Breakfast Conversation with Anastasia Uglova - Austin

Date: 2025-07-18 Location: Austin, Texas Participants: Gary Sheng, Anastasia Uglova Context: Breakfast meeting to catch up after extended period

Executive Summary

A profound conversation covering Anastasia's spiritual awakening, professional work in AI security, traumatic assault by Eric Greitens, and her current book project combining memoir with spiritual exploration. The discussion revealed deep parallels in Gary and Anastasia's spiritual journeys, particularly around authentic Christianity versus institutional corruption.

Key Themes

1. Spiritual Awakening and Religious Exploration

Anastasia described an intense spiritual transformation following trauma, leading to extensive research across religious traditions:

On her approach to spirituality: "I've been reading four different translations of the Bible... I'm also writing a very, very, very personal memoir of spirituality, God, and science... bringing together a lot of pieces from Hindu philosophy, Taoism, early Christianity, other religious traditions."

On avoiding Jesus due to institutional trauma: "Church is for a lot of people... Church also, because it screws so many other people over, has created a block for people that prevents them from going, 'Okay, well what if I remove all that stuff and get straight to the heart of Jesus?'"

Core spiritual insight: "If we keep avoiding the heart of Jesus, then the empire is supposed to be used to win. We're letting the empire win."

2. Non-Duality and Inner Knowing

Extensive discussion of non-dualistic spirituality and direct divine experience:

On the second coming: "The second coming is when you realize that Jesus is inside you... The kingdom of God is here."

On spiritual discernment: "The easy way to know is if you feel fear, you feel love. If you feel the fear, every time you're thinking about it, holding to it, worshipping it, you're probably being employed. If you're feeling love and surrender and peace, you're going for the passion."

On separation as original sin: "Adam and Eve ate not from the food of the knowledge of just evil. They ate from the food of the knowledge of good and evil. It's the original absolute point to duality... Separation is not original sin. Separation."

3. Trauma Disclosure and Community Response

Anastasia revealed her assault by Eric Greitens and subsequent community betrayal:

Initial disclosure: "I was briefly dating a man... His name is Aaron Grayton [Eric Greitens]... he raped me... And so that was fucked up."

Community response: "I didn't stay silent. I talked about it, and so my friends staged an intervention... We moved in our apartment. And the thing is, you told them that you can no longer be part of the community because you had a miscarriage."

Reframing trauma as spiritual opening: "The rupture created an aperture into a reality I didn't have access to before... I'm not driven by fear. I'm driven by a sort of detached compassion... A gratitude that the way things unfolded."

4. Book Project and Publishing Challenges

Discussion of her memoir combining personal trauma with spiritual insights:

Book scope: "My book is about all of that... deconstructing Christianity. And a resurrection of like ancient texts. And bringing in Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism."

Publishing obstacles: "I've got Eric and his cronies not wanting it. The Trump administration wouldn't want it, because Trump wants to nominate him as an undersecretary of something in the Pentagon currently. So Trump would be against it. Probably a bunch of church would be against it."

Material significance: "American politics and power is sexual. Race. New Age nonsense. Religion... it is actually like bestseller material."

5. AI and Technology Work

Brief discussion of her professional expertise:

Current role: "Specialist Leader in Cyber & Strategic Risk at Deloitte... I have a chapter on agency and agentic tech" in her book.

AI coding discussion: Gary shared his recent AI coding bootcamp experience, with Anastasia noting the shift from precise coding language to descriptive AI prompting.

6. Parallel Spiritual Journeys

Gary and Anastasia discovered significant alignment in their spiritual paths:

Gary's journey: Started with Kanye's Sunday Service in 2021, leading to Jordan Peterson's biblical lectures and eventual Christian faith through authentic believers.

On institutional vs. authentic Christianity: Both expressed concern about "fake macho man pastors" supporting Trump versus genuine Christian faith.

Shared framework: Both resonated with the idea that "there has to be a God" based on beauty and meaning in existence.

7. Political and Spiritual Discernment

Discussion of Trump administration through spiritual lens:

Trump as Judas figure: "God used Judas as an instrument of his divine will... You needed Judas to expose the corruption. The scripture had to be fulfilled. That doesn't mean we have to appreciate Judas."

On duality: "As long as we're in this material realm, we need opposites... To see good, we need bad."

Personal Dynamics

• Strong intellectual and spiritual connection between Gary and Anastasia
• Mutual appreciation for deep research and authentic truth-seeking
• Gary's admiration: "I'm really happy you exist. This is really important. Because also, the speaker matters... you have your assignment, I have my assignment"
• Gary offered to potentially connect Anastasia to Vatican conference in Rome

Action Items and Follow-ups

1. Gary to forward Trump administration grant opportunities for family strengthening workshops
2. Potential collaboration on article about spiritual discernment
3. Gary to consider connecting Anastasia to Vatican conference
4. Discussion of connecting with journalist Karen Howe for potential publisher connections

Notable Quotes

• "Wait a God-blessed minute. If we keep avoiding the heart of Jesus, then the empire is supposed to be used to win."
• "The direct experience of God develops an inner knowing and intuition. That inner knowing and intuition makes you impossible to disclose."
• "I carry a particular kind of frequency of integrity. Which is why I must speak this."
• "God works in brutal ways."
• "I felt peaceful and grateful despite what happened to me. Despite what I'm writing. It just feels like a gift."

Significance

This conversation represents a crucial intersection of personal trauma recovery, spiritual awakening, and social/political awareness. Anastasia's willingness to speak truth about powerful figures while maintaining spiritual grounding exemplifies the integration of mystical experience with practical activism. Her book project has potential national significance given the current political climate and the need for authentic spiritual voices.

The parallel spiritual journeys of both participants suggest a broader awakening occurring among intellectuals and technologists seeking authentic spirituality beyond institutional religion.