Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Awakening Now
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claiming Your Magic with Jeffrey Smith | 17 oct. 2026 | 01:16:12 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message What if you could change deeply held patterns without years of working through them? What if feeling safe could open the door to possibilities you never imagined? In this episode of Awakening Now, I speak with Jeffrey M. Smith, best known for his work exposing the risks of genetically modified foods. But there's another side to Jeffrey's life that many people don't know about. After decades of exploring consciousness, including approximately 50,000 hours of Transcendental Meditation, Jeffrey has turned his attention to what he calls Quantum Magic. We explore his experiences with the quantum field, quantum bracketing, manifestation, and the possibility of shifting deeply ingrained patterns of thought and behaviour. Jeffrey also demonstrates his approach during our conversation, and something unexpected happens in my own experience. Our discussion moves into fascinating territory. Can we transmit a state of consciousness to another person? What happens when the body feels truly safe? Could awakening and inner transformation spread from person to person? Along the way, Jeffrey shares stories, practical insights, and a refreshingly playful perspective on the possibilities of being human. This is a conversation about questioning our limitations, discovering what might be possible, and approaching transformation with curiosity rather than struggle. Connect with Jeffrey M. Smith: Website: https://ClaimingYourMagic.com Websites | |||
| What Remains When You Stop Believing Your Stories? with Giotto De Filippi. | 03 oct. 2026 | 01:02:57 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message What if the version of yourself you're trying to become is the very thing standing in the way? In this conversation, Ilona speaks with Giotto De Filippi about enlightenment as realization rather than achievement. Giotto walks through the beliefs that quietly run our lives, the idea that things should have gone differently, the sense of being in control, the identity we build and defend, and what it looks like to stop taking those stories as absolute truth. They talk about the difference between spiritual practice done to feel more special and the kind of honest seeing that actually loosens those stories. Giotto also shares why he considers the spiritual ego trap one of the hardest to escape, since there's rarely a single event that breaks it open. This episode is for anyone who has sensed that awakening isn't about becoming a better version of themselves, but about questioning what they've been calling true all along. Join the email list for updates and offerings: https://zcmp.eu/1XWa Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| Can Sound Take You Beyond The Mind With Sam Kukathas | 19 sept. 2026 | 00:58:04 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message What happens when someone who spent years questioning everything stops arguing and starts listening. In this episode, I sit down with Sam Kukathas, a former academic philosopher who spent over a decade as a skeptic before finding he could work with the human voice as a kind of frequency, bringing people back into their own body and their own knowing. When I ask him what he actually does, he stops explaining and offers to show me instead. We talk about readiness, about the difference between searching for something outside yourself and remembering what's already here, and about what happened the day a voice moved through him that he hadn't expected and couldn't fully explain. Sam also leads a short experience during our conversation, so it's worth finding a quiet moment to listen. If you've ever sensed that the teacher, the method, or the next insight isn't where the answer lives, this conversation may land somewhere familiar. About the Guest: Websites | |||
| The One Who Is Seeking Is Not the One Who Awakens with Nicole Wordlaw. | 12 sept. 2026 | 00:59:04 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message What happens when the person who taught you the most about awakening is also the one who needed you to stay small? In this conversation with Nicole Wordlaw, we explore the difference between the awakening we imagine, permanent, painless, almost superhuman, and the one that actually happens, ongoing and fully human. Nicole speaks openly about a cage that formed in her mind long before she met her teacher, and how that same cage was later reflected back to her inside a devoted spiritual relationship. We talk about rest as an unexpected teacher, the quiet work of giving herself permission, and what it means to stop looking for a final arrival. About the Guest Nicole Wordlaw is an African American clinical psychologist, longtime meditator in the Buddhist tradition, spirited coach, and the author of Waking Up Alone, Navigating the Narrow Passage Through Master-Slave Narratives. Her training at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley honed her thinking mind. But the wisdom she needed did not come from a book, nor did it come from staying away from the difficult. The wisdom she needed arose from spirited practice, practices that illuminated the quiet, still voice that always sounds like Love. She lives with her two children and partner on the Indigenous lands of the Monacan people in Virginia. Website: https://www.nicolewordlaw.com/ Substack: https://nicolewordlaw.substack.com/ Book Waking Up Alone: https://www.amazon.com/Waking-Alone-Navigating-Master-Slave-Narratives/dp/1591813735 Join my email list: https://zcmp.eu/1XWa Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| The Question