Sunday Dharma Talk

In meeting life, in all its difficulties and challenges, it's essential that we have a place to go for refuge.  As dharma students, we find refuge in our communities.  And the ultimate refuge is the refuge that we find within.  Developed in our practice, we learn to rely, in all the circumstances of life, on being able to find refuge within.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains the skill of developing refuge ... and putting that refuge to good use.  The talk was given in November 2023.

The Buddha encouraged his followers to have "respect for concentration."  When we have this respect for concentration, we practice.  We develop our meditation.  We develop in the Buddha's concentration:  jhana.  When concentration, through effort and determination, becomes developed, we're more able to take skillful action in our lives; we're more able to understand our experience of life; we're more able to develop insight; we're more able to know true happiness.  This talk by Peter Doobinin was given in the autumn of 2023. 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)

All beings, the Buddha tells us, have a wish for happiness of heart.  And, as the Buddha tells us, our happiness depends on our actions.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we cultivate discernment, the skill of understanding the consequences of our actions.  As we develop this skill we move toward knowing a greater happiness in this life. The dharma talk was given in November 2023.

A bodhisatta is a being who is striving for awakening ... a being who follows the dharma, who practices the dharma in accord with what the Buddha taught.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the qualities of the bodhisatta, and the elements of a practice in accord with the dharma.  As he explains, we all have the ability to follow this path ... and to know the happiness of heart that it leads us to.  The talk was given in November 2024.

Life, by its nature, is often difficult.  As human beings we're all faced with the inevitable truths of illness, aging, death, separation.  And of course there is much in the world that is difficult, challenging, painful.   And there is much that we find in ourselves that is painful.  The Buddha's teaching offer us a path through difficulty, and, in turn, to happiness. This, as Peter Doobinin, explains is the path of the heart:  the path of love.  In this talk, Peter describes how we learn to meet life, in all its joy and sorrows, skillfully, from the heart.  It's the heart that will see us through.  The talk was given in December 2024.

The teachings of the Buddha tells us that dukkha, or suffering, comes from clinging; and that, in turn, if we abandon clinging, we'll know a true happiness in life.  But what is clinging?  As Peter Doobinin explains, if we come to understand what clinging is, then our ability to abandon it will be greatly enhanced.  In this talk he discusses what clinging is, and how this understanding enables us to let go.  The talk was given in March 2025.

In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes two important skills that we learn to develop in an effort to meet the difficulties in life.  The practice of insight meditation is a practice of developing skills.  These skills are "skills for lifetime."  If we develop them, practice them, we're surely know a greater happiness in this life.  This talk was given in March 2025.

Our path, in practicing the dharma, includes abandoning unskillful thinking and cultivating skillful thinking.  It is essential, as we make our way toward a greater happiness, that we learn to cultivating skillful thinking in all our postures, as we go through our days and nights.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes basic skills for cultivating skillful thinking.  As he notes, these are skills that we all can develop.  And if we do, it will benefit us profoundly in our efforts to know the fruits of the path.  The talk was given in March 2025.

All that we are, the teachings of the Buddha tell us, begins with our thinking.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains skills we develop in the service of abandoning unskillful thinking.  The emphasis in the talk is on working with thinking in the course of our days.  The talk was given in March 2035.

As dharma students our task is to know reality.  And, as the Buddha tells us, there is a conditioned reality, the reality of the senses; and there's an unconditioned reality, a reality that is timeless.  The path leads us to knowing this reality:  ultimate reality.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin discusses ultimate reality, what it is, and what we need to do to know it.  The talk was given in the winter of 2025.

A dharma talk given by Peter Doobinin in January 2025 as he turned 70 years old.  In the talk Peter talks about the possibility of happiness ... a happiness that transcends time.  In practicing the dharma, as the Buddha teaches, we open ourselves, in any moment, to the profound possibilities of the heart.  To a greater happiness.  This happiness is always available to us; it is this happiness that, as dharma students, we seek to know.

Where do we look for happiness?  Is our practice leading us to a happiness of heart?  A reliable happiness?  A greater happiness?  In this talk, Peter Doobinin talks about how we make the journey to the heart ... and how, in making that journey, we come to know a greater happiness.  The talk was given at a daylong retreat in 2015.

In dharma practice, we are developing a wisdom that's found in the heart.  Typically, we seek intellectual wisdom, the wisdom attained by thinking.  In dharma practice, we're engaging in a different way of learning.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes this way of learning, the way in which we develop liberating wisdom, the wisdom in the heart.  The talk was given in the summer of 2016.

We should take care of the heart, the Buddha tells us, the way a mother would take care of her newborn baby.  As dharma students we learn to make a commitment to the heart.  In this dharma talk Peter Doobinin discusses what i means to make a commitment to the heart ... and how we're able to do that.  The talk was given in 2016 at a Downtown Meditation Community Lovingkindness Retreat.

This dharma talk was offered by Peter Doobinin at the end of the year in December 2024.  In the talk, Peter discusses how we might bring joy and faith into the year to come.   May all beings find true happiness in their days!

