Book Talk: “Mountain Dharma,” by David DiValerio

“Mountain Dharma: Meditative Retreat and the Tibetan Ascetic Self” (Columbia University Press, 2025), by David DeValerio, is a study of a unique and defining feature of Tibetan Buddhism: the tradition of withdrawing to a cave or a cloister to meditate intensively for years, even decades at a stretch, while having minimal contact with other people.

The book draws from more than two dozen texts offering instructions for the practice, written between the 12th century and the early decades of the 21st, to trace a genealogy of the Tibetan ascetic self. This informal presentation will include an overview of the project, a demonstration of how the argument of one chapter is developed and some of the book’s main takeaway points.