That Makes the Voice in Your Head Go Silent | 05 sept. 2026 | 00:51:47 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message There's a question the voice in your head has never been able to answer. Most of us have never actually asked it. In this episode, the second part of a live Zoom meeting, I work directly with four people, each caught in a different version of the same voice. Shame that's become an identity. Guilt over other people's feelings. The quiet certainty of not being good enough. An inner critic that still feels completely real even when it's seen clearly. Each time, we ask the voice one simple question, and each time, something in it goes quiet. These live meetings happen every third Thursday of the month, and everyone is welcome to join. Sign up to my newsletter to receive the link. If you want to explore this more deeply, I've put everything together here. You're welcome to subscribe to my email list and be the first to know about the next round of Seeing Through the Separate Self Experience. https://zcmp.eu/1XWa Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| I Never Knew This About the Voice in My Head Until I Asked It Directly | 29 août 2026 | 00:34:23 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message The voice in your head has been talking your whole life. But have you ever actually stopped and asked it who it's talking to? In this live meeting, we look directly at the voice in the head, not as something to argue with or quiet down, but as something worth seeing clearly. We trace how it turns into the inner judge, why it can be so convincing, and where this pattern actually came from in the first place. Rather than trying to fix what the voice says, this conversation points somewhere simpler: seeing it for what it is. Partway through, I bring in a question I use often in Deep Looking. Mind, are you at peace? It's simple, and it opens something. If you've ever felt caught between believing this voice and hating yourself for believing it, I think this one will speak to you. If you want to explore this more deeply, I've put everything together here. You're welcome to subscribe to my email list and be the first to know about the next round of Seeing Through the Separate Self Experience. https://zcmp.eu/1XWa Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| Can Awakening Happen Through Reationship with Guy Sengstock | 22 août 2026 | 01:00:16 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Can awakening happen through relationship, or only in solitude? In this conversation, Guy Sengstock, founder of the Circling® Institute, makes the case for the former. For almost thirty years he's built a practice around real, unmanaged contact between two people, and he traces what happens when someone stops performing and actually lets themselves be met. We talk about wonder as the root of his work, what it means to listen to someone's deepest humanity rather than just wait for your turn, and a line that stayed with me after we stopped recording: I find being a self a strange thing to be. Guy also shares the idea that you could sit with another person for a thousand years and still not get to the bottom of who they are. Guy shares the main principles of Circling® and invites you to try it out through his website. This episode marks three years of Awakening Now, and I want to thank you for being part of that, for listening, sharing, and writing in with what's landed for you. If you've done real inward work and find yourself wondering whether it holds up under contact with another person, this conversation is for you. About the Guest 🔗 Self-study courses: https://circlinginstitute.com/self-study-programs/ Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| When the Last Illusion Fell, There Was Nowhere Left to Hide with Christiane Michelberger | 01 août 2026 | 01:05:24 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message What happens when the last illusion falls away, and it doesn't feel like peace? In this conversation, Christiane Michelberger returns two years after her first appearance to talk about what actually happened when her final fetter fell away. Rather than the bliss she expected, she describes hours of disorientation, the sudden loss of a place to withdraw to when things got hard, before it resolved the next morning into something she calls relief. We talk about the difference between direct pointing and direct experience as paths to seeing through illusion, why awakening doesn't mean the end of anger, fear, or being triggered, and why no teacher can transmit realization to another person. Christiane also shares a striking way of thinking about illusion itself, as a kind of hallucination, sensory experience without sensory input, and what it means to keep returning to what is actually here. This one is for anyone who has had a glimpse and is quietly wondering what a fuller shift might cost. Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| What Are You Really Looking For When You're Seeking Awakening? | 25 juil. 2026 | 01:22:49 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Something in you is looking for relief right now, whether you call it awakening, peace, or simply wanting to feel okay again. If that's where you are, you're welcome to join Deep Looking Immersion: [LINK] What are you really looking for underneath the hope for awakening? This episode comes from a live meeting, opening with a short talk on where seeking actually begins, not curiosity, but suffering, and the quiet hope that once the self is seen through, everything difficult will finally stop. From there, four real conversations unfold. Ben, George, Swen, and Tammy each bring something different to look at, an old assumption about awakening, a fear of feeling good, a belief that something is wrong with them, and each one is met directly, as it happens rather than talked about from a distance. Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| You Already Know There is No Separate Self. Why Doesn't it Feel That Way? | 11 juil. 2026 | 01:12:45 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Here's the Buzzsprout description for episode 133, in your voice, mentioning the live Zoom recording and the open invitation to join next time. You can already understand that there is no separate self, clearly and without doubt, and still feel that nothing has changed. The understanding sits in the mind like a fact you have memorised, while life keeps arriving with the same fears, the same upsets, the same quiet sense that something still isn't right. This episode is a recording of a live Zoom meeting, and it moves through three parts. It opens with a talk for the seeker who looked for the self, found nothing, and quietly decided that meant they had failed. We look at the expectation waiting underneath the search, and at what happens when you turn back toward the very nothing you keep dismissing. From there I sit with a few people, and two of those exchanges stay with me. George is eighty-five and has understood for over ten years that there is no separate self, yet still wants to know how to get there. Together we look at how an upset is really an energy moving in the body, and how the me is a story that borrows its weight from the feeling underneath it. Then I speak with Sebastian, and we follow a lifelong guilt down into the body, into the shame beneath it, and into the young child who first learned it. This is where the looking becomes a kind of healing. If you understand all of this clearly in the mind and still feel it hasn't quite landed in the body, this conversation may speak to where you actually are. These meetings happen live, and you are warmly welcome to join the next one. You can find the details and stay in touch here: https://zcmp.eu/1XWa Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| The Idea That Started All the Seeking with Sabina Witzel | 04 juil. 2026 | 00:58:36 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message There is a particular kind of loneliness in believing you are in here, and everything else is out there. Most of us carry that feeling for years without ever asking where it came from, or whether it was ever true. In this episode of Awakening Now, I'm speaking with Sabina Witzel, a German awakening guide and author who has spent years supporting people through the awakening process. Early in our conversation, I ask Sabina what awakening actually means to her, and she offers something simple that stays with you: "awakening to me is like closing the gap." Together, we spend real time in direct pointing and self-inquiry, searching for the actual line between inside and outside, self and world, the illusion of a separate self most of us never think to question. Sabina describes what she found when she looked closely: "there was no dividing line, there was just an idea, like inside, outside. There is no line in experience." Near the end, she says it even more plainly: "all of it is just an idea, all of it." This conversation may speak to you if you've had a glimpse of this seeing but still feel the old sense of separation returning, or if you're drawn to nonduality and direct inquiry but want it explored simply, without unnecessary jargon. You can find Sabina at www.sabina-witzel.com/en Websites | |||
| When Pointers Leave the Seeker Nowhere to Go with Sukhdev Virdee | 13 juin 2026 | 00:55:36 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this episode of Awakening Now, I speak with Sukhdev Virdee, author of sixteen books on Advaita Vedanta and nondual philosophy. Sukhdev works with people who have already explored the teachings deeply. They have read the books, watched the videos, understood nonduality intellectually, and yet still feel that something hasn't fully landed. We explore Sukhdev's own awakening experience and the years of inquiry that followed. Together we look at the relationship between awakening and understanding, the role of spiritual teachings, self-inquiry, and a question many seekers eventually face: What happens when the pointers are no longer getting you anywhere? This conversation touches on consciousness, awareness, identity, the nature of reality, and the subtle ways seeking can continue even after profound insights have occurred. If you've ever felt that you understand the teachings but something remains unresolved, this episode may speak directly to your experience. Sukhdev Virdee works with those who have already done the work, read the books, watched the videos, understood nonduality intellectually, and still find something hasn't fully landed. Most teachings point one toward Awareness and stop there. Sukhdev goes in the opposite direction. He turns toward what is false and dismantles it precisely, the ego, the I thought, the mechanics of how the mind keeps confusion alive, until the mind has nothing left to rebuild the seeking from. Understanding ends the seeking. Believing doesn't. He is the author of sixteen books on Advaita Vedanta and nondual philosophy and teaches through his YouTube channel and one-on-one mentorship. YouTube: youtube.com/@sukhdevvirdee Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| The Message the Seeker Cannot Use, with Jim Newman | 06 juin 2026 | 00:49:03 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this episode of Awakening Now, I speak with Jim Newman, a well-known voice in radical nonduality. Jim shares one of the most uncompromising messages in the spiritual world: there is no separate self, no path, no one becoming awakened, and nothing to attain. Together, we explore seeking, liberation, free will, embodiment, and the challenge of speaking about what cannot be grasped conceptually. This conversation may bring relief, curiosity, frustration, resistance, or a sense of recognition. Rather than deciding what to think, notice how it lands in you. What happens when the seeker encounters a message it cannot use? Jim Newman, a well-known voice in radical nonduality. For the past ten years, he has shared a message that challenges many traditional spiritual teachings, pointing to the absence of a separate self and the immediacy of what is already present. His approach is direct, uncompromising, and often provocative, inviting listeners to question some of their most fundamental assumptions about identity and awakening. Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| “How Do I Awaken?” The Question That Hides an Expectation | 29 mai 2026 | 01:19:16 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message “How do I awaken?” is the question many sincere seekers carry. Hidden inside it is often an expectation that awakening will bring permanent peace, clarity, or distance from difficult emotions. In this live Zoom meeting, Ilona explores that expectation directly with participants. Together we look at what happens when confusion, fear, hopelessness, or inner tension are treated as a problem to get rid of. Instead of trying to escape experience, the invitation is to meet it. Again and again the inquiry comes back to something simple: is it safe to feel what is here right now? We also explore the pressure of time, the sense of “wasting life,” and the belief that life should be different than it is. Another participant looks at the sense of control in the head and discovers something freeing: a sensation cannot control anything. It can be felt, seen, and allowed. This episode is for you if you understand awakening intellectually, yet still feel like a separate self, still get pulled into emotions, or still search for a better moment. The conversation points to one direct truth: awakening is not awakening away from experience. It is awakening to what is here. Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| The Shift Is Much Closer Than You Think With Loch Kelly | 25 mai 2026 | 01:01:05 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this episode of Awakening Now, Loch Kelly and Ilona Ciunaite explore awakening, nonduality, effortless mindfulness, and the subtle places seekers often become stuck after the first glimpse. Loch shares a clear and grounded perspective on awakening as a shift of identity — from living as the separate self to recognizing awareness as primary. The conversation moves beyond concepts into embodiment, emotional healing, integration, and what it means to live from awake awareness in ordinary life. Together, they speak about: During the episode, Loch also guides several direct experiential glimpses live in the conversation. This episode may resonate deeply with seekers who feel close to recognition, yet still pulled back into old identity, conditioning, and emotional patterns. Guest: Loch Kelly Get 20% off your first year of Loch’s Mindful Glimpses app + a 14-day free trial: Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| The Deconstruction of a False Perspective With Greg Goode | 25 avr. 2026 | 01:06:34 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this episode of Awakening Now, I speak with Greg Goode about self-inquiry and what is actually being seen through. Greg Goode is a nonduality teacher and author with a background in philosophy. He is known for his clear and structured approach to inquiry, guiding people to look directly at experience and question what seems obvious — especially the sense of being a separate self. In our conversation, we explore a simple but often overlooked shift: seeing is not about finding truth or adopting a new perspective, but about recognizing and deconstructing what is false. We look at how the sense of self appears, how it is reinforced through thought, and why it can feel so real even when examined closely. This is a grounded and practical conversation — an invitation to look, rather than to believe. More from Greg: Music by Valdi Sabev. Websites | |||
| Seeing Through the Self Illusion: 8-Week Experience | 17 avr. 2026 | 01:17:49 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this episode, I speak about the upcoming 8-week guided experience and what it is really about. The enrollement is open untill the 20th of April. More info here. https://ilonaciunaite.com/8-week-program/ There is no shortage of information about awakening. You can read, listen, understand more and more. And still, something may feel unsettled. Here we look in a different way. Not at ideas, but at direct experience. I share how this process is structured, what you will be exploring, and why a simple, precise looking can open something that thinking cannot reach. This is not about becoming something new. It is about seeing clearly what is already here. If you feel a quiet readiness, you will recognise it. And if there are questions, doubts, or hesitation, you are welcome to meet them here as well. Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Websites | |||