As meditation students, as Peter Doobinin explains, we learn to see things "according to reality."  Much of the time, we're enmeshed in thought worlds.  Lost in thought.  In our practice, we begin to see things as they are.  We abandon our stories.  And in the process, we come to know the truth of our goodness, the truth of the dharma inside us.  The talk was given in December 2024.

The dharma student resolves to follow a spiritual path in an effort to find freedom from grasping and to free the heart of its burdens.  In doing so, we come to learn that what we're grasping on to, our stories, our suffering, is not who we are.  We come to learn what we are, our true nature.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we come to understand these truths.  The talk was given in December 2024.

Spiritual practice requires that we make great effort over a period of time; at the same time, we're asked to know the present moment and find happiness in it.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses this paradox of the spiritual path.  He explains how we learn to bring skillful effort to the moment ... and how by doing so, we learn to know happiness of heart.  The talk was given in January 2024.

This dharma talk was given at a daylong retreat in New York In November 2024.  In the talk, Peter Doobinin explains the Buddha's path, the story of his awakening, and the three knowledges he came to in his journey.  These three knowledges provide for the basis of right view.  The story of the Buddha's awakening offer us a way, a dharma, that we can follow; but, as Peter describes, it is us to us to make the effort to follow the path.  If we're true to the path, we'll come to a greater happiness.  As the Thai meditation master Ajaan Lee said, "if we're true to the dhamma, the dhamma will be true to us."

We shape our lives, in the service of knowing a greater happiness, through the cultivation of skillful intention.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains skillful intention, what it is, how we develop it.  The dharma talk is the fifth in a series of five talks on "Basic Skills" that were offered in June 2024.

Heedfulness, the Buddha teaches us, is the root of skillfulness.  The practice of heedfulness enables us to take action in support of the heart, action that will lead us to happiness of heart.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes the elements of this essential skill.  The talk is the fourth in a series of talks on "Basic Skills" that Peter gave in June 2024.

In developing dharma practice, we seek to maintain present moment awareness, mindfulness, and our connection to the heart in all our postures, all the activities of our lives.  This is "Natural Meditation."  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes the skill of Natural Meditation and the great benefits in developing this skill.  The talk is the third in a series on "Basic Skill" that Peter offered in June 2024.

In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the basic skill of walking meditation.  As he explains, this key element of dharma practice enables us to make a transition from formal sitting meditation to being mindful in our lives.  The talk is the second in a series of talks on "basic skills" that Peter offered in June 2024.

This is the first talk in a series of dharma talks on "Basic Skills" offered by Peter Doobinin in June 2024.  In this talk, Peter discusses, in detail, the steps of breath meditation.  As he notes, it's a "lifetime practice" and a practice, as the Buddha noted, that leads us to true happiness.

The path leads us to the goodness of the heart.  It's a joyful path.  It's a joyful life.  We're asked, in making the path, to abandon that which is keeping us from the heart.  Specifically, the ways in which we cling, our holding on, our wanting ... and not wanting.  What's left, when we let go is the purity of heart.  In this talk, given in the summer of 2024, Peter Doobinin describes the dharma student's task: to know purity of heart.

What is our commitment to the heightened mind?  From the heightened mind, we're able to develop insight and find freedom from suffering.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how & why we develop the heightened mind  ... and how we develop in our commitment to it.  The dharma talk was offered in February 2024.

Life, by its nature, presents us with things that are difficult.  There is, of course, illness, aging, death.  We'll be separated, the Buddha tells us, from all that we find dear and appealing.  This is the way it is, and as dharma students we learn to develop acceptance - equanimity - in relationship to these basic truths about life.  In this talk, Peter explains how, if we develop this sort of acceptance, we can know a happiness in life.  In spite of life's challenges and difficulties, there is great happiness and joy.  The dharma talk was given in October 2024.

The Buddha's path is a path of happiness.  In following this path, we learn to know a reliable happiness.  What does this mean?  Why is it so important to make an effort to know this happiness?  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses these questions.  The talk was given in September 2024.

In all the circumstances of our lives, we seek, as dharma students, to stay in tune.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we learn to stay in tune regardless of the situations we encounter.  In staying in tune, we have a skillful relationship to the thoughts and emotions that arise; we're able to maintain a certain space; we're able to stay close to the heart.  The dharma talk was given in October 2024.

This life is a profound and precious gift.  As dharma students, it's integral to the path to remember the blessing of life.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin talks about how we learn to recognize the preciousness of life and cultivate gratitude for life.  And how this reflection brings joy.  The talk was given in October 2024.

Working skillfully with our thinking, in meditation and in our daily lives, is an extremely important element in dharma practice.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how, by bringing insight to our thinking, we're able to abandon sticky thoughts and afflictive narratives.  The talk was given in October 2024.

What is our commitment to the heart...?  What is our commitment to taking action in support of the heart...?  What is our commitment to love...?  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explore these questions.  He describes how we learn to take action informed by love.  And how we develop that resolve.  The talk, given in July 2024, is the fourth talk in a series of four talks on Lovingkindness. May all beings find ease of being and happiness of heart!

