Nico Hase serves as a guiding teacher of the online dharma community Refuge of Belonging and teaches at the Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, and other centers. He is the coauthor of How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Buddhist Survival Guide for Modern Life and This Messy, Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership.
Nico began studying with his first teacher, NDR*, who guided him for seven years. Through Devon Hase, he was introduced to Tibetan Buddhism and studied in the three yana system with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Lama Drubgyu Tenzin, and others. Most recently, he fulfilled a long-held dream by completing a three-year meditation retreat, including the full cycle of Shangpa teachings and transmissions. He’s spent more than six years in silent retreat across Insight, Zen, and Vajrayana settings—a thread of depth that continues to shape how he teaches and lives.
Since 2013, he has studied with Joseph Goldstein in the One Dharma Vipassana tradition. Nico earned a doctoral degree in counseling psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he was influenced by Richie Davidson, John Dunne, and other teachers.