Dhamma Talks
Buddhism and Addiction
In this talk, part of the series "How Do You Want To Live?", the focus is on how prevalent addiction is in American culture, especially if "behavioral addictions" involving the internet, gambling, overeating, etc., are included. During the talk, the correlation...
Mindful Coping with Distress and Confusion
This is the second of a series entitled "How Do You Want to Live Your Life?", with a focus on disorders of mood--anxiety and depression--which are increasing as a percentage of people are stressed by the multiple disruptions in normal life over the last several...
How Do You Want To Live?
This talk focuses on the challenges we face as we are affected by the pandemic, disrupted weather patterns due to global warming and the cultural conflicts of this era, and how Buddhist principles and practices can be an effective coping strategy. Peter focuses...
Celebrating The Happiness of Others
This talk reviews the concepts and practices associated with cultivating Mudita, translated as Sympathetic Joy, one of the four Divine Abidings. Mudita is the empathetic cognitive and emotional response shaped by lovingkindness which celebrates the success and...
Guided Sympathetic Joy Contemplation
This guided meditation focuses attention the cultivation of empathetic joy, which supports and celebrates the success and happiness of another sentient being. This experience is most often related to the joy of another human, but can also be experienced regarding...
Cultivating Compassion
This talk reviews the second of the four Divine Abidings, Karuna, which emerges from the cultivation of lovingkindness. Compassion involves developing mindful awareness of empathy regarding the experience of dukkha, distress and confusion, in one's subjective...
Guided Compassion Contemplation
This guided meditation provides a review of how to cultivate compassion through developing targets of focused attention: First, establish stability of attention and emotional tranquility through mindfulness of breathing meditation; second, cultivate lovingkindness;...
Cultivating Lovingkindness
This talk is the third in a series that review what are termed the "Divine Abidings". The first talk is entitled "Reviewing the Brahma Viharas", and the second "Manifesting Equanimity"--both can be found in the archive. Lovingkindness is an over-arching...
Guided Cultivating Lovingkindness Contemplation
This guided meditation is intended to accompany the Dharma talk entitled "Cultivating Lovingkindness" recorded on January 26, 2022 and posted on the website. During the meditation, a series of suggestions are offered that cultivate focusing benevolent intention...
Balancing Lovingkindness, Compassion and Sympathetic Joy With Equanimity
This is the second of a series of talks reviewing the Divine Abidings, with emphasis on understanding the characteristics of Equanimity as a balancing factor, to avoid what are called the Far Enemy and Near Enemy of the four factors. The talk also includes...