What is our wish for ourselves?  To what degree are we driven by our wishes for the so-call worldly satisfactions?  In cultivating lovingkindness, we are learning to develop the wish for a happiness that transcends that kind of happiness.  We're developing our wish for a greater happiness.  The happiness of heart.  This dharma talk, given in July 2024, is the third in a series of talks on Lovingkindness. May all beings be happy of heart!

This talk is the second in a series of talks on the theme of "Lovingkindness" given by Peter Doobinin in August 2024.  As Peter explains, our efforts to connect to the heart, to lovingkindness (metta) must include both the cultivation of the heart and the abandoning of the that which is a burden on the heart.  In the talk, Peter describes how we cause the heart to be burdened and how we relieve the heart of its burdens. May all beings be happy of heart.

This is the first in a series of talks on Lovingkindness that Peter Doobinin gave in July 2024.  The essence of lovingkindness in found in our wish for happiness, for ourselves and others.  All beings, the Buddha tells us, have this wish.  In this dharma talk, Peter discusses how we develop our wish to be happy. May all beings be happy of heart!

What is our sense of purpose in this life?  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how following the Buddha's path, living along spiritual lines, being a dharma student, give our lives a sense of purpose.  The dharma talk was given on the final night of the April Retreat at Powell House in 2024.

In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses the art of letting go.  As Peter explains, developing the resolve to let go is essential, if we're going to let go, know freedom from suffering, and find our way to the heart.  The talk was given at the April 2024 Eight Day Retreat.

In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin takes an in-depth look at the Buddha's seminal teaching on the Four Noble Truths.  By accomplishing the tasks the Buddha sets forth in this teaching, we're able to rid the heart of its burdens and know true happiness in this life.  The talk was offered in April 2024 at the Eight-Day Retreat at Powell House.

In following the path of the dharma, we come to know our goodness.  The goodness that each of us, as human beings, has within.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we come to know this goodness .... and how this knowledge informs our way forward.  The talk was given at a daylong retreat in Berlin in September 2024.

In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the simple practice of awareness.  If we can trust in awareness, our innate wisdom will lead us to freedom, the end of suffering, true happiness.  In the talk Peter explains the obstacles to awareness ... and how we learn to develop in awareness.  The talk was given at the April 2024 Eight-Day Retreat.

The Buddha described the quality of "being in tune with the dharma."  When we're in tune our practice flourishes.  Our life flourishes.  We live in accord with the heart.  In this talk, Peter explains what it means to be in tune ... and how we learn to be in tune.  The dharma talk was given on the third night of the April 2024 Eight-Day Retreat.

The habits of our minds often lead us to difficulty and pain.  But we can learn to train our awareness.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how by learning to incline our awareness in a skillful way, we move toward a greater happiness in life.  As he explains, the ability to cultivate ease and sukkha (pleasure), to maintain a pleasant abiiding in all our postures, is integral to this process.  The talk was given at the April 2024 Eight-Day Retreat.

All that we are, the Buddha tells us, begins with our thoughts.  As dharma students, we learn to cultivate thinking that is skillful:  thinking that will lead us to a true happiness in this life.  We can do this.  We can change our minds.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin, describes the processes for changing the mind.  The talk was given on the first night of the April 2024 Eight-Day Retreat.

The Buddha's path, the dharma, is a path of knowing a true and reliable happiness.  In making this path, as Peter Doobinin describes, ,we learn to put aside our preoccupation with things that aren't reliable, things, including the pleasures of the world, that can't bring reliable, lasting happiness.  The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community Three-Day Retreat in 2016.

Are we taking good care of the mnd?  What does this mean?  How do we take good care of the mind?  Why is it so important?  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explores these questions.  The talk was given at Downtown Meditation Community on a Sunday night in 2014.

In our efforts to know a greater happiness in life, it's essential that we learn to abandon unskillful thinking.  But simply making an effort to put aside unskillful thinking isn't enough; we need to learn to bring insight to thinking.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we develop this skill.  The talk was given in September 2014.

As dharma students, we seek to live in a certain way.  We live in the world but we don't follow the ways of the world.  What does this mean?  As Peter Doobinin explains in this talk, we come to understand how to make this path, the path of the dharma dharma, through the process of taking refuge.  The dharma talk was given in January 2015.

What is freedom?  It's a term we might often use ... but perhaps we're not so sure about what it is.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains what, in the Buddha's teaching, freedom is ... and how we practice it.  The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community retreat in the winter of 2013.

In this dharma talk, given in 2015, Peter Doobinin discusses the effort we make to abandon clinging and know true happiness.  To what extent is it a priority for us to let go of aversion & desire?  What is our commitment to happiness?  These are questions we learn to ask in making this noble effort.

It's a joyful path.  When we practice the dharma, in accord with the dharma, what the Buddha taught, we know great joy.  And although the path asks us to comprehend our pain and suffering, as Peter Doobinin explains, when we do this skillfully, it's joyful.  The dharma talk was given in January 2024.

The dharma student, resolved to following the Buddha's path, strives to live her life along spiritual lines.  What does this mean?  How do we develop in our resolve?  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explores these questions.  The talk was given on New Year's Eve in 2023.