Awakening Now
Self-Inquiry.
Ilona invites to answer questions from your own experience. She points to what is actually here right now.
Awakening.
Something that is always here comes into focus. The illusion of a separate self is seen through and falls away. Everything starts making sense.
Inner Peace.
It is here, only it appears veiled by thoughts, stories, expectations, images of how life should be. It takes dedication and practice to meet what arises so that it can self-release. Peace is found by noticing it. And here you can rest in being.
Awakening Now
The Cosmic Joke: Separation Is An Illusion With Sarah Taylor
Send me your thoughts in a Text Message
Separation is an illusion—and when it’s recognized, it can lead to a truly hilarious and liberating moment. In this episode, I’m excited to introduce Sarah Taylor. Sarah is an awakening guide, intuitive healer, and a compassionate ally for those on the spiritual path. Her unique approach is especially meaningful for neurodivergent and highly sensitive individuals who long to embrace the fullness of their being.
With deep insight and a touch of humour, Sarah helps her clients navigate the transformative journey of awakening and reconnecting with their true nature.
More about Sarah
https://www.lightofyourbeing.com/
Youtube
@SarahTaylor-LightOfYourBeing
Work with me.
http://www.IlonaCiunaite.com/sessions
Subscribe to my Newsletter for updates, gifts and to receive info about free monthly meetings on Zoom
https://ilonaciunaite.com/subscribe/
Music by Valdi Sabev, Visit his channel for more calm and relaxed music
https://www.youtube.com/c/ValdiSabev/featured
#awakeningnow #ilonaciunaite #selfinquiryquestions #liberationunleashed #seeingthroughselfillusion #howtodoselfinquiry roughselfillusion
Websites
http://ilonaciunaite.com
http://liberationunleashed.com
Welcome to the show! This is episode 73, The Cosmic Joke: Separation Is An Illusion With Sarah Taylor
My name is Ilona Ciunaite. i am guide, author, and co-creator of the Liberation Unleashed community. If you’re drawn to the mysteries of awakening, you’ve found the right place. Over the past 13 years, I’ve had the privilege of guiding and supporting seekers on their journeys to discover inner peace and freedom.
In this podcast I dive deep into the heart of awakening. Together with my guests, we explore the pivotal moments that spark transformation, what life looks like beyond the shift, and how to navigate the challenges and beauty of living an awakened life. Whether you’re a seeker, a teacher, or simply curious, there’s something here for you.z
Separation is an illusion—and when it’s recognized, it can lead to a truly hilarious and liberating moment. In this episode, I’m excited to introduce Sarah Taylor. Sarah is an awakening guide, intuitive healer, and a compassionate ally for those on the spiritual path. Her unique approach is especially meaningful for neurodivergent and highly sensitive individuals who long to embrace the fullness of their being.
With deep insight and a touch of humor, Sarah helps her clients navigate the transformative journey of awakening and reconnecting with their true nature.
hello Sarah hello Ilona so wonderful to meet you wonderful to meet you I feel like I've known you for a long time now um well today I'm talking to Sarah Taylor and she is a spiritual awakening guide she's a Healer and she's also has a funny bone she used to be a comedian so I hope this conversation is going to be very serious and in depth very serious but as well light and joyful and maybe a little funny so maybe a little funny we'll see we'll see what happens we'll see what happens a lot of pressure
yes Sarah I ask everyone I'll ask you what is your definition of Awakening uh well the word Awakening is thrown around quite a lot in spiritual circles um if you go on Tik Tok or Instagram everybody's talking about Awakening um hash Awakening um I look at Awakening as waking up from the separate self so waking up to the non-dual nature of reality yeah spot on yes because there are so many people talking about it in different different aspects of it for me it's a shift like a profound shift where we seen the world ourselves and others in one way and then it shifts into another way but that specific shift in non dality seeing that there's no separate self is exactly what we are talking about on the show Mostly yeah yeah it's radical shifts in identity so when people come to me and say I'm in an Awakening I'm like great how do you how do you feel yourself what do you and they're like what like you know tell me about how you experience your own being well no I'm having an Awakening because I'm seeing things things and this is happening and it's like no no what's what's going on here you know so yeah it's about identity um the lack of one so how did that lack of your identity came through I mean well your identity yeah exactly well it I think it happened in um you know when I looked back on it in three uh chapters really um uh with the first one being seeing through the fictionalized self and so seeing through the fiction of self that I'm not what I thought I was I'm not the stories the memories the labels um I'm not my ideas and Concepts about myself or other people I'm the self was a concoction that's what it felt like and it just that concoction kind of went and it was um you know big big big big big release at the time um and so what was seen is that the self was empty and so for about 5 years there was an empty Center so so there still was a self right but it was just seen as as uh empty uh and um and then uh there was a shift uh where oh gosh how do we even put it into words where I was at a Meditation Retreat and
