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 is 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. Dave also works with students 1:1 through his dharma mentoring program.
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.
Events with Dave Smith
Mindfulness for Everyone
October 23 - 26, 2025
October 23 - 26, 2025
This retreat is suitable for beginning or experienced students. A meditation retreat fostering a meaningful engagement with ourselves and this world. The teaching team will provide practice and theory rooted in both the early Buddhist tradition and secular understanding found within various fields of scientific and therapeutic inquiry. The focus is for each of us to find a middle way by developing tools and techniques that are supportive to our emotional and psychological make-up. The retreat will follow a partial silence that will allow for longer periods of silent practice and inquiry. Sessions will be provided for us to discuss…