| Where Are You Looking From? | 29 mars 2026 | 01:17:15 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Today I share a very simple way of looking at experience. Using a drawing of two lines, we explore what is here in direct experience. One line represents life as it is happening — movement, thoughts, sensations, everything that appears. Between these, there is what we often take ourselves to be — a kind of “bundle” made of reactions, thoughts, and patterns. This bundle seems to be the one living life, making decisions, trying to control what happens. In the talk, we look at this directly. In this episode, we continue that exploration in a live Q&A. A participant describes their experience using the image of a lotus and scribbled lines — something clear and present, and the movement of thoughts appearing over it. From there, we look more closely. Is there something underneath that needs to come forward? Or is that another way of thinking about what is here? Again and again, the attention returns to what is actually happening. Thoughts appear. Reactions happen. But when this is looked at directly, what is really there? There is a simple shift in seeing — from being caught in the movement, to noticing what is always here. Music by Valdi Sabev. Coming this April, an 8-week Experience of Guided Self-Inquiry to see through the illusion of a separate self. More info here: https://bit.ly/4m3juCG Websites | |||
| What Happened to the Original Awakening Message? with Ananta Kranti | 21 mars 2026 | 00:54:10 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this episode of Awakening Now, I speak with Ananta Kranti about awakening and what the word actually points to. When Ananta first began sharing this message, awakening was described very simply — waking up from the dream of being a separate self. Today, the word is used in many different ways, and this can create confusion about what is being pointed to. We explore how the message has evolved over time, and what can be lost when the recognition of what we are becomes mixed with ideas, identities, or concepts. Ananta shares about the shift that happened while she was in prison, and how a moment of complete exhaustion and letting go revealed something that could not be taken away. We also speak about current trends in the spiritual space — the movement between recognizing awareness and working with the human experience. There is a natural place for both, and also a risk of losing clarity when the foundation is not seen directly. We look at projections onto teachers, the expectation of perfection, and the possibility of recognizing freedom exactly as life is now. This is a grounded conversation about awakening, identity, and the living recognition of what does not come and go. Music by Valdi Sabev. Websites | |||
| I Psychoanalyzed an AI… Something Uncanny Happened, with Robert Saltzman. | 14 mars 2026 | 01:04:14 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this episode of Awakening Now, Ilona Ciunaite speaks with psychotherapist and author Robert Saltzman about awakening, the illusion of a separate self, and what actually changes when the sense of a personal controller is questioned. Rather than presenting awakening as a dramatic transformation, Robert describes it as a shift in perspective. Life continues as it always has — with relationships, pain, aging, and uncertainty — yet the belief that someone inside is running everything begins to loosen. The conversation explores spiritual seeking, the difference between intellectual understanding and direct seeing, and the simple act of looking at what is actually happening in experience. At one point the dialogue takes an unexpected turn. Robert describes an experiment in which he began asking an AI system the same kinds of questions he would ask a therapy client. The coherence of its responses led him to wonder: when language makes sense, do we automatically assume there must be a conscious self behind it? A thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation about identity, language, uncertainty, and the freedom of not needing final answers. Music by Valdi Sabev. Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music Websites | |||
| There Is No Mind — So Why Can’t You Stop Thinking? | 28 févr. 2026 | 01:05:45 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message If there is no mind, why does it feel so loud? In this episode I look at what we call “the mind” as a living stream of thoughts appearing. Images, commentary, expectations about awakening, ideas about how this should feel and what should happen next. We explore thinking by looking at it directly. Thoughts arise. They move. They dissolve. And it becomes clear that there is simply experience unfolding. Some thoughts pass lightly. Others carry emotional charge. We look at how old hurt can still live in the system, and how protection forms around it. Over time, that protection shapes identity — “I am shy,” “I am not worthy,” “I am ashamed.” Like a rubber band stretched between pain and the desire for relief, tension builds. When hurt receives attention and space, the energy settles. The story softens. Identity loosens. Attention gently returns to direct experience — sensation, sound, color, breath. Life is already here before thought describes it. This episode is an invitation to see thinking as part of the flow of experience, and to recognize what remains present through it all — simple awareness, here and now. Music by Valdi Sabev, Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music To receive the link to the next meeting subscribe to my newsletter here https://zcmp.eu/ArU9 Websites | |||
| Awakening Myths Exposed With Angelo DiLullo | 14 févr. 2026 | 01:24:06 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this episode of Awakening Now, I sit down with Angelo DiLullo to explore the myths that quietly shape how people think awakening is supposed to unfold. About the Guest: Websites | |||
