To someone who asked for more about Warren Vickerman, the second American to become a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda.
The very first person I had a conversation with at the Hollywood SRF Center was Annie Vickerman, the wife of Warren Vickerman (“Vickie”). She was taking care of the little octagonal bookstore. We became good friends and in later conversations she occasionally told me some things about him.
Warren meets Yogananda
A young man of deep introspection, Vickie came to realize that the breath is the foundation of the mind, and that the restless, uncontrolled breath is the great obstacle to deep spiritual perception. Though living in New York City, he somehow learned that a Swami Yogananda was living and teaching in Boston.
Intuitively feeling that the swami held the key to his dilemma, he managed to find his address and went, unannounced, to Boston. As he was walking up toward the house in which Yogananda was saying, the Master came out onto the porch. Stopping right where he was, Vickie asked: “Can you help me to get rid of the breath?” Yoganandaji smiled and said: “Come right on in!” And he did, and became his second disciple in America.
Two cooks and an outsider
Yoganandaji often stayed with the Vickermans in New York. Vickie was an excellent cook, so the two of them often spent hours in the kitchen cooking up Indian specialities and creating new ones. Whenever Annie (who could not cook at all) entered the precincts she was immediately shooed out and the door closed as the experts continued their culinary conquests.