This talk provides a brief overview of traditional American holidays from Halloween through New Year’s Eve, from their origins centuries ago up to how current consumerism and social conflict has created a stressful and potentially damaging series of events during the Fall and early Winter periods.  The overview is followed by a review of a Buddhist “decision tree” process called “The Four Clear Comprehensions” that provides a way to integrate mindfulness and Right Effort to realize appropriate goals for gift giving that don’t disrupt the principles of Right Speech/Action/Livelihood.  The review is followed by a dialogue between Peter and a few of the participants to illustrate how this decision-making process works. Here are the notes prepared for this talk, which includes a description of The Four Clear Comprehensions:  Giving Presence Over The Holidays The talk for next week will provide a review of the basics of mindfulness practices.