Founder of Shambhala Publications, Samuel Bercholz, reflects on a lifetime of dharma and encourages us to challenge our often distorted perceptions of reality. 

Check out Dharma Moon’s free online talk this September, Light & Shadow on the Spiritual Path. 

This time on the CSM podcast, Samuel and David explore:

• Samuel’s new book, Rude Awakenings: An Unconventional Guide to the Buddhist Path
• Shaking up our concepts of reality and social phenomena 
• Working with our addictions and habits
• The unpredictability and spontaneous manifestations of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
• Learning how to walk the Bodhisattva path
• Intergenerational dharma and having an enlightened family 
• Practical Buddhism and simply being ‘dharmic and decent’ 
• How Buddhism has traveled from East to West 

Sign up for Dharma Moon’s world-class 100-hour mindfulness meditation teacher training and join Dharma Moon this fall to learn about The Business of Teaching Meditation.

About Samuel Bercholz:

Sam Bercholz is the founder of Shambhala Publications, one of the leading independent publishers of Buddhist and Eastern spiritual literature. He started the company in Berkeley in the late 1960s and later moved it to Boulder, Colorado, where it grew into a major publishing house for authors like Chögyam Trungpa and Pema Chödrön. A senior teacher in the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, Bercholz studied closely with both Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, who empowered him to teach dharma. He has taught Buddhist philosophy and meditation across North America, Europe, and Australasia for over forty years, and is also the author of the new book, Rude Awakenings: An Unconventional Guide to the Buddhist Path.

“The way I perceive and most humans perceive is 180 degrees from the way things actually are. For the most part, we live in a fantasy world of make-believe, and we believe it.” –Samuel Bercholz

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Reflecting on a lifetime of practice, Joseph Goldstein explores how an intimate investigation of suffering can open the doorway to liberation.

Join Dharma Moon for a free online talk Key Elements of Teaching Mindfulness Meditation 

In this week’s episode, Joseph and David explore:

• Joseph’s spiritual lineage and tying the concept of bodhicitta to his motivation for practice
• The inseparability of compassion and emptiness 
• Holding an intense interest in whatever we are experiencing
• A tip from Joseph: ‘Don’t waste your suffering’
• The mental energy it takes to investigate our suffering 
• Teaching from the heart of Buddhist suttas 
• ‘Tuning in’ to the gratitude channel and thanking the universe for the blessings of our lives
• Utilizing Ram Dass’s concept of ‘how can I help?’ as the north star of life

Join Dharma Moon this fall to learn about The Business of Teaching Meditation.

About Joseph Goldstein:

Joseph Goldstein has been leading insight and loving-kindness meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. He is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where he is one of the organization’s guiding teachers. In 1989, together with several other teachers and students of insight meditation, he helped establish the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Check out Joseph’s podcast on Be Here Now Network or one of his numerous books.

“When my mind is distressed in some way or other, it piques my interest. I want to understand what the cause of the suffering is. That’s a little different than enduring it until we get to a happier place; it’s using the suffering as fuel and as the impotence to investigate.” –Joseph Goldstein

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Honoring both psychological and spiritual work, Trudy Goodman explores how she built resilience through years of dharma practice.

Join Dharma Moon for two, free online talks: How To Make a Living Teaching Meditation and Key Elements of Teaching Mindfulness Meditation 

In this week’s episode, Trudy and David explore:

• Trudy’s voiceover work on The Midnight Gospel, playing ‘Trudy the Love Barbarian’ 
• How meditation and dharma practice strengthen resilience 
• Both Trudy and David’s work in Buddhist Psychology 
• Looking inwards through both therapy and mindfulness 
• The three personality types within Buddhist Psychology: deluded, greedy, and aversive 
• Hitting the “jackpot”: Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman’s love story 
• Reflecting on life as an answered prayer and Trudy’s upcoming memoir

“To come back to resilience, I really credit the dharma. I think through meditation and dharma practice, we open our consciousness, our hearts, our awareness.” –Trudy Goodman

Join Dharma Moon this fall to learn about The Business of Teaching Meditation.

