ABOUT DHARMA MOON

About Dharma Moon

Dharma Moon is an online meditation and Buddhist education platform founded in 2019 by author, teacher, and musician David Nichtern.

We offer live online courses, meditation teacher training, Buddhist studies programs, retreats, and community events for students who want to deepen their personal practice, understand Buddhist teachings, and learn how to bring meditation into their lives, work, and communities.

Our programs are rooted in the Buddhist tradition and designed for modern life. We believe meditation is not about escaping the world or our challenges. It is a way of meeting life more directly, developing insight, working skillfully with the mind, and cultivating a more sane, compassionate, and awake way of being.

Our Approach

Dharma Moon combines traditional Buddhist wisdom with practical, accessible instruction that helps students work with their actual experience. Our courses are designed to support people at many stages of the path, from those beginning a meditation practice for the first time to longtime practitioners, teachers, therapists, coaches, artists, leaders, and professionals who want to integrate contemplative practice into their work.

Practice can help us see our habitual patterns more clearly, loosen our fixed ideas about who we are, and become more available to insight, expression, and skillful action. For artists, writers, musicians, teachers, entrepreneurs, and anyone engaged in creative work, meditation offers a way to meet both inspiration and resistance with more awareness.

Our approach emphasizes:

• Clear meditation instruction
• Ongoing personal practice
• Accessible teachings
• Live interaction with caring, experienced teachers
• A diverse and welcoming global community
• Creative practice
• Ethical and skillful teaching

Meditation Teacher Training

Dharma Moon is best known for its 100-Hour Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training, offered in partnership with Tibet House US.

This certification program has trained more than 1,500 graduates who now teach mindfulness and meditation in a wide range of settings, including healthcare, education, therapy, coaching, yoga and fitness studios, corporations, prisons, schools, nonprofits, and community organizations.

The training is designed for students who want to learn how to guide meditation with confidence, clarity, and care. Participants study the foundations of mindfulness meditation, Buddhist psychology, teaching methodology, group facilitation, working one-to-one with students, and the practical realities of teaching meditation in today's world.

But the training is also deeply personal. Many students join because they want structure, guidance, and community around their own practice. Others come because they already work with people and want to bring mindfulness into their existing profession. Some are called to teach. Others are simply looking for a more complete path of study and practice.

Wherever students begin, our goal is to help them develop a grounded understanding of meditation and the ability to share it responsibly.

Our Founder

Dharma Moon was founded by David Nichtern, a senior Buddhist teacher, author, and Emmy Award-winning and Grammy-nominated musician.

He was one of the initial American students of renowned 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 Awakening From the Daydream: Reimagining the Buddha’s Wheel of Life and Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck. He has taught widely in the Buddhist, creative, and professional worlds, bringing together contemplative practice, everyday life, creativity, and livelihood.

Dharma Moon grew out of David’s commitment to making authentic Buddhist teachings accessible to contemporary students while preserving the importance of lineage, mentorship, practice, and community.

Our Teachers

Dharma Moon programs are led by a diverse faculty of experienced meditation teachers, Buddhist scholars, psychotherapists, artists, writers, and practitioners.

Our teachers bring decades of training and real-world experience to their work. They teach with depth, warmth, precision, and respect for the traditions these practices come from.

Across our programs, students have the opportunity to study with teachers who bring Buddhist practice into many different fields, including psychology, the arts, social engagement, somatic practice, leadership, caregiving, and education.

A Community of Practice

Dharma Moon is more than just a platform offering online courses.

It is a growing world-wide community of students, practitioners, teachers, and graduates who are committed to bringing meditation and Buddhist wisdom into daily life. Our students come from around the world and include people at many different stages of practice.

Some are looking for a reliable way to begin. Some are returning to practice after many years. Some are preparing to teach. Some are already teaching and want deeper training, community, and support.

What brings them together is a shared interest in practice, study, relationship, and the possibility of waking up in the middle of ordinary life.

Why Dharma Moon

While meditation and mindfulness are often reduced to tools to address stress, Dharma Moon offers a fuller path.

Our programs honor meditation as both a practical discipline and a path of insight. We teach skills that can help people work with stress, emotion, communication, creativity, and daily life, while also preserving the deeper questions at the heart of Buddhist practice:

• How do we relate to our minds?
• How do we work with habitual patterns?
• How do we cultivate compassion?
• How do we meet uncertainty, change, and difficulty?
• How do we integrate our spiritual practice, creative pursuits and our livelihood?
• How do we live with more awareness, integrity, and care?

These questions shape how we practice, how we teach, and how we build community.

Join Us

Whether you are beginning meditation, deepening an existing practice, studying Buddhist teachings, or learning how to guide others, Dharma Moon offers a structured and supportive path forward.

We invite you to explore our courses, join a free online sit or event, and learn more about our meditation teacher training programs.

Have Questions?

We are here to help! If you have questions about Dharma Moon, our trainings, or anything else, feel free to contact us at assist@dharmamoon.com