Online: Mindfulness and the Middle Way – Cultivating an Authentic Dharma
with Dave Smith and Stephen Batchelor
Tuesdays, June 3rd – June 24th, 2025 | 7:00pm – 9:00pm ET
Many people experience the benefits of a regular meditation practice, but what does it truly mean to “wake up”? And how do we integrate these teachings into our daily lives—especially in a time of turmoil and uncertainty?
The Eightfold Path—central to the Buddha’s teachings—offers a structured yet flexible guide for cultivating wisdom, ethical living, and meditative awareness in a way that is both practical and transformative.
In this four-week course, teacher Dave Smith will lead live sessions exploring how the Eightfold Path can provide clarity and direction in our practice today. To enrich our inquiry, each week will also include exclusive pre-recorded video reflections by renowned teacher and author Stephen Batchelor, created specifically for this program.
Drawing from early Buddhist texts and contemporary interpretations, we’ll examine how these teachings can be reimagined for a secular age and made relevant to our everyday experience. Through study, discussion, and guided reflection, we will consider what it means to engage with the Dharma in a way that is both deeply personal and connected to the world around us.
What does a secular Eightfold Path look like in practice? How can it offer insight and support in our daily lives? Together, we’ll honor these ancient teachings while exploring a path that feels authentic and accessible.
This program is open to all—no prior study or experience required.
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.)
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Volunteering
All of our programs rely on volunteers to support our teachers and staff with various tasks and responsibilities. Volunteering allows you to participate in our programs at no cost. To inquire about volunteering opportunities, please fill out our inquiry form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Teacher(s)
Dave Smith
For nearly 30 years, Dave Smith has held a practice rooted in the Insight Meditation (Vipassana) tradition. He was empowered to teach through the Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society, is a certified teacher for Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) which combines contemporary emotion based scientific research with contemplative practices and psychology drawn from Buddhism.
Dave teaches residential meditation retreats, weekly live dharma classes, online courses, and workshops. He has developed educational tools and resources, including mindfulness and emotional skills training, in both secular and Buddhist contexts. Dave also works with students 1:1 through his dharma mentoring program.
In 2016 he founded the Secular Dharma Foundation to foster the advancement of emotional and psychological well-being through the education and integration of mindfulness, psychology, and various therapeutic modalities. Dave lives in Paonia, CO with his wife and two sons.
Stephen Batchelor
Stephen Batchelor is a translator, teacher, artist and writer who is the most prominent developer and advocate of a secular approach to the dharma. His books include Buddhism Without Beliefs, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, After Buddhism, and Secular Buddhism; and his most recent publication The Art of Solitude. Stephen is a co-founder of Bodhi College, which provides online and in person courses which focus on the exploration of early Buddhist teachings, which are the basis of many contemporary forms of practice today, including mindfulness and vipassana.