Buddhist meditation teacher Dave Smith has been studying the Dharma since 1993 when a series of traumatic incidents (including the death of his sister and girlfriend) motivated him to seek help. Over the next decade, he lived a double life—going on meditation retreats while also living the high life as a touring musician. Now sober over 14 years, Smith has led retreats, mentored people one-on-one and given numerous Dharma talks (you can listen to some of them here). He’s also become an author, releasing Ethical Mindfulness in 2015 (he’s currently working on a follow up, which we chat about at length in this episode). In this episode, we discuss how to recognize trauma when it comes up, his feelings about no longer being a musician and why his writing career is only just beginning, among many other topics.