On October 11, Thich Nhat Hanh's 100th birthday, please join us for the launch of 12 Step Zen: Pathways of Recovery (Parallax Press) by Peter Kuhn, a Dharma teacher in the Plum Village Zen lineage. Peter will offer a dedication…

The Dharma Bum Temple is pleased to introduce a new monthly Recovery Dharma Inquiry Sangha, beginning in August and meeting on the first Monday of every month from 6:00pm to 6:55pm in the downstairs Buddha for You Meditation Hall…

Saturday July 18th, the Dharma Bum Temple and Buddha for You Gifts & Books had the privilege of marching in the San Diego Pride Parade. It was a beautiful reminder that love is not just something we believe. It is…

One of our favorite traditions each year is our annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration, held at the end of the year to honor the incredible people who make the Dharma Bum Temple possible. It is a special evening where we come…

As we prepare to march together in this year's Pride Parade, we invite you to join us for a joyful afternoon of creativity, connection, and community at our Pride Parade Sign-Making Event.

This is more than just an opportunity to…

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maggie Lee.

Hi Maggie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
When Buddha For You began in 2009, it started with…

Today, the Dharma Bum Temple Garden Club came together for another beautiful morning of community, connection, and mindful service. With a wonderful turnout and growing participation, it was inspiring to see so many people gathering with a shared intention to…

The Dharma Bum Temple had the honor of sponsoring a table at the 18th Annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast on Friday May 22, 2026. It was truly a beautiful and inspiring experience for everyone who attended. This community gathers each…

PRIDE PARADE: SATURDAY JULY 18TH AT 10AM

PRIDE FESTIVAL CLEAN-UP: MONDAY JULY 20TH 7AM-5PM

It is with great PRIDE we share that the Dharma Bum Temple will be marching in the 2026 San Diego Pride Parade on Saturday July 18th…

Over the past few months, we have welcomed guests from many different backgrounds to spend a weekend in reflection, meditation, and practice at the Dharma Bum Temple. Some arrived exhausted from busy lives, some were searching for clarity, and others…

On Saturday, May 16th, we were honored to welcome Benoit Denizet-Lewis to Dharma Bum Temple for a moving and thought-provoking conversation about transformation, healing, identity, and what it truly means to change.

Benoit’s warmth, honesty, humor, and insight created a…

With the volunteer spotlight on Tim Roller this month I was given the opportunity to sit with him and got to know a little about his time with the Dharma Bum Temple, his Buddhism journey, and how much volunteering means…

Over the past eight weeks, our Engaged Buddhist Training Program participants have dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to the path of practice, study, and service. We are deeply grateful and proud to congratulate this inspiring group for completing the program with sincerity…

This past Monday marked a beautiful beginning at St. Paul's Manor as we launched our weekly meditation gathering for the senior community. Led by Lora and Jay from our Engaged Buddhist Training Program, as well as Nancy the afternoon was…

We are honored to welcome author and journalist Benoit Denizet-Lewis Saturday May 16th at 11am as a special guest at Dharma Bum Temple. His newest book, You’ve Changed: The Promise and Price of Self-Transformation (publishing April 2026), explores the nature…

I wrote the following gathas (poetry) during the Spring 2026 Engaged Buddhism Training Program offered at the Dharma Bum Temple (DBT). My favorite aspect about this training was learning how to meditate and incorporate this practice into my daily life.…

The most recent Engaged Buddhist cohort at the Dharma Bum Temple had the pleasure and privilege of visiting the Metta Forest Monastery outside Valley Center as part of the eight-week Engaged Buddhist program at Dharma Bums Temple.  The Monastery was…

On April 30th, Dharma Bum Temple was honored to once again welcome students from City College for what has now become a meaningful 15-year tradition of visiting our temple community.

We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Professors…

Just one week after closing on the new Dharma Bum Temple building back in April 2017, something truly special unfolded. On April 22nd and 23rd, our community came together, not for a formal event, not for a scheduled class, but…

The restart of our Dharma Bum Garden Club gathering took place on Saturday, April 25th at 10am, and it couldn’t have unfolded more beautifully. Under clear skies and warm sunshine, a vibrant group of participants spanning multiple generations, came together…

On Tuesday, April 21st, we had the honor of welcoming special guest Ben Connelly to the Dharma Bum Temple. A Soto Zen priest from the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, Ben brought a grounded, thoughtful presence to the evening.

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On Tuesday, April 21st, Dharma Bum Temple co-founder Jeffrey Zlotnik had the privilege of visiting the Vi La Jolla retirement community, where he led a guided meditation and offered a talk on the practice of gratitude.

The session began with…

     In a scene from the 1999 film American Beauty, a teenage boy captures the beauty of a plastic bag dancing ephemerally with his video recorder, ultimately discovering an entire life behind things. Within a movie context this scene represented a…