As he tells it, the defining 
             moment that led him to embrace
            a spiritual path (and later
           Buddhism) was when he 
          mysteriously met a woman
         on Metro North, the commuter
        train, while he was coming
       home from his parent's house
      in Larchmont. The story actually
     begins a few days earlier when
    someone gave David an article by
   an Apache Indian woman containing
  information on how to "program"
 crystals. I know it sounds strange,
  but David meditates with his 
   crystals and was extremely 
    interested in "charging" them up.
     So he went back to the house
      where he grew up in Larchmont
       and programmed his crystals to
        accelerate his spiritual progress.
         He ended up needing emergency
          dental service the next morning;
           as a result he ended up taking
            a train in the afternoon 
             (later than he had planned).
               

























    
  
  
As he approached a seat, he found
 a woman with long braided gray 
  hair wearing several beautiful
   crystals around her neck, sitting
    where he wanted to, so he sat
     across from her. Since David
      could strike up a conversation 
       with a statue, they naturally
        began talking. After a lengthy
         exchange he pulled the article
          out of his pocket and looked at
           the picture, realizing that this
            was the woman who had written
             about how to program your crystals.
            He explained that he had just 
           spent the past night carefully
          following her instructions. 
         She introduced herself. Her
        name was Oh Shinnah, and she
       was an Apache lineage-holder,
      which means she was responsible
     for passing on the lessons her 
    elders had passed along to her.

  To say they bonded is an under-
 statement. David had discovered
his spiritual mother. 
    


                He began attending her classes,
               and about a year later he had a
              private session with her where
             she helped answer some of his
            spiritual questions. I know it
           sounds like going to a gypsy 
          and, even though she used a 
         crystal ball, I can assure you
        that she was on the up and up.
       Even I, the ice king, was 
      moved to tears after meeting her 
     and hearing David and Oh Shinnah's
    incredible "It's a Small World"-like
   tale. During their session, David
  mentioned reading the Bhagavad Gita
 and feeling like the words were
 glowing off the page as he read.
  Oh Shinnah told him that she had 
   also had this experience, only
    the book she was reading was called
     The Tibetan Book of Great Liberation
      by a great monk, the founder of
       Tibetan Buddhism, Padmasambhava.
        She told David he should read the
         Great Liberation and any other
          books by Padmasambhava he could
           find. David jumped into his quest
            like a cliff diver into the
             shallowest ocean, with no fear
              and much fervency.