David Nichtern (Founder & CEO Dharma Moon / co-founder and CCO Strawberry Moons Media) 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 Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and studied closely with him soon after his arrival in the United States in 1970.
David is the author of the critically acclaimed books Awakening From the Daydream: Reimagining The Buddha’s Wheel of Life and Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck. He mentors individual students both in person and online, and leads meditation teacher training programs around the world via his Dharma Moon platform.
He is also a highly regarded composer, producer and guitarist. David has recorded and played with Stevie Wonder, Jerry Garcia, Lana Del Rey, Maria Muldaur, Paul Simon and many others. Among his many credits in records, film and TV, he wrote the classic hit song “Midnight at the Oasis” and composed the score for Christopher Guest’s film The Big Picture. In recent years he has produced multiple records for and periodically tours with Grammy nominated kirtan singer Krishna Das.