So sorry to hear this.
Hard to believe, I am shocked.

​​​​​​​May he rest in peace.

May he rest in peace.
May his loved ones find closure, peace, and happiness.

Goodbye Devin. I'm very glad to have known you. You were a good dharma friend to many people around the world. Wish you were still here. 

Dammit! This news hits hard. I talked to Dreamwalker just a few months ago, and he seemed fine, but we didn't discuss each other's health issues. He was a personality on DhO and a personality in person. Those two "Devins" were part of what he wanted to talk about. I first met him face-to-face at one of the Buddhist Geeks conferences in Boulder, CO. He was full of energy and could talk a mile a minute. Dreamwalker was memorable, and he will be missed.

Rest in peace, Devin.

Yeah, dammit was the first thing I said too.

When we talked via Zoom, Devon was worried that his direct questioning of their comments, beliefs, and practice reports was upsetting some DhO people. He didn't want to be seen as too aggressive but also wanted to be, had to be, true to his instincts, which told him to be honest, call 'em as he saw 'em, and not pull his punches. He was a sweetheart during that entire conversation and was open about his concerns. I wish everyone could have known that Devin - self-aware and concerned for and about others. Devon to the core.

How old he was?

How sad! Unexpected. There was so much energy and experience in their posts. I hope their family and friends can find a healthy way to find closure.

That's sad news. Thanks for letting us know. 

Paying homage to Dreamwalker/Devin. I never met him personally, but his framework for awakening was a great inspiration, and his posts here, despite the occasional poking ;), demonstrated a deeply caring soul. May he rest in peace. 

​​​​​​​ps: May we ask what happened?

Adding a few pictures of Devin that were taken at SPUDS (tongue-in-cheek acronym for Seattle Pragmatic Underground Dharma Society).  Devin started SPUDS around 2015 with myself and a couple others.  Devin was one of the first friends I made when I moved to Seattle and we had also corresponded on the DhO chat function previously.  Devin was well known for his pragmatic, no-nonsense yet humurous attitude towards dharma practice and life in general.  The humor came out more in person, expressed as a style of sharp, witty and sometimes mildly obscene quips.  There was also a stream of endless puns and "dad jokes," particularly when he got some momentum going.  

He was relentlessly focused on awakening and faithfully maintained that as a true north where others would veer off into varying (and valid) dharma-adjacent paths such as psychotherapy, philosophy, health, etc.  He was always mapping the path to awakening and frequently seemed to touch on objective aspects of the path that were easily reality-tested.  His framework of awakening descriptions were of immense benefit to me and likely many others.  His motto was "clear goal, clear recipe, clear result."   

On a brief personal note, he helped me through many years of struggle and development. He always gave good advice and helped to counterbalance trends towards the extreme with his "clear eye." The group of friends ("SPUDies") that started gathering around Devin nine years ago is still going strong and meeting every week to discuss deep dharma practice openly and with an eye towards the pragmatic.  




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I was so sad to hear these news. I really liked Devin DreamWalker, and I have enjoyed our video chats and other exchanges. He has been a skillful sparring partner and a great inspiration to so many diligent practicioners. I personally appreciated his high standards for the paths and his scrutiny with regard to all the different aspects of experience that need to be worked through. I also enjoyed his quirky humor and wit. I didn't know him super well but I counted him as a friend, and I hope and believe that was mutual. He was always kind to me, even from the start when I was such a clueless noob. I hope he was able to have a good wakeful dying moment. I'm not sure what happens after that, but if there is such a thing as a bardo, may he ace that! May his helpfulness, generosity and awakeness continue to ripple through where it's needed for the benefit of all sentient beings! You are missed, Devin! 

Sorry to read this. Thank you for posting.

So sorry to hear this. May he walk in a better world!

From Jim in SPUDS:
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From Aurea in SPUDS:

This is sad to hear. Strangely, Dreamwalker was passively on my mind yesterday; I noted that I hadn't seen him post in a while.

