In this episode Amoda and Kavi explore a question that has echoed through the centuries of spiritual seeking: Do you need a guru to awaken?

Throughout history, seekers have gathered around teachers, mystics, masters — drawn by something intangible, something alive. Amoda spent time at the Osho Ashram in Pune in the years after Osho had left the body, immersed in his teachings and the field that remained.

In this conversation, we explore her experience there, the role of the guru, the power and danger of projection, and what it truly means to awaken. Is the guru a necessity — or a mirror? And what is the true source of awakening?

Some of the questions we explored:

Do you actually need a guru to awaken?
What is a guru, really?
Is awakening dependent on another, or is it always within oneself?

What drew you to Osho's teachings after he had left the body?
What was happening in you that longed for guidance or direction?
Did you feel you were seeking a guru — or something deeper?

In this talk, Amoda Maa invites us turn from the recognition of the light of being to its embodiment — the lived expression of awakening in the midst of ordinary life.

Recognition shows us that our true nature is awareness.

Embodiment asks: How do I live this in the chaos, beauty, and unpredictability of being human?

Embodiment is an ongoing journey — not a final state. It is the gentle returning, again and again, to the silent radiance that is always here. Even in the darkest moments, when we meet life with openness rather than resistance, the light reveals itself.

Taken from a Weekend Online Retreat titled "The Illumination of God's Being" held in November 2025.

A special episode:

In this talk, Amoda Maa dismantles the persistent myth that awakening or enlightenment delivers a perfect, pain-free, or effortless life. Awakening does not eliminate life's polarity—its ups and downs, birth and death, pleasure and pain.

What fundamentally changes is the end of resistance. When there is no longer a separate self opposing experience, a deep peace and acceptance arise that are not dependent on circumstances. From this absence of resistance, life may or may not change externally. Safety and comfort are discovered as inherent in being itself, not produced by conditions.

This is a different understanding of perfection—not a flawless life, but a wholehearted intimacy with life as it is, beyond duality, beyond expectation.

Taken from a series of discourses given at the "Five Spiritual Myths" online gathering held in January 2025.