Stephan Bodian is a teacher in the nondual wisdom tradition of Zen, Dzogchen, and Advaita Vedanta and the founder and director of the annual School for Awakening, an intensive six-month program of exploration and study. His offerings are noted for their humor, warmth, spontaneity, and intimacy and combine direct pointers, lively dialogues, silent sitting, and guided self-inquiry. He’s the author of several books, including Wake Up Now: A Guide to the Journey of Spiritual Awakening and Beyond Mindfulness: The Direct Approach to Lasting Peace, Happiness, and Love.

Stephan spent a decade practicing Zen intensively as a monk but left the monastery because he sensed that the rigorous practice of meditation was obscuring the truth he was seeking. After studying Dzogchen for several years, he met his guru, Jean Klein, a European teacher of Advaita Vedanta, who told him to stop meditating and instead discover the meditator. Shortly after meeting Jean, he had a profound awakening to his true identity as timeless presence. After Jean’s death, Stephan met Adyashanti, and in 2001 Adya gave him Dharma transmission and invited him to teach.

Trained as a psychotherapist, Stephan also offers individual spiritual counseling and mentoring sessions to people throughout the world. His approach blends direct, experiential, nondual wisdom with the insights of Western psychology to support students in realizing who they really are while inquiring into the stories and patterns of thinking and behaving that continue to cause suffering.

Website: stephanbodian.org

Other books:

Meditation For Dummies, w/Audio CD (Also available in various languages.)

Timeless Visions, Healing Voices: Conversations with Men & Women of the Spirit

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Summary and Transcript of this interview.

First BatGap interview with Stephan.

Interview recorded July 11, 2021

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump

00:05:20 - A Shift in the Locus of Identity

00:10:00 - The Vastness and Dream States

00:15:05 - Roshi's Uninhibited Behavior and the Fall of the Center

00:20:18 - Bodhidharma's Precepts and Acting in Integrity

00:25:13 - The Ugly Truth and Confrontational Behavior

00:30:15 - Dealing with the Shadow and Integrity

00:35:01 - Narcissism in Spiritual Teachers and the Direct Path

00:39:53 - Awakening and the Role of the Teacher

00:44:51 - The Role of Teachers and the Need for Discernment

00:49:48 - The Impressionability of the Mind

00:54:19 - The Interface Between Science and Spirituality

00:57:59 - The Direct Meeting and Potential for Transmission

01:01:23 - The Pitfalls of Spiritual Teachers and Sex

01:05:31 - Boundary-crossing and predatory behavior

01:09:01 - Spiritual Teachers and Dark Triad Qualities

01:12:56 - The Importance of Care in Spiritual Evolution

01:16:34 - Relationships and Higher Callings

01:19:59 - The Literary Invention of Crazy Wisdom

01:23:47 - Compassionate Being and True Crazy Wisdom

01:27:12 - Starting a New University

01:30:43 - The Strange Fit Between Narcissists and Spiritual Teachers

01:34:16 - Embracing Human Relationships

01:37:51 - Giving Power Away and Seeking Enlightenment

01:41:49 - Being Your Own Authority

01:45:11 - The Horse and the Whip

01:48:28 - Different Spiritual Teachers and their Teachings

01:51:57 - The True Guru Within

01:55:49 - The Awakening Journey

01:59:32 - The Role of a Spiritual Teacher

02:03:10 - School for Awakening