Awakening Now is a documentary film by Jerel Mani, originally released in 2006 and now available in a fully remastered HD edition for its 20th anniversary.
Six contemporary spiritual teachers share their perspectives on some of the most fundamental questions we can ask — about consciousness, awareness, and what it means to be truly awake.
The conversations filmed here were honest, unscripted, and timeless. Twenty years later, they remain just as relevant.
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THE FILM
Awakening Now grew out of a simple desire — to sit with people who had genuinely
explored the nature of consciousness and ask them what they found.
Six teachers from different traditions were filmed in extended conversations covering
the fundamentals: the nature of the self, the experience of awakening, the role of
meditation, and what it means to live from a place of deeper awareness.
The film doesn’t try to resolve these questions or advocate for any single path. It simply
creates the space for the conversation to happen, and trusts the viewer to find what
resonates.
Originally released in 2006, Awakening Now is now available in a remastered HD edition
for its 20th anniversary — on streaming platforms and, in the months ahead, with the full
unedited interviews available here and on the Awakening Now YouTube channel.
Watch Now →
HD remastered
TEACHERS
The six teachers featured in Awakening Now come from different traditions but share a common orientation — a direct, experiential approach to questions of consciousness and awakening.
Master Charles Cannon (1945–2023)
Founder of the Synchronicity Foundation,
Master Charles was a contemporary American mystic and pioneer of High-Tech Meditation. His early life was marked by spontaneous experiences of expanded awareness, which drew him toward meditation and comparative religion. He spent years studying with his own teacher in India before returning to the West to found Synchronicity Foundation in Virginia, where he continued to teach until his passing.
synchronicity.org
Swami Chetanananda
Abbot and spiritual director of the Nityananda Institute, Swami
Chetanananda was initiated as a swami by Swami Muktananda in 1978, taking the name Chetanananda — meaning “bliss of pure Self-awareness.” His approach to teaching is grounded in the direct transmission of awareness and the cultivation of an open,
expansive inner life. nityanandainstitute.org
Andrew Cohen (1955–2024)
A spiritual teacher and writer widely associated with evolutionary spirituality, Andrew Cohen founded the magazine What Is Enlightenment? and spent decades in dialogue with philosophers, mystics, and scientists about the nature of consciousness and human potential. His work challenged conventional notions of enlightenment and invited a more dynamic, engaged approach to awakening.
andrewcohen.org
Gangaji
An American-born teacher and author, Gangaji has traveled and taught globally since 1990. Her message is direct and unambiguous: the peace and fulfillment we seek are not somewhere to be arrived at — they are the essential nature of what we already are. Her teaching points people back to that recognition with clarity and warmth.
gangaji.org
Isira Sananda
A global peace ambassador and spiritual teacher, Isira Sananda has been guiding people in meditation and self-realisation for over two decades. Her work calls people toward their own deeper nature — wisdom, love, peace, and compassion — not as ideals to be attained but as a living reality to be recognised. isira.com
Swami Shankarananda
A meditation master in the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism,
Swami Shankarananda teaches what he calls Shiva Yoga — a direct, experiential path to
the recognition of one’s own nature as pure awareness. He has transmitted this ancient
lineage to students across the world through his centre in Australia and through his
writing. shivayoga.org
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