A growing number of people are beginning to see things in a radically different way. In other words, more and more of us are starting to “wake up” spiritually—to discover an entirely new identity beyond the usual sense of who we think we are.

But what is spiritual awakening, really? How does it happen—and what are the consequences? Is it possible to attune to this dimension of experience at any moment?

In Waking Up, Volume 4, Sounds True publisher and founder Tami Simon speaks with six teachers about their personal understanding of spiritual awakening—how it takes place, what changes (and what doesn’t), and how their experiences can inspire and inform our own realization.

Volume 4 Guests and Topics:

“Recognizing Your Original Face” with Ken Wilber

Tami speaks with the renowned philosopher and writer about the five stages of awakening common in many traditions, discovering who and what we really are, the paradoxical experience of ultimate reality, and more.
“Remembering Our True Nature as the Ground of Being” with Tsultrim Allione

Lama Tsultrim Allione speaks with Tami about the Tibetan Buddhist perspective on spiritual awakening as the act of coming back home to the pure potentiality that is our true nature; the possibility of stabilizing our realization; and Tsultrim’s personal path.

“The Call of Aliveness” with Mark Nepo

Mark and Tami examine the question of awakening from the poet’s perspective, discussing how we can come to hold the paradox of multiple truths, the art of “following our aliveness as the career of awakening,” and making the mind the heart’s servant.

“Divinized and Humanized” with David Frenette

Tami and David talk about his “Charlie Brown awakening” and discovery of Christianity after Zen Buddhist practice, the deepening experience of God at the heart of the Christian contemplative tradition, personal crises and the “dark night,” and more.

“Polymorphous Aliveness” with Rabbi Rami Shapiro

Tami and Rabbi Rami explore the radical aliveness of what he refers to as a “polymorphously perverse” adult, and go on to examine spiritual awakening through the lens of both traditional and mystical Judaism.

“Being a Light in the World” with Sandra Ingerman

Sandra and Tami discuss the shamanic point of view on spiritual awakening and the importance of remembering that our bodies—and the Earth that is our home—are “holy ground.” Sandra also explores the paradox of our nature as both human and spiritual beings.

A radical shift in identity. The direct experience of unity with all things. Unexplainable joy and a blissful ease of being. These are just some of the ways in which people have described the experience of spiritual awakening. But is it the same for everyone? What if we’ve only had glimpses of “waking up?” How does the process unfold—and does it end? Join us in Waking Up for an exciting investigation of these profound questions and more.