In-Person: A Special Pre-Benefit Event Warm Up
with Dan Harris, Pete Holmes, Sharon Salzberg, Leslie Booker & David Nichtern
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 | 5:00–6:00pm
Location: New York Insight at 115 West 29th Street, 12th Floor
Join us for an intimate pre-event gathering with podcast host Dan Harris, comedian Pete Holmes, and meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg, David Nichtern, and Leslie Booker. This special hour at New York Insight offers a rare opportunity to connect with our benefit’s featured guests in a relaxed and personal setting before the main program begins.
Your ticket includes:
• A warm-up conversation and Q&A with Dan, Pete, Booker, Sharon and David
• Delicious homemade cookies and refreshments
• Premiere seating at the main benefit event later that evening.
• A short walk together to the venue with Dan and Pete
Space for this special gathering is limited.
Includes admission to both the pre-event warm up and the main benefit program.
All proceeds support New York Insight Meditation Center’s mission to provide a place of refuge in New York City and to make the teachings of the Buddha accessible to all who may benefit, regardless of material circumstances.
Your participation in this pre-event also allows us to reserve a portion of the main event tickets for a youth-serving organization we’re partnering with – introducing young people to the dharma and nurturing the future of our Buddhist tradition.
Registration:
Please register below. If you are able, registering at the “Supporter” level enables others to attend at the “Subsidized” level. Thank you for your generosity! (Please note that the registration price includes a base level of teacher support, and you will have the opportunity to donate more after the program.)
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off.
CLICK HERE to open the registration form in a new browser window.
Teacher(s)
Dan Harris
Dan Harris is an author, podcaster, and entrepreneur. For 21 years, he worked as an anchor and correspondent for ABC News, hosting such shows as Nightline and the weekend editions of Good Morning America. Dan has reported from all over the planet, covering wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and producing investigative reports in Haiti, Cambodia, and the Amazon. After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Dan discovered meditation and then wrote the best-selling book 10% Happier as a way to encourage fellow skeptics to give the practice a shot. After that first book, Dan started the 10% Happier podcast where he interviews celebrities, entrepreneurs, authors, scientists, and meditation teachers about how to do life better. Dan lives outside New York City with his wife, son, and a rotating cast of rescue cats. You can learn more about Dan at danharris.com.
Pete Holmes
Pete Holmes is the creator and star of HBO’s CRASHING (produced by Judd Apatow) and TBS’ THE PETE HOLMES SHOW (produced by Conan O’Brien). Pete has multiple standup specials on HBO, Netflix and Comedy Central and can most recently be seen in Anna Kendrick’s film WOMAN OF THE HOUR as well as 2024’s THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER and Disney’s HOME SWEET HOME ALONE. He also starred in CBS’ HOW WE ROLL, was the voice of the e*trade baby and was a guest writer/star on multiple episodes of THE SIMPSONS. Pete’s also proud to be the dumbest Batman on YouTube (Badman), the host of the wildly popular YOU MADE IT WEIRD podcast and the author of the book COMEDY SEX GOD. He wrote this bio in third person. He napped shortly thereafter. Photo credit: Steve Agee
Sharon Salzberg
Sharon Salzberg is a central figure in the field of meditation, a world-renowned teacher and NY Times bestselling author. She has played a crucial role in bringing meditation and mindfulness practices to the West and into mainstream culture since 1974, when she first began teaching.
She is the co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA and the author of ten books including NY Times bestseller, Real Happiness, her seminal work, Lovingkindness, and Real Love.
Beloved for her for her down-to-earth teaching style, Sharon offers a secular, modern approach to Buddhist teachings, making them instantly accessible. She is a regular columnist for On Being, a contributor to Huffington Post, and the host of her own podcast, The Metta Hour. For more information, visit www.SharonSalzberg.com.
Leslie Booker
Booker is a heart – centered, spirit – driven activist and meditation teacher committed to creating a culture of belonging through her teaching and writing. She completed Spirit Rock’s 4 year Retreat Teacher Training in 2020, and shared the practices of yoga and mindfulness with New York City’s most vulnerable populations for over a decade. Booker has co – authored and contributed to several publications including the trauma – informed anthology Practicing Liberation and its accompanying workbook, for folks working towards social justice. She is a co-founder of the Yoga Service Council at Omega Institute and the Meditation Working Group of Occupy Wall Street. In 2020 she was invited to be a Sojourner Truth Leadership Fellow through Auburn Seminary and was voted by her peers as one of the 12 Powerful Women in the Mindfulness Movement.
Booker moved to Philadelphia in August of 2020 to vote in a swing state, and currently serves as the Guiding Teacher of New York Insight.
W | LeslieBooker.com
IG | TheRealBookerProject
FB | LeslieBooker
David Nichtern
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.