​​​​​​​As this news settled in, I became aware of the emotional investment I have in this forum and its frequent posters. We’ve got something precious here, and Dreamwalker was an important part of it.

So sorry to hear that, thinking of him and the SPUDs group.  Like John said it is a sad reminder of the preciousness of this community. 

Goodman Dreamwalker! You will be missed! Rest in peace! 

From Aman in SPUDS:

In 2017 I found DHO feeling completely at sea with my new realization. Devin is one of the people who messaged me privately and engaged me. Over that Fall and Spring we had a series of Skype calls (remember Skype?) where he pushed me for details, and helped me investigate my understanding, oh... and asked me how "I" was. Yes, he had a gruff exterior, and over the years I sometimes thought he could have been kinder to some of the noobs, but I KNOW that underneath that was someone who wanted to help. 

I made it through. Burnt through self and completed the path. Became a Zen priest with a fantastic teacher, and my own dedicated sangha. 

Thanks for giving the new guy an even break, Devin. Thanks for your recommendation of Michael Singer's "Untethered Soul", which is like an oxygen mask on a plane. I still recommend it to all of my beginning students to begin to alleviate the suffering of the 2nd arrow almost immediately. Thank you for your Framework - its experiments in propriaception of the senses helped me quickly crack open my panoramic vision and ability to hear the "stillness" in every moment.

​​​​​​​I'm sure there is perfumed lotus for you out there somewhere. Say hello to Syd and Sariputra for me.

He was an inspiration 

I'm sorry to hear this. May his family, friends and loved ones find peace and happiness.

I'll admit, I really didn't like him at first. The first couple of times we interacted, I thought he came off as mean. But every time I would actually sit with something he told me or wrote me, it would always become clear to me after a few minutes that he was pointing out something I wasn't aware and didn't want to hear. He had an absolute knack for figuring out your practice pain points just by things like where you were overly vague or unclear on something.

He was a sharp guy, had incredible insights, and will be missed <3

Devin was such a long-time and vital presence on the DhO, a friend, and he will be missed. Tragic. This mortal life... 

May we all take inspriration from his engagement with the path and make precious use of our own remaining moments, care our ourselves and each other, and support wisdom and kinendss.

Also, Jenny asked me to post this in his honor:

From Jenny Foerst to the Pragmatic Dharma community:

Devin’s (“Dreamwalker’s”) sister contacted me late Sunday night, October 14, to break the sad news to me that he has passed.

Devin and I had recently connected via a lengthy video call. During it he told me that he would not live another 5 years. He had lived many years with a serious health condition, never once complaining, and survived much longer than medical doctors expected possible. He attributed this good fortune to his practicing with Green Tara every night before sleeping to ask for her blessing for the sake of what he could still contribute to the collective.
 
Devin and I met more than a decade ago on the Dharma Overground. We were close from the start, and close to the end. Along with two of my high school and college era friends, Devin was the closest friend I had. But unlike earlier-era friends, Devin conversed with me almost daily for more than a decade and was the only one accompanying me on the Path.

In the early, exhilarating years of stream entry, second path, and third path, we spent many nights in conversation together, collaboratively elaborating submaps, cross-maps, and metamaps of awakening and describing phenomenology in novel ways. Even when I was on vacation in Asheville or New York I would sneak out onto the cabin porch or into the hotel bathroom after the family was asleep, while he likewise sneaked away from his family. By phone we would talk for hours excitedly about maps, magic, out-of-body traveling, and the nature of the cosmos and reality.

Even as recently as three weeks ago, Devin and I continued to collaborate. He cited and drew x, y, and z axes to describe the way that a practitioner’s core (0) and the hypothetical edge at a distance (1) can disappear in certain jhanas yet leave behind a sense of directionality. He was exceptionally intelligent and helped map levels of practice and experience even before he reached them personally. He had an uncanny ability to do so accurately and compellingly, often drawing diagrams.

