Sunday Dharma Talk

The dharma is found inside.  Although our tendency, as Peter Doobinin explains, is to look for happiness in things outside ourselves, in sense pleasure, in other people, in material things, we find a true, reliable happiness inside.  In this talk, Peter explains what this means and how we come to the dharma inside.  The talk was given in February 2021.

The practice of meditation enables us to "make space."  We become more and more able, in doing so, to find refuge; to bring awareness, and thusly understanding, to our experience; and to know true happiness, a happiness that doesn't die.   In this talk, given in January 2023, Peter Doobinin describes how, by making space, we move toward a greater happiness in our lives.

When we pay close attention to our experience, we understand that what we share with others is timeless and profound.  In following the Buddha's path, we're asked to live in tune with all beings.  What does this mean?  What is our commitment to solidarity with all beings?  In this talk, given in September 2023, Peter Doobinin explores these questions.

We practice meditation so that we can be here, present, and wake, and openhearted, for this life.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we develop the resolve to be present ... and how the practice of breath meditation brings us to the present moment.  The talk was given in March 2024.

When we develop the practice of breath meditation, we come to know ease, contentedness, tranquility, peace.  We have a mind that's at peace.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how the steps of breath meditation bring us to this sublime state of peace.  The talk was given in August 2023.

Through the practice of awareness, we learn to understand our experience.  In this talk, Peter explains how through this practice of awareness we come to understand the obstacles to meditation ... and the obstacles to happiness in this life.  The talk was given in the summer of 2023.

In this dharma talk, given at a daylong retreat in the spring of 2023, Peter Doobinin describes how we make the journey to the heart and, in turn, learn to develop in self love.  As he explains, to move ahead in life, beyond fear, toward a greater happiness, we must learn to develop self love.  And this is something, if we follow the path, that we can do.

It's essential to learn acceptance, if we're going to know happiness in this life.  As Peter Doobinin explains, we all have the potential for acceptance; this potential has to be developed.  In the dharma talk, Peter describes keys elements of the skill for developing acceptance.  The talk was offered in June 2023.

It's essential, in meditation practice, and in life, to keep the mind bright.  The bright mind is imbued with gratitude and appreciation.  It's a joyful mind.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes the skill for keeping the mind bright.  And he explains why it's important to do.  The dharma talk was given on 2 July 2023.

In practicing meditation, we develop the qualities of mindfulness, alertness, and ardency.  In this talk, given in September 2023, Peter Doobinin explains what ardency comprises and why it's essential to the development of meditation practice.  As he tells us, ardency is a function of wisdom.  And love.

In the goodness of the silence, we know the dharma.  In a noisy world, we're asked, as dharma students, to cultivate silence.  Externally and internally.  Ultimately, through our practice of meditation, we're able to develop inner silence.  This is our task, to develop silence, to know silence, to know the goodness of the silence.  The dharma talk was given in the winter of 2024.

In following the path toward a greater happiness, we need to have patience.  It's an essential quality, one of the ten paramis, that we're asked to develop.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we cultivate the skill of patience; and why patience is an element of our goodness, a blessing.  The dharma talk was given in November 2022.

As the Buddha teaches, we shape our lives, in the direction of a greater happiness, by learning to use thinking in a skillful way.  As Peter Doobinin explains in this dharma talk, if we can learn to skillfully shape our meditation, we can shape our lives.  We can know a greater happiness.  The talk was given in August 2022. 

Most beings spend most of their lives in thought worlds, lost in thought.  The practice of the dharma, as the Buddha explained, is to abandon these thought worlds.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explicates key elements of the skill for finding freedom from thought world and, in turn, for living in the present moment.  The talk was given in the summer of 2022.

The Buddha's teachings guide us to a greater happiness:  a happiness that's not dependent on conditioned things, a happiness that's reliable, a happiness that's true.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how, in following the path, we gradually lessen our preoccupation with conditioned things ... and how, more and more, we turn to the unconditioned, the happiness that doesn't die, the happiness of the heart.  The talk was offered in March of 2023.

As dharma students, we make a determination to train for peace.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains the elements of this profound training.  As the Buddha tells us, the greatest happiness is peace.  The dharma talk was given in March 2023.

We change by changing how we think.  All that we are, the Buddha tells us, begins with our thoughts.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we learn to change by changing our habitual ways of thinking.  The talk was given in February of 2023.

As dharma students, we learn to follow the heart.  We learn to understand what the heart wants.  We learn to discern what it is we need to do so that we know happiness of heart.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes the skills we develop so that we come to know what the heart wants.  The talk was given in the winter of 2023.

In following the path of the Dharma, we learn to know the joy of life.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin, explains how, when we reflect skillfully on the truth of the impermanence, it leads us to an appreciation for the gift of life.  It leads to joy.  The talk was given in December 2022.

In this talk, Peter Doobinin, discusses what it means to be on the Buddha's path.  As he explains, in being on the path, we're asked to engage in an ongoing process of moving forward.  The dharma talk was given on June 4, 2023.