An Evening with devon and nico hase - “This Messy, Gorgeous Love: Buddhist Wisdom for Real Relationships"
Join us in person:
We will livestream the Dharma talk into the Meditation Hall
Nevada City Insight Center
710 Zion St
Nevada City, CA 95959
Join our Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2281834980?pwd=NExJbW5TL21tKzFnQlRvQ2tuajNNdz09
Meeting ID: 228 183 4980
Password: 2656111
Join by Phone: 669-900-9128
Teacher Support: All donations for this evening’s session will go to devon & nico - Thank you
To donate by credit card: MONDAY NIGHT DONATION (DANA)
Or to offer a donation by check:
Mountain Stream Meditation
PO Box 2510
Nevada City, CA 95959
In the memo line, please indicate donation to the teacher or the program date.
Thank you for all the ways you participate and for your generosity!
About devon: I first encountered meditation in 2000, as a college sophomore longing for a deeper way to meet life. Since then, I've spent over six cumulative years in meditation retreat in both the Insight and Vajrayana traditions, studying closely with teachers such as Joseph Goldstein, Tara Brach, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, and others.
Most recently, nico and I fulfilled a long-held dream by completing a three-year meditation retreat.
Before teaching dharma full-time, I was a classroom teacher for ten years, focusing on creative writing and cultural studies. I'm a graduate of Spirit Rock's Community Dharma Leaders program and the Insight Meditation Society's Teacher Training Program, and now serve as co-coordinating teacher for Spirit Rock's CDL program.
In addition to my work with Refuge of Belonging, I teach on retreat teams at Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, and other centers internationally.
Nico and I co-authored How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Buddhist Survival Guide for Modern Life, and our new book This Messy Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership comes out April 14th, 2026. I'm passionate about depth practice—on retreat and in daily life—and deeply grateful to my lineage teachers who have modeled these forms so beautifully.
These days, I'm especially interested in how we can support the living Buddhist traditions in ways that feel accessible, inclusive, and deeply relevant to our complex times.
About nico: I’ve been walking this path since 1994, when I began studying with my first teacher, NDR*, who guided me for seven years through weekly phone calls and retreats at his farmhouse in upstate New York.
In 2001, I discovered there were monasteries in the United States—places where you could live fully immersed in dharma. I spent six years at Crestone Mountain Zen Center, studying with Zentatsu Richard Baker-Roshi in Suzuki Roshi’s lineage.
My practice has been enriched by multiple traditions. Through devon, I was introduced to Tibetan Buddhism and have studied in the three yana system with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Lama Drubgyu Tenzin, and others. Most recently, devon and I fulfilled a long-held dream by completing a three-year meditation retreat, including the full cycle of Shangpa teachings and transmissions.
Altogether, I’ve spent more than six years in silent retreat across Insight, Zen, and Vajrayana settings—a thread of depth that continues to shape how I teach and live.
Since 2013, I've studied closely with Joseph Goldstein in the One Dharma Vipassana tradition, and he remains my closest dharma mentor. Along the way, I earned a PhD in counseling psychology at UW–Madison, where I was influenced by Richie Davidson, John Dunne, and other remarkable teachers.
I also teach retreats nationally and lead our annual ten-part series exploring the paramis—qualities of an awakened heart.
Devon and I co-authored How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Buddhist Survival Guide for Modern Life, and our new book This Messy Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership comes out April 14, 2026.
*NDR has since died but always wanted to remain anonymous—he never advertised and stayed out of the dharma scene, hence the initials.