My Call To Ministry

In the early hours of December 8th, 1993, I received my call to ministry. It came in the form of a dream-vision from God.

At first in the dream-vision, I was being shown around an area that worried me, as it was of a Hindu teacher. Then this Voice I completely trusted told me I could trust this Hindu teacher, he was the real thing. So I turned back, and I was at Lake Shrine (the same place I had gone to during my month of silence in Los Angeles). Paramahansa Yogananda was standing in front of me, and just over a tiny bridge was Shunryu Suzuki. Yogananda told me firmly and directly I needed to be a minister. Before I could say anything, Rev. Russ - the minister of Santa Anita Church - came into sight, and began whispering into Yogananda's ears, his doubts about me. Yogananda kept nodding his head showing he was aware of everything Rev. Russ said. All the while, he never took his eyes off of me, and repeatedly said, "You need to be a minister, you need to be a minister. " Behind him Suzuki Roshi was nodding his head in vigorous agreement.

And that was it. I knew almost nothing about Yogananda. I was familiar with Shunryu Suzuki through his book Zen Mind, Beginners Mind which I had read in college. I had so many questions. Who was Yogananda, was forefront in my questions, so I went to the bookstore and discovered his book, Autobiography of a Yogi. I also wondered why God asked a Hindu and Buddhist to tell me to be a minister? what about Jesus? Of what was I to be a minister?

There were many questions, but the one question that I no longer asked was, what was I going to do with the rest of my life? I knew whatever it was going to look like, I was on the path to become a minister.