In Japanese Zen, December 8 is celebrated as Bodhi Day, the anniversary of the Buddha’s awakening, and monasteries hold a special retreat that extends through the night of the seventh and culminates at dawn on the eight, when the Buddha saw the morning star and attained enlightenment. This December 8th is also the 50th anniversary of my ordination as a Zen monk, and I want to express my gratitude to my teachers and students by sitting with you in awakened awareness. The emphasis will be on silent sitting accompanied by teachings and reflections on the nature of awakening and direct pointers to our natural state of inherent wakefulness.

Sunday, December 8, 2024, 8:00am-12:00 noon US PT
Hosted by Open Circle Center. By donation, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Donations go to support the work of Open Circle. To register, click here.

By its very nature, consciousness delights in its expressions in form, and awareness welcomes whatever arises. When we wake up to who we really are, we discover the innate perfection of this moment right now. Nothing is inherently missing or problematic in the sacred mystery of Being. But the ego has its own ideas about how things should be and is constantly resisting what is and trying to impose its agenda on life.

In this satsang, we’ll sit together in the silent mystery of Being and explore how to relate with our resistance to what is, using the Rumi poem The Guest House as our guide. Includes guided meditation, pointers, and plenty of time for Q&A and discussion.

Saturday, October 26, 2024, 9:00-10:30 am US PT
Hosted by Open Circle Center. By donation, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Donations go do to support the work of Open Circle. To register, click here.

Sponsored by Infinity Foundation in Chicago, this webinar offers a concise introduction to the “direct approach” to spiritual awakening for those who may be new to the teachings and curious to learn more.

You don’t have to meditate for years to experience the happiness and peace that the great spiritual traditions promise. Instead, you can turn your awareness back upon itself to discover your natural state of inherent wakefulness and presence, which is always already available to you in every moment of life.

This introduction to the path of spiritual awakening has the potential to transform your life forever.

Receive powerful pointers to your nondual spiritual nature, beyond the mind. Engage in time-honored guided meditations and self-inquiry exercises that reveal the radiant source of all abiding happiness and peace.

Drop the endless struggle to force life to be the way you think it should be, so you can experience the ease and joy of welcoming life, and yourself, just as they are.

Bodian provides teachings and meditations, based on the nondual wisdom traditions of Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, and Advaita Vedanta for stepping beyond the illusory self you are trying so hard to improve and realizing who you really are.

This course is available on Zoom. You will be emailed a Zoom link closer to the time of the class. The course will be recorded and you will receive a link to watch it.

Date Saturday, June 29
Time 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM CT
Cost $50/40 payment 10 days in advance

To register, click here.

Please join Stephan Bodian, who will be interviewed by Anja Janssen from Awakening Together.

Stephan Bodian is a teacher in the non-dual wisdom tradition of Zen, Dzogchen, and Advaita Vedanta. Since 2007 he’s been offering the annual School for Awakening, a multi-month intensive program in spiritual realization and awakened living.

As a licensed psychotherapist, he brings a deep appreciation of the impact of early conditioning on the process of spiritual unfolding and offers individual counseling and mentoring in psychospiritual integration. Trained as a Buddhist monk, he spent many years studying with Advaita master Jean Klein, and in 2001 he received Dharma transmission (authorization to teach) from Adyashanti. His books include Wake Up Now, Beyond Mindfulness, and the bestselling guidebook Meditation for Dummies.

The live event will take place at 10 am PT. The recording will be aired at 4:30 pm PT
📍 Where: Awakening Together’s Zoom Sanctuary

On the relative human level of time, space, and history, our species teeters on the edge of self-annihilation. We could easily destroy ourselves (and possibly our planet as well) in half a dozen ways within the lifetime of babies born now. At the same time, from the perspective of awakened awareness, everything is complete and perfect just as it is, no matter how it unfolds. These are the paradoxical truths we embody.

How do we face the facts—not only about our potential fate as a species but about the inevitability of our individual demise—and do what we can, while remaining grateful, open-hearted, compassionate, and joyful? How do we stay connected with our inherent wakefulness while living engaged and dynamic human lives? Please join me in satsang for an in-depth exploration of these themes and more. Our gathering will include guided meditation, direct pointers to our true nature, and plenty of time for dialogue and discussion.

Saturday morning, October 14, 9-10:30 US PT. Online. For more information or to register, click here.

This group is currently closed but will probably have openings again when it starts a new eight-session cycle in three months. Please check back then.

This ongoing group is designed for those who have attended the School for Awakening, or who have been practicing the direct approach to truth for years and experienced some level of realization, and are looking for a seasoned teacher and a group of kindred spirits, fellow awakeners, to continue to explore the path of embodying this realization in everyday life. 

