Camp which is owned by the Sierra Club up at tree line. (so high the trees stop growing at that altitude) which is between 8000 and 9000 feet on Mt. Shasta.
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