Normally, I'd do a Q&A, but when I started chatting with Dena, I simply didn't want to interrupt her. Instead, I just let her talk. It was amazing. It was inspiring. Parts of her story brought me to tears. Here it is:
So here’s my story about how I came to the Tao. It was 1983, and I was living in Toronto… and I was ill – I had frequent back pain, exhaustion and I was mildly depressed – I had run out of energy. I was a writer, an actress, a teacher and always on the go. But now, I was floored. When I went to the doctor, I was diagnosed with osteoporosis, which had caused a spontaneous fracture in my 5th thoracic vertebrae. My doctor said my osteoporosis would never get better.
But a little voice in me said, “Oh yeah?” I love a challenge, and here was the challenge of my life… literally. But how would I go about healing myself? Well, I had dabbled in this new age stuff, but had never studied any of it seriously. However, I did have a basis for understanding because I was an actor, and I was trained to be in my body and my emotions.
One day, a friend of mine convinced me to attend this humanistic psychology conference – and I signed up up for tai chi with Al Huang, who is a famous master of dance and tai chi. However, the day before, I had sprained my toe, so there was no way I was going to do tai chi! Since the fee was non-refundable, instead of taking a class on sitting meditation, I chose something called Six Healing Sounds, taught by an obscure woman from Boston, Rylin Malone. I loved it! I felt calm, peaceful and delighted. I immediately signed up for Rylin’s next class, which was the microcosmic orbit, taught with her partner, Gunther Weil, Gunther opened up my orbit, and I cannot tell you how good it felt. I felt absolutely marvelous. I was so taken with this new practice that Rylin and Gunther encouraged me to go to a weeklong workshop with Mantak Chia. Their parting words were, “You really should come to this retreat”.
On my own, I continued to do the orbit and sounds, and to feel happier, more energetic, and free of pain! But I simply didn’t have the cash to take the retreat. But something inside told me that I absolutely had to go… so I put it on a credit card. This investment in myself was the best I’ve ever made… that week absolutely changed my life. To tell the truth, I didn’t get all the material, but it didn’t matter. I was energized. I was happy. My back felt great. I loved Mantak Chia, and all the other Instructors, including Rylin and Gunther. I really enjoyed all the positive, creative, and kind people attending the workshop. (A few of those instructors and students became life long friends.)
So here’s what this system has given me… I never again broke a bone, and, within a year of my diagnosis, my bone density actually increased. Every other year, I get checked for osteoporosis. I am now in the normal range for my age. My back is free of pain. My energy went way up. Depression was no longer in my vocabulary. I had enough energy within two years to sell my house and move to LA, which, believe you me, I would NEVER have been able to do before opening my orbit and healing myself.
The work that is taught by the Universal Healing Tao is extremely profound, and has improved every single area of my life. Improved my ability to focus, improved my inner discipline, empowered my creativity, and has made me much more courageous. It has been a catalyst to finding my higher purpose in life. It has even opened me to greater love, beginning with love for myself and greater alignment with my true purpose. This work has guided me to the ability to truly love others, unconditionally. I now know, completely and absolutely, that unconditional love is the path to spirit. Letting go of judgment, blame, resentment – all of this has been enabled by this Taoist work. For all of this, I am so grateful, that I am near tears as I relate this to you.
One last thing… this work creates great inner power, and there’s a temptation to let this power make us arrogant. To think that we are sometimes better than others, what Choyam Trungpa called spiritual materialism. That’s the challenge and the trap that we all must face, when we walk this path. To be honest, I have faltered in this challenge. And so, I suffered the consequences of my ego as a three month “flu”, but then I turned it around. Coming into our power is a privilege, and we must be grateful and thankful. And this work has also taught me that the key to transcending our ego and arrogance is service. Therefore, we must be in service, which brings us these incredible blessings of forgiveness and modesty, which are crucial for ascending spiritually.
This is my story. This is how I came to the Tao. A sprained toe was my bridge to spirit.
Visit Dena’s website: www.UniversalTaoLA.com
If you're interested reading Emotional Wisdom: Daily Tools for Transforming Anger, Depression, and Fear, the book she co-authored with Mantak Chia, click below:
