Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing
Legal name: Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 831706815
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Jun 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Pine Bush, NY, United States
- Phone
- 845.640.4593
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Buddhism
- Affiliation
- Buddhism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $785,830
- Expenses
- $684,330
- Assets
- $332,201
- Liabilities
- $136,050
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Owen Lyons (Executive Director)
- Trevania Dudley Henderson (President)
- Gary Wheaton (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Owen Lyons (Executive Director): $18,269 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
In a natural spiritual setting, the Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing provides a wide range of practices drawn from ancient wisdom, for all levels of interest, in order to cultivate physical and emotional wellbeing in the greatest number of people. The term _Dharmakaya_ refers to the all-pervasive wisdom of Buddha; it is complete enlightenment, wisdom beyond reference. ADVANCING OUR MISSION Dharmakaya Center leadership—staff, board and longtime volunteers—work wholeheartedly to support and advance the Center and its mission.
What it reported doing in 2025
The Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing takes as its mission cultivating physical and emotional wellbeing in the broadest possible number of people. In the 2025 calendar year, we held 55 programs across our 5 learning paths (Buddhist Studies, Meditation and Spirituality, Yoga and Movement, Health and Nutrition, Arts and Culture). These were both in person (52) and online (3), and included three free weekend retreats (for BIPOC leaders, for veterans, for mental health professionals). We also offer a free meditation gathering (open to all) every Tuesday night and every full moon, as well as a 2-hour online program of study and meditation every Sunday. In total, 1670 people benefited from these programs in 2025. In addition, 51 Resident Volunteers received teaching, room and board, and the opportunity to live in our contemplative environment.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 80% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68%; rating input score 68
- Program expense ratio: 78.1%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 12.9%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.49; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 68% of revenue deployed · 78.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $535K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $18K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.