Bill Epperly

I’m Bill Epperly, an Interning Teacher and member of the Trillium Awakening community since 2011. If you’re looking for someone to accompany you on your walk to awakening – someone down to earth and practical, with a sense of humor and a kind heart – I hope you’ll give me a call for an exploratory session.

I have a relational style, relating to people as they are, inviting them to investigate what they feel called to explore. I am comfortable with silence, but also enjoy other ways of being in relationship. No topic is off-topic and almost nothing is inappropriate to bring up. Sessions may include time for gazing, meditation, co-meditation, focusing, as well as lots of time to share and explore whatever is up for you. I see our relationship as a form of spiritual friendship in which two share the ongoing adventure of the spiritual path.

My spiritual story begins in early childhood when I had important experiences of Spirit in nature. I have grown into a nature mystic and love being out in the wilderness. I try to go camping whenever I can, either alone or with my wife. I have a deep felt-sense of connection to the natural world and love to experience communion with plants, animals, earth, water and sky. Out of my love of nature, when it was time for college, I majored in biology, then biochemistry. I was an agnostic and believed that studying life in the lab would help me discover the mystery of life with a capital “L.”

My spiritual journey has been about awakening and healing. Traumas I experienced as a child left imprints on my life and my ability to live easily in the world. I wrestled with anxiety, depression, self-doubt and a lack of basic trust most of my life. Looking back, I can see that all my major spiritual experiences have all had a healing aspect. My healing continues, but I have experienced countless transformational moments that have fundamentally altered my experience of life.

My spiritual life has been rich and varied. I grew up Methodist but spent most of my first 25 years as an atheist or agnostic. I think the label of spiritual but not religious would have described me well during that time. After a profound early awakening in 1987, in which I had a glimpse of nondual awareness, I set out on a spiritual search for enlightenment. I was very interested in contemplative Christianity and zen Buddhism. My interest in Buddhism led me to investiage the local Zen Buddhist Temple in Ann Arbor, MI, where I was completing a doctorate in biological chemistry. I fell in love with zen, and with the community, and ended up moving in and experiencing 3 years of residential Korean Zen Buddhist training. 

Today, I live in the city of Chicago with my wife Claire. Here, I’ve learned to cultivate a spiritual life in a large city. It’s my experience that awakening does not necessarily require a certain kind of job or environment. What it seems to require is a strong intention to awaken and a willingness to creatively cooperate with the awakening process, wherever it may lead. If you’re interested in connecting to explore working with me as a teacher, please contact me today. I’m happy to schedule a conversation to meet you and discuss how I can support your in your ongoing awakening process.