by Peter Carlson | Sep 5, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
In this second of two talks focusing on how Buddhist principles and practices can support a balance in the energy required at work and the energy we all want to have at home, Peter emphasized the importance of integrating various strategies into daily work routines in order to avoid the “energy dumps” of resentment, overwork, relationship conflicts and commuting time so that there’s energy available to enj0y home life and find time and energy for spiritual development. Next week’s topic will be how a benevolent lifestyle is manifested around issues of money management and material values.
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by Peter Carlson | Apr 3, 2020 | Listen to Dharma Talks
We are living through what is likely the most trying time of our lives with the Covid-19 pandemic. This is not the only trial we are confronted with, as the upheaval caused by global warming is becoming even more evident. Both of these conditions require a degree of equanimity and creative adaptation to successfully live through. During this talk Peter described how meditation practices such as mindfulness of breathing, lovingkindness and the just posted Four Elements Contemplation can provide support for effective coping, using the Four Noble Truths as the conceptual structure for discussing the significant changes we must make in redefining what constitutes a good life, differing in several ways from the consumerism that is the characteristic conditioning in this culture. During the talk Peter described the importance of a book entitled “Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich” by Duane Elgin in shaping his understanding and growth towards a good life. It can be found on Amazon as a revised edition. It is also useful to go to a site like http://simplicitycollective.com/start-here/what-is-voluntary-simplicity-2 to get more information.
Here are the notes prepared for this talk: MINDFUL COPING AND CULTIVATING AN ADAPTIVE LIFESTYLE
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by Peter Carlson | Jun 20, 2013 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Continuing with the theme of relating the teachings that can be understood and applied in our current era, Peter noted that current psychological research on characteristics of wisdom relate easily to the classical Buddhist doctrines of Wholesome Understanding and Wholesome Intentions (which he terms Clear Awareness and Benevolent Intention).
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by Peter Carlson | Feb 11, 2016 | Listen to Dharma Talks
Peter participated in a one week retreat led by Steve Armstrong, a well-respected Buddhist teacher. During the retreat, he contracted a chest cold, having to spend most of the retreat and one week at home in bed recuperating. During this talk, he reviewed his experience of the three forms of Dukkha: that caused by physical circumstance, that caused by impermanence, and that caused by the conditioned response of the mind to the first two. The intention of the talk and ensuing dialogue was to foster concrete understanding of how Buddhist teachings and practice can be beneficially applied while ill, not with the intention to “fix” the illness, but to understand at a deeper level the body/mind experience of dukkha. Despite the physical misery, there was a quiet acceptance and equanimity about the disease process that consistent mindfulness of breathing provides us.
Here is the essay Peter prepared for this talk: MINDFUL MISERY
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by Peter Carlson | Jan 29, 2026 | Listen to Dharma Talks
During this talk, Allie Vaknin continues reviewing the Paramis, a grouping of mind conditioning functions that, when developed to full potential, cooperatively liberate the mind from distress and confusion. Energy is described as the driver of Right Effort in the mind and body, and must be freed up from attachment to unwholesome views to be purified.
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