Because of Devin’s keen powers of introspection and observation, he also innovated some amazing practices that he encouraged me to include in my book. I gratefully added them to my teaching instructions and draft manuscript, with “Dreamwalker” in the practice titles. One of these practices—to give an example—involved “flipping” back and forth between the Dark Night (vj3) and sj3. This mastery practice shows practitioner that the difference between vj3 and sj3 lies in feeling-tone and is interpretive and therefore subject to inversion at will.
Devin was my first, most enduring, and closest Dharma brother. I thought that I was prepared for the call. But I was wrong. There is a hole in my nights now and a hole in my heart. I’m grieving exquisitely, even so, for grieving is an expression of the perfection of what is. Human beings can move from grief, which is inward and private, to mourning, which is expressive and communal. By sharing these words, however inadequate to convey the multilayered feeling involved, I’m honoring this communal process for myself and, I hope, for many of you.
 
I hope that my bond with Devin made his life more bearable and fun than it otherwise would have been. In addition to his health challenges, he had much other tragedy he had to absorb over recent years—which he did, again, without complaint.
 
I am doing the bardo practice that I normally do for the people close to me who die. When they are practitioners, I also guide them through Mahamudra third and fourth yogas in the liminal spacetime. He knew that I was planning to do so. We talked about it many times, so I trust that he is listening. I know that many of you benefitted from his insight, guidance, sense of humor, and example. If you enter stillness, imagine him at the moment of death, and surround him with love at that moment, then you can help “retroactively,” for the arrow of time is empty.

An additional way to honor him is to honor yourself by practicing well. Do not stop, for death is certain, and the time of death is most uncertain. The Buddha tried to warn us, and now my dear friend’s departure is also the warning calling us to new collective possibilities writ large.
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Sad to hear it. I always liked him. RIP.

hawaiian remembrances
generally not sad affairs
lots of flowers
and food
music
aloha
hugs

the only thing missing
the departed

they are not far away

we won't be parted long



He Makana No Na Mamo
Na Mo'olelo O Na Pua O Nehinei
E Pili Mau I Na Kupuna
Na Lei 'A'ala
I Ohu Mau I Ku'u Lei
I Ke Aloha Pili Mau

English Translation:
A Gift For The Descendants
The Stories of Yesterday's Flowers
Let's Always Hold Close
Our Ancestors, Who Are
A Sweet Smelling Lei For Us
Like A Misty Cloud Around The Mountain
Their Love Surrounds Us Forever

I feel that I have to grasp the nettle and address the elephant in the room here!

 I found his style of questioning very strange and off putting. I don't like to speak ill of the dead but it would be good to have an explanation, if anyone can provide it.  Other posters here have referred obliquely to this so it's not just me.  Was he always like this or had it something to do with his health condition?  I was tempted at times to ask if he had some sort of neurological condition that we should be aware of.  His behaviour on this list was certainly not what I would have expected of someone who had advanced attainments in meditation.

Conal

Dreamwalker often took on the role of DhO gadfly ... fearlessly and relentlessly forcing critical reflection in areas where conclusions and assumptions were glossed over or taken for granted. He used a sharp sword which cut both ways and could often leave folks scratching their heads (or nursing their egos) and although (especially at first contact) it could be disconcerting it never seemed gratuitous or malicious as it was directed towards self knowledge and wisdom. He kept me on my toes.

He'll be missed!

I just came to recent posts after reading a comment of his. This body walking through this dream is very thankful to him. May he, his friends and family and all beings be free from suffering.

> If you enter stillness, imagine him at the moment of death, and surround him with love at that moment, then you can help “retroactively,” for the arrow of time is empty.

Maybe part of the reason he survived so long is practitioners from the now sending him good wishes and wellbeing. 

Many blessings to you DREAMWALKER.

Sharing this obituary for Devin with some comments at the bottom - https://bartonfuneral.com/2024/10/18/devin-mccarty/

Thanks Noah, these are beautiful, I'm really am getting a fuller sense of the man. What a loss. RIP Devin.