How do we stay true to our deeper ground amidst the challenges of making a living, raising the kids, maintaining a healthy relationship, facing illness and loss, and negotiating the other challenges that life inevitably provides? 

Each session features guided meditations, themes for exploration, short talks/pointers, and plenty of time for sharing and discussion. The group meets every other Wednesday for eight sessions, beginning on February 1. Open to “graduates” of the School for Awakening and others in the midst of the awakening journey.

Alternate Wednesdays, February 1-May 10, 2023, 9-11 am US PT.

Cost: $395. Register soon. Group resumes shortly.

To apply to participate, click here.

This half-day webinar/mini-retreat is offered through the Infinity Foundation in Chicago. Here is the course description as it appears in their catalog:

As the great masters have been teaching for millennia, you do not suffer because of circumstances outside yourself, but because you believe the negative narratives concocted by your mind. These stories are based on a lifetime of conditioning that causes you to catastrophize about the future and obsess about the past.

Nondual wisdom traditions such as Zen and Advaita Vedanta offer a powerful antidote, a direct path beyond suffering to recognize your essential spiritual nature of pure awareness as inherently awake and free of the conditioning imposed by your mind.

Join spiritual teacher Bodian, author of the bestselling guidebook Meditation for Dummies and Wake Up Now on a journey of self-realization. Engage in dialogue and discussion about truths by:

1. Practicing basic meditations for resting in your inherent wakefulness

2. Relaxing and releasing your compulsive attempts to control your experience

3. Receiving core teachings and pointers to awaken awareness that is always present as the backdrop of all your experiences

4. Using self-inquiry to explore direct answers to the questions "What is reality?" and "Who am I really?"

Awaken to your true nature as timeless, boundaryless awareness. Embody the lifelong process of your awakened realization each moment of your life. You have everything you need to find happiness right here and now. All you need to do is claim it.

This webinar is available on Zoom. You will be emailed a Zoom link closer to the time of the class. The course will be recorded and you will receive a link to watch it.

Time and date: Sunday December 4, 9 am-12 pm CT, 3-6 pm UK, 4-7 pm CET. Cost: $40 preregister

To enroll, click here.

“All you need to do is find out your source and take up your headquarters there.”

—Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

This is a simple and elegant prescription for an awakened life from one of the great sages of the nondual tradition. But of course it’s trickier and more elusive than it might sound at first read. How do we realize our source, our natural state of inherent wakefulness? And once we do, how do we establish our headquarters there? 

In this series of brief online meetings, you will be guided to ground yourself in your deepest inner knowing, the source of all genuine wisdom and compassion, and respond to life’s inevitable challenges from this awakened perspective. Sat sang (“being together in truth”) features guided meditations, pointers and teachings, and ample time for dialogue and discussion. I invite you to join me and look forward to seeing you there.

Suggested donation: $15. To register, click here.

All times are in US PT.

“All you need to do is find out your source and take up your headquarters there.” —Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

This is a simple and elegant prescription for an awakened life from one of the great sages of the nondual tradition. But of course it’s trickier and more elusive than it might sound at first read. How do we realize our source, our natural state of inherent wakefulness? And once we do, how do we establish our headquarters there? 

In this series of brief online meetings, you will be guided to ground yourself in your deepest inner knowing, the source of all genuine wisdom and compassion, and respond to life’s inevitable challenges from this awakened perspective. Sat sang (“being together in truth”) features guided meditations, pointers and teachings, and ample time for dialogue and discussion. I invite you to join me and look forward to seeing you there.

Suggested donation: $15. To register, click here.

All times are in US PT.

As a response to the extraordinary circumstances of our times, which continue to unfold in unexpected ways, I'm offering this regular satsang/webinar series as an opportunity to come home together and rest in the boundless openness and love of our essential nature, while we share and relate with our very human experience. Each session will include teachings and pointers grounded in the nondual wisdom of the heart, guided and silent meditation, and plenty of time for dialogue and discussion. I hope you'll be able to join.

Times are in US Pacific Time.

Please click the donate button to register. If you’re unable to afford the minimum donation, please email me for the password to join for free. Zoom link and password will be emailed a day or two before the event.

As a response to the extraordinary circumstances of our times, which continue to unfold in unexpected ways, I'm offering this regular satsang/webinar series as an opportunity to come home together and rest in the boundless openness and love of our essential nature, while we share and relate with our very human experience. Each session will include teachings and pointers grounded in the nondual wisdom of the heart, guided and silent meditation, and plenty of time for dialogue and discussion. I hope you'll be able to join.

Times are in US Pacific Time. There will also be satsangs on March 13 and May 8 of this year.

