Secular Dharma Foundation Podcast

dave smith
  • 5.0 (6)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The Secular Dharma Foundation is 501(c)(3) organization. The mission of the Secular Dharma Foundation is to foster the advancement of emotional and psychological well-being through the education and integration of mindfulness, psychology, and various therapeutic modalities. We provide educational tools and resources, mindfulness and emotional skills training through online resources, lectures, workshops, trainings and retreats. Programs developed by the Secular Dharma Foundation are inspired by advancements and innovations made within science and contemplative traditions. As humankind continues to face new and complex challenges in the areas of psychological and emotional suffering, we are committed to addressing the needs within mental health, trauma and addiction. This podcast reflections the conversations and lectures dedicated to the themes and topics of our mission.

  1. Lecture and Dialog Series: Jay Michaelson

    JAN 31

    Lecture and Dialog Series: Jay Michaelson

    To sign up for upcoming sessions, you can do so HERE Current understanding of the meaning crisis argues that contemporary Western society is facing a deepening and pervasive psychological distress. This is not merely an issue of individual failings but a widespread cultural phenomenon, manifested by an increasing sense of loneliness, incoherence, and insignificance, which directly fuels the rise in mental health issues like anxiety and depression. This crisis traces this crisis back to a historical and cultural rupture: the erosion of the traditional "worldview" that once provided a deep, communal sense of connection, purpose, and wisdom. The ascent of the modern scientific, secular perspective has effectively undermined these traditional sources—such as religion and community—without successfully establishing systematic, communal, and scientifically grounded alternatives for the cultivation of meaning, wisdom, and self-transcendence. https://www.jaymichaelson.net/

    58 min
  2. Interview: Brian Dean Williams

    06/10/2025

    Interview: Brian Dean Williams

    Brian Dean Williams is a meditation teacher, registered clinical counsellor, and approved clinical supervisor. With a background in activism and community organizing, he went to his first meditation retreat in 2002, and began engaging with Buddhism and eventually teaching. Brian has worked on the frontlines for 28 years with folks struggling with mental health, substance use, housing, and marginalization. Brian trained with Dave in LA as a meditation facilitator in the early 2010s. Brian's main modalities are narrative therapy and Buddhist psychology, although he also draws from other collaborative forms of counselling and community work. Brian lives on the Sunshine Coast in Canada (BC) with his wife and three kids, where he loves mountain biking, playing hockey / basketball, and singing with his community.  www.briandeanwilliams.com www.facebook.com/briandeanwilliams www.instagram.com/briandeanwilliamstherapy

    55 min
  3. Lecture and Dialog: Erin Treat

    04/30/2025

    Lecture and Dialog: Erin Treat

    Erin is a Buddhist teacher and organizational leader. She serves as Guiding Teacher of Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center and served as Guiding Teacher of the Durango Dharma Center. She teaches at the Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, and has served on the teaching councils and as a consultant for multiple sanghas throughout the country. She is committed to fostering communities of belonging, including de-centering whiteness and heteronormative culture. She teaches the practical and the profound, from a heart grounded in respect for mystery and the many faces of awakening. She is happiest dancing, hiking, cooking, and being in the mountains and rivers of her home in Durango, Colorado. https://www.vallecitos.org/

    54 min
  4. Linda Modaro & Nelly Kaufer: Interview

    04/08/2025

    Linda Modaro & Nelly Kaufer: Interview

    To find out more, see the links below.  Reflective Meditation Sati Sangha Pine Street Sangha Reflective Counsel

    53 min
  5. Lecture and Dialogue Series: John Peacock

    03/31/2025

    Lecture and Dialogue Series: John Peacock

    Historical, theoretical, and practical applications of the teachings of abhidharma are discussed.  https://seculardharmafoundation.com/programs/

