Stephan Bodian ‘The Seeker is the Sought’ Interview by Renate McNay.

Stephan is a spiritual teacher who offers Satsangs and Retreats. He is a Psychotherapist and the Founder and Director of ‘The School for Awakening,’ an annual six-month awakening intensive. In 2001 Adyashanti gave him Dharma transmission and invited him to teach. He is the author of several books including “Beyond Mindfulness”, "Wake up Now” and “A Guide to the Journey of Spiritual Awakening.”
After a difficult Childhood Stephen was longing to transcend the burden of his busy mind, the pain of his Childhood, and his anxiety. He found himself on the doorsteps of Buddhism and Zen and practicing “Mindful Meditation” intensively as a Zen Monk for a decade. He developed the capacity to sit with unwavering focus for hours at a time but after many years of mindfully following his breath he felt that he reached the limits of mindfulness. He felt there was no sign of any insights or awakening. He left the monastery he was in and met the Advaita teacher Jean Klein who told him to “Stop meditating and instead discover the Meditator….don't make Meditation a Habit”. One day driving down the Freeway a phrase Jean Klein had often repeated drifted through his awareness: “The Seeker is the Sought”. Suddenly his reality turned inside out and he had a profound awakening.
Stephan talks about his journey, the work of Embodiment after Awakening, and reflects on the abuse shown by some spiritual teachers.

[@eisvogel8099]

When Renate smiles the whole room around her smiles. Beautiful.

[@autoayudasinrodeos]

Thank you Lain and Renate for being an example of humble, caring and loving beings! Your attitude and your presence expresses more than any word can reach. Here lies a deep appreciation for both of you!

[@robynannan7015]

The statement, "Just be yourself" is the answer to the riddle. Most people cannot be them self because they are programmed to be someone else by schools, parents, cultures, norms, responsibilities and expectations. The riddle is what innate quality do I have that negates the programming, supersedes the external influences, removes: the guilt, the yearning for something more, and the desire to be someone else.

[@authenticprague]

"The bad news is that you are falling through space without parachute, the good news is that there is no ground" 🤣

[@tesshughes]

Thank you Stephen and Renate for this wonderful interview.

[@GrahamBolt-kv4zi]

Hello I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness prosperity, love and peace all over the world. I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust so as time goes on it will bring something great for us in the future, hope you don't mind? I'm Engineer Graham Bolt from Nashville Tennessee, where are you from?

[@tillyvickers2721]

Renate, you're such a lovely,gentle host.Been wanting to tell you for years! Very interesting interview.Loved the bit about there not being people who are always enlightened, but rather enlightening moments, from which we can grow and keep on learning. Thank you both so much!👋😍😍

[@ellenemmet]

lovely moments of conversation, simple honest and straightforward... thank you

[@walternicolas6927]

Hello pretty 💖

[@GrahamBolt-kv4zi]

Hello I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness prosperity, love and peace all over the world. I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust so as time goes on it will bring something great for us in the future, hope you don't mind? I'm Engineer Graham Bolt from Nashville Tennessee, where are you from?

[@michaelfinkelstein8380]

Honest and true.

[@georgecarpenter8310]

An amazing tape. At around 30.2 he says "...let everything be what it is", and as I heard the words I had an amazing opening, and a sense of falling away of "stuff". I still experience this state as I write this; no way to tell now how long this will last..

[@tprice1216]

I'm sharing this request here to reach an audience. Please envision the answered prayer for the healed body of Rylee in Delta, Pa. She is 7 years old and was crushed in a motor vehicle accident Friday Oct 30th. Thank you!!!!

[@katnip198]

Thank you for this interview. So helpful. Bless you.

[@claudedupont8233]

Great ,thank you so much for posting.

[@christinepronger2903]

Stephen deep..gratitude..( from another Adya student)🙏

[@francescomustica8363]

i am a person that lived the Nirvikalpa Samadhi... may same of you give me the way to organise the meeting of Buddha and the Gas Pump... i can give the grace that i am living but i do not know how to organise the meeting in Gas Pump... plese tell me how to do, thank

[@ttrenchmiranda]

i just went absolutely and completely mad listening to this man speak it was pretty delicious

[@martynspooner5822]

The concept is not so difficult to understand on an intellectual level and has been explained by many teachers of Advaita who all say basically the same thing in their own way. But that is not it and perhaps you can only ever experience it authentically and beyond mind with the gift of grace. And I have heard even then that is just the beginning. Still I always enjoy listening to other people's stories and who knows maybe grace will favour any of us if it is meant to be.

[@DilbagSingh-ox8li]

Yes all of a sudden clouds gather and there's the rain, really it's grace what can one say

[@Sambasue]

Trust is what I have. The process is always going on. Self seeks to meet itself.

[@amitashi]

OK, so he got experience of being space for world. But this space was individual!

[@fizywig]

Is Mooji a narcissistic teacher?

[@packethollywood]

Yep

[@bw4025]

yes and no but there is a yes.

[@youdeservetobeloved4048]

There seems to be an identity there built around being "an enlightened one" but there isnt anyone doing that of course

[@bellezavudd]

Are expressions of the ego really the equivalent of narcissism ? Its a quite weighted label in a psychiatry definition. Edit - im askung this in complete ignorance of but less than 30 minutes total of him speaking in various videos.