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Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck with David Nichtern

Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck with David Nichtern

By: Be Here Now Network
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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 – including Goldman Sachs, Journey Meditation, Creative Live, True Nature Meditation (Tokyo), Balanced Athlete, The Center for Health & Healing, Om Births, and Kobre & Kim law firm among others.

He has been featured in The New York Times, FOX News, Netflix's The Midnight Gospel, Huffington Post, The Buddhist Geeks podcast, Duncan Trussell Family Hour Podcast, Pete Holmes' You Made it Weird Podcast, and many others. David is the author of the critically acclaimed Awakening From the Daydream: Reimagining The Buddha’s Wheel of Life and his recently released Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck. He mentors individual students both in person and online, and leads meditation teacher training programs around the world.

David is also a multiple Grammy-nominated and Emmy award-winning musician. He has recorded and played with Stevie Wonder, Christopher Guest, Jerry Garcia, Lana Del Rey, Maria Muldaur, Paul Simon and many others. Among his many credits in records, film and TV, David wrote the classic song “Midnight at the Oasis” and has produced multiple records for and periodically tours with Grammy-nominated kirtan artist Krishna Das.

Creativity Spirituality & Making A Buck with David Nichtern highlights creative people who share a passion for integrating their livelihood with their personal well-being and spiritual life. David hosts in-depth conversations with artists, musicians, comedians, authors, and thought leaders about life, creative pursuits, meditation, and how to build a sustainable business doing what you love.

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Episodes
  • Ep. 56 – Social Action & Misplaced Faith with Sharon Salzberg

    Ep. 56 – Social Action & Misplaced Faith with Sharon Salzberg
    Jun 12 2025
    Old friends Sharon Salzberg and David Nichtern meet to discuss the calamity of misplaced faith and the expansion that can come from individualized social action.Join Sharon's Upcoming Course with Tricycle to uncover your Buddhist Personality TypeThis episode 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.This week on the CSM podcast, David and Sharon have a thought-provoking conversation about:Expanding the definition of social action to include art and genuine spiritual practiceLooking deeper into the root cause of social problemsAttempting to bring Buddhist teachings into a democracyMisplaced faith and the three root poisons in Buddhism - Grasping, Aversion, and DelusionPurification: going beyond awareness and into the elbow grease required for actually changing negative patternsThe building blocks of real mindfulness and incorporating many different practicesKali Yuga, considering the state of the world, and trying to remain optimistic Understanding the consequences of our actions and our role in the collectiveHow we relate to unchosen suffering and chosen suffering Sign up for Dharma Moon’s Summer 100-Hour Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Course with David Nichtern, starting June 13th. Or, for a shortened version, join Dharma Moon for an Introductory Weekend Course on the Path of Meditation and Mindfulness.About Sharon Salzberg:Sharon Salzberg is a meditation pioneer, world-renowned teacher, and New York Times bestselling author. She is one of the first to bring mindfulness and lovingkindness meditation to mainstream American culture over 45 years ago, inspiring generations of meditation teachers and wellness influencers. Sharon is co-founder of The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and the author of twelve books, including the New York Times bestseller, Real Happiness, now in its second edition, and her seminal work, Lovingkindness. Her podcast, The Metta Hour, has amassed five million downloads and features interviews with thought leaders from the mindfulness movement and beyond. Learn more about Sharon and her books at www.sharonsalzberg.comAbout 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 honorary member of the Bhakti community."There's this saying going around that action absorbs anxiety. If you're feeling really anxious, uptight, take action. Action might not mean marching, signing a petition, or vocalizing, it may mean helping your neighbor." – Sharon SalzbergSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Ep. 55 – An Intimate Look at the Heart Sutra with Susan Piver

    Ep. 55 – An Intimate Look at the Heart Sutra with Susan Piver
    May 22 2025

    Meditation teacher, Susan Piver, joins David Nichtern to share her profound and ever-evolving connection to The Heart Sutra.

    Learn about the heart and mind of practice with David Nichtern and Krishna Das in an upcoming free online talk! Register HERE.

    In this episode, David Nichtern and Susan Piver explore:

    • The many variations of The Heart Sutra and why it deeply inspires Susan
    • Focusing on the sound of the words in The Heart Sutra, not just the meaning of the words
    • Considering how a sutra can transform an environment and how an environment can transform a sutra
    • The inseparability of meaning, sound, and atmosphere within the Heart Sutra
    • A reading of The Heart Sutra from Susan Piver
    • Tying our daily lives back to some form of study or practice
    • Emptiness as the main theme of The Heart Sutra, and of the Buddhist arena in general
    • Why Buddhist emptiness is not nihilism but an expansive, liberating insight
    • The transformative value of being around someone wise with skillful means

    About Susan Piver:

    Susan Piver has an international reputation as an exceptionally skillful meditation teacher. She teaches workshops and speaks on mindfulness, innovation, communication, relationships, and creativity. Susan has been a student of Buddhism since 1995, graduated from a Buddhist seminary in 2004, and was authorized to teach meditation in 2005. In 2012, she founded The Open Heart Project, the world’s largest online-only meditation center. Susan is also a New York Times bestselling author. Her most recent book, Inexplicable Joy: On the Heart Sutra, is now available. You can keep up with Susan on Instagram or on her website.

    Join Susan for a 10-day Heart Sutra meditation retreat this August, 2025

    “Emptiness sounds like everything’s dead, but empty doesn’t mean that. It means empty of separate existence. You are here due to causes and conditions. You did not get here in a space capsule. So, emptiness could be expressed more accurately as the great expanse, fullness, complete fullness.” – Susan Piver

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Ep. 54 – Seven Sorrows of the New Saint: Getting Real About Obstacles on the Spiritual Path with Lama Rod Owens

    Ep. 54 – Seven Sorrows of the New Saint: Getting Real About Obstacles on the Spiritual Path with Lama Rod Owens
    Oct 1 2024

    Facing the obstacles on a spiritual path, Lama Rod Owens, David Nichtern, and Michael Kammers, discuss the seven sorrows of the new saint.

    Grab Lama Rod’s new book, The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors

    In this episode, David, Michael and Lama Rod chat about:

    • Realizing that liberation is driven by uncomfortable contradictions
    • The seven great sorrows of the new saint
    • Leaving people behind on a spiritual journey
    • Offering space to paradoxes in order to find clarity
    • Support on the Boddhisatva path
    • Focusing our energy on ourselves
    • Prayer as an imperative part of spiritual work
    • Being relevant and speaking the language of the times
    • Teachers who inspired and helped Lama Rod
    • Being yourself and using your own qualities to help others
    • Commitment to a reduction of violence
    • Getting active in getting free

    About Lama Rod Owens:

    Lama Rod Owens is a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. An international influencer with a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School with a focus on the intersection of social change, identity, and spiritual practice. Author of Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger and co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation, his teachings center on freedom, self-expression, and radical self-care. Highly sought after for talks, retreats, and workshops, his mission is showing you how to heal and free yourself. A leading voice in a new generation of Buddhist teachers with over 11 years of experience, Lama Rod is highly respected among his peers and the communities that he serves. From these intersections, he creates a platform that’s very natural, engaging, and inclusive.

    For current offerings and programs, click here.

    “The whole project of The New Saints was to delve into the frustrations of paradox, of contradictions. One of the things that deepens our suffering is our attempt to make everything make sense. That’s how we get trapped in delusion, trying to make it make sense when instead we are trying to transcend it.” – Lama Rod Owens

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    1 hr and 21 mins
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