any any division between inner and outer completely fell away and with it uh that empty Center as well that empty sense of self and so what was seen is because I am inherently empty the self is inherently empty I'm everything and so it was seen that I you know everything is the one thing and that I'm not separate from it and so the of Separation fell away and that was about 5 years of integrating and embodying that and and then um there was a further shift where even the non dual self the unified self the the self that includes everything and everyone is empty and full at the same time
popped and just this just you know no more I am but just am I don't know if I were to say a word just a roaring um presence just yeah without without a someone here you know who's either empty or full who's either separate or not separate it's just just everything's happening wow happening man yes and here it is right here right right here and in your
journey what trigged these changes or these shifts was it like inquiry healing I don't know what was that in your journey what you such a good question because so many times people just say I just I woke up well how what happened um uh I had a very uh serious Buddhist practice I began studying theravada Buddhism and I got into the Jhanas um if you're familiar with the Jhanas yeah playing with the Jhanas I found I had a lot of facility with them I remembered them from being a kid um and doing them I guess as a kid um going into Jhana and um that led to a fascination with Dzogchen and mahamudra teachings and so I would go on meditation Retreats with a therapist who also was teaching meditation and did a good job at it and um and I started uh remembering um I guess we could say remembering these Dzogchen practices of just resting as awareness and um eyes open uh from being a child and doing it on the playground and um and so it all felt very familiar to me um I I was pretty hyperfocused I found out years later that I'm I'm autistic and ADHD um and neurodivergent people love to hyperfocus so um my hyperfocus my hyperfixation was meditation and I was uh an intense meditator five six hours a day three four hours a day uh while I was doing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles so like as one does right you know um be being an actress and and and all that stuff because I've been a theater actress and everything so it was interesting to go from like I don't know Mount Baldy Zen Center on a Sunday after like an 8-day Retreat and then to a comedy show that Tuesday night at like The Comedy Store the Laugh Factory but it it gave me um um an impetus to integrate and to embrace my Humanity as well as my spirituality if we could call it that right and um and so the these Awakening moments happened uh a after meditations uh but always eyes open uh yeah inquiry you know I I really when I read the Buddhist teachings on how how self is is a is you know illusory and all the teachings on the self it it resonated with me it felt familiar I believed it even though I didn't have direct experience of it um but I was really focused on just uh being as as um concentrated as possible with my meditation practice and exploring the limits of Consciousness and um I've said this before to people it sounds kind of weird but um I kind of knew that waking up was something that would happen or kind of was possible and I was always like okay just a little bit more I just want to wake up a little bit more I just want to know what the boundaries are of Consciousness like where does it end end so it was sort of this inquiry where I was playing with how how far can I go without losing my Humanity I had a story that I would lose my Humanity um so yes I was doing inquiry into what the self was and where where are boundaries um but I was doing intensive you know meditation and and open eye walking around uh inquiry sure yeah yeah oh that it's wonderful to hear because some so many people are Awakening yes and there are even more of them seeking for that or waiting for that to happen and as you're sharing that you have been meditator you have been serious you have been digging you have been practicing going to Retreats well that kind of shows that there needs to be some kind of dedication or some kind of yeah Readiness for it yeah I think I think there does yeah it's it's um The Body Mind system uh pays attention when we focus and when we make something important and uh and that's why you know in non-dual circles people can poo poo intention a lot right but I think intention is really important and um you know I was never a um a bhakta you know bhakti Hindu tradition is that that devotion I guess I was devoted to truth I was devoted to knowing what reality is and so that can drive people in many ways you know this this Devotion to know what truth is you know um even in small ways like I want to know the truth of this situation with this jackass who's pissing me off on the freeway like what is what is really happening here oh it's me it's my reaction you know um so not always seeking the the truth of you know the ultimate truth but truth in in small ways I think if somebody's quite de dedicated to truth then they're going to get what they what they want you know to I mean you know I think so some way small or large