    1h 10m
  6. Rochelle Calvert: Interview/Dialogue

    03/10/2025

    Rochelle Calvert: Interview/Dialogue

    Rochelle Calvert, PhD, CMT, SEP, licensed clinical psychologist, certified mindfulness teacher, somatic experiencing practitioner has a devoted love to share the power and healing potential of mindfulness, somatic awareness and nature. She has studied and taught mindfulness for the past 20 years and knows personally the transformational potential. To share the love of these healing practices she has published a book Healing with Nature: Mindfulness and Somatic Practices to Heal from Trauma. https://drrochellecalvert.com/ Dr. Calvert leads courses and retreats in mindfulness, somatic experiencing and Awake in the Wild, nature-based mindfulness. She also facilitates professional trainings in mindfulness for clinicians and travels the country teaching retreats and seminars. She is the director of the Ecotherapy Program at SouthWestern College and New Earth Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is a certified mindfulness teacher with the Mindfulness Teaching Institute, the International Mindfulness Teachers Association and Awake In The Wild organization. Rochelle is the founder and clinical director of New Mindful Life, which offers mindfulness, nature-based, and somatic experiencing therapies. She teaches individual meditations with nature that assist in healing from trauma. She supports her clients and takes them into nature with the aid of Bertha Grace, a Sprinter van that serves as a mobile therapy office. Rochelle now lives in Taos, New Mexico and has a private practice in both Taos New Mexico and San Diego, California. She enjoys spending her free time in nature, hiking, practicing yoga, exploring Indigenous heritage, and resting with trees. She practices mindfulness-based meditation rooted in the Buddhist Theravada Tradition and practices meditation outside in nature daily.

    57 min
  7. Jay Michaelson: Lecture and Dialogue Series

    02/24/2025

    Jay Michaelson: Lecture and Dialogue Series

    What is Realistic Dharma? During this live event we will explore two questions. The session will be 90 minutes.  1. In what ways can contemporary Buddhism and Dharma practice be misleading in the context of modern life?    2. How can we balance aspiration and realism when it comes to making progress in ethics, meditation, mindfulness, and our overall relationship to the world? These monthly events will explore a range of topics that are both rooted in early Buddhist thought and are relevant to the challenges and issues that we face in our current lived experience.   The format will not follow a traditional Dharma talk, but will take place in a dialogue format that is intended to raise more questions than provide answers. As the practice of the Dharma continues to make inroads into our culture through various channels, these dialogues have been created to address ideas, topics, and tensions that are not generally addressed in the greater arena of mindfulness, Dharma, and Buddhism. Our hope is to address the existential, therapeutic, contemplative, and ethical dimensions of our humanity that can skillfully bring to light pragmatic and realistic sets of practices and perspectives that can have a meaningful impact on what it means to live in this world. Here and now. Jay Michaelson is a professor, journalist, rabbi, and meditation teacher. He is a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, where he is convening the first-ever conference on psychedelics in Abrahamic religious traditions.ay was a teacher and editor at Ten Percent Happier for five years, and is authorized to teach in a the Theravadan Buddhist lineage of Ayya Khema.  He has had leadership roles at the New York Insight Meditation Center and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. https://jaymichaelson.substack.com/ Jay also is a journalist – he’s a commentator on CNN and a contributor to Rolling Stone, The Forward, and other publications, and he previously worked for ten years as an LGBTQ activist.  He is the author of ten books, and holds a Ph.D. in Jewish Thought from Hebrew University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and nondenominational rabbinic ordination.  So, yes, he is Rabbi Doctor Jay Michaelson.

    55 min
  8. Jessica Morey: Interview

    02/03/2025

    Jessica Morey: Interview

    Dave and Jessica have been practicing for almost 30 years and share very similar Dharma roots.  Jess Morey is a meditation teacher and contemplative coach. https://jessicamorey.org/ She began practicing meditation at age 14 on teen retreats offered by the Insight Meditation Society (IMS), and has maintained a consistent commitment to meditation since. Diving head first into meditation at such a key developmental stage makes the revelatory perspective of mindfulness & compassion her natural home turf, and gives her an easy, conversational teaching style anyone can relate to. She is also a lead teacher, cofounder and former executive director of Inward Bound Mindfulness Education which runs in-depth mindfulness programming for youth, and the parents and professionals who support them across the US, and internationally. Before dedicating her professional life to teaching mindfulness, Jess studied engineering and worked in clean energy finance. She has no doubt in the technical brilliance of humanity to solve the challenges facing us – including climate change and systemic injustice. Where she believes we need some help is in our inner & interpersonal intelligence.

    55 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

The Secular Dharma Foundation is 501(c)(3) organization. The mission of the Secular Dharma Foundation is to foster the advancement of emotional and psychological well-being through the education and integration of mindfulness, psychology, and various therapeutic modalities. We provide educational tools and resources, mindfulness and emotional skills training through online resources, lectures, workshops, trainings and retreats. Programs developed by the Secular Dharma Foundation are inspired by advancements and innovations made within science and contemplative traditions. As humankind continues to face new and complex challenges in the areas of psychological and emotional suffering, we are committed to addressing the needs within mental health, trauma and addiction. This podcast reflections the conversations and lectures dedicated to the themes and topics of our mission.

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