Sunday Dharma Talk

This dharma talk by Peter Doobinin was given on the first night of the April 2026 Eight-Day Retreat at Powell House.  In the talk, Peter describes the practice of taking refuge .... how we take refuge ... and why it's important to learn to do so. May all beings live with ease and in peace.

This is the fifth in a series of five talks on "The Jhana Qualities" given by Peter in November 2025.  In the talk, Peter describes what equanimity is; how, through the practice of breath meditation, we develop the quality of equanimity; and how we put it to use in our efforts to know a greater happiness in life.

The third jhana quality is "pleasure." In cultivating skillful pleasure we are learning to establish and maintain a pleasant abiding.  When there is a pleasant abiding we remain in the present moment.  We are in the most favorable state. We are able to function most effectively, meet the difficulties in life.  We are able to stay close to the heart. This dharma talk is the fourth in a series of talks on "The Jhana Qualities" given by Peter in November 2025.

The second jhana quality is 'ease." This quality of ease is sometimes known as rapture, piti in Pali.  We might think of it as physical ease.  When ease is developed we're in a position to remain present, to function effectively, to thrive.  The cultivation of ease is an effort made in the service of the heart.  May all beings have ease of being. This talk is the third in a series of dharma talks offered by Peter Doobinin in November 2025 on "The Jhana Qualities."

The first jhana quality is 'singleness of mind." Singleness of mind is focus.  When developed in this quality we're able to put our mind where we choose to put it.  And keep it there.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we develop this factor of jhana ... and why it's important to do so.  This is the second talk in a series of dharma talks on "The Jhana Qualities" offered in November 2025. "Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice jhana, monks. Don't be heedless. Don't later fall into regret. This is our message to you." (MN 19)

The development of concentration, the Buddha teaches, is the heart of the path.  The Buddha's concentration, the concentration he learned to develop and then taught is known as jhana.  We develop jhana, as the Buddha did, by the practice of mindfulness of breathing.  In doing so, it is in our best interests to focus our efforts on developing the 'qualities of jhana.'  This is the first in a series of talks given by Peter Doobinin in November 2025 on "The Jhana Qualities." "Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice jhana, monks. Don't be heedless. Don't later fall into regret. This is our message to you." (MN 19)

How do we free ourselves from habitual patterns of mind?  How do we change the mind?  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how the practice of awareness enables us to free ourselves from our habitual patterns ... and how we're able, in consequence, to develop skillful attitude, attitude informed by the heart.  The talk was given in May 2024. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how the skills of generosity and equanimity support us as we move forward in life, as we go through periods of transition, as we meet change and difficulty.  The talk was given in April 2024.

Compassion is a quality of heart & mind that informs skillful action.  As such, compassion is a form of action.  A verb.  We develop this action by following certain steps.  It is a skill.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains the skill for taking action informed by compassion.  The dharma talk was given in March 2025. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

In meditation we develop tranquility.  Silence.  Our task, we might say, is to cultivate silence and then to listen.  This sort of listening asks for great patience.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we develop patience ... the patience that is asked for, in finding our way to a greater happiness in life.  The talk was given in February 2025. NY Dharma:  www.nydharma.org 

The practice of letting go is just that, a practice.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the 'course of treatment' the Buddha prescribes through which we let go and gradually are freed from suffering.  The talk was given in the winter of 2025. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

As dharma students, we don't lose sight of the truth.  We remember the brightness in life.  We remember the joy in life.  We remember our capacity for happiness.  And through it all, we resolve to live live joyfully.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we learn to make the resolve to live joyfully.  The dharma talk was given in March 2026. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

As dharma students, as an admirable friend, we learn to relate to each other from the heart.  We speak the language of the heart.  In this talk Peter Doobinin describes why it's so necessary to have admirable friends.   "With regard to external factors, I don't envision any other single factor like friendship with admirable people as doing so much for a monk in training, who has not attained the goal but remains intent on the unsurpassed safety from bondage. A monk who is a friend with admirable people abandons what is unskillful and develops what is skillful." (Iti 17) NY Dharma:  www.nydharma.org 

