Dave Smith
For nearly 30 years, Dave Smith has held a practice rooted in the Insight Meditation (Vipassana) tradition. He was empowered to teach through the Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society, is a certified teacher for Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) which combines contemporary emotion based scientific research with contemplative practices and psychology drawn from Buddhism and has studied Buddhist psychology at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (BCBS).
Dave teaches residential meditation retreats, weekly live dharma classes, online courses, and workshops. He has developed educational tools and resources, including mindfulness and emotional skills trainings, in both secular and Buddhist contexts.
In 2016 he founded the Secular Dharma Foundation to foster the advancement of emotional and psychological well-being through the education and integration of mindfulness, psychology, and various therapeutic modalities. Dave has brought dharma and meditative interventions into a variety of settings including jails, prisons, youth detention centers and addiction treatment facilities. Dave lives in rural Colorado with his wife and two sons.
Upcoming Programs by Dave Smith
Mindfulness and Recovery Retreat
This weekend program offers a fresh approach to understanding and overcoming addiction. Together, we’ll create a framework for how addiction and recovery can be defined using insights from psychology, spirituality, and science. We’ll draw from a range of perspectives, including cognitive science, emotional intelligence, Buddhist psychology and philosophy, and the 12 Steps. Mindfulness has become […]
Cultivating Authentic Intelligence (the Other AI)
In an age of algorithmic certainty and digital noise, we have entered a "crisis of meaning" where purpose feels like a relic of a forgotten world. While Artificial Intelligence processes information, Authentic Intelligence cultivates meaning. This multi-day program is designed to help you get "untrapped." It is a move away from the artificial and toward […]