Coming Attractions

Previous events

May31

Our Wild Calling - Richard Louv and Peter Bolland

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Oasis San Diego, 5500 Grossmont Center Dr #269, La Mesa, California

Join best-selling author Richard Louv and philosophy and religion professor Peter Bolland for a conversation about our relationship with the natural world. What does time spent in the outdoors do for us? Why do we feel that way when we are in the forest, or the desert, or anywhere away from the din and grip of industrial society? What does our longing for natural spaces tell us about our own essential natures? What insights might the world’s wisdom traditions offer to deepen our inquiry into these important questions? This event is live and in-person only--no webinar and no recording. See you there!

Apr28

Friday Reflections

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Zoom Webinar Through San Diego Oasis

Join us for this 30 minute webinar every Friday morning as we thoughtfully consider the world we live in, our place in it, and the myriad ways our hearts, minds, and souls intersect with the insights of the world's wisdom traditions. Even if you can't make this day/time, every registrant receives a video of the webinar. $6

Apr21

Friday Reflections

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Zoom Webinar Through San Diego Oasis

Join us for this 30 minute webinar every Friday morning as we thoughtfully consider the world we live in, our place in it, and the myriad ways our hearts, minds, and souls intersect with the insights of the world's wisdom traditions. Even if you can't make this day/time, every registrant receives a video of the webinar. $6

Apr19

The Great Philosophers: Spinoza

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Oasis San Diego, 5500 Grossmont Center Dr #269, La Mesa, California

A Sephardic Jew of Portuguese ancestry, Baruch Spinoza was born in Amsterdam in 1632. Often at odds with the Rabbis of his own immigrant community, Spinoza would go on to wrestle with ideas of God, meaning, and the universe in startling, influential ways. Arguing for an absolute monism, Spinoza believed that God was simply the name of the energy that binds everything together—a kind of pantheism, thus sealing his enemy status in both Jewish and Christian circles. He nevertheless persisted in taking full advantage of the liberal intellectual climate of the Netherlands to further pursue his ideas and change the course of Western religion and philosophy. Join us for this in-person only lecture. $18

Apr14

Friday Reflections

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Zoom Webinar Through San Diego Oasis

Join us for this 30 minute webinar every Friday morning as we thoughtfully consider the world we live in, our place in it, and the myriad ways our hearts, minds, and souls intersect with the insights of the world's wisdom traditions. Even if you can't make this day/time, every registrant receives a video of the webinar. $6

Apr7

Friday Reflections

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Zoom Webinar Through San Diego Oasis

Join us for this 30 minute webinar every Friday morning as we thoughtfully consider the world we live in, our place in it, and the myriad ways our hearts, minds, and souls intersect with the insights of the world's wisdom traditions. Even if you can't make this day/time, every registrant receives a video of the webinar. $6

Apr6

A Night of Dylan Music

 — (PDT, UTC-07) — (PDT, UTC-07)

Vision: A Center for Spiritual Living, 4780 Mission Gorge Place, Suite H, San Diego, CA

Join singer-songwriters Peter Bolland and Joe Rathburn as they fill the room with the timeless classics of Bob Dylan. For in-person tickets go to https://joerathburn.com/event/4999589/631686469/live-folkey-monkey-presents-peter-bolland-joe-rathburn-pay-tribute-to-bob-dylan and for live-stream tickets go to https://joerathburn.com/event/4999602/631686488/streaming-folkey-monkey-presents-peter-bolland-joe-rathburn-pay-tribute-to-bob-dylan All ticket pre-sales end at noon on the day of the concert, but you can still get tickets for the in-person concert at the door.

