Global Conference · Houston, Texas · June 5–7, 2026
Notice anything strange
about the world lately?
We live in an era of extraordinary capability — and extraordinary confusion.
Our lifestyles outpace our wellbeing. Our information outpaces our wisdom.
Our systems outpace our values.
DDA '26 gathers scholars, practitioners, and thinkers across six dimensions of human life to ask what it actually means to thrive. Dharma has always offered a framework for flourishing in every age. It's time to seek its guidance in ours.
About DDA '26
What is DDA?
As we navigate the complexities of our age, a fundamental question arises: How can we ensure that the way we live — how we eat, heal, learn, relate, govern, and find meaning — is ethical, sustainable, and truly enriching?
This conference, now in its third year, explores precisely this. "The Digital Age" is the era we inhabit — a marker of our time, not a frame that reduces every challenge to a technology problem. The real questions are about how we live in this era.
Dharma is not a retreat from modernity. It is the framework for getting modernity right — drawing from wisdom traditions that have guided human flourishing across every age.
Glimpses of DDA 2025 →The Calibre of the Room
You may not know every name.
You'll recognise every credential.
The people on this stage don't just study the world's challenges — they are actively working to resolve them. This is the most substantive gathering of Dharmic thinkers and doers anywhere in the world.
India's highest civilian honour
Leading Indian universities
Truly global perspectives
Wisdom from the contemplative tradition
Fortune 100 companies
Across three continents
Institutions include
Who Is This For
If you feel it's no longer
possible to be a bystander —
this is for you.
For anyone, age 14 to 90, who is sufficiently stirred by what's happening around them and is actively seeking to bring about change — in whatever capacity, whichever field or industry they operate in.
If you don't know where to start, or who to partner with, this conference will show you. You'll leave with real initiatives to work on, real people to work with, and the guidance and resources to execute on ideas — not just be inspired by them.
If you don't do your bit now... you take what comes your way.
The dialogue has already started. Our WhatsApp community is actively discussing ideas, building connections, and shaping the agenda — even before the conference opens. Join now and be part of it from day one.
Register & Join the CommunityAcademics & Researchers
Bring your work into contact with wisdom traditions and practitioners who are asking the same questions from different vantage points.
Business & Industry Leaders
Reconnect purpose with profit. Find frameworks that make ethical, sustainable leadership not a constraint — but a competitive advantage.
Changemakers & Practitioners
Health, education, environment, governance — if you're already working on the problems, find the collaborators and the intellectual grounding to go further.
Seekers & Reflective Minds
You don't need a title or a mandate — you need a community of people asking the same questions and the courage to act on the answers.
Special Youth Programme · Ages 14–21
A rare seat at the table
Dedicated interactive sessions give young attendees direct, small-group access to the speakers shaping the world they will inherit. Ask the questions that matter to you — face to face with the people who can answer them. Not a side event. A conversation at the centre of the conference.
Tentative Schedule
Three days in Houston
Subject to change. Full details at the link below.
Message from Our President
Why this conversation matters now
In every age, humanity has faced its own defining questions. Our age is no different — but the pace, scale, and complexity of what we face makes the search for grounding more urgent than ever.
Watch our president's message on why DDA '26 may be the most important gathering happening this June.
"The world doesn't feel right — because the world we've built doesn't yet reflect the values we hold. DDA is the space where we begin to close that gap."
— DDA '26 PresidentSix Themes
Six dimensions of a life
lived well in our age
Each theme addresses a dimension of life where the assumptions of our era need to be examined — and where Dharmic wisdom offers a path forward that is neither nostalgic nor naïve.
Sustainability: From Exploitation to Equilibrium
Climate breakdown and resource depletion didn't happen by accident. They reflect cultures built on extraction over reciprocity — prioritising growth over what actually sustains life across generations.
- What can indigenous ecological wisdom offer modern policy?
- Can economies shift from extractive to genuinely regenerative?
