This Very Moment Episode 12.5: Sah D’Simone x Sam Bercholz

October 1, 2026

This Very Moment
Episode 12.5: Sam Bercholz x Sah D’Simone on Dharma, Death, and the Freedom of No-Self

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Show Notes

Guest host Sah D’Simone sits down with Sam Bercholz for a candid, funny, and deeply moving conversation on awakening amid the messiness of ordinary life.

Together, Sah and Sam explore deity practice, ecstatic dance, compassion without performance, basic goodness, and the foundations shared by Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism. Sam also shares stories of his teachers, the natural world, political anxiety, humility, and the importance of not making oneself “somebody special.”

The conversation turns tenderly toward aging, death, rebirth, and how Buddhist practice can help us meet impermanence without giving in to hope, fear, or spiritual certainty. Through it all, Sam offers a simple orientation: Dharma is not about becoming holy. It is about being present, kind, and available to others.

Theirs is a conversation for fellow travelers seeking spaciousness, honesty, and a more awake way of living.

About the Interviewee and Guest Host

Sam Bercholz is an author, Buddhist teacher, and founder of Shambhala Publications. A devoted student of the late Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, he has been teaching Buddhist philosophy and meditation in North America, Europe, and Australia for more than fifty years. He is the author of A Guided Tour of Hell and the newly released Rude Awakenings: An Unconventional Guide to the Buddhist Path.

Sah D’Simone is a spiritual teacher, humanitarian, and best-selling author whose approach to healing was forged through devotion and direct experience—over 300 days of silent meditation retreat across the past decade, clinical training in spiritual care at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, and years of service in places where suffering lives most vividly.

To learn more about Sah and his work, visit: https://practice.sahdsimone.com/.