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About
Shakti
Spiritual guide and author, Shakti is known internationally as one of the most authentic and profound voices in contemporary spirituality. Presenting the message of Advaita and non-dual Tantra within a contemporary framework, Shakti offers, with compassion and great clarity, an inner technology for dissolving the contraction of suffering that traditionally accompanies each of our lives. Her invitation is to come to the space of inner peace and unconditional love which resides at the heart of us all.
Her key teachings are the love for transcendence, or spiritual awakening, followed by its deep integration, into everyday living, so that each moment can be met as a precious opportunity for spiritual growth. Her students are left with the joy of an open heart and an authentic sense of freedom within the recognition of our being as one with everything.
About
Shakti
Spiritual guide and author, Shakti is known internationally as one of the most authentic and profound voices in contemporary spirituality. Presenting the message of Advaita and non-dual Tantra within a contemporary framework, Shakti offers, with compassion and great clarity, an inner technology for dissolving the contraction of suffering that traditionally accompanies each of our lives. Her invitation is to come to the space of inner peace and unconditional love which resides at the heart of us all.
Her key teachings are the love for transcendence, or spiritual awakening, followed by its deep integration, into everyday living, so that each moment can be met as a precious opportunity of for spiritual growth. Her students are left with the joy of an open heart and an authentic sense of freedom within the recognition of our being as one with everything.
Interview with Shakti
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My awakening story
From a very young age I experienced many openings to the Self and to the true nature of reality. When I was 27, these increasingly frequent glimpses brought me to a state of great inner openness. I did not have the awareness that what was happening was known as “awakening” or “enlightenment”.
Shortly afterwards, while working as a financial journalist in Milan (January 2003), I had my first experience of kundalini awakening.
“Everything vibrated from its infinite nature: my body, the room, the bed I was lying on. They were just one single vibration of love that expanded and dissolved into a boundless space. They were waves of love, overlapping with other waves of love, bigger and bigger.
Suddenly I was dissolved into Divine Love itself and I myself, was that Love, with no one to love and no one to be loved. I was myself and at the same time I was no longer. Existence itself was my nature. After about two hours everything disappeared into thin air. I was surprised to wake up in the morning.
I’d been certain I was going to die that night. When I awoke, there was something vast and completely silent looking, amused, at a smaller me. Everything seemed unreal, but in a moving, and utterly loving way.”
For the first time I realized I needed spiritual guidance. Before then, although I had met several masters in entirely unrelated circumstances (including HH Dalai Lama, Fausto Taiten Guareschi, and Swami Veda Bharati), this need had never arisen. All of my inner experiences and seeking had been entirely private, accompanied by the writings of the ancient Christian mystics as well as other more contemporary texts.
Knowing that this opening had occurred without any conscious desire or any intentional action, I simply waited for life to present me with someone who could clarify what was happening. Each prayer had become an “amen”, a simple “Thy will be done,” in recognition of the fact that existence itself, and the Divine through it, always brought what was truly needed.
Four months later, I met Bodhi Avasa in a satsang in Milan. The pot was ready to break, and five days later, I had a definitive experience of self-recognition. The sense of being a separate person never returned as my identity, but just as another experience to be observed.
“Suddenly I found myself as if I had no head. There was no one watching life anymore.
In a moment out of time, I realized that Caterina had never existed – she was just a figment if of my imagination – and that my mind was not mine, but there was only – as there always, ever had been – the Divine Mind.
There had never been a separate identity, only one Self, empty and aware, from which Existence itself arose, as in a dream.
This empty light – emanating from a motionless space devoid of any quality – was creating everything that had ever existed. And this empty light, was me. I recognized it in everything, even those things which appeared to be non-sentient.
All of existence was suddenly revealed as the Dream of a single Dreamer, the Divine itself.”
It took a few months for this quantum leap to stabilize, as mind and body were going through deep changes connected to profound understandings and inner transformations.
Avasa’s guidance was invaluable through the energetic phenomena accompanying this process, preventing attachment, and enabling the development of an understanding to allay the fears that can at times accompany this integration.
