My path began at a early age. I was forced to attend a Baptist church with my Mother. My first baptism connected me to Jesus but I totally rejected the church. 

I had chats with God deep in the woods as a Boy Scout and discovered Native American spirituality then and the power of nature.

I discovered Zen in high school through the Beat poets, and I devoured Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.

I switched from art to psychology and back to art at East Texas State University and ended up with art education certification.

During this period, after a personal tragedy in 1968, out of despair, I began to have very intense mystical experiences and was clueless on what to with them.

In 1969 I begin teaching art in the Rio Grande Valley near the Mexican border and the despair and mystical experiences continued.

At that time I met a guy who began telling me about Paramahansa Yogananda, who I was vaguely aware of in high school as I had The Autobiography in my hands for a biology report on yoga.

He gave me his copy and I dove into it and began to study the teachings and practices through the Self Realization Fellowship correspondence materials.

After a year or so I returned to Dallas with a new wife and there we met Swami Satchidananda, helping to establish an Integral Yoga institute there.