Teaching Style and Influence

As a dharma teacher Dave’s goal is to connect the experience of living in the modern world with the philosophies and teachings of the historic Buddha. The approach is respectful of the classical tradition and faithful to the original teachings, but secular in its orientation and focused more on the practical psychology of Buddhism than upon its religious dogma or metaphysical aspects.

Personal Dharma Journey

My exploration of the Dharma began in the winter of 1993. After a series of tragic events, and barely getting through the struggles of my teen years, I began experiencing a growing confusion and hatred towards life and the world at large. At the suggestion of a close friends’ mom, I was encouraged to go meet with one of her close friends who was Dharma teacher. His name was Steven Smith. I drove out to the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, MA to meet with him. We talked for a few hours about my life, my experiences, my suffering, and my confusion. He spoke in detail about the challenging and important role that suffering has in our lives. He described in detail how the mind can be trained through various practices of meditative training. He discussed his time as a monk under the guidance of Burmese masters to be an authentic lineage of training. He was transparent and trustworthy. I still consider him my primary dharma door and teacher.

A few hours later, I found myself sitting across from him in the dharma hall at IMS. He showed me how to sit and offered me the basic instruction, “bring your attention to the sensation of the in-and-out breath”. I began practicing mindfulness of breathing for the next few minutes and I started to experience a sense of ease. I began to find moments where I was ok, I felt safe and present. Then the next instruction, “when you notice your mind begin to wander, gently return your attention back to the breath”. It was this basic instruction that changed my life.

When I became aware of my attention getting pulled into the mind, the stories of my life, re-living all the loss, all the horrifying experiences, all the anger, the confusion, the pain and sadness, there it was. It was all inside my own mind. I was able to watch my mind, with my mind. A radical intervention. As I continued to re-adjust my attention out of my thinking mind and into my sitting, breathing body I would find relief. From that day forward I’ve continued to benefit from that simple shift in perspective that mindfulness practice had provided.

Throughout my life I’ve continued to practice the Dharma with varying degrees of success. I spent a decade lost in the throes of active drug and alcohol addiction, touring in rock bands, living in crappy apartments, and moving around the country, all whilst sitting various 10-day Insight retreats. Feeling extremely unsatisfied, torn and confused. I decided to get sober in July 2003. Three months into sobriety, I signed up for the 3-month retreat at IMS. There I entered the innermost nether regions of my heart and mind where I would spend the next 90 days. During that time, I experienced moments of great joy and deep concentration, and times of total despair, fear and confusion. I got it all, except I was not liberated. Since then, I have spent much time trying to fully comprehend what its means to practice the Dharma.

During the last decade, I’ve been integrating Dharma practice into a wide range of territories both personally and professionally. Spending several years working with incarcerated populations teaching mindfulness and emotional intelligence exercises. The primary focus of my work has been within addiction and substance abuse populations. I’ve provided extensive work in both secular mental health environments and Buddhist communities.

I hope to see you  on the path,

Dave Smith