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Dave Smith

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 has taught many times at Sangha Live. 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. Click here to learn more about Dave Smith.

Genuine Happiness: An Alternative Perspective

With Dave Smith Recorded : July 14, 2019

So much of what we hear and learn about within Dharma practice places an arguably unnecessary emphasis on suffering (dukkha). While the acceptance of suffering (dukkha) is an important and essential aspect of the...

I think I am…Understanding self and non-self, through the five aggregates

With Dave Smith Recorded : November 4, 2018

One of the most puzzling and profound aspects of Dharma is the teaching of anatta; translated as non-self. For us living in the modern world, with the emergence of social media and the over...

The Gratification, The Danger and The Escape

With Dave Smith Recorded : September 23, 2018

The triad of gratification, danger, and escape is one of the Buddha’s most concise and simple teachings for investigating everyday lived experience. This formula can be applied to every single aspect of our experience....

A Practical Approach to Understanding Right Effort

With Dave Smith Recorded : July 22, 2018

All schools of Buddhism acknowledge that if we are to “awaken” in this lifetime, our aim is to cultivate and develop the eight-fold path. This path consists of behavioral (sila), meditative (samadhi) and philosophical...

This Dharma I Have Reached

With Dave Smith Recorded : March 4, 2018

Without a doubt, Buddhism is recognized as one of the world’s great religions. For almost three millennia these ancient teachings have spread rapidly around the globe influencing humanity in a variety of ways. Needless...

Understanding and developing Citta (heart-mind)

With Dave Smith Recorded : January 28, 2018

All schools of Buddhism acknowledge that the development of Citta is an essential aspect of the awakening process. Within classical Mindfulness teachings, it encompasses the entirely of the third foundation of practice. At its...

Practicing metta vipassana

With Dave Smith Recorded : May 14, 2017

In this talk Dave discusses the process of integrating heart practices within the four foundations of mindfulness. Mindfulness practice unites the steadiness of concentration with the immediacy of moment to moment experience. As we...

Liberation through the Heart (Citta Vimmuti)

With Dave Smith Recorded : June 28, 2020

Most people associate Dharma practice with the concept of Wisdom. Here, the idea is that we need to “know” something that we don’t already know. For English thinking minds this can become very problematic...

Embracing the First Noble Truth: Dukkha and Destructive Emotions

With Dave Smith Recorded : January 24, 2021

Coming to terms with the teaching and implications of the first noble truth can be challenging, confusing and ongoing. When we are unable to do the hard work of completing the task of the...

Citta and Right Speech: Cultivating the Voice of Kindness and Wisdom

With Dave Smith Recorded : July 31, 2022

Dharma practice encourages us to transform our thoughts, words and actions. The primary mechanism for how this is accomplished is vague. What often goes unnoticed is that the use of the term mind has undergone a...

Mindfulness and the Four Noble Truths

With Dave Smith Recorded : July 16, 2023

Across all Buddhist lineages and traditions, the four noble truths hold the utmost importance. They are the Dharma’s most fundamental teaching. In modern society, the focus of Buddhism often shifts to meditation, particularly mindfulness,...

Genuine Happiness: An Alternative Perspective

With Dave Smith Recorded : March 10, 2024

So much of what we hear and learn about within Dharma practice places an arguably unnecessary emphasis on suffering (dukkha). While the acceptance of suffering (dukkha) is an important and essential aspect of the...

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