| Leading From the Dark: Shadow Work, Awakening, and Becoming More Human with Steven D’Souza | 01 févr. 2026 | 00:56:26 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this episode of Awakening Now, Ilona Ciunaite is joined by Steven D’Souza — author, leadership guide, and creator of Leading From the Dark — for a deep conversation about shadow work, awakening, and becoming more human. Steven describes the shadow as “the me I don’t see,” and together we explore how it shows up through projection, strong emotional reactions, and repeating patterns that feel disproportionate to the moment. We look at how shadow material often reveals itself first in the body — as tightening, guarding, contraction, or emotional charge — and how these signals can become doorways to integration rather than problems to fix. The conversation moves through Steven’s own spiritual journey, from a traditional Catholic upbringing and time exploring the priesthood, to decades of work with leaders and organizations around the world. He shares how he approaches shadow work through multiple lenses — psychological, biological, systemic, and spiritual — and why the “dark” can be a place of transformation, like a seed in the earth or a baby in the womb. This episode is for seekers who have seen clarity and still meet contraction, for leaders interested in depth and maturity, and for anyone sensing that wholeness includes the parts that were once denied or exiled. The invitation throughout is simple: meet what arises with curiosity, safety, and compassion. Steven’s final word for the path is love. Steven’s website is: Leading From the Dark That’s where he shares his work on shadow, leadership, and negative capability, and where people can sign up for his newsletter or learn about talks and retreats. Music by Valdi Sabev Websites | |||
| What Is the Sense of Self, Really? | 25 janv. 2026 | 01:18:26 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this episode, I invite you to look directly at the sense of self — not as an idea or a belief, but as lived experience. Before thoughts arise, before emotions move, before any story about “me” appears, there is a simple knowing of being here. A sense of existing. A feeling of “me.” This sense of self is so familiar that it is rarely questioned and often taken for granted. Together, we explore what this sense of self actually is. Where it appears in the body. How it shows up as sensation, pressure, orientation, or effort. How it organizes experience and creates the feeling of being at the center of life. You’re invited to notice how the sense of self becomes especially clear in moments of pride or hurt, and how easily identification forms around these sensations. We look at how the sense of “me” can feel solid and personal, and what happens when it is met directly with attention. This is not about getting rid of the sense of self, fixing anything, or changing experience. It’s about seeing clearly. When the sense of self is looked at directly, something often softens. Identification relaxes. What remains is openness, presence, and a quiet knowing that does not come and go. Nothing here needs to be believed. This is an invitation to look for yourself. Music by Valdi Sabev, Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music Websites | |||
| After Awakening When the Body Still Contracts | 10 janv. 2026 | 00:19:46 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message After awakening, many people expect the body to relax and life to feel settled. The belief in a separate self has dropped, so ease should naturally follow. Yet for many, the body still contracts. Emotions rise. Old protection remains. This often creates confusion and self-doubt. In this episode, I speak about why this is a natural part of awakening, and why nothing has gone wrong. Seeing through the self illusion is a mental recognition. A belief drops. This shift is often quiet and simple. But the nervous system does not reorganize instantly. The body may still carry years of contraction and learned protection that now begins to unwind. Awakening is not only about clarity in the mind. It is also about allowing the system to feel safe enough to open. When the imagined character no longer needs protection, old defenses can soften. This process can feel uncomfortable at times, even though it is part of integration and healing. If you have already seen the truth but still feel tight, guarded, or unsettled, this episode offers reassurance. The absence of ease does not mean awakening failed. It may simply mean the body is learning that it is safe to relax. Websites | |||
| I Understand It All, But Nothing Has Shifted | 03 janv. 2026 | 01:26:14 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Many people on the spiritual awakening path reach a moment where understanding is no longer enough. You may clearly understand non-duality, awakening, or the self illusion intellectually. You may know the language, have had glimpses, and seen moments of clarity. And yet something hasn’t shifted. There is still confusion. There is still a sense of “me.” And that can feel deeply discouraging. In this episode of Awakening Now, I share an unedited recording from a live Zoom meeting where I respond to an email that says: “I understand this intellectually, but I don’t feel it.” What I hear is not failure, but honesty — a turning point where the old strategy of seeking through understanding begins to collapse. I speak about why seeing through the self illusion is not an emotional experience, and why clarity is not a feeling. Confusion, doubt, frustration, and a sense of “me” can still arise after awakening, and they do not mean you didn’t see. This conversation explores the difference between direct pointing — seeing through the illusion of a separate self — and meeting what continues to arise after that recognition. Old emotional patterns, sensations, and conditioning don’t mean you’ve gone backwards. Often, they are the next layer asking to be met. If you feel stuck after awakening, exhausted from seeking, or confused about why insight hasn’t brought lasting peace, this episode offers clarity, reassurance, and a grounded understanding of what is actually happening. Websites | |||