As dharma students, as human beings, we meet difficulties in life.  We meet difficulty, in ourselves, in others, in the world.  Through it all, we stay true.  We stay true to ourselves.  We stay true to the dharma.  We stay true to the heart.  we don't lose the heart.  We keep to the heart.  And it's important to remember, as Peter Doobinin reminds us, that what enables us to keep to the heart are the skills we develop as dharma students.  The dharma talk was given in March 2026. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

As dharma students, we develop meditation and the skills of mindfulness so that can awaken.  In the process of awakening, we learn to meet life on life's terms.  We learn to meet the difficulties and challenges of life.  In doing so, we're not simply seeking to endure the challenges of life.  We're seeking to learn.  The message of the path, as Peter Doobinin explains, is a message of joy, brightness, true happiness.  By meeting the challenges of life, we know the happiness that the path offers.   This talk was given in February 2026. New York Dharma: www.nydharma.org

In dharma practice, we could say, the elemental components are physiology, psychology & spirituality.  We develop each of these elements of the practice.  And each element supports and strengthens the others.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we might think of our practice in this ... and how these elements of dharma practice, when developed, lead us to a greater happiness in this life.  The dharma talk was given in February 2026. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

It is a tendency of the mind to fixate, to become preoccupied with certain things, with certain thoughts, with certain stories.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how, using the skills the Buddha teaches, we learn to ease fixation.  And thereby live in the body and in the heart.  The talk was given in the winter of 2026. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

Emotions, as Peter Doobinin explains, are part of life, part of what it means to be a human being.  In dharma practice, we learn to understand emotions and to develop a skillful relationship to them.  And we learn to move beyond emotions, to know those qualities that are transcendent and conduce to happiness, the qualities of the heart.  The dharma talk was given in January 2025. New York Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

The path is the path of the heart.  It's a spiritual path.  As Peter Doobinin explains, the elements of this spiritual path include generosity, virtue, renunciation, and meditation.  Following this path, we come closer to the heart.  We know happiness of heart.  The talk was given in January 2025. May all beings be happy of heart! NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

The dharma is inside.  It's found within each of us.  It's found in this body.  In this very life.  As Peter Doobinin explains, as we develop in the practice of meditation, in the practice of mindfulness of the body, we become more and more in tune with the dharma within us.  This talk was offered in February 2026. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

The dharma students seeks to know a greater happiness in this very life.  As Peter Doobinin explains, we each have the capacity to live with an awakened heart, to live joyfully, to know the joy of living.  As we learn to move beyond our doubts and self judgments, the path opens up to us; we know what it possible; we begin to realize a greater happiness.  The dharma talk was given at an NY Dharma daylong retreat in January 2026. New York Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

As we move forward in our practice, in our efforts to cultivate skillful, affirmative thoughts we know a greater happiness.  This, as the Buddha tells us, is something we can do.   And it's something we should learn to do, if we want to know a joyful life.  In order to have a joyful life, we have to cultivate joyful thoughts.  Affirmative thoughts.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we cultivate affirmative thinking.  The dharma talk is the last in a series of five talks on "Skillful Thinking" that Peter gave in January 2025. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

By asking questions in skillful ways we learn to free the heart of its burdens and know the happiness inside, the happiness of heart.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains the skill of asking skillful questions.  The talk was given in January 2026.  It's the third in a series of dharma talks on cultivating skillful thinking that Peter offered during the month. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

Our happiness in this life depends on the way that we think and the actions that follow.  As dharma students, our task is to abandon unskillful thinking and to cultivate skillful thinking.  In this talk, Peter explains the skill for cultivating skillful thinking, thinking that leads us to true happiness.  The dharma talk is the second in a series of talks on "Skillful Thinking" offered in January 2026. ​"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world." (Dhp 1) NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org

This dharma talk is the first in a series of talks on the theme of "Skillful Thinking" given by Peter Doobinin in January 2026.  As Peter explains, the Buddha's path is a path of developing skills.  The skill of skillful thinking is integral to the path.  Through developing skillful thinking we are able to shape our lives, we are able to live with wisdom & compassion, we are able to know the happiness of heart.  In this talk, Peter explains the basics for developing the skill of skillful thinking. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

Meditation is often difficult.  But, as Peter Doobinin explains, it's time well spent.  This talk was given by Peter in December 2025.