Please click the donate button to register. If you’re unable to afford the minimum donation, please email me for the password to join for free. Zoom link and password will be emailed a day or two before the event.

As a response to the extraordinary circumstances of our times, which continue to unfold in unexpected ways, I'm offering this regular satsang/webinar series as an opportunity to come home together and rest in the boundless openness and love of our essential nature, while we share and relate with our very human experience. Each session will include teachings and pointers grounded in the nondual wisdom of the heart, guided and silent meditation, and plenty of time for dialogue and discussion. I hope you'll be able to join.

Times are in US Pacific Time. There will also be satsangs on March 13 and May 8 of this year.

Please click the donate button to register. If you’re unable to afford the minimum donation, please email me for the password to join for free. Zoom link and password will be emailed a day or two before the event.

Some people would argue that spiritual teachers are unnecessary and outdated in the 21st century, and that in fact we’re all teaching one another all the time. Yet we seem to keep being drawn back to those who have experienced what we aspire to experience, help point the way for us on our own journey of awakening, and hopefully embody some of the qualities of wisdom and compassion we seek.

What value do spiritual teachers have these days? What are the different roles they can play, from spiritual friend to mentor to trusted spiritual guide? And how can we assess our potential teachers clearly, determine what they may have to offer us, and discern whether they have the capacity to do their job with genuine devotion and integrity? No teacher is perfect, of course, but it can be extremely helpful to know how to differentiate those few who are actively exploiting their position for their own personal power and self-aggrandizement from those who offer their guidance with love, dedication, and integrity.

As always, this satsang with Stephan will include guided meditation, teachings, and plenty of time for questions, dialogue, and discussion.

Times are in US Pacific time. To register, click here.

Everyone seems to be using this spiritual buzzword these days, but misunderstandings and misconceptions abound. In fact, there sometimes appear to be as many versions of nondual as there are teachers espousing it.

Does it mean reality is just a single undifferentiated whole, and being awake means experiencing oneness with everything all the time? What about our differences? Does the nondual view invalidate science, which is based on studying and measuring discrete phenomenon in a seemingly objective world? Is this world merely an illusion, or is it an expression of a deeper whole? And how do the major traditions of Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, and Taoism differ in their understanding of nonduality?

In this satsang, we’ll explore the concept of nonduality in the spiritual traditions of the East and ground it in direct experience of nonduality through guided meditations and contemplation. As always, there will be plenty of time for questions, dialogue, and discussion.

Times are in US Pacific Time. For more information and to register, click here.

Intimate relationships offer us the opportunity to awaken from the dream of separation and realize our essential oneness with all of life. At the same time, paradoxically, they stir up our deepest fears and reactive patterns and cause us untold suffering if we’re attached to our expectations and beliefs. In other words, relationships are a fertile ground for profound transformation.

In these times of social distancing, when intimacy with loved ones has become increasingly tenuous, we realize all the more how precious intimate relationships are to our emotional and spiritual well-being. In this satsang, we’ll explore the role of relationship as a sacred mirror that reveals our stuck places, core stories, and limited identities—as well as our genuine heartfelt devotion to truth—in order to free us to be more fully awake, authentic, and heartful with family, friends, and, in the most important relationship of all, ourselves.

This satsang is an introduction to a four-week course that Stephan will be offering in October and will include guided meditation, teachings, and plenty of time for questions, dialogue, and discussion.

Times are in US Pacific Time. To register, click here.

In this time of widespread fear, confusion, and suffering, we’re called upon to dissolve the apparent boundaries that separate us and share in the boundless love at the heart of reality. In these gatherings, we will be practicing a nondual version of the Tibetan practice of tonglen, breathing in the suffering and transmuting it in the boundless heart into peace, love, compassion, and ease of being. This practice benefits not only our brothers and sisters around the world, who are of course not separate from us, but ourselves as well, as it fills our own being with love at a relative level and transforms our individual heart into a vehicle for universal love.

In addition to the extended compassion meditation, there will be direct pointers to the groundless ground of our essential nature, as well as ample time for Q&A, dialogue, and discussion. Times are in US PDT. For more information or to register, click here.

The current pandemic has essentially dismantled and upended the world we thought we knew. Now how do we respond to the groundlessness and uncertainty the virus has visited upon us? Do we flow with the situation as it unfolds while taking refuge in a deeper peace that can’t be disturbed by the constant change and dissolution? Or do we latch on to the latest conspiracy theories so we can regain the false security of presuming to know what’s going on, rather than letting ourselves be humbled in the face of the mystery? 

In this satsang, we’ll explore the Zen teaching “not knowing is the most intimate” in light of our current situation. As always, the meeting will feature guided meditation, talk, and dialogue.  I hope you'll be able to join. Times are in Pacific Daylight Time. By donation. Please click the donate button to register. If you can’t afford to donate, please let me know and I’ll send you the link directly.