About Trudy Goodman:

Trudy Goodman, PH.D., is the founding teacher of InsightLA and cofounder of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. She has taught at universities and retreat centers worldwide for over 40 years. Trudy has trained in Insight meditation and Zen since 1973, holds a graduate degree in developmental psychology from Harvard, and was one of the first teachers of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction with Jon Kabat-Zinn. She is a senior Buddhist teacher in the U.S., a faculty member at Blue Spirit Costa Rica and a psychotherapist who is widely known for her role as the voice of Trudy the Love Barbarian in the Netflix series "Midnight Gospel”. Trudy is a contributing author: Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness (Springer, 2008); Compassion and Wisdom in Psychotherapy, (Guilford Press, 2011); Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, (Guilford Press, 2013). Learn more about Trudy at TrudyGoodman.com.

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Contemplative Scholar Andrew Holecek joins David Nichtern to delve into the powerful practices of dark retreat, bardo yoga, and dream yoga. 

Grab a copy of Andrew’s book, Total Eclipse of the Mind, to discover more about the power of darkness for creativity, healing, and transformation.

In this episode, Andrew and David explore:

• An inquiry into the nature of mind and reality 
• How asking questions is much more important than having answers
• Going into dark retreat and practicing bardo yoga
• Entering spiritual teachings as if immersing into a different realm 
• The Buddha as the ultimate lucid dreamer
• Dream interpretation and liminal dreaming for insights into the self 
• Working mindfully with artificial intelligence 
• The balancing principle that darkness represents 
• Becoming sensitive to other beings and archetypes when in dark retreat

Join Dharma Moon to learn about The Business of Teaching Meditation

About Andrew Holecek:

Andrew Holecek is an interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner in Tibetan Buddhism and other nondual wisdom traditions. He is the Resident Contemplative Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, and a research consultant for the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Northwestern University. His work involves studies on dream yoga and the practice of dark retreat. Dr. Holecek is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the author of nine books, and a concert pianist. He has completed the Tibetan Buddhist three-year retreat and is a frequent subject in scientific studies on meditation and lucid dreaming. His work integrates ancient wisdom traditions with contemporary perspectives, aiming to help individuals navigate spiritual challenges and end-of-life experiences. He is currently writing two books on dark retreat. Holecek holds degrees in classical music, biology, and a doctorate in dental surgery. Learn about his upcoming retreat events.

“I have died so many times with psychedelic experiences, with extended meditations; I’ve been doing dark retreat for 30 years. This is what dark retreat is largely about; it’s fundamentally a bardo yoga designed to bring about highly concordant experiences with the death process.” –Andrew Holecek

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M.J. Schwartz explores how to meet perfectionism with mindfulness and heal the cultural messages that keep us striving for impossible standards.

Help us celebrate 10 years of Be Here Now Network and support the next chapter of Ram Dass Here and Now. Gifts are matched dollar for dollar through June 30. Learn more and give here: BHNN 10th Birthday Fundraiser

In this episode, David and M.J. chat about:

• M.J.’s introduction to mindfulness and meditation
• How mindfulness was incorporated into M.J.’s work as a doula and midwife
• Learning how to wisely deal with perfectionism 
• Healthy striving versus tethering our identity to a certain result
• How childhood parentification can lead to adult perfectionism 
• Other-oriented perfectionism and criticizing those who do not meet our expectations 
• Picking up perfectionism from the world around us
• Perfectionism’s role in eating disorders and the obsession with body size in our culture
• Synchronizing the mind and body

Join Dharma Moon’s for their Body of Meditation Training or learn about The Business of Teaching Meditation

About M.J. Schwartz:

M.J. Schwartz is the founder of Studio138 Family Yoga and Mindfulness. Having started practicing yoga and mindfulness at age twelve, M.J. is passionate about sharing these modalities with families of all stages and configurations. As a parent and grandparent themselves, they understand the nuances of a practice that evolves alongside life's many changes.

