This was not a religious pursuit, per se, but a spiritual one. We all need to know our inner self. And best way for us to get there is through meditation: a quiet time of some sort---contemplation. So out of that need, I saw an answer. Spreading information about basic meditation became my mission.

Almost all of information I received about meditation over years was through personal experience—trial and error. I did not read any books on subject. They all seemed too deep and philosophical. And many times, books included a whole cultural exploration. This is good for someone looking into historical information, or perhaps a religious belief. But just to know basics of what meditation is and how to do it, there wasn't anything.

I've been able to connect very well with groups I've spoken to because I've been in their shoes. I had first hand experience looking for my own inner self. And so, column you see here will explore for you, personal experiences of proverbial searcher.

I had just graduated from high school, and was looking for some kind of personal project for summer. Since I lived in a very small town, and it was in 1960's, I was very surprised to find a yoga class being offered at nearby middle school. I was always open for new and different, and this fit bill.

I joined class as soon as I could and found myself in some very strange positions. But there was one position that I kept going back to. It was sitting cross-legged with my hands resting on my knees, palms up. It immediately made me sit straight, and my spine was relaxed.

While practicing this position at home, a strange thing happened. I began to feel unusual. There wasn't any way I could describe it. But it was a kind of light-headed feeling---almost like dropping off to sleep—--but I was awake.