The practice of the dharma is the practice of being aware in the here & now.  Being aware of our experience, as it is, in the moment.  And, in turn, shaping our experience of the here & now.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains what it is to live in the here & now; and how we're able to do that.  The dharma talk was offered on December 21, 2025. You shouldn't chase after the past or place expectations on the future. What is past           is left behind. The future           is as yet unreached. Whatever quality is present you clearly see right there,              right there. Not taken in, unshaken, that's how you develop the heart. (MN 131)

The truths of the heart, the dhamma, are timeless and deathless.  The dharma has always been there and will always be there.  The Buddha didn't invent the dharma.  He found it.  And he taught a way, a path, by which we might find it.  Our task is to follow the path and, in turn, to be alert to the dhamma, that timeless quality.  It is from this place, that we seek to live.  The talk was offered by Peter Doobinin in January 2025. New York Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

The dhamma is found inside.  Inside each of us.  It is found inside and it is always there.  It is timeless.  This talk was given by Peter Doobinin at the end of the year in December 2025. New York Dharma:  www.nydharma.org 

There is that which is subject to birth & death; and there is that which doesn't die.  As we understand the truth of impermanence, we gradually move toward knowing the happiness that doesn't die:  the happiness of the heart.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explain how our understanding of impermanence leads us to a greater happiness in this life.  He encourages us to ask, "Is there a happiness that doesn't die?"  The talk was given at a New York Dharma daylong retreat in December 2025. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

In dharma practice, we learn to change.  We change our karma.  We change our actions.  The skills the Buddha teaches enable us to no longer act our on our past karma ... and in turn, to act in support of the heart.  As we practice these skills, we come to know a greater happiness in this life.  This dharma talk is the fourth in a series of four talks on "The Law of Karma" that Peter Doobinin gave in September 2025. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

All skillful qualities, the Buddha teaches, are rooted in heedfulness.  The practice of heedfulness enables us to discern which actions to take, which actions will lead us to a greater happiness in this life.  In this talk, Peter explains the skill of heedfulness, how we develop it, and the importance in doing so.  The dharma talk is the third talk in a series on "The Law of Karma" offered in September 2025. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

As the law of karma suggests, our happiness in this life depends on our actions.  As dharma students, we seek to take action that is skillful, informed by lovingkindness and compassion, in the service of knowing a greater happiness.  However, in order to develop in skillful action we have to transcend our habitual way of doing things:  our past karma.  In this talk, Peter explains the process we learn and practice in that effort.  The talk is the second in a series of talks on "The Law of Karma" offered in September 2025. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

Understanding of the law of karma is central to the Buddha's path.  In awakening, we awaken to the law of karma.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes the law of karma; and, importantly, he explains how we come to develop this elemental understanding.  The talk is the first in a series of dharma talks on the law of karma offered in September 2025. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

The practice of the dharma is, when developed, a way of life.  It is the way of the heart.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the way of the heart and how we learn to develop the heart.  He talks about making the resolve to cultivate the way of the heart and encourages us to ask: what is my resolve to follow the way of the heart?  The talk was given in summer 2024. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

The Buddha was considered a spiritual doctor.  We have a spiritual disease, he tells us.  And he offers us a spiritual cure.  What is this spiritual disease?  What is the spiritual cure?  How do we apply it?  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses these important questions.  The talk was given in August 2024.

In practicing meditation, we go through a process.  It requires learning a skill and putting in the effort.  As we develop in this process, we go through certain stages.  The development of these stages leads us to concentration, a concentration that is strong and useful, a concentration that enables us to come to the heart.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes basic stages in meditation practice.  The talk was given in September 2024. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

How is the heart?  Are we taking good care of the heart?  These are important questions for us to ask.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we learn to take care of the heart from day to day, moment to moment.  The talk was given in March 2024.   "As a mother would risk her life    to protect her child, her only child,    even so should one cultivate a limitless heart    with regard to all beings."    (Sn 1.8) NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

Gratitude is an essential element of the spiritual path.  When gratitude is developed, we're able to function at the highest level.  We're able to know the happiness of heart.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the skills for cultivating gratitude and the quality of appreciation.  The talk was given in May 2024. New York Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