M.J. holds a B.A. in psychology from Smith College, where they studied perfectionism with a leading researcher in the field, along with certifications in mindfulness, yoga, and Intuitive Eating. Before returning to school in midlife, they worked as a doula, childbirth educator, and midwife, and continue to teach pregnancy and postpartum classes that blend mindfulness with evidence-based information. Check out M.J. on Substack.

“Other-oriented perfectionism goes hand in glove with self-oriented perfectionism. If a parent is hyper-perfectionistic, there is a chance that they are then very hard on their children.“  –M.J. Schwartz

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With both insight and vulnerability, Author Annette Knopp explores how our earliest attachment experiences shape the way we love, relate, and walk in this world.

Help us celebrate 10 years of Be Here Now Network and preserve the complete Ram Dass Here and Now archive. Gifts are matched dollar for dollar through June 30. Give here: BHNN 10th Birthday Fundraiser

In this episode, David and Annette chat about:

• Connecting to our own personal experiences within a creative process
• The intersection of healing and liberation
• Annette’s journey through complex post-traumatic stress disorder
• How our unhealed parental projections create issues within our relationships 
• Attachment trauma and somatic healing work
• How our psychological blueprint begins as early as the womb
• The theory of being a ‘good enough’ parent 30% of the time
• Offering repair and having a baseline of secure attachment 
• Working with our unmet needs through awareness and observation
• Looking at the message (imprint) rather than the messenger (trigger)
• The motherly presence that is within the path of healing

Join Dharma Moon’s for their 100-hour course on teaching mindfulness meditation or for a course on meditation and embodied wisdom 

About Annette Knopp:

Annette Knopp is the author of Mystic Nomad: A Woman's Wild Journey to True Connection and co-founder of Blue Spirit Retreat Center in Costa Rica. A meditation teacher, somatic educator, and nature mystic rooted in 30 years of personal contemplative practice, she weaves Indo-Tibetan meditation, Andean earth-based practices, and modern Western approaches to trauma resolution into transformative teaching and mentorship. Her work bridges ancient wisdom and contemporary healing in service of human dignity, wholeness, and embodied connection.

Grab a copy of Annette’s book, Mystic Nomad: A Woman's Wild Journey to True Connection, or join her in Costa Rica for an upcoming retreat.

“These imprints are laid down in phases before we have the brain development to have even a narrative around it. When we work in trauma with people, it’s all about making what has been implicit, explicit.” –Annette Knopp

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Student of The Art of War, Jim Gimian, shares how we can relate constructively to conflict and win without fighting.

In this episode, David and Jim have a conversation about:

• The classic Chinese text, The Art of War, by Sun Tzu
• The refined wisdom of understanding conflict
• ‘Taking Whole’: the concept of winning without fighting
• How leaders (and all people) can learn from The Art of War
• Past conflicts, karma, and vicious coincidence
• Being present for the opportunities that arrive
• Letting phenomena play rather than counteracting
• How the brain is hard-wired for bias and prediction
• Tapping into our natural connection to others
• Ruthlessly evaluating your biases & projections out of compassion for the bigger whole
• Realistically dealing with challenges without perpetuating aggression
• 
  

Check out Jim Gimian's course, Rules of Victory, to learn about leadership strategies for today’s challenges from The Art of War. You can also inquire about getting personalized coaching from him!

Join Dharma Moon’s for their 100-hour course on teaching mindfulness meditation 

About Jim Gimian:

James Gimian has been studying and teaching The Art of War (the Sun Tzu Bing Fa) since 1980. He served as the general editor of the best-selling translation The Art of War: The Denma Translation (2001) which received critical acclaim from military officers, business leaders, and Asian Studies scholars. Gimian followed that with The Rules of Victory: How to Transform Chaos and Conflict—Strategies from the Art of War (2008), co-authored with Barry Boyce.

Gimian has been presenting lessons from the Art of War to business and non-profit leaders in North America, Australia, and Europe since 1985. His work takes the form of seminars, leadership training programs, consulting, and coaching. The core of this work is presenting the text’s profound strategic thought in clear, simple, and accessible training that enables today’s leaders to employ these tools in their work and lives amidst the challenges of an increasingly complex and uncertain world.