yeah and now you are supporting people on their Journeys can you tell a little bit about that yeah well um when I was meditating and uh things were starting to fall away and uh starting to experience these different states of Consciousness um I was really passionate I was like I got to teach this to the Actors and The Comedians here in La they're all so effed up we're all so effed up and um so I had this uh little group that I would uh hold on Monday nights called comedy Karma where we would uh meditate and I would teach them something like meta meditation or shamata meditation and I would throw out the inquiry like you know who are you really you know what are you underneath you know all the stories about yourself just let's do a writing prompt about this like who are you if you weren't what you believed you were from your parents or whatever so kind of gentle inquiry with Comedians and we do these writing prompts and share and write jokes and um that went on like every week and um and and then people started coming to me I was a massage therapist at the time so I was doing massage and uh doing yeah I was a body worker and driving around La with my table and um uh yeah people started coming to me to really have a stronger meditation practice and I started doing energy healing work so people started seeing me for that um and uh I started some intuition started opening up so I know in non-dual circles we don't really like to talk about the phenomena that can open up on the Awakening path but um yeah but a lot of uh I'm a Mystic I'm wired mystically so uh you know I started seeing through the veil into uh other I don't know other dimensions knowing things about people um so people started coming to me for these sessions um I trained in reiki um but really the energy healing that I do today is kind of Beyond and includes reiki but is beyond that um but so it just sort of um naturally evolved out of doing body work and being a Healer since the 90s in that respect um and and before I knew it it kind of uh I do have to say I woke up one day and I was like wow this is like the bulk of what I'm doing is supporting people with spiritual stuff like whoa okay this is this is where the river is taking me so uh so yeah so I've been doing it for about um I guess 15 years maybe 12 years 11 years more seriously yeah yeah so if all these instruments that you have the body the energy the mind the emotions you're like a one person Orchestra maybe maybe a a little Out Of Tune back then oh but um but getting more uh in harmony I guess as as life went on yeah and it's wonderful to have so many tools because then you can assist people in whatever they need in the moment that time a point yeah that's a good point I like to meet people where they're at you know and um you know a lot of the people who come to see me um you know they want Awakening they're Seekers I mean I know all the people that come to see you are definitely Seekers and I often get people who they don't know what they're seeking you know but they want more healing they want to feel like they're authentically aligned in their life and whatever doorway somebody is coming in I mean they could be buying a crystal at a crystal shop or have listened to you know uh all of the non-duality teachings that exist on YouTube and um you know it it doesn't matter wherever they are on the spectrum of spirituality and whatever doorway they're walking into somebody who's into astrology like okay sure let's look at your chart and let's let's see if I can slip some non dual pointers in there um but but yeah I think it's important to to meet people where they're at don't you because otherwise it's just yeah it's everyone comes in with their own language and with their own um fertile ground for seeds let's call it that so if I know somebody's language I can talk in that language then that seed can be planted and start growing easier rather than trying to put new Concepts or new ideas or new way of speaking that is not familiar yeah exactly yeah for example if you meet somebody and they say oh I speak to Angels or I I see I see Spirit guides for somebody else that's completely foreign language they don't understand that they yeah they maybe uh seeing the same but they not calling that like they call it intuition right yeah exactly exactly yeah so I think it's important to to meet people where they're at and use their language yeah yeah I I like how you you were asking me about the comedy in the beginning because uh it's it's you know comedy clubs are are a very Unholy place to hang out um it's the it's the you know people are drinking and they're miserable and they're want to forget they want to you know be immersed in something that's like not their life they don't want to uh you know think about what's going on or think about their feelings and yet at the same time when you make them laugh um there's this there's this Unity there you know that everybody's connected everybody's in on something at the same time so yeah in on a joke oh because Laughter is universal language same like silence what else yeah exactly exactly silence and humor right yeah so so being able to use whatever that's why I I love talking to people who actually like are awake and like don't do this stuff right don't you Ilona like people who like aren't spiritual teachers or you know healers and are just like awake and they're like a bus driver or something or they're you know I know some awake people that are in the entertainment industry oh um yeah yeah that have woken up from the separate self and are like wow and when I ever I talk to them every few months they're like what am I still doing here you know like well you'll be there until it's time to not be but you know gosh the entertainment industry could sure use more more awake beings you know as as Politics the realm of politics Finance like everything teaching education yeah you think that more and more people are up like in your experience um like a big wave or something that's the hope that's the hope I know that's that's the hope and people really talk about you know whatever language they're using like you know new age people are like it's accelerating the Ascension is happening you know and non-dual people are like yes people are waking up um I I do think I do find that it's happening to more and more people who aren't seeking it and I tend to get people coming to me who are like this crazy thing happened to me I don't know what it was I was just meditating um and then I like went on YouTube or something and I heard about non-dual Awakening I don't know what that is but then I found your website like what's going on you know so a lot of people not having teachers