Dave Smith is an internationally recognized Buddhist meditation teacher, addiction treatment specialist, and published author. His background is rooted in the Insight Meditation tradition and he was empowered to teach through the Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. He has extensive experience bringing meditative interventions into jails, prisons, youth detention centers and addiction treatment facilities. Dave teaches residential meditation retreats and classes, provides trainings and consulting in both secular and Buddhist contexts, and works with students through his meditation mentoring program. He recently founded the Secular Dharma Foundation and lives in Paonia, Colorado.
Events with Dave Smith
July 29 - August 5, 2025
During this week-long silent mindfulness retreat we will learn to pay attention with a direct and embodied knowing that leads to intuitive wisdom. As we practice the qualities of presence and ease, we learn to attend to each moment with kind awareness. Being immersed in the natural world, we’ll attune to nature within ourselves and around us. This practice fosters opening to a greater freedom for ourselves and our communities. We will offer a range of Mindfulness instructions (including sitting, standing, and walking), guided heart practices, as well as Dharma talks, practice discussions, question and answer periods, and ample time…
September 11 - 18, 2025
During this retreat we will explore the Four Foundations of Mindfulness with an emphasis on developing continuity of wise awareness as taught by Burmese master Sayadaw U Tejaniya. Instructions will emphasize the Buddha’s teachings on view, attitude and qualities of mind that support a relaxed and alert awareness throughout all activities. Through the development of a sustained and kind awareness we come to meet ourselves and the world with presence, ease and wisdom, naturally establishing the clear seeing and collectedness of mind that are the hallmark of liberating insight. The retreat will be conducted in noble silence and will follow…