In this time of widespread fear, confusion, and suffering, we’re called upon to dissolve the apparent boundaries that separate us and share in the boundless love at the heart of reality. In these gatherings, we will be practicing a nondual version of the Tibetan practice of tonglen, breathing in the suffering and transmuting it in the boundless heart into peace, love, compassion, and ease of being. This practice benefits not only our brothers and sisters around the world, who are of course not separate from us, but ourselves as well, as it fills our own being with love at a relative level and transforms our individual heart into a vehicle for universal love.

In addition to the extended compassion meditation, we’ll explore the challenges we face in remaining grounded in the heart in these dark and difficult times, where compassion seems to be in such short supply. Ultimately, though we may often lose our connection with it, love is what we are, an essential aspect or quality of the one being we share. I look forward to resting in love and compassion together.

Times are in US PDT.

For more information or to register, click here.

As a response to the extraordinary circumstances of the present moment, which continue to unfold in unexpected and unprecedented ways, I'm offering this monthly satsang/webinar as an opportunity to come home together and rest in the boundless openness and love of our essential nature, while we share and relate with our very human experience. Each session will include teachings and pointers grounded in the nondual wisdom tradition of Zen and Advaita, guided and silent meditation, and time for dialogue and discussion. I hope you'll be able to join. Times are in Pacific Daylight Time. By donation. Please click the donate button to register. (If you’re unable to afford the minimum donation, please email me for the password to join for free.)

In this one-day online event, we will explore the interface between sitting and movement, silence and sound, spiritual insight and awakened activity. For dancers, it can be an opportunity to shine the light of awareness on the question, Who’s dancing? Or even deeper, who am I? For awakeners, it’s a chance to experiment with embodying your insight in the provocative, sometimes chaotic world of form. And for everyone, it’s a space in which to deepen our connection with ourselves and one another at every level.

Sue and Stephan, who will be collaborating for the first time, will weave together interludes of expressive dance, guided meditation and inquiry, and potent pointers and teachings from the nondual wisdom of Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta. The day promises to be lively, deep, spontaneous, unpredictable—and fun! For more information or to book a place, click here. For booking inquiries, contact heartandmovement@gmail.com. Times are for the UK and Ireland.

Sue

From working in offices and bars and hitchhiking everywhere I somehow fell into dance; 5Rhythms and Conscious Movement, and 6 years ago I helped to found Open Floor International. Along the way I've been exploring what it is to be awake in a moving body and a wild tender heart--such messy marvellous things--by being part of Movement of Being and having excellent teachers. I'm keen to work alongside Stephan; I have a sense this weekend will be good for my soul.

Stephan

I’ve been teaching spiritual awakening (if such a thing is possible!) for many years and dancing 5Rhythms for almost as long. Dance has been a nourishing complement to waking up for me, an opportunity to drop into the body, surrender to the movement, and just let it happen as it will. I heard about Sue when I taught in London last summer and we immediately hit it off and found ourselves readily aligning on how to work together. I look forward to sharing our creative collaboration with you!

As a response to the extraordinary circumstances of the present moment, which continue to unfold in unexpected and unprecedented ways, I'm offering this monthly satsang/webinar as an opportunity to come home together and rest in the boundless openness and love of our essential nature, while we share and relate with our very human experience. Each session will included teachings and pointers grounded in the nondual wisdom tradition of Zen and Advaita; guided and silent meditation; and time for dialogue and discussion. I hope you'll be able to join. Times are in Pacific Daylight Time. By donation. Please click the donate button to register. (If you’re unable to afford the minimum donation, please email me for the password to join for free.)

This workshop is now available online.

Times: 6-11 am US PDT/9 am-2 pm US EDT/2-7 pm UK time/3-8 pm CET

Intimate relationships offer us the opportunity to awaken from the dream of separation and realize our essential oneness with all of life. At the same time, paradoxically, they stir up our deepest fears and reactive patterns and cause us untold suffering if we’re attached to our expectations and beliefs. In other words, relationships are a fertile ground for profound transformation!

In this five-hour workshop--which is grounded in the nondual wisdom tradition of Zen and Advaita Vedanta--we’ll use relationship as a sacred mirror to explore our stuck places, core stories, and limited identities, in order to free ourselves to be more fully awake, authentic, and heartful in our primary relationships with family, friends, and—the most important relationship of all—ourselves.

The workshop will include guided meditations, teachings, dyadic exercises, self-inquiry, and opportunities to work in the group with our individual relationship issues.

Sponsored by Alternatives.

For more information and to register/book, click here.