Dharma Seed is non-profit organization "dedicated to preserving and sharing the spoken teachings of Theravada Buddhism in modern languages".
The May 1985 issue of Yoga Journal encouraged its readers to take advantage of the emerging availability of "'spiritual' cassette tapes" from the privacy of their home, car or Walkman headphones.
"On the last night of [a meditation retreat], the ashes of Bill Hamilton, founder of the Dharma Seed Tape Library, were brought to Cloud Mountain.
However, they sometimes yield only the faintest impression of the people who wrote them, and that can make a crucial difference with wise beings whose inspiring presence is part of their teaching... Fortunately, we can also 'meet' almost any great teacher on audio and video recordings... Dharma Seed picks up where the Buddha left off 2,500 years ago: distributing the dharma without charge...
The celebs you'll expect – Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Sylvia Boorstein, Sharon Salzberg – are all voluminously represented in the catalog.