Zachary A. Perlman

The Short Version

Zachary Perlman is a death doula and certified mindfulness teacher based in Long Beach, California. Through his practice, Mindful Passage, he offers presence-based, non-medical accompaniment to people who are dying and the families who love them.

Zach’s path to this work is uncommon. He spent years as a monk — first as a brahmachari of the Ramakrishna Order, and later initiated into Tibetan Buddhism by the Dalai Lama — before going on to work with interfaith organizations across the country and to teach meditation to students around the world. He has spent decades sitting with impermanence, practicing stillness, and exploring what it means to be fully present in the hardest moments of life.

That contemplative foundation is what he brings to every bedside. His work is grounded in mindfulness, guided by deep respect for each person’s wishes and beliefs, and offered without agenda or rush — only presence.

Background & Formation

A life shaped by impermanence

Zachary Perlman’s background is unusually deep for this field. He was ordained as a brahmachari monk of the Ramakrishna Order (Vedanta Society) in 2005 — a formal monastic vow of renunciation and service within one of the world’s most revered contemplative traditions. In 2009, he received initiation into Tibetan Buddhism directly from the Dalai Lama.

These were not casual encounters with Eastern spirituality, but formal commitments requiring years of disciplined practice, study, and service. They shaped in Zach a bone-deep familiarity with impermanence, with the dissolution of the self, and with the spacious awareness that can hold even the most difficult human experiences without flinching.

He subsequently served in leadership and program roles at several interfaith nonprofit organizations, including the Council for a Parliament of World Religions, Monks Without Borders, and the Philosophical Research Society — bringing contemplative wisdom into dialogue with the broader world. He now continues this work as a lay monk, rooted in practice and fully engaged in life.

Teaching & Writing

Sharing the practice

Zach is a meditation teacher with an active presence on Insight Timer, the world’s most widely used meditation app, where his guided practices have earned consistently strong reviews from students around the globe. His teaching is known for its simplicity, warmth, and effectiveness — particularly for working with pain, fear, and the challenges of daily life.

He is the originator of the Nonduality-Based Therapies (NDT) framework — a clinically oriented approach that translates nondual contemplative principles into structured, evidence-aligned therapeutic applications. His academic paper outlining the NDT framework situates this work in dialogue with MBSR, MBCT, and ACT, with an emphasis on reducing identification-based suffering rather than symptom management alone. This framework maps directly onto the inner experience of dying.

As an author, Zach has written across the spectrum of contemplative life, from lucid dreaming to nonduality to practical mindfulness. His books include Modern Monk: Ancient Wisdom for a New Era, Dream Craft: Lucidity for Waking Life, Stabilizing Nonduality: Integration After Awakening, and Nonduality-Based Therapies: Clinical Principles and Emerging Modalities, among others. Most are available in three or four formats.

As a Doula

The work itself

As a doula, Zach’s role is explicitly non-clinical. He works alongside hospice and palliative care teams — never in place of them — providing the sustained, unhurried presence that medical providers often cannot offer. His approach is grounded in mindfulness and shaped by a lifelong relationship with impermanence. He is comfortable across spiritual traditions and with those who hold none.

Mindful Passage serves the Long Beach area with in-home and facility-based support, offering hourly, half-day, full-day, and overnight vigil tiers. A sliding scale is available for families facing financial hardship.