not having context for what's happening and and that although that's really wonderful and beautiful I think that's rough um when you don't have context for what's happening um so I do think there are more people that are having uh types of Awakening where they're seeing through uh what they once believed to be true uh you know what they've once attached to or been very rigid about and thought they knew for sure you know the falling way of knowing you know that when that starts to happen you know or the falling away of motivation yeah that's a big one oh it's a big one and so sometimes you know I'll I'll find people that are there and don't don't know what's going on or I mean by and large of course you know people find us who who who do who are seeking it and who do want it but um but yeah are you finding that there are people that like don't really have much context for it sometimes yes yes and I noticed that there are maybe let's say more people suffering intensely that's what I find that yeah the the amount of suffering is kind of increasing yeah yeah and along with that Awakenings are happening yeah it's funny how that works Ha it's almost like we need the suffering yeah it's like building pressure pressure pressure pressure and then maybe a pop and and maybe a pop I mean I I would say suffering really brought me to the cushion and brought me to meditation treats and you know just regular Garden variety suffering you know restlessness you know go you know just random just the you know suffering of Simply being alive as a modern human but then you know really deep sufferings you know heartbreak or you know family stuff or struggling with healing things stuff that I was healing um so yeah without without intense suffering and wanting to relieve that I don't know if I would have have uh uh inquired so deeply and concentrated so deeply with my meditation practice you know yeah yeah so suffering in other words in other language is a a call or invitation to examine what's going on I think so yeah I think so and and as you said you're right it's it's really increasing and um you know it's good I like seeing that people are more aware of um you know taking better care of themselves having boundaries knowing about mental health you know there's a big that big wave of you know hashtag selfcare and mental health and all that great stuff so it's it's people are starting to realize that you know um there's there's another way to live there's got to be another way to live and they may not be on the spiritual path yet but I think it's positive what I see you know out there and sometimes life gives that opening or a glimpse curtains come up exactly yeah yeah I and then people say I want that back how do I get it back I mean do you have this you have people come to you they're like how do I get that back I have this experience how do I get it back yes all the time all the time and that's what's what happened to me as well I had a glimpse on magic mushrooms years ago ah and then I saw that the mind can be quiet no thoughts whatsoever and just being oh that felt so good just just existing yeah I had a busy mind too you you had a busy mind as well yeah yeah yeah and then I wanted that I wanted that back you wanted that back yeah yeah back it's always in the past right illusion at first right it's like oh it existed in time prior to this it can't be here now yeah maybe it is yeah it is just stop looking for back I know but yeah I like playing The Devil's Advocate people like well maybe it is I mean where did it go I don't know why don't you look for it might be might be here if you take magic mushrooms you know the trip never ends
I mean I've done a couple of magic mushrooms trips but so what do you think about psychedelics for opening people up to non-duality to Awakening if it's calling you then yes big yes yeah yeah because it's not just an opening it's also healing because you kind of have to face in a gentle and a kind and a you know magic mushrooms they are to assist it's like another Consciousness that comes in to assist and maybe remove some obstacles or show you something different or give you some Taste of what's possible so if that is calling then yes if it's not calling then no you're going to need to to go and look for it because if it comes it comes that's that's my view yeah yeah that's good because more and more people I think are getting into psychedelics and um sometimes people will ask me like what do you think and I'm like well you can do it without them but if they're calling you like you said yeah then explore it you know yeah think the beauty of these uh not just magic mushrooms all psychedelics or whatever nature tools is that it has the ability to show what is beyond the ordinary mind which you cannot do yeah like you cannot just drink some matcha of tea and say oh okay now let's see how reality really looks like you right right but if you take something and it's opens yeah okay mind closes now work you saw what's possible now work yeah you saw what's possible now get to work yeah yeah it's good for an opening yeah there's so many doorways in huh so many doorways and you mentioned healing too which I think is so important important you know so many people on The Awakening path want you know want to just wake up and think that that's going to solve everything right of course it's like the magic pill you take it your life suddenly becomes Rosy happy your cat dies and you are like happy yay good yeah all happy all the time yeah happy all the time and all your Humanity gets erased and you're floating on a cloud and you know you're no more body there's no more no more body I don't feel connected to my body what yeah no and it's like you know you you want to be connected to your body I I bring I bring the body into what I do quite a bit and I I have a feeling you do too um wi with with Seekers um and you know