Gimian has served in leadership roles in the magazine and book publishing industry since 1972, including stints at Shambhala Publications, publisher of Lion’s Roar magazine, and most recently founding publisher of Mindful magazine and Mindful.org, a media launch in 2012 that has grown to reach over 2 million people per month. Gimian also founded Trident Booksellers and Café in Boulder, Colorado in 1980, which continues to serve as an employee-owned community institution. He became a student of the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in the early 1970s and has continued the practice and study of the dharma since that time. Gimian currently serves as the Executive Director of the Foundation for a Mindful Society.

“The problem with complex systems to fix things is you never have time to go back and read the manual when shit hits the fan. That’s why this work has to be at the level of being, not at the level of learning tricks because they’re like bandages, they’re going to fall off. You’re only going to respond with whatever is integrated into your being as a way of seeing the world and acting and being in the world.“ –Jim Gimian

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Dr. Sará King and Kierstin Gray join The CSM Podcast to discuss their tech company, MindHeart AI, which uses an interactive map of human awareness for personal health and planetary well-being.

MindHeart AI is a liberatory technology company centering the neuroscience of well being as a catalyst for intergenerational planetary healing. Utilizing the Systems Based Awareness Map, the world’s first interactive map of human awareness, they are building a scalable, equitable platform combined with experiences that they call MindHeart Activations - in person events that support collective healing through combining culturally relevant forms of somatics, contemplative practices, land-based rituals and retreats, music and art. MindHeart AI is designed to create an infrastructure of care as a loving response to the rising loneliness, stress, isolation and depression experienced across the world. 

In this episode, David, Sará and Kierstin:

• Taking responsibility for the technology we create
• Reducing the harm that human beings are doing to the planet and each other 
• AI as a reflection of ourselves for better understanding of our emotions and identity 
• The way that humans influence AI, for better and worse
• Empowering others to create MindHeart Activations in their community 
• The connection between water scarcity, trauma, and AI
• Dr. Sará’s contribution to the documentary Every Living Thing
• Holding collective grief and sadness while still tapping into our agency 

Join Dharma Moon’s for a free online talk about embodied wisdom on Thursday May 14th or sign up for their 100-hour course on teaching mindfulness meditation 

About Dr. Sará King:

Dr. Sará King is a Mother, a neuroscientist, political and learning scientist, medical anthropologist, social entrepreneur, public speaker, and certified yoga and meditation instructor. She is an internationally recognized thought leader in the interdisciplinary field that examines the relationship between complementary alternative medicine, social justice, art, and mindfulness from the perspective of neuroscience. Dr. King is the co-founder of MindHeart AI. 

Keep up with Dr. King on Instagram or HERE

About Kierstin Gray:

Kierstin Grey is the program director at Argodesign and the co-founder of MindHeart AI. She is a consultant specializing in using technology and service design thinking principles to bring about transformative change for her clients. She has designed a framework that centers around the building of narratives that use existing talents and skills within an organization to enable innovative change to resolve business problems. Combined with the best practices of design and delivery, she helps businesses implement products and projects that meet their business objectives and cultivate deeper and more efficient engagement with customers. 

“If we’re confused, AI is going to be confused. That’s the reason why it's important for us to be clear on who we are, what we believe, who we value, how we love, how we relate to each other—those things influence how we design emergent technologies like AI.” –Kierstin Gray

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Author and executive Bryan Welch shares how the grief of losing his child profoundly reshaped his heart, deepening his capacity for connection and compassion toward others.

Grab a copy of Bryan’s book, The Gift of a Broken Heart, HERE

In this episode, David and Bryan chat about:

• How grief can transform us in a beautiful way
• Bryan’s journey through the loss of his son, Noah
• Developing a deeper sense of compassion through Buddhism 
• Grief as a bridge of connection between ourselves and others
• Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable 
• Narratives of our own safety as narratives of superiority 
• Forgiveness and considering how the ego wants to be responsible
• Our involuntary reactions to grief, when compared to those of animals 
• Permission to cry & the relief we can feel from allowing emotions to wash over us 

Sign up for Dharma Moon’s upcoming 8-week Buddhist Psychology Course HERE.

