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This work shows that mysticism can exist, even in this modern world. The author was not a special or famous person; she was raised in a postwar middle class family in a Western U.S. suburb. She attended public schools. Yet, from an early age she displayed psychic abilities that bewildered her family. She learned not to talk about her inner experiences to anyone, because people who didn´t understand tended to belittle her, call her crazy, and were generally unwilling to accept her gifts. As she grew older, the psychic experiences gradually transformed into mystical experiences. Baker herself was confused by her own experiences, since she knew of no one else who had had such things happen in their lives. She did not know about the Catholic or Hindu mystics. When she finally began to read about Edgar Cayce, and then the Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, she realized that there was in fact precedent for what was happening with her. She then discovered the works of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, which brought further clarity to her experiences.

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F. Joan Baker was raised in California. Her family was Protestant. She did well in school. She married at 20. Baker collected a B.A. in music, an M.A. in education, and a Ph.D. in mystical research. Spirituality has been her deepest interest. She now studies the SRF lessons of Yogananda.

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