I can feel the resistance sometimes like no because what I found was beyond the body so why am I why am I connecting to my body or being present with my body but you know it's such a doorway in and we have to include it you know I mean because after all this path is about inclusion exactly you know my experience is that it's a big like just including more and more and more and more and more and and we can't we can't leave out our Humanity that's not true non-duality so you know everything is is divine or everything is reality except this stinky Humanity that I'm dragging around and it's like no no no no this too this too you know on that on that yeah yeah yeah so healing is really important and there seems to be a focus on healing now in the collective so that's good we need it but but healing doesn't alone you know relieve suffering it can it can keep keep us on that healing Loop right where there's always something to improve or get better or change or fix or you know especially if we go at it from that place yeah yeah because I often ask people this silly question I say did you create the Universe I mean did you make these color sounds like how it all works did you create this go no and I say how do you know that it's not working how do you know that you have to fix it yeah yeah like it's all working it's all working as intended right without trying to fix it we can start looking how it is working what's going on here yes how these patterns start and how they play out and what's the reaction and response but if I think that it's not working and I have to fix it then I'm the general manager of the universe the general manager of the universe let me speak to the manager completely yeah and it's such a um it's such a head trip it's such a um it's a nice fiction uh if it because it works until it doesn't work anymore you know because a lot of spirituality as you well know out there I mean there are so many different you know paths people are taking but the whole manifestation trip people get on that you know they have some control over everything and can just make people grip to control more you know so uh I tried that I tried that I manifested this meeting that were happening right that's happening right now no I did I did I you did yeah I did that I did I tried yeah I did it I made that happen I've met people like that where it's like oh yeah you know this this great thing happened in my life you know I manifested that you know um and at the same time um as you well know it's such a paradox when we let go of control and let go of thinking we're the general manner manager of the universe we can also tap into uh a cooperation with the forces of nature and and move with where where we're being you know called and and that can feel like something's manifesting right you know feel like we're we're kind of making it happen maybe if we're of a certain mindset but really it's just you know we're flowing with with what is wanting to flow in what direction and so it's that it's that Paradox you know of of of having intention you know and being intentional about what you do and so some might call that manifestation but uh yeah we can call it manifestation but it's not the the mind or the little me this something doing that's right yeah it's life living through you life wanting to have this experience that's happening so I guess you could say okay you manifested it but uh you know only as as life itself and surrendering to life so yeah yeah yeah but I like that you bring in the healing part integration integration post Awakening you know that's so important so important yeah yeah if you have this blown out experience and you don't know what happened and you want to go back in and then another something happens and then you're even more lost yeah yeah it's tough it is it is did did you have moments like that on your path or were you pretty uh did you have like a practice that held
you it's it's weird because I never had any practices ever and my practice shaped itself in the way of uh giving sessions to people like right away I saw what everyone was looking for and I met Pamela Wilson yes yes and I saw how she was working and I was like Wow and I started to play with that or experiment with that and I saw that it's such a transformation happening just of this exchange of in the different way I studied psychology they didn't teach us that what Pamela showed me is how to deal with all these emotions and fear for example so just my playing and meeting people giving them session was also my own process to look at stuff that is here because I noticed that whatever comes in for me it's it's also for me and then whatever releases here releases there so that became a practice beautiful yeah yeah and for many years I was on typing like working with people on messages yeah just you know giving them questions they come back to me and that that was my practice and still is in a way yeah that's beautiful it's it's a it's a reminder of you can always go deeper you can always I mean what's been realized is what's been realized right but you know the the embodiment I don't think it I don't think it really ends some people feel that there's an embodiment process that ends at a certain point and um I think as long as we have a body where every cell every aspect of our life everything we lay our eyes on is is being saturated with truth more and more and more and more and more and I mean that's what makes life fun I mean otherwise like boring you mean it's just there's no growing Edge anymore uh yeah just becoming a Fuller and Fuller human I do think that that's part of this path you know we become more fully