| The One Question That Ends the Waiting | Won Bo (Zen Nun) on Awakening | 20 déc. 2025 | 01:03:43 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Have you been craving awakening? Waiting for the moment when everything finally softens, the mind gets quiet, the heart opens, and you can finally stop searching? Music by Valdi Sabev, Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed musichttps://www.youtube.com/c/ValdiSabev/featured
Websites | |||
| The Reality of Awakening: Why the Honeymoon Fades and How to Meet What Returns | 29 nov. 2025 | 01:21:52 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Awakening is a shift in perception, a clear seeing of what you are and what you’ve mistaken yourself for. it reveals what was here all along You’re listening to Awakening Now, a podcast for those who are on the path of self-discovery and spiritual awakening. This is episode number 115. The Reality of Awakening: Why the Honeymoon Fades and How to Meet What Returns My name is Ilona Ciunaite. I’m a guide, an author, and co-creator of the Liberation Unleashed community. If you are in the process of awakening, this space is for you. For 14 years, I’ve supported people through awakening—both the clarity and the confusion that follow the first insight. This episode brings together three segments from a single live meeting, offering a clear look at the reality of awakening beyond the initial insight. We explore the honeymoon phase of awakening—why early openness and clarity fade, why old conditioning returns, and how awakening is not a final event but an ongoing recognition of presence. This part brings clarity to seekers who feel confused when expansion shifts into contraction. The episode then moves into two practical sessions on emotional integration. First, we meet an inner child that has been calling for attention and driving compulsive behaviours like overeating and seeking validation. Then, in a live session with Tammy, we look at fear, intensity, and the belief that relaxing is unsafe, and how presence meets these movements without fixing or resisting them. Throughout all three segments, the focus is on meeting emotions directly, seeing through the mind’s stories, and recognising what is already here beneath every wave. If you like to receive updates, subscribe here: Music by Valdi Sabev, Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed musichttps://www.youtube.com/c/ValdiSabev/featured Websites | |||
| Do You Know Who You Really Are? | Stay Spiritual Interviews Ilona Ciunaite | 22 nov. 2025 | 01:11:41 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In the Stay Spiritual interview, I talk about the quiet flip from seeking to seeing — the moment when the pressure dissolves and looking into your own present experience becomes the first real step toward peace. Websites | |||
| Trust Yourself — The Key to Your Spiritual Awakening. With Luchana Uzunova | 08 nov. 2025 | 00:56:56 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Trust yourself in awakening. In this intimate conversation, Ilona Ciunaite and nonduality guide Luchana Uzunova explore spiritual awakening, embodiment, and living as awareness in daily life. We talk about the real texture of awakening beyond concepts: being at peace with not-knowing, dissolving the “center,” integrating emotions, meeting fear with curiosity, and allowing life to move without the old protection patterns. Luchana shares how embodiment turns insight into lived freedom — not as a one-time event, but as an ongoing, human, ordinary, beautiful process. If you’ve already glimpsed what you are and wonder what’s next, this episode is for you. Stay to the end for Luchana’s closing invitation: “If it can happen for one, it can happen for all.” Subscribe for more on awakening, self-inquiry, and integration. Subscribe to my Newsletter for updates and to receive info about free monthly meetings on Zoom Connect with Luchana: Websites | |||
| Avoid These 5 Spiritual Awakening Mistakes | 01 nov. 2025 | 01:00:40 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Most seekers begin this journey with expectations — about how awakening should look, how it should feel, or what will be lost or gained. But these assumptions quietly block the very seeing they long for. If you are touched by conversations, you can support my podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2223929/support Websites | |||
| The Threads of Awakening, with Pierce Salguero. | 25 oct. 2025 | 01:18:10 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this conversation, Ilona Ciunaite speaks with Pierce Salguero — scholar, author, and long-time meditator — about his book The Lamp Unto Yourself and his multidharma model that honors the many paths of awakening. Together they explore how different traditions point to the same essence of truth and freedom, how awakening unfolds beyond conceptual understanding, and how the light of awareness guides each of us from within. You’ll hear about: If you’re interested in the intersection of awakening, mindfulness, and diverse dharma paths, this episode will widen your view and bring the teaching closer to home. Subscribe to my Newsletter for updates and to receive info about free monthly meetings on Zoom: Music by Valdi Sabev. Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music: Websites | |||
| Deep Looking: Beyond the Mind, Into the Heart | 18 oct. 2025 | 01:41:37 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message In this guided Deep Looking session, Ilona Ciunaite invites you to look directly into your own experience and explore the nature of the self. This session focuses on the heart — feeling instead of thinking, softening attention, and allowing what is present to be fully met. You’ll explore: Watch slowly. Pause where you need to. No effort, no belief — just looking. Subscribe to my Newsletter for updates and to receive info about free monthly meetings on Zoom: Music by Valdi Sabev. Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music: Websites | |||