I just saw this. Oh my god, this is so sad.  I have talked with Devin over the years and there were times when it felt like he was one of the only people that I could talk to about stuff and not feel like i sounded like a lunatic.  He just texted me out of the blue a couple of months ago.  I had been looking forward to reconnecting with him about music and meditation.  Just... really sad.  I need to process this.

Noah, did Delvin elaborate further on his Framework of Awakening, and is it available online? If his family and friends are comfortable with it, I'd be happy to add a link to Daniel's Posts Compilation (which includes an entry dedicated to some exchanges and clarifications about DW's map) and so reach a wider audience.

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Thanks Noah, for sharing all this material. And to all who participated, sharing memories...  It was really nice to put a name and a face  on the Dreamwalker alias at the time of his passing (I was shocked as I did not realize how fragile his health was, although he gave a few discrete hints)... I really enjoyed his posts and blunt advices, and thought of contacting him on a few occasions, but never did.
The bluntness makes more sense knowing his condition... No time for bullshit or patting people in the back !

May his family and friend recover from this terrible loss, may we all keep him in our hearts
much metta
smiling stone

​​​​​​​Edited : an h for a w, thanks Balint !

Wow, this is some really sad news  

Devin was an amazing friend and compatriot. I first met him here on DHO almost two decades ago, while I was a teenager just barely learning about meditation and frameworks of awakening. When I started practicing and posting here, he gave me valuable advice, practice pointers, insights, even reaching out to have voice and video calls to provide encouragement, tips, and his own experience in progressing through meditation. He was so instrumental in my journey and in helping me take my first steps. Through the many years since then, he was always in touch, always offering feedback and encouragement as I've practiced. 

He was incredibly genuine, filled with curiosity, very authentic and forthcoming with his thoughts and reflections on meditation, practice, and awakening. In times I was absent from dho and practice, he would often send me texts to check in and see how practice was going. He'd often ask me to look over his framework, looking for feedback and to chat and reflect on phenomenology. He cared deeply about helping others, and particularly cared about holding others to a high degree of honesty and accountability in regards to practice. 

It's very clear that Devin was, passionate, intense, quite vocal and unforgiving in his desire to keep the DHO space one of serious, no B.S. practice, with emphasis on honesty with ones self, unapologetically encouraging people to cut through their narratives, fantasies, ego-trips, pride, and anything that might stand in the way of real, blood-sweat-and-tears practice and progress. (said more simply: if you didn't keep it real, he would beat you down with a stick ) While I know this might not be everyone's style, and could possibly rub people the wrong way, I think it's great to reflect on how this community was founded and cultivated in the spirit of serious, hardcore, no-nonsense practice, and how Devin deeply desired for others to succeed in walking the path.

He was an incredible guy... asides from his dharma-related work, I knew him to be incredibly strong, very cheeky, a great sense of humor, resilient, full of love and compassion. I'll always cherish our conversations and friendship. Rest in peace brother, you are so loved and you'll be dearly missed. <3

Very sad. I remember him from the old days and he had a good sense of humor, and made digs about traditional Buddhist environments, but also with a friendly attitude. The pictures posted literally look like how I imagined him. I vividly remember when I visited a Theravada sangha in someone's basement and described it to him, where after the class you could ask questions, and the monk would constantly move around like he was trying to avoid blows, sending the signal that many people were probably mentally ill and he was scared to talk to students about stream entry and find an angry Mark David Chapman type. Naturally, Dreamwalker was skeptical that you could get good instructions in those environments.

Jenny shared Devin's latest version (June 2024) of his "Framework of Awakening."  I haven't edited it and it was left in rough draft mode. But I figured it was still good to share in case it is helpful for anyone.  

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16DpXOTkDOgbmcTy959ap9qfhguClhXiu/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117294344641142191461&rtpof=true&sd=true

Perhaps a moderator could also link it in the main Framework of Awaking thread, since it is locked.