human as we realize what we are beyond the human you know that ultimately fundamentally we're not human you know so living as that paradox yeah it's never ending yeah there's also room for expansion yeah yeah big bang uh yeah did at some point it stopped and started shrinking I don't know I don't know it's just a concept right I don't know happen but the concept is that it's ever expanding it's ever expanding if the universe is ever expanding then why why wouldn't why wouldn't we you know um but yeah to your point you like I I do think people are there are more Awakenings um yeah and maybe it's part of that expansion you know time seems to be speeding up too I mean time at a certain point completely collapsed for me as I'm sure it did for you on your on your path where it's just like oh whoa past present and future are all happening now I mean beyond the realization of the present moment which you know but but deeper than that just like it actually doesn't really exist and um uh you know sort of the seeing that um there there there is an acceleration at least from from here but I think in general with the collective there does seem to be some acceleration of of time and I wish I could expound on that and had some science background or something but I do not so um I'll just leave it at that
this is vodka by the way just kidding wouldn't it be terrible that's a silly joke hold on I'm gonna have some some of my vodka here it is cheers cheers to you suddenly turned to Bourbon I manifested that great oh let's talk about the cosmic joke the cosmic joke it's pretty hilarious huh that we think we're separate how'd that happen how did that happen yeah how did that happen wake up one morning you're a little kid running around and then suddenly I'm separate yeah yeah yeah and then the rediscovering of like oh yeah right I wasn't separate oh this is the most hilarious joke that but you know when you're in the joke you know talk about um you know humor being such a release and such a wonderful thing but when you're in the joke of believing that you're separate from everything it is so painful and the waking up from that is I mean I don't know if you had this experience but I laughed my ass off uh the first time I saw that I was not like actually a self like I just thought it was so hilarious I couldn't stop laughing and I actually remember that had a glimpse before that before the actual Awakening where um uh I was at at a retreat center and um I was walking to lunch and I was feeling so much joy and so much Bliss and uh it was early on my path and I was like wow this feels so good how can this be like I'm depressed and I've been told I was depressed in my 20s that I'm depressed you know diagnosed depressed or whatever right at times and um and I had the thought why do I feel Bliss and joy I'm a depressed person and I saw that identity so clearly and I was like I'm depressed I'm depressed I'm depressed and I just I could not stop laughing I fell to the ground on this dirt path uh leading to the kitchen at Mount Baldi Zen Center laughing and laughing going I'm depressed I'm depressed because the story of I'm depressed was so it was such a cosmic joke it was so ridiculous and so somebody poked their head out of their cabin and said hey do you want to come in here and um silent Retreat and I I did and I just sat down on her floor and she's like I'm going to lunch and she shut the door behind her and I just I probably laughed for about an hour um so it was a glimpse into identity and story that I had believed I had I had I had taken on this label at 25 when I was depressed by some random doctor who handed me Prozac um you know so um yeah it it it can feel like such a relief when we when we wake up and and see the fiction of what we are or see the the unity of what we are and you and I were talking before uh before we started recording about how
how humor and and the the whole um waking up from a from a belief that moment of laughter at a comedy club is you suddenly what you believed a second before is not what you believe now you see something new now and it's like uh oh like it's it's a surprise that's that's where laughter comes from part of it is a surprise so so the cosmic joke is once we see it it really is can be a surprise to many people you know yeah I had that experience of of laughing I laughed for three days I was everything was painful the jaw the ribs I just could not stop laughing yeah and the joke I got was I was having some argument with somebody on email yeah of course another person was very serious and I just saw through that seriousness like okay this this one Universe manifest as all these different people right seem separate and this finger is arguing with that finger while everything is just the same how hilarious that how hilarious is that taking seriously yeah yeah I love that you laughed for three
days so there's been so much laughter I
mean with the uh with the first Awakening moment I yeah the the the earlier on my path there was a lot of laughter a lot of laughter at these seeing and at the seeings at the at the Awakening moments and then with the non-dual Awakening when it happened um it was just so simple there was no laughter you know it was like
it was the obviousness of it but it was just so quiet it was thunderously loud the obviousness of it and also
so quiet and like yeah it's always been like
this always been here
oh I missed those days when it was brand new
no yeah that shock to the system you know of going from one uh way of seeing things to a totally new way of seeing things I mean it's such
a it's such a contrast you know
yeah when it first Dawns it's such a
contrast life goes this this this this and then suddenly like Tarantino movie yeah yeah like a Tarantino
movie kind of like that it's like who writes the script it's just getting weird get me out of
here or Christopher Nolan flick who's like wait a minute what Christopher Nolan momento and like Inception
yeah
