My Inspiration…
“I was a slightly heartbroken, but devout spiritual seeker as far back as I can remember. I remember on my own, I joined the Episcopal Church when I was about 10 years old and my parents thought I was kind of funny because I would go to church alone. I always felt that there was something greater that we were connected to and I was always curious about that.
Later on as I got older I started to go a bit deeper and question things and started to read all of the great wisdom books that I could possibly get a hold of: the Bhagavad-Gita, the Bible, the Koran, Rumi, The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Out of all of them the one that struck me most was the Tibetan Book of the Dead. That led me to come to the Naropa Institute (University) when I was 19 years old and I got a degree in Contemplative Psychology and Buddhist Studies. I lived over in Nepal and India for a number of years and went back-and-forth selling spiritual supplies to fund my trips. I had the good fortune to study with an amazing old Yoda-like guru named Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, who lived at the top of the mountain monastery.
Being with him was the most significant relationship of my life. It was everything that you could imagine with a guru and disciple. He was kind and humble and powerful and being in the room felt like being close to the sun itself. He was both frightening and filled with tremendous compassion and depth it’s hard to explain well.
I spent my life following the Tibetan Buddhist path through his community and also through Shambhala. I gave it my best. I bought a retreat house in southern Colorado, and performed all of the most simple, then complex and powerful yogic practices for many years. There was even once or twice that I had some signs the things were progressing really well. Basically, what happens is that the heart becomes open, the mind becomes more clear, you feel grounded and you feel like you can see “reality” clearly, a little bit like a colorful “Matrix.” The problem is that the techniques that they offered in the training program were pretty much only focusing on the spiritual aspect our lives and didn’t really do a whole lot to address the other facets of our being.
What I noticed after people have been meditating and following this path for 10, 20, 30, 40 years or more, is that my dearest friends and myself, have huge gaps in our human development, no connection to body, terrible mercurial tempers, confused about livelihood and god-forbid, the worst of all… Spiritual Pride. Part of a mistaken view of the Buddha Dharma is when one thinks that if you get involved with “worldly things” that’s kind of a distraction, something that takes you away from your spiritual path and we can separate out the two, and people can thusly, become polarized and escapist.
In my opinion, after all these years I actually think that one’s spiritual practice is a multi faceted expression of all the aspects of your being both personal and professional, social, your health your wellness. All of these “dimensions” are rays of the same light and it’s essential for them to be addressed. That’s what brought me to study the 8 Dimensions of Wellness toward deep healing, and I’m thrilled and privileged to present these revolutionary and transformative products to you and as a life coach. Start with a new healing session today!”
With Care, Dawn
