Religion & SpiritualitySpiritualityEducationSelf-Improvement

Awakening Now

Ilona Ciunaite

Join Ilona Ciunaite for honest conversations and guided explorations into the nature of self, consciousness, and awakening.
This podcast is for those who are looking not just to understand awakening, but to see it — directly, in their own experience.

Each episode invites you to slow down, inquire, and notice awareness itself.
Through guided Deep Looking sessions and dialogues with teachers, authors, and fellow explorers, Ilona opens the door to what many call spiritual awakening — seeing through the illusion of self, and discovering peace that doesn’t come and go.

You’ll explore:
– Self-inquiry and direct experience
– Deep Looking and seeing beyond the mind
– The process of awakening and integration
– Presence, awareness, and the end of seeking

Ilona Ciunaite is a guide, author, and co-creator of the Liberation Unleashed community. For over 14 years, she has been helping seekers all over the world discover freedom through direct experience.

If you are ready to look within, this podcast offers clear guidance and grounded conversation — simple, sincere, and free of spiritual jargon

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#139
Saturday · 59 min
The One Who Is Seeking Is Not the One Who Awakens with Nicole Wordlaw.
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. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#138
September 5 · 51 min
The Question That Makes the Voice in Your Head Go Silent
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. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#137
August 29 · 34 min
I Never Knew This About the Voice in My Head Until I Asked It Directly
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. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#136
August 22 · 1 hr
Can Awakening Happen Through Reationship with Guy Sengstock
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 Guy Sengstock is the founder of the Circling® Institute, a relational practice rooted in wonder, authentic presence, and deep listening that has been running for nearly 30 years. He teaches people how to meet each other and themselves with more honesty, curiosity, and genuine contact. 🔗 Self-study courses: https://circlinginstitute.com/self-study-programs/ 🔗 Live courses: https://circlinginstitute.com/programs/ 📧 Contact Guy directly: guysengstock@gmail.com Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#135
August 1 · 1 hr 5 min
When the Last Illusion Fell, There Was Nowhere Left to Hide with Christiane Michelberger
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. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#134
July 25 · 1 hr 22 min
What Are You Really Looking For When You're Seeking Awakening?
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. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#133
July 11 · 1 hr 12 min
You Already Know There is No Separate Self. Why Doesn't it Feel That Way?
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. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#132
July 4 · 58 min
The Idea That Started All the Seeking with Sabina Witzel
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 Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#131
June 13 · 55 min
When Pointers Leave the Seeker Nowhere to Go with Sukhdev Virdee
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 Books: amazon.com/author/sukhdevvirdee Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#130
June 6 · 49 min
The Message the Seeker Cannot Use, with Jim Newman
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. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#129
May 29 · 1 hr 19 min
“How Do I Awaken?” The Question That Hides an Expectation
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. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#128
May 25 · 1 hr 1 min
The Shift Is Much Closer Than You Think With Loch Kelly
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: – longing for “the shift” – glimpses that come and go – spiritual dissociation – pure awareness and embodiment – emotional healing after awakening – awareness-based living – interbeing and heart-mind – the difference between temporary states and true recognition 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 Website: Loch Kelly Official Website App: Mindful Glimpses App Get 20% off your first year of Loch’s Mindful Glimpses app + a 14-day free trial: https://mindfulglimpses.com/specialoffer/ Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#127
April 25 · 1 hr 6 min
The Deconstruction of a False Perspective With Greg Goode
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: https://radiuspress.org/greggoode/ His latest book, Enlightening the Physical World, explores the nature of matter through both philosophy and direct experience: https://radiuspress.org/enlightening-the-physical-world-investigating-matter-with-berkeley-and-the-direct-path/ Direct Path playlist with Terry Moore: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLf0MTUdIZxcwgcyMSNTyeDHvwmaOg2w8K Music by Valdi Sabev. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#126
April 17 · 1 hr 17 min
Seeing Through the Self Illusion: 8-Week Experience
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. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#125
March 29 · 1 hr 17 min
Where Are You Looking From?
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. The other points to simple being — the sense of presence, the knowing that you are here. 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. A sense of “me” seems to form in the middle as a relationship. 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. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. 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 Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#124
March 21 · 54 min
What Happened to the Original Awakening Message? with Ananta Kranti
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. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#123
March 14 · 1 hr 4 min
I Psychoanalyzed an AI… Something Uncanny Happened, with Robert Saltzman.
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. In loving memory and gratitude for the music he shared. Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music https://www.youtube.com/c/ValdiSabev/featured Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#122
February 28 · 1 hr 5 min
There Is No Mind — So Why Can’t You Stop Thinking?
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 https://www.youtube.com/c/ValdiSabev/featured To receive the link to the next meeting subscribe to my newsletter here https://zcmp.eu/ArU9 Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#121
February 14 · 1 hr 24 min
Awakening Myths Exposed With Angelo DiLullo
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. We look at the belief that awakening should resemble someone else’s story, feel pleasant, bring special abilities, or resolve the human experience once and for all. Angelo points directly to how these expectations form without being questioned — and how they create unnecessary confusion when real experience doesn’t match spiritual narratives. We also explore the myth that something has gone wrong when awakening feels difficult, and the assumption that safety or stability must be established before truth can be seen. Rather than offering new ideals, the conversation stays close to what is actually happening in the body, emotions, and daily life. This episode is for those who feel sincere in their inquiry yet unsure why things don’t look the way they expected. It’s an invitation to notice what may already be quietly obvious when comparison, fantasy, and self-judgment fall away. About the Guest: Angelo DiLullo, MD, is an anesthesiologist, spiritual teacher, and author. Following a profound awakening at age 24, he recognized how thoughts shape perception and that suffering is not inherent to life. Since then, he has guided others toward the recognition of natural, non-separate awareness. Music by Valdi Sabev, Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music https://www.youtube.com/c/ValdiSabev/featured Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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#120
February 1 · 56 min
Leading From the Dark: Shadow Work, Awakening, and Becoming More Human with Steven D’Souza
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 👉 https://leadingfromthedark.com 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 Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music https://www.youtube.com/c/ValdiSabev/featured Support the show Websites http://ilonaciunaite.com http://liberationunleashed.com
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