Stephan has practiced and taught nondual approaches
to truth for more than 35 years. After a series of deepening
realizations, he received Dharma transmission (authorization
to teach) from Adyashanti, a teacher in the spiritual wisdom tradition of Zen and Advaita. His life is now
devoted to igniting and fostering the flame of truth in others
through his counseling, mentoring, teaching, and writing.
In addition to regular satsangs
and intensives, Stephan
offers silent retreats
and an annual eight-month School for Awakening
that begins again in Fall 2010. A licensed psychotherapist
as well as a spiritual teacher, he has evolved a vibrant,
intimate approach to counseling and mentoring that blends
psychological insight and spiritual realization. His latest book,
Wake Up Now: A Guide to the Journey of Spiritual Awakening,
is now available in paperback from McGraw-Hill. (To order, click on
the book cover to the left.)
Stephan began practicing Zen in 1970 after studying Asian
language and culture at Columbia and Stanford. Ordained a
Zen priest in 1974, he trained with several Zen masters, including
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi (author of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind)
and Taizan Maezumi Roshi, and directed the training program
at the Zen Center of Los Angeles. He also practiced Dzogchen-Mahamudra
with several Tibetan teachers and spent 10 years studying
Advaita Vedanta with Jean Klein.
Stephan is the former editor-in-chief of the magazine Yoga
Journal and a contributing editor of Tricycle: The
Buddhist Review, and he has written extensively on spiritual
themes. His articles have appeared in numerous national magazines,
including Fitness, Natural Solutions, Cooking
Light, Tricycle, and, of course, Yoga Journal.
He's the author of the popular
guidebook Meditation for Dummies, which has sold over
150,000 copies and is now in its second edition with instructional
CD. The book is available in English, Dutch, German, Italian,
French, Russian, Portuguese, and Spanish editions. His other books include Living Yoga
(with Georg Feuerstein); Timeless Visions, Healing
Voices; and Buddhism for Dummies (with Jonathan
Landaw). In addition, Stephan contributed the chapter "Deconstructing
the Self: The Uses of Inquiry in Nondual Psychotherapy"
for the anthology The Sacred Mirror (Paragon, 2003).
Stephan has also written, developed, and narrated several meditation-based audio programs in conjunction with the website Mentalworkout.com: Freedom from Stress, Happiness for Life, and Mindfulness Meditation. These programs are available either as iPhone/iPod Touch applications (downloadable from the iTunes store) or as mp3 programs.
For information on counseling, intensives, or the School for Awakening, contact Stephan at info@stephanbodian.org,
or 415-451-7133.
Mailing address: PO Box 45, Fairfax CA 94978