Dharma practice is inherently countercultural.  We're asked to go against the current.  Doing this requires that we develop certain skills.  In an effort to practice simplicity, we practice certain skills.  We learn to see the drawbacks of chasing after sense pleasures; and we learn to know the joy of simplicity.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes the skills that the dharma student cultivates, in making the path, in practicing simplicity, in knowing the joy that it brings.  The talk was given in the fall of 2025. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

What does it mean to develop our goodness?  How do we express our goodness in the world?  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the elements of a life of goodness.  As he explains, we seek, as dharma students, to live this kind of life because it brings happiness.  The talk was given at a NY Dharma daylong retreat in the spring of 2025. NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

In the practice of meditation, we make a journey to the present moment.  We make an effort to be here, now.  We may feel at times like we don't want to be here, we may feel like we don't belong.  But the practice of the dharma offers us a way to make this often difficult journey.  In doing so we come to realize that what we do in this life matters.  We come to learn that there is a place for us.  The dharma talk was given by Peter Doobinin at a daylong retreat in New York City in the autumn of 2025. NY Dharma:  www.nydharma.org 

The Buddha's path, the dharma, leads us to our greatest potential as human beings.  To use a metaphor the Buddha often offered, we learn to cross the river to the further shore.  By developing in virtue, concentration & insight, we come to the heart.  We come to know a greater happiness: happiness of heart.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the path that leads us to the potential of the heart.  The talk was given in the spring of 2025. NY Dharma:  www.nydharma.org 

In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we develop enthusiasm for the dharma, for our practice, for the path that leads to a greater happiness.  He talks about what this enthusiasm comprises and how it enables us to move forward in our practice.  As he notes, this kind of enthusiasm for dhamma is essential for us to cultivate as we make an effort to awaken and make the most of our lives.  The talk was given in the summer of 2025. NY Dharma:  www.nydharma.org 

As dharma students, practicing in accord with what the Buddha taught, we learn to incline to knowing the dhamma.  We learn to know moments of freedom, peace, true happiness.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we put ourselves in position to know dhamma.  He offer practical suggestions for finding dhamma in our day-to-day lives.  The talk was given in the summer of 2025 NY Dharma:  www.nydharma.org 

In this talk Peter Doobinin discusses an elemental teaching of the Buddha's, the Buddha's teaching on fear of death.  As the Buddha tells us, if we develop certain qualities, we'll be able to move beyond the fear of death.  Specifically, there are four qualities that the dharma student develops that will enable her to move beyond this existential fear.  The dharma talk is the concluding talk in a series on "Moving Beyond Fear" that Peter offered in June 2025. NY Dharma:  www.nydharma.org 

We learn, as dharma students, to relate to fear skillfully.  In this effort, we learn to meet fear with love.  We learn to meet experience that is fearful with the heart, with metta, compassion, joy.  This is elemental to our training.  We have this profound potential, to meet things with love.  We become more and more able, as we practice, to move beyond fear.  The other side of fear is love.  And love will always see us through.   This is the fourth in a series of talks given by Peter Doobinin in June 2025 on the theme:  "Moving Beyond Fear." NY Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

As dharma students, we're asked to confront fear.  And, in this effort, we're asked to be skillful.  We're asked to develop certain skills.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains the elements of the skill for practicing mindfulness of fear.  If we develop this skill, we'll be able to meet fear and, in turn, move beyond it.  The talk is the third in a series of dharma talks offered in June 2025 on the subject of "Moving Beyond Fear." New York Dharma: www.nydharma.org 

This dharma talk is the second in a series of talks given by Peter Doobinin in June 2025 on the theme: "Moving Beyond Fear."  In this talk Peter explains the critical role that concentration plays in the dharma student's ability to move beyond fear.  He describes how we learn to "put to good use" our concentration in this effort. May all beings find freedom from fear! New York Dharma:  www.nydharma.org 

This talk is the first in a series of dharma talks given by Peter Doobinin in June 2025 on the theme of "Moving Beyond Fear."  In this talk Peter describes an essential principle of the Buddha's, that to meet fear we must develop certain qualities.  In the talk Peter discusses these qualities, what they are, how we become developed in them, and how they enable us to meet fear.  

In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes the values of a dharma student and how we can develop these values.  The values that we cultivate as dharma students lead us to a greater happiness in this life.  And the teachings of the Buddha provides us with skills that enable us to cultivate these values.  The dharma talk was given in the spring of 2025. www.nydharma.org