Apr5

The Lost Gospel of Thomas

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Oasis San Diego, 5500 Grossmont Center Dr #269, La Mesa, California

Join us at Oasis for this in-person live event. In the first century many texts were written about the life and times and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Four of them made it into the Bible and the rest were scattered, lost, or intentionally destroyed as heresy. In 1945 a complete, intact text of the Gospel of Thomas was discovered in a cache of scrolls in Egypt. Join us as we explore this ancient window into that heady first century before the establishment of the official Church. How is the Gospel of Thomas similar and different from the synoptic gospels and John? What do those differences reveal about the tensions in the early Jesus movement? Might the Gospel of Thomas move us closer to understanding the real Jesus? In-person only. $18

Mar31

Friday Reflections

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Zoom Webinar Through San Diego Oasis

Join us for this 30 minute webinar every Friday morning as we thoughtfully consider the world we live in, our place in it, and the myriad ways our hearts, minds, and souls intersect with the insights of the world's wisdom traditions. Even if you can't make this day/time, every registrant receives a video of the webinar. $6

Mar24

Friday Reflections

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Zoom Webinar Through San Diego Oasis

Join us for this 30 minute webinar every Friday morning as we thoughtfully consider the world we live in, our place in it, and the myriad ways our hearts, minds, and souls intersect with the insights of the world's wisdom traditions. Even if you can't make this day/time, every registrant receives a video of the webinar. $6

Mar23

The Philosophy of Abortion

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Zoom Webinar Through First Church Unitarian Universalist

Join us for this live Zoom webinar. o By now we’re all familiar with the pro and con arguments surrounding America’s most contentious political debate—abortion. But how aware are we of the often-unstated philosophical positions underpinning those familiar arguments? Join us for this philosophical inquiry into the big questions the abortion debate draws to the surface: When does life begin? What do different religions and wisdom traditions say about that? What does liberty or freedom really mean? Do we own our own bodies? How does the 14th amendment (granting a “right to life”) intersect with the 1st amendment (prohibiting the establishment of a state religion)? No matter your current views, join us for this important work. Register for this free event here: https://www.firstuusandiego.org/adult-faith-formation.html

Mar22

The Dying God, the Trickster, and Sacrifice

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Oasis San Diego, 5500 Grossmont Center Dr #269, La Mesa, California

Join us in person at Oasis as we explore the interplay between these three prominent and powerful concepts in religion and mythology—the dying god, the trickster, and sacrifice. All over the world the archetype of the dying god holds sway—a divine being who takes human form only to die a sacrificial, gift-giving death. And the common archetype of the trickster god shakes and rattles us awake from our complacency by presenting divinity in shocking and disruptive forms. But why? Let’s find out! In-person only, $18

Mar17

Friday Reflections

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Zoom Webinar Through San Diego Oasis

Join us for this 30 minute webinar every Friday morning as we thoughtfully consider the world we live in, our place in it, and the myriad ways our hearts, minds, and souls intersect with the insights of the world's wisdom traditions. Even if you can't make this day/time, every registrant receives a video of the webinar. $6

Mar10

Friday Reflections

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Zoom Webinar Through San Diego Oasis

Join us for this 30 minute webinar every Friday morning as we thoughtfully consider the world we live in, our place in it, and the myriad ways our hearts, minds, and souls intersect with the insights of the world's wisdom traditions. Even if you can't make this day/time, every registrant receives a video of the webinar. $6

Mar8

The Great Philosophers: Rene Descartes

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Oasis San Diego, 5500 Grossmont Center Dr #269, La Mesa, California

Join us at Oasis for this in-person only event. In our continuing study of the great philosophers of the Western tradition, few can match the powerful impact of French scientist, mathematician, and philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650). Known as the father of modern philosophy, Descartes shifted the focus from metaphysics to epistemology. He posed an all-important question: how can you describe the known without understanding the knower? By going within his own mind and searching for certainly, Descartes laid the foundation for modernity. All philosophy after Descartes must respond to his deconstruction of classical metaphysics. Join us as we follow Descartes’s groundbreaking methodology and explore his revolutionary insights. In-person only. $18

Mar3

Friday Reflections

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Zoom Webinar Through San Diego Oasis

