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About Me

Hi, I’m Stephen. I didn’t know when I was growing up that I had an attention deficit—the term ADD didn’t even exist—but I was moody, awkward and felt like I didn’t belong. Something was wrong and I resolved to change the way my mind worked. After four years of university I dropped out, hitch-hiked to India and became a Buddhist Monk.

I lived with the last generation of lamas trained in Old Tibet. They were happy to share their wisdom and I had the good fortune to study with Geshe Tamdrin Rabten—a debating tutor to the young Dalai Lama. Learning Tibetan introduced me to a completely new way of seeing and guided me through a beautiful healing period in my life.

Teaching

After eight years I was ready to teach—though not in the same way I’d been taught. Tibetan Buddhism is a set of practical tools, but also a religious belief system—and I’m not a believer. I work with evidence, and trial and error. I learned that from the Buddha, and as the years pass my respect for him and his invention of mindfulness has grown exponentially.

But mindfulness is only one fold of his Eightfold Way. There’s more to it than just reducing stress. It reinforces your moral backbone and brings deep meaning to your life.

I present mindfulness as a complete path of personal growth requiring no beliefs or philosophical training. If you’re in search of insight and self-understanding, all you need to believe in is your own ability to change.

Quiet Mind Seminars

I became a family man, flourishing at last in the real world—as a typographer, designer, and illustrator. Far from being a distraction to my inner work this was the crucible from which it sublimated. I leaned heavily on my training, scouring the scriptures in search of practical tools. To this day the Buddha remains my role model for insight and clarity, self-care and self-reliance.

In 2003, my wife Caroline and I founded Quiet Mind Seminars, teaching weekly public mindfulness workshops in the Montreal area. I also volunteered at a cancer wellness center, helping survivors to come to terms with their frightening diagnosis and to live life to the full.

Mindfulness Live

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we created Mindfulness Live—a fifty-two-week program offering continuous support and practical coping tools. It’s a three-times-a-week class with live and recorded sessions, emphasizing personal commitment and growth.

My ADD’s still there, but it no longer controls me. I’ve made peace with it, understanding that it requires loving attention—a testament to the transformative power of mindfulness and the Eightfold Way.