Awakening in Times of Collapse: Stephan Bodian

Stephan offers webinars, retreats, videos, books, and spiritual counseling that make profound spiritual teachings and practices accessible to a global audience. He studied and practiced for many years with great masters in the nondual wisdom traditions of Zen, Dzogchen-Mahamudra, and Advaita Vedanta, and in 2001 he received Dharma transmission (authorization to teach) from Adyashanti. In this conversation, recorded to mark the release of his new book Infinite Awakening: A Guide to Nondual Wisdom and the Pathless Path (Shambhala, May 2026), Stephan and Michael explore awakening not as a destination but as an ongoing, infinite process. They move through trauma and trust, the limits of mindfulness, the role of intimate relationship as spiritual path, and how nondual realization speaks — or fails to speak — to the metacrisis we're all living through. The episode closes with a guided "rest and allow" meditation from Stephan. Topics 00:00 — Reconnecting 00:04 — Awakening as a Path 00:10 — Trauma & Trust 00:16 — IFS & Somatic Therapy 00:18 — Intimate Relationships as Spiritual Path  00:21 — Spiritual Bypassing 00:27 — The Limits of Mindfulness 00:33 — Guided Meditation: Rest and Allow by Stephan Resources & Links Stephan Bodian Website: infinite-awakening.org Infinite Awakening: A Guide to Nondual Wisdom and the Pathless Path — Shambhala/Penguin Random House, May 2026 Beyond Mindfulness — referenced in the conversation Meditation for Dummies — Stephan Bodian Psychology Today interview: "Stephan Bodian on Our Innate Drive to Awaken" Referenced teachers and books Adyashanti — website — gave Stephan Dharma transmission; wrote the foreword to Infinite Awakening Ramana Maharshi — Wikipedia — referenced in discussion of awakening ideals Nisargadatta Maharaj — Wikipedia — "I am That"; referenced in discussion of true nature Thich Nhat Hanh — "inter-being" — referenced in discussion of inseparability and nonduality Ram Dass — "go home to your parents" — referenced in discussion of relationships as spiritual mirror Andrew Holecek — I'm Mindful, Now What? (Sounds True, 2024) — referenced as a companion conversation on the limits of mindfulness Glissando of Consciousness SAND Podcast with Andrew Holecek Gabor Maté — referenced in discussion of trauma as universal human condition Psychological Modalities IFS — Internal Family Systems — referenced as a somatic approach that complements awakening EMDR — Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing — referenced alongside somatic therapy SAND  The Wisdom of Trauma — SAND film The Eternal Song — SAND film series SAND membership Contact SAND [email protected]