Remember Your Greatness with Mark Vicente

This is Awakening Chats, a collaboration between Remember Your Greatness and my wife Bonnie Piesse's podcast, Your Quantum Life

In this conversation, Bonnie and I dig into an idea she's been sitting with for a while: getting stuck at the door. It's what happens when someone has a real, profound spiritual experience and then attaches that experience entirely to whatever triggered it. The practice, the teacher, the building, the place. And they mistake the doorway for what's actually on the other side of it.

We each bring our own stories into this. Bonnie talks about her first big awakening through Kriya Yoga at 25, and how convinced she was that everyone would feel what she felt if they just did the same practice. I talk about a childhood experience in the bush outside Johannesburg that I spent years believing I could only access in that one place, and a moment as an altar server when a bishop put his hand on my head and I felt something enormous, something I later attached to that church for a long time.

From there we get into why this pattern is dangerous. Why finding "the thing" so often turns into everyone else being wrong. Why some people who go through a genuine awakening end up more constricted, more judgmental, more fearful than before, instead of more open. We talk about religious and spiritual bypassing, splitting into all good and all bad thinking, ego, safety, and what happens when people bury their own darkness instead of integrating it.

I also bring in a story about someone close to me who did real harm to our family, then found religion and acted like none of it happened. That connects directly to the cult work I do. It's the same underlying mechanism.

We land on a phrase that came out of one of our own conversations: worshipping the door. The idea that whatever gets you to a profound experience is not the experience itself, and mistaking the two is where people get stuck.

This is the start of what we hope is an ongoing series. No fixed schedule. We'll show up when we've got something worth talking through. Let us know what you think, and whether you've had your own experience of getting stuck at a door.

In this powerful joint episode between Remember Your Greatness with Mark Vicente and Your Quantum Life with Bonnie Piesse, Bonnie shares the extraordinary story of her spiritual awakening in 2016—the experience that ultimately led to her seeing through the NXIVM cult and triggering its downfall.

Bonnie describes her self-imposed 10-day  meditation retreat in Marina Del Rey, where she confronted what she calls "the abyss"—a dark, infinite void that paradoxically contained everything. On July 7, 2016 (7-7), she broke through her fear barriers and experienced a profound Kundalini awakening filled with light, joy, and what she describes as "light codes" rewiring her DNA.

For three months, Bonnie lived in a state of bliss and fearlessness—completely free from the unworthiness and self-doubt that had kept her trapped in the cult's control structure. But when she shared her experience, the cult's leadership responded with hostility and ridicule, revealing the true nature of the organization.

This is the untold story behind HBO's The Vow—how one woman's spiritual breakthrough gave her the clarity and courage to see the truth and eventually help bring down one of the most notorious cults in recent history.

Bonnie Piesse is a soul alignment and manifestation coach, actress (Star Wars) and host of the podcast "Your Quantum Life." She helps conscious leaders and visionaries remember who they really are and step into their true power and light.
Learn more at https://yourquantumlife.myflodesk.com/mentorship
https://www.instagram.com/yourquantumlife/

Mark Vicente is an award-winning filmmaker, author, and mentor who directed "What the Bleep Do We Know!?" and became a key whistleblower in exposing the NXIVM cult (HBO's "The Vow"). He hosts "Remember Your Greatness" and "WTF Is On My Mind?!" podcasts and mentors artists, creatives, and visionaries in stepping into their authentic voice and greatest impact. Mark believes everyone has a unique message for the world that emerges from becoming the most embodied version of themselves.
Learn more at https://www.markvicente.com/mentoring
https://www.instagram.com/rememberyour_greatness/

In this special New Year's episode, I guide listeners through a "Remembering the Future" visioning process for 2026. Rather than wishing for what we want from a place of lack, this practice invites you to place yourself in December 2026—already having achieved your dreams—and feel the gratitude and emotion of being there.

I share my own experiences with this approach, from seeing my name on screen at Cannes to creating What the Bleep, and explain why focusing on the "what" rather than the "how" opens up possibilities we can't predict. This is a guided visioning session where we spend quiet time together stepping into our future selves, allowing whatever voices or doubts arise, and connecting with the feelings of having already arrived at our dreams.

This process isn't about perfection or silencing your inner critic—it's about allowing everything to be present while you inhabit the future you're being pulled toward.

Note: This is a meditative experience. Please don't listen while driving.

In this episode, I talk about what happens when you stop waiting to be ready.

While I was in Cape Town, I decided — almost on a dare to myself — to climb Table Mountain again, something I hadn’t done since my twenties. The climb became a metaphor for everything we avoid when we tell ourselves we’ll start later: the creative project, the hard conversation, the change we know is overdue.

What I discovered is that readiness is a myth. You grow by saying yes first — and letting the journey shape you. This episode is about commitment, courage, and the power of deciding before you feel prepared.

If you’ve been standing at the base of your own mountain — creative, emotional, or otherwise — this conversation is an invitation to stop waiting and start climbing.

For info about my MENTORING: www.markvicente.com/mentoring

This episode was completely unplanned. I recorded it while standing on Signal Hill in Cape Town, in front of Table Mountain — the city where I grew up, and where a lot of my early spiritual awakening (and trauma) began.

Being here brought up so many memories: gratitude for my family and this stunning place… but also the echoes of a difficult childhood. I realized how easily I’d slipped into the past — and how much peace returned the moment I came back to the present.

This episode is about that moment: remembering how simple it is to be here, now. When we’re truly present, the past and future lose their grip — and what remains feels like love.

For info about my MENTORING: www.markvicente.com/mentoring