Ilona Ciunaite and Elena Nezhinsky are the founders of Liberation Unleashed, an international network of people dedicated to guiding people to awakening from the illusion of separation. Both Ilona and Elena have seen through the illusory nature of the apparently separate self, which is nothing more than a mental construct—a concept that when thoroughly questioned clearly reveals that there is nothing behind the word ‘me’ at all.
Ilona was born in Lithuania and now lives in the UK. She has a degree in psychology, but has never worked in the field; instead she works as a tattoo artist, running her own studio together with her husband. She is a simple and ordinary human with a mindset to focus on freedom for herself and those who find her. Her blog, “Marked, Eternal“, is a collection of articles and conversations that demonstrate how easy it is to see that there is no self when one is ready and willing to look. She has always been interested in the ‘mind’ as such and enjoyed studying the subject from different angles. Observing her own mind led to a deep understanding of how the mind works, how to overcome confusion, and free it from feedback loops. She has been a seeker like many others but had never attended a retreat or satsang until after awakening.
Her work is inspired by Pamela Wilson’s methods and is a fusion of various methods she has picked up over years of inquiring into the mystery of mind. Her main focus and work is helping people end their seeking by inviting them to question their fundamental assumptions and look at their own direct experience. She does not give answers, but only questions. In this way a seeker may see what is going on for themselves, and free their minds from conditioned patterns, to explore whatever comes next. She has been guiding people at no charge through email and at TheGate forum for over a year, with great success, allowing seekers to clearly and deeply see for themselves that there is no separate entity, no ‘me’.
Elena Nezhinsky met her close friend and a senior teacher of the Gurdjieff Way in 1998, and since then began a serious investigation of the mind and feelings, and searching for the truth of being. The sudden death of her teacher brought her to a Vipassana meditation practice of mind purification, which she did diligently for 7 years in frequent silent retreats. After leaving Vipassana she found Adyashanti and spent a week in retreat with him, which made her ponder that there are other ways to awakening. In 2010 Elena woke up to the reality of “no-self” with the help of Direct Pointing. Since then she has been helping others to awaken and see the truth of anatta – no-self with the same method.
Elena lives in New York City with her grown-up son Daniel and her dog Zenji. Her blog “Complete Humanity” is a collection of her work with people and personal writings. She is very transparent in sharing her journey of awakening and on-going integration.
Ilona and Elena met in London, which started the wave of guiding people through the gateless gate. Utilizing the skills of other members of the LU group, they published a book called Gateless Gatecrashers, which is a great resource for those who are still seeking to end the spiritual search.
Liberation Unleashed is a rapidly expanding, international project that brings seekers together with those who have awakened and are dedicated to guiding or simply share experiences in a community that is based on honesty and love. There is no greater joy than bringing joy to other hearts and celebrating the gift of freedom.
Interview Recorded 8/18/2012
Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.
YouTube Video Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Introducing Elena and Ilona and their work in “Liberation Unleashed”
- 00:02:54 – The Silence of the Voice in the Head
- 00:06:20 – The Illusion of Seeking and Chaos Outside
- 00:11:34 – The Illusion of the Self
- 00:15:40 – Degrees of Seeing and Fullness Experiences
- 00:19:40 – The Journey Towards Self-Realization
- 00:23:43 – The Process of “Falling”
- 00:27:38 – Dissipation of Fear and Attachment
- 00:34:11 – Different Types of Meditation
- 00:38:44 – The Illusion of Reaching Back for States
- 00:42:50 – Crossing the Gate of Self
- 00:45:49 – Working with Beliefs and Identifications
- 00:49:45 – Experiencing the Illusion of Self
- 00:55:16 – The Simplicity of Awakening and Language Barriers
- 00:59:38 – The Complete Package of Embodied Realization
- 01:03:10 – Sensations in the Body
- 01:07:33 – The Purpose of the Useful Talk Group
- 01:11:39 – The Existence of the World and the Tree
- 01:13:57 – The Nature of Consciousness
- 01:17:54 – Misinterpretation of Tony Parsons’ Words
- 01:21:16 – The belief in a separate Self
- 01:24:07 – Trust in the Flow of Life
- 01:28:12 – Liberated from Illusion of the Separate Entity
- 01:31:45 – Discussion about Bentinho’s Approach to Self-Realization
- 01:35:24 – The Evolution of Teaching Techniques
- 01:39:19 – Opening of the Heart
- 01:42:16 – Words as Little Signposts
- 01:46:00 – Using Different Approaches in Guidance
- 01:49:38 – The Meaning of Maya and a New Application
- 01:52:24 – Effortless Contribution and Gratitude from the Community
- 01:56:20 – Where to find these interviews
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