David Sudar

David Sudar is a Buddhist and insight meditation teacher based in Portland, Oregon. A former Theravāda Buddhist monk, he has spent over three years on Insight Meditation retreats, including an intensive 21-month retreat in Myanmar with his core teacher, Sayadaw U Tejaniya. He still spends one to two months a year on silent retreat, and since 2018 he has also studied with Vipassanā teacher Carol Wilson.

His path began in 2004, when he was struggling with focus, low mood and shame. Reading the Dalai Lama's "The Art of Happiness" shifted his sense of what a good life could be. In 2012 he set out on an open-ended spiritual journey that included time at Upaya Zen Center, yoga study in India, and long retreats in Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand. In March 2014 he went to Myanmar and ordained as a monk. He disrobed in December 2015.

David holds a B.A. in Psychology and has completed a two-year training in Hakomi Mindfulness-Based Somatic Psychotherapy. He often draws on his studies of Zen Buddhism and Ashtanga yoga. His teaching is rooted in the Theravāda-Vipassanā tradition. He describes his style as pragmatic and light-hearted, and he aims to help people into deeper love, wisdom and inner freedom. His great passion is bringing ancient wisdom traditions into the realities of modern life.

He teaches full time, entirely on donation, which he calls the gift economy. His work includes a daily virtual morning meditation, a weekly sangha in Portland, daylong retreats, courses, one-on-one mentoring, and a body of written reflections, dharma talks and guided meditations.