Jim Irving
I work for the liberation of all sentient beings.
I run the Open Dharma Foundation, start sanghas, and build tools for practitioners, drawing on thirteen years of security engineering and a habit of shipping something most weeks. If you're trying to grow or do some good, I keep free office hours.
Dharma
Open Dharma Foundation gives scholarships that pay for meditation retreats for people who couldn't otherwise go. I run it.
Apply for a scholarshipDonateLinkedInInstagram
Pragmatic Dharma is a home for free tools that help people practice:
- Retreat FinderA curated directory of retreat centers and contemplative communities worldwide, across Theravada and insight, Zen and Tibetan traditions.
- Canon searchnewSearch the Pali Canon in Bhikkhu Sujato's English by word, by meaning or in the Pāli, with each text's parallel passages. It runs entirely in your browser.
- Psycheby invitationAn experimental assessment of psychological development. A research tool.
- Meditation mapsReference maps of the TMI stages, the insight stages and the jhānas.
People who gather to talk about practice are some of the best people I know. I helped start two sanghas, SPUDS in Seattle and PCP in Porto, but they belonged to the people who came. Admirable friendship is the whole of the holy life.
Building
- Mac to Framein testingPC VR games on the Steam Frame, played from a MacBook, with no Windows PC in between. Testing now; the release is close.
Work
I coach people who are capable and still stuck: on executive function, on a career move, or on making practice matter outside the cushion.
How I coachBook a first conversation
I also consult, for teams growing fast, problems that need good security judgment, and anyone building something that benefits the world.