yeah yeah so the integration piece it's uh people often think they don't need to integrate anything who's here to integrate man I don't exist you know they'll say that but I don't meet many of these people I that's good I don't speak to non duality crowd or I'm not in any kind of community where I listen to these kind of conversations anymore anymore right no I see it a lot online you know I see it in like Facebook groups and things like that and um yeah but yeah I mean I'd say the people that come to me if they're they're if they're reaching out to me they understand about healing and embodiment other they wouldn't they wouldn't waste their time but um but yeah I I do think it is you know endemic in non-dual circles though don't you find to kind of want to deny the body deny the humanity deny the Personality yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah and it's one way to see one thing to see that the story is not me the body is not me the emotions is not me but that me that was believed to be me that I thing is not even there
that but the body is here the mind is here the heart is here the experience is here your parents are here your toilet is here your toilet is here the garbage can is here yes so to deny that it's yeah it's being a little bit lost in the concepts
or lost in the clouds and that needs to come down to experience and root so there is some sense of stability and groundedness otherwise yeah it's just where the wind blows yeah exactly yeah
yeah yeah so what do you think of like when psychic phenomena opens up on somebody's path
yay yay why not sure awesome yeah yeah exactly just like with psychedelics if you're called to psychedelics great if you're called to you know whatever Spirit guides great yeah yeah in the Buddhist tradition it was very much looked at as like you know it's a distraction um and uh in many ways I was grateful for that because it just kept me on the cushion and kept me you know continuing to do what I do and uh but yeah yeah it's it's interesting in spiritual circles see see some some people get very caught up in in that and other people completely reject it so um I find it fascinating just all the different nooks and crannies of spirituality because I think in Los Angeles I've uh come in contact with like people in the healing scene people in the Psychedelic scene people in the crystal shop crowd you know uh who go into crystal shops and want to buy a you know Crystal to make their life better um you know and then the non-duality crowd it's like you know it's uh it's just interesting to see all the to me I find it fascinating it's like this you know they separate things this is wrong this is right and I'm in the middle I know it all yeah yeah and it's fascinating to me it's often I don't look at it like so much with a lot of judgment but just sort of like wow like you know flowers can pop up in so many different varieties you know but they're all flowers you know everybody's on a spiritual path but it's it's they're all going about it so so differently and finding their way and you know but um yeah none of it is right or wrong yeah exactly none of it's right or wrong and um and yeah it's uh it's interesting I think the difficulty that Seekers have with that is that they see different varieties and they think that this variety is is not enough yeah because it doesn't have that variety experiences yes it'd like there is a menu in the restaurant and you can have this this and the other but you cannot because this there is something wrong with this one yeah that's difficulty to you know stop looking at the menu what's available for other people who cares yeah and yeah who cares what are you experiencing right what is happening right here and that it it's you know people people you know loosening this this grip on this idea that there's something to be fixed you know that that there I mean because underneath that is like there's something wrong with me you know that's the that's the story that their experience is so wrong and everything a Seeker is looking for is is is here right now in in their experience right now and right now and right now you know it's not anywhere else it's right here
it's so simple you know right so simple and yet so difficult because it's so simple because it's so simple yeah yeah it's so close it can't be seen you know so good it cannot be accepted that's right I love that I don't remember the whole thing but I remember when I first read that I was like oh oh something about this I know it to be true and I was still a Seeker yeah and I I trusted in that I trusted in the teachings like the really like ancient teachings I I don't know what that was it was like a I don't know a blind faith really but I loved the whole here are the teachings but go try it for go find out for yourself don't take my word for it go find out for yourself but there was some uh faith in it like okay I I there's something here something here with these teachings they must be pointing to something they must be because I keep finding little Jewels along the way so you know and that's the ultimate pointer really go and look for yourself go and look for yourself yeah I say everything else is entertainment go look for yourself is the everything everything else is entertainment or distraction you know we love to be distracted sometimes it's good and sometimes it's fun to be distracted why not lose yourself in a movie for a while you lose yourself in it yeah yeah I have a lot of distractions here like five cats you have five cats oh I saw a video where you had a kitten so cute yeah I have five cats inside and then there is a family of cats living outside the door so you kind of open the door you have to push push them away oh my God you're like no no dinner time's not yet yeah oh how sweet that keeps you busy oh it keeps me so distracted it keeps you so
distracted busy or distracted which one is
