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My Taoist
Journey
& The
History of
Flowering Heart Temple
1971-2023
By Venerable
Reverend Michael Milner
Hé Tiān Dì Dàoshì (合天地 Union of Heaven &
Earth 道士 Way Teacher)
Abbot, Huā Xīn Guǎn (花 心 觀 Flowering
Heart Temple)
In 1971 at
the age of 17, I had a profoundly
life-changing experience. Time stopped.
The past, the present and the future
were perceived simultaneously; I
dissolved in clear light and into
oneness with everything and everyone.
The entire event, which seemed to last
for eons, occurred in a spit second,
but, it left me forever changed and set
the course for the rest of my life. The
intensity of that experience passed, but
its after-effects continued, including
spontaneous excursions into Samadhi
(dissolution in the void) and
inexplicable threats to my life being
made by absolute strangers while I was
in higher states of consciousness. I
needed a teacher, someone who could help
me integrate and make sense of it all
and stay alive in the aftermath.
Thinking the answers I sought lay in the
Buddhist tradition, I began to look for
an awakened Zen master.
In 1972, after a fascinating encounter
with Ven. Rev. Dr. Khigh Alx Dhiegh, who
was rector of the Taoist Sanctuary of
Los Angeles, my true Taoist (AKA Daoist)
inclinations became clear. Right away, I
began to study Tao Ahn Pai (Taoist
Elixir Style) meditation and Ch'i Kung
and with Grandmaster Share K. Lew (Lew
Kim Yuen) at the Taoist Sanctuary.
Grandmaster Lew had emigrated from China
in 1948 from Wong Lung Kwan Taoist
Monastery (Yellow Dragon Temple), a
place renowned for excellence in
meditation, Ch'i Kung, kung fu and the
healing arts. Initially, Share Lew
taught in San Francisco with his uncle,
the great Choy Li Fut grandmaster Lao
Bun. They taught at his uncle’s
association, the Hop Sing Tong and his
school, Hung Sing. In 1970, Share Lew
became one of the first to openly teach
the secret Taoist internal arts to
Westerners.
After several months of doing Ch'i Kung and
meditation with Master Lew, I was aware
of wonderful changes in my body. The qi
was flowing; I had more flexibility than
I had even as a young child and my
meditation had clearly deepened.
Nevertheless, I was frustrated and grew
restless. Master Lew seemed to hold me
at arm’s length, never looking at me or
speaking to me directly. I longed for a
teacher I could talk to, who would
answer my questions and give me
understanding, someone I could have an
intimate master-disciple relationship
with.
 Finally,
one night after our meditation class I
decided that I needed to move on and
that this would be my last visit to the
Taoist Sanctuary. As I walked to my car
in the dark, Master Lew stood before me,
blocking my path and staring into my
eyes. It made me quite nervous. He had
never before looked at me directly. I
saw visible light streaming out of his
eyes into mine, and I heard his voice
speaking to me inside my head, “Ok, boy.
You want to learn? I’ll teach you. Come
back and I’ll teach you.” His mouth
never opened. His expression never
changed. He was speaking to me inside my
head, without making a sound. That night
I became his student, and he continued
to communicate with me like that
throughout the years, although we spoke
outwardly as well.
In the early 1970s, I was fortunate to
be one of a small group of Grandmaster
Lew’s senior students who learned the
Five Dragons and other advanced Tao Ahn Pai Nui Gung
exercises and meditations directly from
him at the Taoist Sanctuary of Los
Angeles. In addition, we studied Taoist
philosophy, Tao Ahn Pai Kung Fu, Nui Gung
Gee Liao (healing
with internal power), Tui Na massage,
healing with herbs, etc.
During this period I helped lead
meditation classes at the Taoist
Sanctuary, taught weekly Taoist
meditation and Ch'i Kung classes at Pitzer
College in Claremont, CA and moved
briefly to Guadalajara, Mexico, to
gather students and start a school. I
was also ordained as a servant of the
Taoist Sanctuary.
In the years that followed, I built upon
the foundation laid in my life by
Grandmaster Lew and the practice of Tao
Ahn Pai with formal education, world
travel, wild adventures and study with
many masters, adepts, shamans and
extraordinary spiritual teachers. I
remained in close contact with Sifu Lew,
meeting with him privately on a number
of occasions, and with several of my
temple brothers: Particularly my dear
friend, the late Ven. Rev. John
Davidson, who was our Sihing (Elder
Brother) and the first to learn the 5
Dragons from Sifu, also my dear friend
and mentor, the Ven. Rev. Carl Totton
and Steve Grody. Steve was another
advanced student of Sifu Lew with whom I
have worked over the years to keep
accurate details of the proper execution
of the Tao Ahn Pai Ch'i Kung and Nui Gung
exercises.
Flowering Heart Temple had its
beginnings in 1980 in Clearwater, FL,
with the founding of a
non-denominational church where, during
the 1980s, groups of 20-30 students met
for Taoist meditation and Ch'i Kung classes
with me and another student of
Grandmaster Lew, Dr. Maru Ladron de
Guevara, AP, DOM, and LMT. Maru
continues to teach Ch'i Kung and practice
oriental medicine at her clinic, Quantum
Therapeutics, in Largo, FL. I have
continued to offer classes through the
church.
May 1, 1992, I was ordained as an Abbot
(Venerable Reverend) by the Ven. Rev.
Dr. Carl Allen Totton, lineage name, He
Zhong Fu DaoShi, (Union of Inner Truths
Way Teacher), Abbot and Rector of Zhong
Fu Dao Kuan (Inner Truths Way Temple),
Director of the Taoist Institute of Los
Angeles and the senior surviving student
of Grandmaster Lew.
I have taken the lineage name,
Hé Tiān Dì (合天地 Union of Heaven &
Earth).
In 1996, Sifu Lew gave me permission to
use “Wong Lung Kwan” (Yellow Dragon
Temple, the name of his monastery in
China) as the name of our temple. I have
a letter from him to this effect.
However, after more reflection and out
of respect for our mother temple in
China, we decided to use another name,
Flowering Heart Temple (Huā Xīn Guǎn 花 心 觀).
Over the years the church in Clearwater,
FL evolved into a thriving interfaith
community called “Flowering Heart” under
the direction of me and my wife Rev.
Suzanne E. Champlin. Flowering Heart
Temple is a vital part of this community
which is also home to The Seraphic Order
of the Flowering Heart, an interfaith
monastic order for which I serve as
Abbot. At Flowering Heart I continue to
teach the Taoist arts in public classes
and to private students.
Grandmaster Share K. Lew
To
learn more about Taoism,
Click Here
For Information about Tao Ahn Pai
(Taoist Elixir Style)
Ch'i Kung &
Meditation Classes
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