Join us for this 30 minute webinar every Friday morning as we thoughtfully consider the world we live in, our place in it, and the myriad ways our hearts, minds, and souls intersect with the insights of the world's wisdom traditions. Even if you can't make this day/time, every registrant receives a video of the webinar. $6

Feb24

Friday Reflections

 — (PST, UTC-08) — (PST, UTC-08)

Zoom Webinar Through San Diego Oasis

Join us for this 30 minute webinar every Friday morning as we thoughtfully consider the world we live in, our place in it, and the myriad ways our hearts, minds, and souls intersect with the insights of the world's wisdom traditions. Even if you can't make this day/time, every registrant receives a video of the webinar. $6

Feb19

Lent as Mindfulness

 — (PST, UTC-08) — (PST, UTC-08)

St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral--The Guild Room, 2728 6th Avenue, San Diego, CA

Come to the Adult Forum in the Guild Room at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral for my one-hour talk "Lent as Mindfulness." Is our Lenten practice a time of guilt-ridden austerity or a richly rewarding mindfulness practice where we rediscover our inherent freedom? Is it about hiding from the fallen world of forms, or is it about letting go and learning to see the world as a sacred incarnation? Join Peter Bolland for this inquiry into Lent through various lenses both within and without Christianity. Join us either in person or via livestream. Free.

Feb17

Friday Reflections

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Zoom Webinar Through San Diego Oasis

Join us for this 30 minute webinar every Friday morning as we thoughtfully consider the world we live in, our place in it, and the myriad ways our hearts, minds, and souls intersect with the insights of the world's wisdom traditions. Even if you can't make this day/time, every registrant receives a video of the webinar. $6

Social Media

Write, speak, sing, teach



 

"When life does not find a singer to sing her heart she produces a philosopher to speak her mind." ~ Kahlil Gibran

I speak, write, teach, and sing about a wide range of spiritual and philosophical things.

I write a column for Unity Magazine. I publish a blog called Thinking Through where all my published writing is gathered. I lead guided meditations online on the Insight Timer Meditation app. I have a YouTube channel called Peter Bolland TV where I post videos of some of my talks and songs and more. And I lecture all over town in a wide variety of venues. All of my work is about one thing: shaping the insights of the world's wisdom traditions into tools we can use to enrich our lives. And all that happens when I'm not at Southwestern College in Chula Vista being a philosophy and humanities professor and department chair. 

I also sing, play guitar, write songs, make albums, and perform regularly throughout the San Diego area.


I've been playing music and writing songs my whole life. My first solo album was called Frame, released in 2002. It earned a Best Americana Album nomination at the San Diego Music Awards. Then I had a band called The Coyote Problem from 2002-2010. We won the Best Americana Album prize for both of our albums, Wire in 2005 and California in 2007 at the San Diego Music Awards. Quit while you're ahead, right? I fired myself from my own band so I could focus on all of my other projects, including my solo work. The result? My album Two Pines, available now.Two Pines Album Cover


I am also a session musician playing a wide variety of instruments on other people's albums, things like acoustic and electric guitar, lap steel guitar, Dobro, mandolin, banjo, and harmonica.


But these daydobros I spend most of my off-campus time speaking and leading workshops at a wide variety of venues, (The Chopra Center, The San Diego Vedanta Monastery, San Diego Oasis, The Osher Life Long Learning Institute, Vision: A Center for Spiritual Living, First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, and many more) about all of the things I've learned through the years about the world's wisdom traditions. If you'd like to come experience one of my many multimedia lecture presentations or long-form classes about the life-changing transformational wisdom of world mythology, comparative religion, and practical philosophy, visit the Calendar page for a complete schedule of upcoming events.


     The Bolland Sevenfold Path

1. Join the Mailing List.

2. Check the Calendar page for coming attractions.

3. Listen and shop on the Music page.

4. Meditate with me right now for free on the Insight Timer Meditation app.

5. Follow the link to my Blog "Thinking Through."

6. Click the YouTube icon and subscribe to Peter Bolland TV.

7. And come back anytime you like. We'll be here.