| The Illusion of SELF - Non-Duality Explained | 11 oct. 2025 | 01:15:31 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Non-duality and awakening aren’t concepts to believe in, they’re about seeing through the illusion of self. Trying to understand this with the mind is just another trap. You’ve been sold the idea that awakening is a magic switch… spoiler: it’s not. Subscribe to my Newsletter for updates and to receive info about free monthly meetings on Zoom Websites | |||
| Awakening Beyond The Mind With Alina Panteleev | 04 oct. 2025 | 01:05:51 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message What if awakening isn’t about understanding concepts, but directly recognising presence through lived experience? In this episode, you’ll discover: Websites | |||
| The Hidden Reason You Still Feel Unfulfilled On Your Spiritual Journey | 29 sept. 2025 | 01:13:01 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message What if your regrets, guilt, and “what ifs” about the past are nothing more than sitting on a train wishing it turned left when the tracks only go straight? Music by Valdi Sabev, Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music Subscribe to my Newsletter for updates and to receive info about free monthly meetings on Zoom Music by Valdi Sabev, Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music Websites | |||
| The Illusion of Self: A Direct Guide to Awakening | 03 sept. 2025 | 01:28:54 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Need help with seeing through the illusion of self? Go here 👉 https://bit.ly/4oY0ztV Subscribe to my Newsletter to receive info about free monthly meetings on Zoom Websites | |||
| Breaking Free from Prediction Loops | The Liberty Code & Awakening Explained | 26 août 2025 | 00:53:42 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message What if your thoughts, emotions, and identity are just looping prediction patterns? What if true awakening means seeing through the ego’s hidden payoffs and collapsing them at the source? Music by Valdi Sabev, Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music Websites | |||
| The Truth About Awakening… and Why It Still Hurts / Part 2 | 22 août 2025 | 01:04:22 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message How to recognise the truth about awakening, when there are so many people talking about it in various ways? Reach out to me for a guided session. https://bit.ly/4ozXGzj In Part 2 of this heartfelt Deep Looking event, we go even deeper into meeting emotions head-on, dismantling old patterns, and uncovering the unshakable safety that’s always here. Websites | |||
| Awakening Isn't the End of Suffering / Part 1 | 14 août 2025 | 00:38:15 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Awakening Isn't the End of Suffering. It's an opening, a new beginning. If you need some help, book a session here. https://bit.ly/4mD9HlL Websites | |||
| The Truth About Awakening: You Are Not Broken | 28 juil. 2025 | 01:14:50 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message If you are a seeker and want to find out about how I can help you, click here https://bit.ly/4lWOhQo Websites | |||
| Insights from The Deep Looking Group Meeting | 09 juil. 2025 | 01:48:45 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Still seeking awakening? See how I can help https://ilonaciunaite.com/sessions/ Websites | |||
| Stop Seeking Awakening Outside of You. Do THIS Instead | 02 juil. 2025 | 01:03:41 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Work with me to end seeking and find lasting inner peace. Websites | |||
| Discover the Hidden Childhood Pattern That Drives Your Endless Seeking | 23 juin 2025 | 01:16:35 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message I help spiritual seekers to end seeking so that they can enjoy a life of freedom. Websites | |||
| This Simple Deep Looking Technique Can Change Your Life Forever | 14 juin 2025 | 01:07:21 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message For a private deep looking session, contact me In this group meeting session, you’ll hear anxious guests go from looping thoughts to spacious calm—using a simple **Deep Looking technique** that anyone can repeat. No incense, no fancy mantras, just one 4-step awakening questions that pacifies the mind on demand. Follow along and test it in real time in your own experience. Music by Valdi Sabev, Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music Websites | |||
| End the Waiting—Ask THIS Tonight & Watch Awakening Happen | 08 juin 2025 | 00:14:49 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Work with me. Websites | |||
| Separate Self Is Impossible And This Is How You Can See It Too | 29 mai 2025 | 01:17:33 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Work with me to find your way. Websites | |||
| Stuck On Spiritual Path? The hidden Illusion of Separation Is Blocking Your Awakening | 26 mai 2025 | 00:51:55 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message https://bit.ly/44NPi7X Websites | |||
| Deep Looking: Stop Self-doubt, Anxiety and Life Long Feeling of Unworthiness | 11 mai 2025 | 00:51:35 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message Work with me to END anxiety and stress. Music by Valdi Sabev, Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music Websites | |||
| End The Waiting | 04 mai 2025 | 00:50:31 | |
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message https://bit.ly/44bvScP Websites | |||