If you’ve participated in the School for Awakening, attended my other events, or been a longtime student of the direct approach with other teachers, you’re welcome to apply to join the ongoing Chop Wood, Carry Water embodiment group, which I’ve been offering for several years now.
The focus and purpose of the group is to provide a biweekly invitation to remember who we really are in the midst of the demands and stresses of everyday life and to explore together the challenges and issues of living from our deeper understanding from moment to moment. Active participation and a willingness to share your growing edge are encouraged, if not required.
Here’s an outline of the core themes and content of the group:
Core themes:
Precipitating, clarifying and deepening our realization
Embodying and integrating the awakened/nondual view in everyday life
Seeing the identities, narratives, and stories for what they are without getting seduced into believing them
Working with the psychological issues and strong emotions that get stirred up as we let go more and more of the narrative/dream, in particular, survival-level fears and stories often based on trauma
Group content:
Guided meditation and self-inquiry
Teachings and pointers that clarify and deepen the awakened realization of our nondual spiritual nature.
Inquiring into identities, stories, narratives and seeing them for what they are, that is, thoughts and not reality.
Exploring these structures and our attachments to them, welcoming them with compassion but not believing them, and gently loosening their grip.
Willingness to let go of the façade/persona and reveal the deepest stuck places and contractions in order to free them into the light
Focus from session to session on particular integration and embodiment themes: intimate relationships; letting go of the “past” (which is just a persistent narratve); staying in the Now (while meeting the “future” as it arises); working with trauma and survival-level fears and other strong negative emotions; embracing pain sickness, old age, and death.
Sharing poems, stories and teachings from other teachers.
In addition to two-hour biweekly sessions, participants will meet with a dyad partner between sessions to meditate, inquire, and share their journey together.
If you’re interested, please send me an email introducing yourself, if I don’t already know you, and telling me a little about your spiritual background and why you’d like to join.
Meets on Zoom every other Wednesday at 9-11 am US PT/5-7 pm UK. New series starts September 24, 2025. (stephanbodian@gmail.com)