by April Koester | Mar 11, 2025 | News
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 Peter Carlson | Mar 6, 2025 | News
During this talk, Peter describes his favorite etymology of the word dukkha. He then talks at length about the concepts of duality and non-duality, described as a progression from the simple action of intending to monitor the sensations that occur while breathing to a realization that there is no enduring/autonomous self, and the direct realization of that manifests as non-duality. Other questions about meditation practice are also discussed.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:34 — 57.3MB)
by Peter Carlson | Feb 20, 2025 | News
One meeting each month is intended to provide an opportunity for those attending to ask Peter questions about Buddhist concepts and meditation practice. He has been studying and practicing Buddhism for over 40 years, and enjoys the dialogue involved in these discussions. Among the topics discussed during this talk are the importance of intentions that are associated with the targeted focused attention on various meditation subjects, and the relationship between ethics and spiritual development.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:03 — 55.9MB)
by Peter Carlson | Feb 13, 2025 | News
During this talk, Allie Vaknin reviewed the three elements of Dukkha–embodied suffering, the suffering the mind creates, and the suffering due to the unpredictability of change. Her description is accompanied by various comments regarding current sociopolitical stresses described by those participating in the meeting.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:22 — 51.6MB)
by Peter Carlson | Jan 23, 2025 | News
During this talk, Lili reviews contemporary psychological and neurological understandings about habit formation and how Buddhist concepts and practices support the ability to be mindful of, investigate, and alter unwholesome thoughts and actions that are habitual while reinforcing more wholesome habits. Her comments were followed by questions posed by those participating in the meeting.
Here are notes prepared for the talk: Habits and the Dharma- notes
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:05 — 54.1MB)
by Peter Carlson | Dec 5, 2024 | News
This talk provides a review of the Mindfulness of Breathing Discourse, the focus of a recently-completed course Peter participated in that used Analayo’s “Mindfulness of Breathing”. The Anapanasati Sutta is one of the core teachings of Theravada Buddhism and the meetings of the course helped validate some meditative insights emerging from his practice. The 16 steps of the sutta are reviewed and related to an .mp3 recording of the “Guided 16 Step Anapanasati Contemplation” that Peter provided prior to this meeting–it is posted within the “Guided Meditation” page of the website.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: OVERVIEW OF THE ANAPANASATI SUTTA
Here is Analayo’s translation of the Anapanasati Sutta: Anapanasati Sutta translated by Analayo
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:10 — 55.1MB)
