David Loy

David identifies his spiritual roots as primarily in the Japanese Zen tradition. His Zen practice began in Hawaii in 1971 with Yamada Koun and Robert Aitken, and continued with Koun-roshi in Japan, where he lived for almost twenty years. He was authorized to teach in 1988 and has led retreats and workshops nationally and internationally in places such as Spirit Rock, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, Terre d’Eveil in Paris, and Dharma Gate University in Budapest. In 2014 David received an honorary PhD from Carleton College, his alma mater, for his contributions to socially engaged Buddhism. (He returned it in 2016, to protest the decision of the Board of Trustees not to divest from fossil fuel corporations.)
David’s spiritual journey began when he lived in a remote valley on Molokai, Hawaii. There he fell in love with backpacking, meditating in nature, and solo wilderness retreats. David is a well-known writer, whose books and articles have been translated into many languages. His latest book, Ecodharma: Buddhist teachings for the ecological crisis, was published in 2019. He is also co-editor of A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency and has written many articles and blogs on Buddhism, ecology, and activism. He is especially interested in the social and ecological implications of Buddhist teachings and practices. David’s writings, podcasts, and videos are available at www.davidloy.org. This will be his seventh year teaching with Impermanent Sangha.
Events with David Loy

July 19 - 28, 2024
Immerse in Nature and Expand into Ecodharma This retreat is a deep dive into being, in nature, abiding silently, joining inner nature with outer nature, and dissolving separation. Each day includes plentiful time for sitting, hiking/walking meditation, as well as nature meditation instruction, dharma talks, and individual and group practice discussions. There will be a relaxing two night solo opportunity during the retreat, which is an incredible highlight. The overall intention is for deep silence, practice, and the joy and healing that comes with a profound connection with nature, and then integrating that into one’s life. Spiritual practice will be supported by instruction in a variety of nature meditation practices. There will be nightly campfire dharma talks, exploring how being-in-nature can be an important part of our spiritual path by helping to ground us in personal experience of non-separation from the natural world. The emphasis is not on meditative technique so much as developing direct awareness that can lead to a new integration of the internal (spiritual) and external (activity). Supported by the connection and joy that comes from being in nature, we will also begin to investigate and work with the emotions, anxieties or traumas we are all experiencing…