Education: Learning Beyond Data
When AI can pass any exam, what is education actually for? We've optimised learning for metrics and credentials — and lost something essential: wisdom, ethical reasoning, the capacity to live well.
- What constitutes meaningful learning in our era?
- How can ancient knowledge traditions enrich modern pedagogy?
Spirituality in the Age of Algorithms
Designed systems now shape what we see, believe, and desire — nudging attention, compressing nuance, rewarding conformity. Can the inner life — discernment, stillness, intention — survive and grow in such a world?
- Can spirituality be encoded — or does it defy encoding by design?
- How do we live by awareness rather than by algorithm?
Aligning Technology with Dharma
AI, algorithmic governance, surveillance infrastructure — these systems mediate human life guided by efficiency metrics never designed to account for dignity, agency, or meaning.
- What governance models balance innovation with the public interest?
- How do plural ethical traditions enrich global frameworks?
Conversations Across Generations
The speed of change has stretched the distance between generations until many feel they inhabit entirely different worlds. What creates the conditions for real listening — not just coexistence?
- What values sustain family and social cohesion across the divide?
- How do we create space for genuinely open intergenerational exchange?
Health Beyond Medicine
We've come to believe medicine can bail out any lifestyle. The antacid exists — but we shouldn't need it in the first place. True health begins before the doctor's visit. Traditions like Ayurveda have always understood that sustainable living — body, mind, spirit in balance — is the foundation. Medicine is for exceptions, not defaults.
- What does it mean to be truly healthy, not merely not sick?
- What habits and environments enable real, lasting flourishing?
Why Attend
More than a conference.
A turning point.
Engage Thought Leaders
Scholars, technologists, policymakers, and spiritual leaders from top academic institutions around the world — in open, substantive conversation, exploring the solutions together.
Timeless Wisdom, Present Challenges
Dharmic perspectives on health, education, ecology, governance, and meaning — not nostalgia, but proven frameworks for navigating the world we actually inhabit.
Research & Deep Dialogue
Keynotes, plenary panels, and parallel breakouts — structured for real depth of exchange across six themes, not just attendance certificates.
Network with Changemakers
Academics, entrepreneurs, practitioners, and visionaries working at the intersection of tradition and transformation — plus evening cultural events each day.
Be Part of a Movement
DDA is building a long-term global community. This is its third year — its most ambitious edition yet. The conversations in Houston will continue long after June 7.
Leave with Clarity
The kind that comes from sitting with the right people, asking the right questions, at exactly the right moment. Not just inspiration — conviction.
Speakers
Confirmed speakers — DDA '26
A partial listing. More announcements coming soon.
Program Committee
Rishihood University
IIM Bangalore
IIT Bombay
AI, Data & Digital Transformation
Join the Dialogue
What question are you
bringing to Houston?
Great conferences don't begin with answers. They begin with the right questions — and the people willing to sit with them honestly.
Whether it's something you've been sitting with for years, an insight from your own field or life, or a challenge you believe the conference should grapple with — we want to hear it.
The most compelling contributions may shape our panels, find their way into keynote discussions, or connect you with others asking the same thing.
"Every age gets the questions it earns. Let's make sure ours are worth asking."
Or email us directly at info@dcfusa.org
Thank you.
We've received your question and will be in touch. See you in Houston.
Registration
Join us in Houston
All registrations include all keynotes, plenary sessions, panel discussions, meals, breakfasts, teas, and evening cultural events.
⚡ Early Bird closes May 15 — just days away
- All keynote & plenary sessions
- Panel discussions
- Meals, breakfasts & teas
- Evening cultural events
Price doubles after May 15
- All keynote & plenary sessions
- Panel discussions
- Meals, breakfasts & teas
- Evening cultural events
- Exclusive Youth Sessions
धारयति इति धर्म
Dharma is that which sustains.
Are we building lives that last?
The questions our age demands won't be answered by one person, one tradition, or one discipline. Come find the people who are asking them alongside you — in Houston, June 5–7.
Early Bird $101 until May 15 · Full price $201 from May 16 · Student rate $75