Encouraged by him, I started sharing this experience. It was however only in 2011 that I began offering more formal satsangs, under the invitation and recognition of Carla Perotti, a direct student of Jean Klein. I was honored that those first satsangs took place at the Sadhana Association in Turin, where the great master himself taught for many years.
The process of the integration of awakening took a long time, several years in fact, while the progressive and ever deeper purification of what Ramana Maharshi called vāsanas (latent tendencies), took place. This allowed me to develop a deep understanding of what unfolds after awakening and and how we can integrate it into daily life.
“Everything vibrated from its infinite nature: my body, the room, the bed I was laying upon on were just all one vibration of love that expanded and dissolved into a boundless space. They were waves of love, overlapping with other waves of love, bigger and bigger.
Suddenly I was dissolved in Divine Love itself and I was myself that Love, with no one to love and no one to be loved. I was myself and at the same time I was no longer myself, Existence itself was my nature. After about two hours everything disappeared into thin air and I was surprised to wake up in the morning still alive.
Honestly, I was sure I was going to die that night. In the morning there was something vast and completely silent looking amused at a smaller me. Everything seemed unreal, but in a moving and loving way.”
For the first time I realized that I needed spiritual guidance. Before then, although I had met several masters under different and unusual circumstances not directly related to inner seeking (including SS Dalai Lama, Fausto Taiten Guareschi, and Swami Veda Bharati), this desire had never presented itself. All of my inner experiences and searching were entirely lived in private, accompanied by many readings of the ancient Christian mysticism and some more contemporary texts.
Knowing that this opening had occurred without any conscious desire or any intentional action, I simply waited for life itself to present me with someone who could clarify what was happening. Each prayer had become a simple “amen,” “Thy will be done,” recognizing that existence itself, and the Divine through it, always brought what was truly needed.
Four months later, I met Bodhi Avasa in a satsang in Milan. The pot was ready to break, and after only five days I had a definitive experience of self-recognition, in which the sense of being a separate person never returned as my identity, but just as an experience to observe.
“Suddenly I found myself as if without a head, and there was no one watching life anymore.
In a moment out of time, I realized that Caterina had never existed. She was just a figment if my own imagination, and that my mind was not mine, but there was only and always the Divine Mind.
There was no separate identity, there never had been, but only one Self, empty and aware, from which Existence itself arose as in a dream.
This empty light – emanating from a motionless space devoid of quality and that was me – was creating everything that had ever existed.
This unique Self that I had recognized myself to be existed through everything, even that which appeared to be non-sentient.
All of existence was literally grasped as a Dream of a single Dreamer, the Divine itself.”
It took a few months for this quantum leap to stabilize, as mind and body were crossed with profound understandings and transformations.
Avasa’s guidance supported me in going through those energetic phenomena that accompanied this process without attaching to any of them, but developing an understanding that allows to erase the fear that emerges in this integration process.
Encouraged by my guide, I started shortly after the initial recognition to share this experience, although it was only in 2011 that he began to offer more formal satsangs, under the invitation and recognition of Carla Perotti, spiritual and direct student of Jean Klein, at the Sadhana association in Turin, where the great master had taught for many years.
The process of integration of awakening took a long time, while deepening the progressive purification from what Ramana Maharshi called vāsanas (latent tendencies). This allowed me to develop a deep understanding of the path that happens after awakening and its integration into daily life.
Collaborations
Shakti has collaborated with many international spiritual profit and non profit organizations, including SAND (Science and Nonduality, the creator of the Wisdom of Trauma movie), Open Circle in California, Krisnamurti Educational Centre in Canada, The Sedona Training Associates of The Sedona Method, and Pure Presence Conferences linked to A Course in Miracles.
She has also been involved in the creation of a training, together with Dr. Giusi Carrera, a master class on the exploration of non-duality in the world of therapy: From Me to the Self, A New Vision on Therapeutic Relationships.
She is a contributing author to “On the Mystery of Being,” the first anthology of science and spirituality (2019, New Harbinger) and appears in the book The Greatest Secret by Rhonda Byrne.