About Bryan Welch:

Bryan Welch is an author, business executive, farmer, and entrepreneur. For nineteen years, from its founding, he ran Ogden Publications, Mother Earth News, Mother Earth Living, Utne Reader, and several other leading media brands focused on sustainability and natural health. More recently, he served as co-CEO of Silk Grass Holdings, a family office developing 32,000 acres of regenerative organic farms and wildlife preserves in Belize. He was founder and CEO of B The Change Media, a multiplatform media company focused on business as a force for good in the world; and was CEO of Mindful Communications, a media and corporate meditation-training company; and CEO of Foster Care Technologies, a B Corporation that provides software that improves placements of children in foster care. Welch has served on the boards of the Silk Grass Farms, the Magazine Publishers Association, the Social Venture Network, Down Home Ranch Foundation, and several nonprofits. He has also served on corporate boards of directors and advisory boards of companies involved in natural foods, agriculture, food processing, e-commerce, corporate training, and the media. He holds a master’s degree from Harvard University, where he studied at the Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School. As a Buddhist, Welch is a longtime meditator and advocate for mindfulness practices. Keep up with Bryan on Facebook and check out thegiftofabrokenheart.com.

“I spent some energy over the course of my life separating myself psychologically from the suffering from others, from the potential for my own suffering, and when I was up against it, I didn’t have those reasons to separate myself any longer. I felt a new sense of kinship with other people who were suffering. It occurred to me that as part of the healing, I wanted to see if I could preserve the new warmth I felt, the new openheartedness I felt. When your child dies of mental illness and addiction, you don’t want the pain and turmoil to be their legacy.” –Bryan Welch

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Blending creativity, business, and parenthood, Jonathan and Miya Eden join David Nichtern to discuss bringing stories to life through animation.

Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.

In this episode, David, Jonathan and Miya explore:

• How Jonathan and Miya met and became both personal and creative collaborators
• The process of animating and creating content for Pengwee and Ruby 
• Animating meditative processes and a modified story of the Buddha
• The impact of Miya’s late grandmother on her life and creative process 
• A special hello from Arthur, Miya and Jonathan’s young son
• How to hold space for career development, creative pursuits, and being a parent
• The business side of creative work and dealing with finances, problem-solving, etc.
• Why creativity and bringing entertainment to others is so important to Jonathan

About Jonathan and Miya Eden:

With a degree in Character Animation from the California Institute of Arts (CalArts 2012) Jonathan Eden has over a decade of rich experience in the field of Animation. Working currently as an Animator for Comedy Central's Emmy-winning South Park, Jonathan has a history of prestigious work from large networks which include Disney, Hasbro, and HBO; as well as animating projects for the New York Times, Thom Browne, and Cubcoats. Miya, a professional dancer, choreographer, and director, came together with Jonathan to help create quality animation content for Strawberry Moons Media. You can learn more about Jonathan and Miya’s other creative projects, HERE at Nobody Couple Studios.

Check out Strawberry Moons Media on YouTube, where you can find access to entertainment with meaning, mindful living tips, and mindful lessons for children. 

About David Nichtern:

David Nichtern, founder of Dharma Moon, is a senior Buddhist teacher who has been practicing and teaching meditation for over 40 years. He was one of the initial American students of renowned meditation master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and studied closely with him soon after his arrival in the United States in 1970. He is also a business consultant with companies creating a variety of offerings, integrating meditation in a larger health and well-being context. David is also a multiple Grammy-nominated and Emmy Award-winning musician. David’s journey has crisscrossed with the Maharaji/Ram Dass sangha for decades. He has produced multiple Krishna Das albums and frequently joins the Bhaktettes live on guitar. He considers himself to be a first cousin and an honorary member of the Bhakti community.

“For me, creativity is about expressing yourself and your unique view and doing it in a way that can bring either joy or entertainment to others. Seeing people react to something I’ve animated or a drawing is a great feeling, it’s something you’ve uniquely created with your perspective that no one else can do.” –Jonathan Eden

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