Bodhipaksa

Graeme Robertson Stephen (born January 4, 1961), professionally known as Bodhipaksa, is an author and meditation teacher. He is a member of the Triratna Buddhist Community. Bodhipaksa is well known as a proponent of vegetarianism and veganism and has pioneered online meditation teaching, which he has been doing for over two decades.
Bodhipaksa is the founder of the online meditation center Wildmind.org and in his work there he has developed a number of innovative theories and practices regarding meditation. He also runs a website where he debunks fake Buddha quotes. Bodhipaksa has also written a number of books related to meditation and Buddhism.
==Early life and education==
Bodhipaksa Stephen was born in Dundee, Scotland, to Ian and Eleanor Stephen, who worked as a teacher and office assistant, respectively. He was raised in Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland, from childhood through early adulthood. He enrolled in the Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine after graduating from Glenwood High School in 1979. He first became interested in meditation and Buddhism while at high school. Bodhipaksa attended Jordanhill College of Education in 1989 and then the University of Montana in 1998 where he acquired a Master's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.
==Career==
Bodhipaksa began his work in the printing industry, in a Buddhist "right livelihood project" in 1984. He stayed for more than five years, during which time he also undertook volunteer work in adult literacy, an adventure playground for mentally challenged children, and coached students who were lagging in school.
In 1989, he enrolled at Jordanhill College of Education for a one-year postgraduate program in Community Education. He began working in Community Education after graduation, primarily in Lanarkshire, Scotland, working with vulnerable teenagers and with unemployed and underemployed single mothers.
Bodhipaksa was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 1993, in the context of a four-month retreat. It was then that he was given his Buddhist name, which means “Wings of Enlightenment". After returning to Scotland, Bodhipaksa joined Dhanakosa Retreat Center in the Scottish Highlands as an administrator and teacher in 1993. In 1997, he moved on to Edinburgh Buddhist Center, where he served in a similar capacity for a year.
In 1998 Bodhipaksa moved to Missoula, Montana, to undertake an interdisciplinary Master’s degree at the University of Montana. His degree combined Buddhist studies with business studies. While undertaking his Master’s degree, Bodhipaksa founded www.wildmind.org, the world's first internet meditation center, in the year 2000. He has also taught at the New York Insight Meditation Center and led retreats all around the world since then. For several years, he was active in prisons in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, teaching meditation and Buddhism. He gave a TEDx lecture in 2012 called "The Surprising Secret of Unlocking Compassion."
Bodhipaksa's meditation teaching is distinguished by an emphasis on the Six Element Practice, a little-known meditation on interconnectedness; the development of a unique, step-by-step approach to meditative absorption (or jhana); and a willingness to re-examine Buddhist teachings in light of both practice and scholarship in order to render them more practical and helpful. His teaching emphasizes the importance of striking a balance in spiritual practice between mindfulness and heart-based activities; samatha (calming) and vipassana (insight) meditation practices; ethics and meditation; and spiritual friendship/community and individual practice.
==Books==
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==Personal life==
Bodhipaksa was married from 2002 to 2014. He has two adopted children and currently lives in Newmarket with his partner of three years who is a psychiatric social worker.
==In the media==
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==References==
==External links==
* Personal website
* Company website
* Company website
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Category:1961 births
Category:Living people
Category:Author
Category:University of Montana alumni
Category:Scottish people
Category:People from Dundee