Finding Peace Everywhere

Trey was born in Asheville, North Carolina, and still lives and works near Asheville. In 2003, Trey began having periodic “revelation spells” as he describes in the introduction of his books. These were periodic moments of clarity where “everything made perfect sense” and he felt a sense of joy unlike anything he had experienced before. These spells only lasted a minute or so and he was left feeling like he had the answer to all of life’s questions and then they were gone. These were infrequent, but curious phenomena.

On November 7, 2004, one of those revelation spells ended in a grand mal seizure and Trey was eventually diagnosed with epilepsy. He writes a great deal about this transformative time, but indicates that this was his wake up call, which led to an insatiable desire to know the meaning of life. He had never been much of a reader but was suddenly reading up to a dozen books at one time, exploring what science had to offer as well as religions. He was reading books on neuroscience, biology, astronomy, physics, medicine, while also reading about various religions, shamanism, metaphysics, spirituality and meditation. 

Trey eventually discovered the idea of enlightenment in David Hawkins’ book, “Power vs. Force.” He then realized that self-realization, awakening, enlightenment, whatever you want to call it, was what he had been seeking all along and began reading all the books he could about spiritual awakening. Eckhart Tolle was one of his early favorites and he started a Tolle meet up group in 2007 to help share Tolle’s teachings with the local community. Trey has joked that, “Tolle was my gateway drug into non-duality.” His reading continued as he explored how different teachers were expressing the same things in different ways. It was around 2006 that Trey began sharing insights from his journey through his own writing.

An awakening experience in 2007 gave Trey the direct experience of that which he had only read about until then. That seemed to be the confirmation that he needed to know he was on the right path and fueled his writing. He started blogging about insights and teachings that he felt might help others find true happiness and freedom. This search for truth, and sharing of it in writing and group meetings, became Trey’s passion. His writings represent a deepening realization of what non-duality truly means and how that has transformed his daily life.

His latest blog post describes how the discovery of uncompromising non-duality ended the spiritual search and freed up a vast amount of energy.

 

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"The Truth of our Being is ever present, yet veiled under a veneer of conditioned beliefs that give birth to an apparent separate self. Trey is a rare example of one who has seen through the illusion of the separate self.  In the months that I have sat with Trey, he has helped me to see what I am not.  If you are seeking Truth, I encourage you to sit with Trey.  He is highly skilled at facilitating the unveiling the Self that you are.  Who knows?  You may just meet Yourself again for the first time." ~ Doug D.

"Thank you for continuing to take a stand for your own awakening as well as the awakening of our community of seekers.  Keep it up - your work is a gift to the local community and to the universe." ~ Laurie M.

"Trey Carland embodies perfectly the quote, "still waters run deep." I happened upon Trey several years ago through his spiritual awakening group. From this experience, Trey appeared to me as a wise Sage. Trey is accepting and patient with people. His demeanor is calm and loving. For me, it was evident that the stillness of Trey's soul, is like a shimmering river that runs endlessly, with much depth. With celebration, I am blessed for having him as a friend. " ~ John K.

"Trey's group helps me get out of my muggle, day to day life. It's a safe, non-judgmental space to share your thoughts. Trey helps others find their spiritual path and see through their muggle egos that we all try and hold onto as our false identities." ~ Ashley K.

"Trey’s Awakening Support group offers peaceful and loving insight into our true nature, of who we really are in non-duality.  Trey provides a wonderful and quiet space to step out of our anxious over-active world and to sit together in stillness and also to share our journeys with each other." ~ Lori F.

"Nine years ago I was new to WNC and was blessed to find Trey's Awakening Group. Trey has such a passionate desire to learn and grow and to share his spiritual discoveries with others. I have been touched by his generosity and steadfast commitment to the path toward enlightenment." Sheila O.

Here is a lovely sentiment from Mary Pompeo's Blog:

"When I first moved to Asheville, I decided that if I was going to be a part of the spiritual community up here that I wanted to experience it as a member and not a teacher. I thought it would do my ego some good not to be the authority and I felt it was important for every teacher to spend time as a student, for perspective.

I searched for a group and the one that drew my attention was the Eckhart Tolle meditation group. The young man who led the group, Trey Carland, did so with pure absence of ego, more so than I had ever experienced outside of India. Each week, the way he conducted the discussions and led us to experience the material taught me even more than the material itself.

I have great respect for Trey Carland as a man, as a teacher, as a fellow seeker. I encourage you all to read his blogs and his book A Seakers Guide to Inner Peace, which you will find helpful no matter where you are on the path.

Trey sees life as the experiences which teach us and in the following peace we can see how his young daughter is teaching him how desire gets so fixed in our mind that we decide things must be a certain fixed way in order for us to find happiness." - Mary Pompeo

The events in our lives serve as sign posts. If we ignore them, we might end up driving in circles for a while, in which case we will encounter recurring themes. If we pay attention and use our intuition as a guide, we might end up getting to our final destination in One Peace.