it very cute cute and funny so I have my comedy in the house and outside they are natural comedians cats are natural Comedians and they take no [ __ ] they just do it can I swear on this podcast they just you know they show up as they are and you are you better Bend and amend for them right I love cats I don't have a cat right now but I can send you some can you send me some please do I'll come get them I'd like at least four please oh I have this wonderful family I never seen it like it but they look like more human than some human there's a mom dad and two kittens girl and boy and they live outside the door and they cuddle they wash each other they sleep together they eat together for months now it's incredible yeah the dad is so gentle with them so sweet so sweet they're so connected to each other and in sync and in rhythm with each other yeah I never seen it like that beautiful that's really beautiful whole family do you think they'll come inside do you want them to come inside or do you want them to I have five inside it's kind of I said three is enough but when you say enough you know what happens so did you get them there when you moved there or did you bring them no I didn't bring them this island I live on an island called Mauritius there are a lot of stray animals lot of stray dogs and nobody likes cats here like cats are horrible you know don't let them in that kind of stuff so this is why they're flocking to your house because they know yeah you're feeding them yeah and the and the words getting around with the cat gangs that you're the one to say yeah at some point we had about 20 cats coming to eat no way yeah outside oh my gosh yeah but then I don't know what happened that is a lot a lot of them turned up dead and now this family that is living they kind of chased everyone away so uhuh there's another tear behind the gate yeah you have bodyguards now you have body you have furry guards furry bodyguards that's so sweet yeah just in tune with
nature yeah
lovely how this silence come in and then eats everything and yeah something else blah blah blah blah blah yeah such a great great light yeah great
lightness yeah just to just to exist just to be you know like you discovered with that mushroom trip you mean I can just be can just exist whoa without thinking about
existing incredible yeah
do you have an advice for Seekers that are waiting for awakening yeah um I'd say include your humanity don't leave out your Humanity on this journey um if you if you become myopic about seeing through the self or seeing through the veil of separation and you can become very uh very myopic about it right just expand and open and include everything for a while and then bear down again you know Padma sambava the 8th Century uh great a guru rinpoche you know who brought Tibetan Buddhism to uh who brought Buddhism to Tibet um yeah has a meditation awareness of awareness you know where it's like you bear down on awareness itself and then you let go and you just allow and you open and let everything to be and then you bear down with your attention right and then you relax with your attention so um I would say yeah practice that in your life or seekers
to include everything and then penetrate penetrate through and then relax let that go for a while you know go see a movie go be human enjoy your body enjoy being
human and then go back to inquiry you know people can drive themselves a little a little crazy with inquiry you know just yeah and only for like 40 years that's yeah yeah 50 years 60 but yeah it's and it seems that sometimes when people really let go you know they're not they're not looking you know they've been inquiring beautiful great the mind is sharpened and ready and then and then they let that go and they're just making a sandwich you know I mean a lot of these moments that that happened for me these glimpses and then these realizations really were a a relaxation I wasn't you know looking for anything I was either walking to lunch or you know putting my shoes on at the Zendo door or you know walking into my apartment or whatever yeah yeah I love that when you're looking looking looking and then you're not looking that that waiting or seeking kind of ceases and then it opens yeah yeah
yeah that's softening softening softening softening I like to remind people to just soften on the path just soften everything can just melt yeah yeah there is nothing to look for you don't need to see anything you don't need any answers right now I'm just softening to what is here and what's in front of you
and yeah beautiful path of inclusion then
there are two things let's say in the end or towards the end of it there's nothing wrong with me it's all okay yep and everything's included amen sister that's right that's it so so you know to Seekers like you can practice that now even though that you know if that's not your reality or you haven't realized that you know you can practice that practice opening and softening to
that that there's nothing wrong with you there never was you're perfectly okay and everything's
included yeah just so much Sarah oh thanks for having
me so nice to be here with you yeah it's my pleasure
you've been helping so many people over the years and uh may may you continue you too and what's your website can you tell everyone how to find you how you work yeah it's light of your being.com light of your being.com I see people one-on-one and I hold groups uh I have an Awakening support group for neurodivergent and highly sensitive people uh and I have all sorts of different events online that you can attend and yeah so wonderful so if you feel called sure Sarah come on down yes and find the light of your being that's right that's right the light of your being and discover the cosmic joke yep and now we can laugh all together
laughter is Holy really is well good luck with your cats thank you okay thank you everyone for watching for listening if you have any comments like or share please always nice to hear from you see you next time by now see next time