by April Koester | Apr 17, 2025 | Classes
I have decided that the recommended reading for the next intensive study group is “The Issue at Hand—Essays on Buddhist Mindfulness Practice” by Gil Fronsdal. The book can be bought through Amazon or downloaded for free through this URL: https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/the-issue-at-hand/. The book is not very long and is divided into small chapters, but what the author writes is very congruent with my views about the Dharma and meditation practice. I think it will be fun and quite beneficial to have a series of discussions regarding what you are reading and how it applies to your meditation practice. As usual for this series, I encourage you to commit to daily meditation practice of at least 45 minutes—if that is hard for you, let’s talk about it! I hope to have individual interviews with each participant during every meeting, with time for general comments and questions between the interviews.
The format for the series of meetings is well-established: 8 weekly meetings on Saturday or Sunday afternoons from 3-4:30. I suggest a voluntary donation to the Orlando Insight Meditation Group of $160, paid either through the OIMG website or by sending a check made out to the Orlando Insight Meditation Group, sent to Peter Carlson, 1818 Carrigan Avenue, Winter Park, FL, 32789. If that is not affordable, please donate as much as you can, as this is the primary source of income for OIMG. I am not asking for any personal donation to me for the series.
Please respond to peter@orlandoinsightmeditation.org, as I would like the meetings to begin the weekend after the one-day retreat on May 10, which means the first meeting weekend would be May 17/18, and the last meeting July 5/6. The preferred number of participants in each group is 7, with the expectation that some folks will occasionally have other commitments and will miss a meeting. Please let me know which day you prefer but be willing to attend on a different day if that seems valuable for the group dynamics. We will not schedule the first meeting until I decide we have an appropriate number of participants; if there are not enough commitments, the meetings will occur on either Saturday or Sunday
Please contact me with any questions and email your commitments with your phone number ASAP in order to enroll even if I already have that information; I need the email address and phone number in case we need to reschedule a meeting. I wish you well. Peter
For more information call 407 339-5444 or email peter@orlandoinsightmeditation.org
by April Koester | Mar 11, 2025 | Classes
The Psychology of Awakening
Buddhist Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation
Taught by
Peter Carlson
Presented by
The Orlando Insight Meditation Group at the
University Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
11648 McCulloch Rd, Orlando, FL 32817, near the UCF campus
Saturdays, 9:30-11 AM, April 12-May 3
These are stressful times, and years of careful research regarding mindfulness of breathing meditation practice has shown the benefits of this mental discipline for:
Relaxing muscle tension in the body
Experiencing greater emotional calmness
Reducing stress reactivity
Clarifying thought processes
This course is an introduction and review of Buddhist mindfulness of breathing meditation, providing students with effective training in stress management through an important teaching of the Buddha, “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness”.
There is no charge for this course, but donations of $60 are welcome, which will be shared 50/50 between OIMG and UUUF. There is no preregistration required, and we can only accept cash or checks made out to the Orlando Insight Meditation Group, a nonprofit corporation founded in 1993, by Peter, who has been teaching meditation since 1988.
For more information call 407 339-5444 or email peter@orlandoinsightmeditation.org
by Sharon Wright | Jul 24, 2023 | Classes
In addition to our weekly Sangha, we invite you to join the monthly LifeArt Meditation Group, offered on the second Tuesday of every month from 6:30pm to 8:00pm.
In these sessions we explore the habits of the mind and the structures of living that allow us to live with more presence, more clarity about what matters, and more capacity for being of benefit.
Meeting format:
- A short talk on developing skillful means for maintaining a satisfying meditation practice. The emphasis here is on how to address all manner of hindrances that damage our motivation or hobble our mental capacities to remain concentrated and focused.
- A 20-minute guided meditation designed to help you put into play the ideas addressed in the talk.
- A Q&A session to gain clarity and insight about the practice.
When: Second Tuesday of the month from 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Location: Zoom Meeting ID 867 2496 7080; Passcode:622152
Click here to join the zoom meeting.
Teacher: Lezlie Laws. Click here to contact Lezlie.
by Peter Carlson | Mar 17, 2020 | Classes, News
Sangha meetings are held every Wednesday evening from 7pm to 9pm and can be attended in person or via zoom.
The in person meetings are held at Peter Carlson’s home at 1818 Carrigan Ave., Winter Park, FL 32789. For those who haven’t been to the site, the house is the only one on the block with a sheet metal roof. Park on the street or in the driveway—please be considerate of the neighbor’s property. Walk to the left of the garage and through the gate in the chain link fence; the cottage in the back yard is where we meet.
We will meditate in silence from 7 to 7:45, then, after a break, the Dharma talk will begin.
There will be a small box near the front door for dana, the practice of donating to the teacher out of gratitude for the teaching. The contribution is not required, and the money will be used to maintain the building and pay for the Zoom subscription. There is a lending library of Dharma related books in the cottage that operates on a trust basis.
To attend meetings via zoom, use the information below:
Click here to join Zoom Meeting.
Meeting ID: 847 1472 3882
Passcode: 620329
Click here to add the zoom meeting information to your calendar: