Sunday Dharma Talk: Recent Episodes
Peter Doobinin
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
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.
In making the journey of awakening, it's essential that we take joy in our goodness and the goodness in the world. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we learn to reflect on our goodness ... and how, in turn, we come to know the truth of our goodness. The talk was given in December 2023.
In following the path the Buddha put forth, the dharma, we learn to take a step back and reflect. As Peter Doobinin describes, it's important to reflect on what matters in this life. To know what matters. In this talk, given in December 2023, Peter discusses the elements of making this reflection and developing in understanding.
Renunciation and seclusion are integral elements to dharma practice. In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how these renunciation puts us in position to practice mindfulness and thusly know the fruits of the path. The talk was given in November 2023.
As we journey through the fields of our past karma, we have to be mindful, alert, ardent, resolute. If we're able to embody these, qualities, the Buddha tells us, we can avoid the pain of afflictive emotions and habitual patterns of suffering. In this dharma talk, given in September 2022, Peter Doobinin describes how we learn to navigate the field of karma.
What would if be like if we could let go of our stories...? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin desribes how we learn to "not hold on" to our painful narratives about ourselves and the world. The talk was given at a daylong retreat in 2013.
In meditation practice, we learn to find a rhythm. We learn to come in to tune. We learn to be in tune with life. In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how our practice leads us to being in tune. The talk was given in April 2024.
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.
All that we are, the Buddha tells us, begins with our thoughts. For the student of the dharma, the task is to abandon unskillful thoughts and to cultivate skillful thoughts. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains the skills for cultivating skillful thoughts. The talk was offered in the winter of 2022.
In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin takes a close look at the skill for being mindful of emotions, including blatant and subtle emotions. He describes the role of equanimity and acceptance in bringing simple awareness to the experiences of mind; and how when these qualites are developed, there is the potential for wisdom. The talk was offered on 3 December 2023.
What are our priorities for our dharma practice? What are our priorities for life? How can we change our priorities? In this talk, Peter Doobinin discusses these questions; questions that dharma students are asked to ask. The talk was given on 6 February 2022.
In making a noble escape, dharma students seeks escape from the prisons of painful thought worlds, from habitual patterns of desire and aversion, from ways of living that can't bring a reliable happiness. In this talk, Peter Doobinin, describes how we learn to find this kind of noble escape. The talk was given at a daylong retreat in New York City in November 2023.
In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how the development of ethical conduct - the practice of non-harming - leads to happiness of heart. In the talk, Peter explains why it's important to learn to prioritize the cultivation of our goodness, in the form of virtue, and how, when we do this, it has a great benefit in our lives and the lives of others. The talk was given in the autumn of 2023.
As Peter Doobinin explains, spiritual growth depends on our ability to be truthful. About ourselves. About our habitual attitudes. In this talk, Peter describes how we develop in truthfulness; and how, in turn, this leads us to a greater happiness in life. The talk was given in August 2023.
Much of our capacity to find a greater happiness in life depends on the degree to which we're able to change our attitudes. The dharma student learns, by developing her skill, to abandon unskillful attitudes and cultvate skillful, sublime attitudes. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin decribes the skills we seek to develop in this effort. The talk was given in the summer of 2023.
Our dharma practice is one of gradually letting go of that which obscures the heart. As we develop in concentration and insight, we're more and more able to access the heart, to find the light within. And as we're more able to find the light in the heart, we're more able to take action that will lead to a greater happiness in our lives. In this dharma talk, offered in September 2023, Peter explains how, little by slowly, we find the light within.
What is our attitude? As Peter Doobinin explains, being able to develop a sublime attitude is crucial to achieving good results in meditation ... and to knowing a greater happiness in life. In this dharma talk, Peter describes the skill for developing a sublime attitude in meditation and in all postures. The dharma talk was given in the summer of 2023.
As the Buddha, perhaps famously, said, he taught, "Suffering and the end of suffering." What does this mean...? As Peter Doobinin explains, as dharma students we come to understand that suffering and the end of suffering are not simply intellectual concepts. They're objects for awarness. We're meant to bring awareness to suffering. And, in turn, to the end of suffering. In this talk, offered in the spring of 2023, Peter describes how we learn to do this. .
In practicing the dharma, we're learning that we don't have to "be somebody." Instead our practice, as Peter explains in this talk, is about learning to be who we are. Each of us is uniquely different. And each of us has everything we need to know happiness in this life. The talk was given at a daylong retreat in New York City in September 2023.
Not an intellectual or academic process, dharma practice is a process of coming into rhythm. In "coming out of the head" and into the body, we move toward having a felt experience of life. More and more we meet life from the place of our innate wisdom. We come into rhythm. This dharma talk was given by Peter Doobinin in April 2023.
Change is a integral condition of life. And our ability to find happiness in life depends on how well we meet the experiences of change. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains the skills that we learn as dharma students that enable us to meet the changes in life with wisdom, compassion & grace. The talk was given in April 2023.
In the heart, we find our innate wisdom. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains what the heart is and how we come to this place of wisdom. The talk was given on the last night of the Eight-Day Retreat in 2017.
In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin talks about how the development of mindfulness of death leads to the opening of the heart. The talk was given at the Lovingkindness Retreat in the summer of 2016.
As dharma students, in developing insight, we learn to bring awareness to the experiences of affliction (dukkha), blatant and subtle. In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains what it means to bring simple awareness to experience; and how, when we're able to do this, we begin to understand what it is to let go. We begin to understand what it's like when the heart is free from its burdens. The talk was given in June 2023.
What is the intention behind our actions...? Do we take actions out of fear...? Do we take certain actions in order to gain the approval of others...? In developing the skill of heedfulness, we learn to discern the quality of our intentions. In doing so, we become more and more able to let go of actions driven by fear, and, in turn, take actions motivated by love for ourselves. The talk by Peter Doobinin was given in July 2023.
In this dharma talk, offered in May 2023, Peter talks about the tendency we may have to give up ... in meditation ... and in life. And he explains how we learn to develop determination, the ablity to stay with it, in terms of our practice and, in terms of our efforts to know a greater happiness in life.
What is love...? In this talk Peter Doobinin describes the differences between the worldly definition of love and the Buddha's definition. And he talks about how, as dharma students, we develop the ability to love. As he explains, when we are awake, we're able to love. The dharma talk was offered at the Lovingkindness Retreat in 2016.
What is happiness? In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes the differences between the "happiness of the world" and the happiness we seek to know as dharma students: the happiness of the heart. As he explains, in order to find true happiness in this life, we have to begin to develop an understanding of what this happiness is. The talk was given in July 2016 at the Downtown Meditation Communinty Lovingkindness Retreat.
The path is joyful. In this dharma talk, offered in January 2022, Peter Doobinin explains how we make the path and why, when we follow it, it's joyful.
What is our tendency to judge others; and what effect does it have on our tendency to judge ourselves? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explicates the karma of judging. In doing so, he offers various strategies for abandoning the judging of others and, in turn, ourselves. The talk was given in February 2023.
"Therefore, Ananda, do not be judgmental regarding people. Do not pass judgment on people. Those who pass judgment on people harm themselves. “ (AN 10.75)
What would it mean to lay down your burdens...? As dharma students, we learn that our burdens are found in the ways in which we cling to sensual pleasures, views & opinions, social conventions, and self identity. As Peter Doobinin explains, we can learn to let go of these burdens; and when we do, we know a new freedom and a new happiness. The dharma talk was given in May 2023.
In the practice of meditation, we learn to bring the body into tune. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how, through the practices of formal breath meditation and walking meditation, we develop an inner rhythm, ease, and grace. The talk was given in April 2023.
The practice of meditation leads us to knowing the joy of living. On the occasion of his 25th anniversary as a dharma teacher, Peter Doobinin explains that the message of dharma practice is just this; and, as he describes, the joy and happiness in this life is found in only one place: the moment we're in. The talk was offered by Peter on 19 March 2023.
As human beings, we have what we need in order to awaken. In this talk, given on the final night of the April Eight-Day Retreat, Peter Doobinin, explains how, if we develop trust in ourselves, in the heart and our innate wisdom. we can know true happiness in this life.
In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we develop our potential for letting go. By learning to be in rhythm with the heart and our innate wisdom, we're able, as Peter explains, to abandon suffering & clinging. The talk was given at the Eight-Day Retreat in April 2023.
This dharma talk was given by Peter Doobinin at the Eight-Day Retreat at Powell House in April 2023. In the talk Peter describes the process of developing concentration in meditation practice and how, through that process, we come to the moment itself. Our practice, as he explains, is a journey to the moment; and in the moment, we find true happiness.
Like a musician tuning her instrument, the student of the dharma learns to bring herself into tune with the dharma. What does this mean? How do we do this? In this talk, given at the April Eight-Day Retreat in the spring of 2023, Peter Doobinin discusses these questions.
In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the practice of bringing awareness to our experience, how we learn to develop this practice, and why it's elemental to the development of wisdom and knowing a greater happiness in life. The talk was given at the Eight-Day Retreat at Powell House in April 2023.
We seek, as dharma students, a happiness beyond the happiness offered by the conditioned realm. At the same time, we learn to cultivate experience in the conditioned realm that is "good enough" for dharma practice, for doing what has to be done in the service of knowing true happiness. This dharma talk was given by Peter Doobinin on the Eight-Day Retreat at Powell House in April 2023.
In dharma practice, we are cultivating a deeper and deeper silence. An external silence, free from the noise of the world. And, ultimately, an internal silence, free from the noise in the mind. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we learn to cultivate this quality of silence. The talk was given at the Eight-Day Retreat in April 2023.
In this dharma talk, given in January 2023, Peter Doobinin describes how, by following the Buddha's path, we develop strength of mind. As he explains, if we're going to meet the challenges in life, if we're going to make the most of the gift of life, it's essential to develop this strength of mind.
Ultimately in life, we must learn to find a refuge within ourselves. As Peter Doobinin explains, in doing so, as dharma students, we learn to turn to our goodness. In this talk, Peter describes how we develop and remember our goodness. And why it's so important. The talk was given in January 2023.
"each of you should remain with your self as an island, your self as your refuge...." (SN 47.13)
In dharma practice, and in life, it's important to have goals. The path that we follow as dharma students has a goal. As Peter Doobinin describes, as dharma students, we learn what the goal is and we make a resolve to know it. And we learn to make an effort to follow the path that brings us to the goal. The talk was given in February 2023.
The path of the dharma is a path of freedom. But what does this mean...? What is freedom...? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explores this important question. The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community retreat in February 2013.
Our practice, as students of the dharma, includes learning to develop a skillful relationship to emotions. In doing so, as Peter Doobinin explains, we learn to cultivate a felt sense of the emotions that we experience. In this talk, Peter describes what it means to cultivate this felt sense of emotions. The dharma talk was given in May 2022.
As dharma students, we strive for ease of being. In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we develop the skills that allow us to know this quality of ease of being in meditation and in the course of our lives. The dharma talk was given in November 2022.
May all beings have ease of being!
As dharma students, we learn to move beyond an an intellectual, in-the-head understanding of our experience of life, toward understanding that develops in the body and, ultimately, in the heart. This wisdom, cultivated through awareness, is the wisdom that will free us from our habitual patterns of suffering and leads us to true happiness in this life. The dharma talk by Peter Doobinin was given at a daylong retreat in New York City in March 2023.
In following the path of the dharma, we learn to cultivate inner wealth. In doing so, we're following a countercultural path, in a world in which the emphasis is put on acquiring outer, material wealth. In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we develop in inner wealth. As he explains, in cultivating these inner, spiritual values, we bring change to the world. And we come to know great joy. The talk was given in June 2022.
When there's brightness in the mind, we're able to maintain ourselves in the present moment. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we develop a bright mind. As he explains, this is an integral aspect of the training of the mind. The talk was given in November 2022.
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Our capacity to awaken depends on our mindfulness of the body. As we deepen in our understanding of the body and in our ability to stay present, in the body, we move toward awakening. In this dharma talk Peter Doobinin describes how we deepen in mindfulness of the body through practicing mindfulness of the four elements. The talk was given in the autumn of 2022.
The practice of meditation, and the skills we develop as dharma students, enable us to make the journey to the the heart. Even in difficult time, even when there is suffering, we're able to find the heart. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we learn to be able, in all the days and times in our lives, to find the heart. The talk was given in June 2021.
As dharma students, following the Buddha's path, we seek to know true happiness. As human beings, we all have this basic wish for true happiness. But we're often out of touch with it. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains why it's essential that we remember our wish to be happy and how we do just that. The talk was given in the autumn of 2022.
Compassion, in the teachngs of the Buddha, is one of the two primary intentions, along with lovingkindness, that imbue skillful action. We learn as dharma students to take action, toward ourselves and others, that is in the service of compassion. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we do this and the benefit in it. The talk was given on the morning of December 25, 2022.
Do we understand the importance of tranquility? The importance of silence? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin how we cultivate silence in a noisy world. Silence without, and silence within. The talk was given in December 2021.
In this dharma talk, Peter describes elements of the "skill of thinking." In the talk, he explains how, by practicing heedfulness, we're able to abandon unskillful thinking. The talk was given in May 2022.
In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses elements of the practice of mindfulness of emotions. As he explains, our purpose, in practicing this mindfulness, is to develop a skillful relationship to emotions. When we have this kind of skillful relationship, we're able to cultivate insight and find freedom from afflictive emotions. The talk was given in September 2022.
What is our commitment to living a spiritual life? What is required of us in making an effort to live a spiritual life? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses these questions and others that the dharma student is asked to ask. The talk was given in December 2022.
This dharma talk was offered on New Year's Day 2023. In the talk, Peter explains why it's important to remember the past. If we engage skillfully in this process of remembering, it will enable us to live fully in the present moment ... and it will enable us, in looking forward, to establish skillful resolve.
Wishing all beings happiness of heart in the new year!
In practicing meditation, developing concentration, according to the Buddha's instructions, we seek to cultivate an easeful, pleasurable abiding in the body. As Peter Doobinin explains, when we're able to establish this pleasant abiding in meditation and maintain it to some extent in the course of our lives, we're able to live most effectively. We're able to make the most of our lives. This dharma talk, in which Peter describes why and how this pleasant abiding is the most favorable state, was given in March 2022.
As human beings, we have an extraordinary capacity for compassion. But this potential of the heart must be cultivated. As Peter explains, this is our task as dharma students. To develop in compassion, we learn to put an effort toward practicing the certain skills that the Buddha teaches. The talk was given in November 2022.
In dharma practice, we learn to be true to the heart. As Peter Doobinin explains, this means seeing to it that the way we live is true to the wish in the heart for happiness: happiness of heart: true happiness. It means developing understanding, including the understanding that we have the capacity for true happiness. The talk was given in October 2022.
What is awakening? What is our conviction in our ability to know it? What are some of the indications that we are, in fact, in the process of awakening? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explores these questions. The talk was given at the April Eight-Day Retreat in April 2022.
If we can develop mindfulness of the body, the Buddha tells us, we can awaken. Leaving how to establish and maintain full body awareness is an important element of developing mindfulness of the body. In this dharma talk, Peter describes how we learn to cultivate full body awareness and why it's so important that we do. The talk was given in May 2022.
How are we spending our time? Are we looking for happiness in the pleasures of the world? Or are we making an effort to know a more reliable happiness? Cultivating a sense of urgency, understanding that our time is limited, we make an effort to practice the dharma while there's still time to do so. As Peter Doobinin explains, mindfulness of death supports us in our ability to develop this sense of urgency. The dharma talk was given in November 2022 at a daylong retreat in New York City.
In following the path of freedom, we learn to abandon our thought worlds. These thought worlds are a prison for us. Beyond them is freedom and the potential to shape our lives in the service of knowing a greater happiness. In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we learn to abandon thought worlds and use thinking in a skillful way to make the most of our lives. The talk was given in August 2022.
Freedom from afflictive emotions is found through clear seeing. In this dharma talk, Peter discusses the practice of clear seeing. As he explains, when concentration is developed we're able to see clearly and achieve a liberating wisdom. The talk was given in September 2022.
“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)
In order to follow the Buddha's path, it's important that we understand what, according to the Buddha, mindfulness is. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the skill of mindfulness ... and how we practice this skill. As he explains, the Buddha's mindfulness is proactive and purposeful. The talk was given in November 2021.
Life offers many difficulties. And in this life there is also the possibility for great happiness. But time is short in which to know the happiness that life offers. As dharma students, realizing this, we seek to make the most of the time we have. In this talk, given in July 2022, Peter Doobinin discusses these basic truths that the dharma student learns to comprehend.
Our effort, in following the dharma, is put toward abandoning the unskillful and cultivating the skillful. The tendency may be to focus all our efforts on abandoning unskillful states; but it's as important to cultivate skillful states. In this talk Peter Doobinin describes how we cultivate skillful states in meditation and in the course of our lives. The talk was given in July 2022.
To follow the dharma, the path of the Buddha, requires that we have a change of heart. In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains what it means to have a change of heart and what we can do to bring about this kind of change within us. The dharma talk was given in July 2022.
When we're developed in self confidence, we have the strength needed to make the journey of awakening. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes by how cultivating parami, the elements of our goodness, we build in self confidence and support our efforts to make the path. The talk was given in July 2022.
Your own self is your own mainstay, for who else could your mainstay be? (Dhp 160)
Our capacity to be truthful is essential to our efforts to alleviate suffering. As the Buddha said, "Give me a person who is truthful and I can teach that person the dharma." In this talk, given in October 2021, Peter Doobinin discusses the quality of truthfulness that we're asked to develop in making our way across the river of suffering, toward a greater happiness in life.
What does it mean to be awake? How do we learn to be awake? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes what it means not to be awake ... and what it means to be awake. And he explains how we learn to stay awake. Not just in meditation, but in all postures, as we go through our days. The talk was given in October 2021.
Each of us has a light within. As dharma students, our task is to know this light within us. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how, through the practice of breath meditation and the development of mindfulness of the body we come to know the light within. The talk was given in June 2022.
We learn, as dharma students, to be in tune with the dharma. Instead of fighting our experience, we develop a relationship to experience that is informed by equanimity, acceptance, wisdom. When we're able to do this, we come to understand what it means to be awake. This talk was given by Peter Doobinin at a daylong retreat in June 2022.
What would it be like to let go of our suffering? What would it be like to let go of our grasping? Can we learn to consider the possibility of letting go? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses the process by which, little by slowly, we open to our potential to let go ... and, in turn, to know true happiness. The talk was given at the Eight-Day Retreat in April 2022.
What would it be like to find freedom from our stories? Most of us cling to certain stories, habitual narratives about ourselves and the world. These stories are a prison for us; they prevent us from moving forward in life. But, as Peter Doobinin explains in this dharma talk, we can find freedom these stories. And when we do, life opens up for us. The talk was given in January 2018, at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat.
If we develop an understanding into not self, it will lead us toward an end of suffering. But what is the Buddha's teaching on not self? There are all kinds of misconceptions about what the Buddha taught in this regard. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains the Buddha's teaching on not self and how to apply this teaching in our practice. May all beings be well and at ease.
What are the burdens we're carrying through this life? The things of life may bring us some happiness. However, as dharma student, Peter Doobinin explains, we come to know a greater happiness when we let go of these things. In this talk, Peter describes how the simplicity the path asks us to develop leads to awakening, freedom, bliss. The dharma talk was given at the Eight-Day Retreat in April 2022.
In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we develop a light touch in meditation and in life. As dharma students, this is elemental to our practice: we seek to move through life with ease, connected to an internal pleasure, in tune with our aliveness. The talk was given in July 2022.
And better than a hundred years lived apathetic & unenergetic, is one day lived energetic & firm. (Dhp 110)
Dharma practice is a process of change. A practice of moving forward. As such, it requires courage. But what is courage in the context of the Buddha's teachings? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes what courage is and how we develop it. The talk was given in April 2022.
If we understand how the Buddha's path develops, it will serve us greatly as we make the journey toward a greater happiness. In this dharma talk, Peter discusses three metaphors that the Buddha offers in the service of helping us understand how the path unfolds. The talk was given in April 2022.
When the body feels good, we function most effectively. How the body feels is important. To this end, the dharma student seeks to cultivate, in meditation, a pleasant abiding in the body; and she seeks to maintain this pleasant abiding in all postures. In this talk Peter Doobinin explains how we develop skillful internal pleasure and why it's so important to learn to do this. The talk was given at the Eight-Day Retreat in April 2022.
What does it mean to bring awareness to our experience? Why is this skill important to develop? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains the simple practice for bringing awareness to our experience of mind and body. The skill is captured in the acronym ABC: Awareness, Breath, Compassion. The talk was given at the Eight-Day Retreat in April 2022.
In dharma practice we develop seclusion & action. The practice of seclusion, including meditation, enables us to take action. Action, specfically, that is driven by compassion and love. The path asks that we take action. This action, supported by the qualities we develop in meditation, is in fact the fruition of the path. The dharma talk was given by Peter Doobinin on the closing night of the April 2022 Retreat.
Our happiness in this life, the Buddha tells us, depends on what we do. In large part what this means is, our happiness depends on what we do with our mind. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains why it's important to look after your mind ... and how we learn to do this. The talk was given in October 2021.
Be heedful, monks, mindful, virtuous. With your resolves well-concentrated, look after your minds. (DN 16)
What is our experience of life? As dharma students we seek to have a felt experience of life. A felt sense. In fact, our capacity to know happiness in life depends on developing a deeper understanding, an understanding that transcends intellectual knowledge, an understanding that we apprehend in the body, and, ultimately, in the heart. In this dharma talk, Peter explains how we cultivate a felt experience of life. The talk was given at a daylong retreat in New York City in May 2022.
The Four Noble Truths comprise a set of four tasks that as dharma students we're asked to accomplish. The task of the First Noble Truth is: to comprehend suffering. What does this mean? What is suffering? How do we learn to comprehend suffering? In this talk Peter Doobinin addresses these crucial questions. The dharma talk was given in February 2022.
In dharma practice, we seek to change our way of thinking. In doing so, we learn to move from asking, "what can I get?" to "what can I give?" This question supports our efforts to develop in generosity and the opening of the heart. It leads us toward a greater happiness. The dharma talk was given in January 2022.
What does is mean to be in the present moment? Why is it difficult to remain in the present? How can we learn to maintain ourselves in the present moment? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses these simple, yet often misunderstood, questions. The talk was given in February 2022.
We find our greatest strength in the heart. In this dharma talk, Peter explains how we learn to connect to the sublime abiding of compassion in the course of our days. The talk was given in January 2022.
Meditation is a practice of coming back to ourselves, to the body, to the heart. In this talk, given on the first night of the Eight-Day Retreat in April 2022, Peter Doobinin talks about the importance of having a sense of purpose in dharma practice. And he talks about the importance of seclusion, how it supports us in our efforts to come back to ourselves.
If we don't learn to "be alone" in a skillful way in this life, we'll be sure to meet difficulty. Why is this? Because to be alone is an elemental aspect of the human condition. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses how, by developing certain skills, we learn to be alone.
We may think that happiness is found when we're able to come into pleasant emotional states. But the teachings of the Buddha suggest a happiness greater than the happiness that emotional states offer: the happiness of the heart. In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how the dharma student learns to cultivate disenchantment with emotions and, in turn, turns to the the heart. The talk was given in December 2021.
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)
Developing self compassion if often a challenge. It requires developing in skill in dharma practice. In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how the cultivation of the paramis - including the parami of patience - supports us in our ability to develop compassion for ourselves. The talk was given in March 2022.
What does is mean to be present? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses the skills we develop in our effort to know the present moment. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday class in 2016.
In meditation practice, we learn to develop in stillness. And in our practice and in our lives, we learn to incline to this quality of stillness. We learn to know stillness. In this dharma talk, Peter discusses how we can maintain stillness not only in meditation, but in the midst of our days and nights. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in April 2017.
What is our sense of purpose? What is our guiding principle? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we learn to align ourselves with our purpose. And how, in turn, we set ourselves on the path to a greater happiness in this life. The talk was given in March 2022.
What does it mean to be present? How do we make our way to the present moment? What is preventing us from finding the present moment? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses these questions. The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community retreat in April 2018.
Equanimity is one of the key qualities that we seek to develop in making our way along the Buddha's path. Equanimity puts us in position to know true happiness; the happiness that comes when we take action informed by the heart. As human beings we all have potential for equanimity and, in turn, true happiness. But this potential must be developed. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we develop and incline to the pivotal quality of equanimity. The talk was given in March 2022.
The Buddha's path is a noble path. Which is to say, it leads to the end of suffering and true happiness. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses the "customs of the noble ones," qualities that we seek to develop in our effort to live a life in which we know a greater happiness. The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community retreat in 2017.
We develop the practice of mindfulness of breathing so that we can take action. Action in support of the heart. Action that leads to true happiness, for us, for all beings. In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how the practice of breath meditation finds its fruits in the actions we take in this life. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in July 2017.
It's important, as dharma students, as awake human beings, to make time for reflection. In this talk, Peter Doobinin discusses the process for developing the art of reflection. The talk was given at Downtown Meditation Community in 2018,
In breath meditation, we learn to cultivate a "home for the mind." In doing so, we establish mindfulness of the body and the qualities of concentration including equanimity. In turn, we move closer to the heart, to the place of wisdom, compassion, lovingkindness, joy. In this dharma talk, Peter describes how the practice of mindfulness of breathing leads us to our capacity to awaken. The talk was given in August 2021.
Contrary to what many think, the Buddha's path asks that we learn to cultivate desire. Specifically, skillful desire. The desire to practice, to develop the path. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains what skillful desire is and how we cultivate it. The talk was given at the Sunday Night Meditation class at Downtown Meditation Community in March 2017.
The Buddha's path, the dharma, is a path of skillful pleasure. Skillful pleasure is a pleasure that leads us to true happiness. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the process by which we develop skillful pleasure ... and the benefits in doing so. The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community retreat in 2017.
As human beings, we experience anger and fear. This is basic to the human condition. The dharma student is not someone who doesn't experience these elemental human motions; rather, the dharma student is someone who develops skills to work effectivley with anger and fear. By doing so, we're able to live in way in which we're not governed by these emotions. Instead, we're able, even when life is difficult, to live with ease, wisdom, and compassion; we're able to know happiness of heart. The dharma talk was given in February 2021.
Life, by its nature, is uncertain. For the most part, we don't know what's going to happen from day to day, moment to moment. The uncertain nature of our existence can be a cause for much suffering. As dharma students, however, we develop the ability to work skillfully with uncertainty. In this talk Peter Doobinin, decribes the basics of this skill. The talk was given in April 2021.
In developing the qualities of meditation, in practicing the dharma, we learn to go through life gracefully. Our external grace, the ease with which we move through the world, is an expression of the internal grace to which we remain connected. In this dharma talk, Peter describes how our practice leads us to embody this quality of grace. The talk was given in October 2021.
All conditioned things, the Buddha teaches, are impermanent. They arise, change, pass. As human beings each of us is subject to illness, aging, and death. But what doesn't die? What do we leave behind? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses the 'happiness that doesn't die,' and how we learn to cultivate it. The talk was given at New York Insight in December 2017.
Asking questions, the Buddha tells us, is an indication of wisdom. A good question to ask is: "what is true happiness?" The Buddha, of course, is concerned not so much with providing the answer but rather with having us asking the question and seeing for ourselves. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how this question and others guide us along the path. The talk was given in the spring of 2021.
In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains the skill for cultivating brightness in the mind & heart. As we go through our days, this quality of brightness, or appreciation, enables us to develop concentration, maintain ourselves in the present moment, and live joyfully. The dharma talk was given in January 2021.
If we're able to develop mindfulness of the body, the Buddha teaches, we'll find our way to the goal of awakening. In the simile of the salt crystal, he explains the benefits of developing this mindfulness. The dharma talk was given by Peter Doobinin on November 29, 2020.
They awaken, always wide awake: Gotama's disciples whose mindfulness, both day & night, is constantly immersed in the body.
(Dhp 299)
Life is a process in constant change. Which means that we can change. It means that we can shape our lives. In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how, using skills we learn as dharma students, we can shape our lives, live meaningfully, and move toward a greater happiness.
Our daily meditation is the foundation of dharma practice. In this talk, Peter Doobinin explicates the purpose for having a daily sitting practice and the rudiments of establishing a strong practice. The talk was given in May 2021.
“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)
In the practice of meditation, we learn to develop a stillness within. And, in turn, we learn to maintain this quality of stillness in all our posture, in the course of our days and nights. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we develop in stillness ... and how we're able to cultivate stillness in motion. The talk was given in October 2021.
As we make our way along the Buddha's path, doubt will arise. As dharma students, we learn to bring awareness to doubt ... and we learn to abandon it. In its place, we develop conviction. In the talk, given in April 2021, Peter describes how we let of doubt and cultivate conviction in ourselves and the path.
It's important how the body feels. When the body is stressed, in pain, it's difficult for us to move skillfully through life. When the body feels good, we're able to make the most of our human experience. In this talk, Peter describes why it's so important to learn to cultivate an easeful, pleasuarable abiding in the body. And how we learn to do this. The talk was given in February 2021.
It's important to have a good home for the mind. In this dharma talk, Peter explains what it means to have a home for the mind ... and how we build this home for the mind. The talk was given in November 2020.
The practice of the dharma enables us, when we practice accordingly, to make the most of this life. What does this mean? As dharma students, we gradually shift away from seeking the "happiness of the world" and, instead we seek to know a greater happiness: the happiness of heart. In this dharma talk, Peter explains what it means to incline ourselves to knowing a greater happiness. The talk was given on January 3, 2021.
Can we meet difficulty skillfully and turn it into a learning experience? As dharma students, we develop this ability; it's an important attribute for us to cultivate as we make the journey toward a greater happiness. In this dharma talk, Peter describes some of the ways that we turn our challenges and difficulties into learning experiences. The talk was given in April 2021.
It's important, in this life, that we take time to reflect on this life. What this life is, where we are, where we're heading. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin speaks to some of the most important reflections we can make, what the Buddha called "Subjects for Frequent Contemplation." By reflecting, in the manner described, we support ourselves in our efforts to know a greater happiness in this life.
Developed in equanimity, we're able to meet the experiences of life - the agreeable and disagreeable experiences - with ease, poise, balance, space, and acceptance. But it requires that we develop a certain set of skills. In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we cultivate the skill of equanimity and why it's so important to do so.
We learn, in practicing the dharma, to express ourselves in the world with goodwill. As Peter Doobinin explains, the cultivation of goodwill begins with conscious intention. Goodwill requires an act of will. In the talk Peter describes how we develop this skill of goodwill. The talk was given on September 12, 2021.
May all beings live in peace.
Meditation, when practiced skillfully, is an expression of happiness. In fact, we learn to cultivate the heart - and happiness of heart - in our meditation. We learn, then, in meditation to know happiness in our lives. The talk was given in 2016 at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class.
"May all beings take care of themselves happily."
The journey we take as dharma students leads us to the dharma inside us. In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we develop and come to understand the truth of our goodness. He describes how we come to know the dharma inside. The talk was given in 2016 at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat.
Each of us has a goodness within. It's our task, as dharma students, to connect to this goodness, develop it, and put it to good use. In this talk, given in May 2021, Peter describes the skills we practice in an effort to cultivate our goodness and and, in turn, make the most of this life.
In dharma practice, we learn to develop certain skills. In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes the skills we practice in relating to grief and cultivating compassion. In order to know happiness in life we need to learn to work skillfully with human emotions such as grief. This is something we can do. And we can learn, through the application of skill, to develop compassion for ourselves and all beings. The dharma talk was given online on March 14, 2021.
The only place where we can find happiness is in the very moment we're in. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we're able to find happiness in the moment, regardless of the circumstances of our lives. The talk was given at Sunday Night Meditation in New York City in 2016. May all beings be happy of heart.
We seek, as dharma students following the Buddha's path, to develp purity of heart. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the gradual process by which we establish and deepen into our connection to the heart. The talk was given in February 2021.
Each of us has an innate goodness. And many of us have made great effort to develop it. But we may not be in touch with the truth of our goodness. As Peter explains, the Buddha asks that we reflect on the truth of our goodness. This essential reflection bring about joy. And it leads us toward the development of concentration and insight. In the talk, Peter describes the skills we learn in an effort to be in touch with our goodness.
When we have conviction, we practice. We put forth effort. We develop concentration and wisdom. We move toward a greater happiness. In this dharma talk, Peter explains what conviction is and how we develop it. The talk was given at an Eight-Day Retreat in 2017.
As human beings, we have an essential goodness. It's our birthright. The dharma inside. It's a goodness that we have, and it's a goodness that we're asked to develop. In this talk, Peter describes ways we learn to cultivate this goodness. The talk was given at an eight-day silent retreat in April, 2017.
In life, it's essential to be able to find refuge. The dharma student learns to find refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Ultimately, though, she learns to find refuge within. In this talk, Peter describes how we cultivate the skill of refuge. As he explains, skillful refuge is not an escape, but rather a means by which we're able to maintain ourselves in the present moment and know true happiness.
In the practice of the dharma, we learn to shape our lives. It's through developing the skill of intention - the cultivation of skillful intention - that we're able to do this. In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how, by cultivating intention that is informed by lovingkindness and compassion, we're able to move toward a greater happiness. The talk was given online in December 2020.
Understanding the law of karma is integral in following the Buddha's path. Our happiness depends on our actions; and it's through understanding the law of karma that we're able to cultivate action that is skillful, action that will lead us to true happiness. In this dharma talk, given in 2015, Peter gives a comprehensive teaching on the law of karma and how we apply it in finding a greater happiness in our lives.
Reflection, perhaps, is a lost art. But it's an art that a dharma student must learn. In this talk Peter Doobinin describes how we learn to develop the art of reflection. The talk was given at Downtown Meditation Community in 2018.
The things of the world are impermanent, inconstant, subject to change, arising and passing. The Buddha's path, on the other hand, provides us with a way to a reliable happiness. In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we can come to know a happiness not dependent on the circumstances and conditions of the world. The talk was given online on March 28, 2021.
If we can develop mindfulness of the body, the Buddha tells us, we can awaken and know a greater happiness in this life. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the Buddha's practice for being mindful of the body. The talk was given in September 2013 at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class.
Through the application of skillful thinking, we shape our lives. As dharma students, we learn to abandon unskillful thinking and cultivate skillful thinking. In doing so, we move toward a true happiness. In this dharma talk, given at a daylong retreat in 2014, Peter describes this process for developing skillful thinking.
Can we change? Can we transform painful habitual ways of thinking and acting? As Peter Doobinin explains, dharma practice - the path the Buddha laid out - provides us with way to change. By developing the skills the Buddha taught, we can transform our lives. This is why we practice. This talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in December 2012.
We learn, in practicing meditation, to guide ourselves through the meditation. In doing so, we learn to find our voice. It is this voice, straight from the heart, that guides us through our days and nights. The dharma talk was given online by Peter Doobinin in May 2021.
Can we lay down our burdens and find true happiness in this life? In this dharma talk, Peter describes how by developing the skills the Buddha teaches - namely, jhana and heedfulness - we're able to find our way out of the forest of suffering. The talk was given on the final night of an eight-day retreat in 2019.
"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)
This talk was given on Mother's Day in 2009. In the talk, Peter Doobinin explains why having respect for our parents is essential to the development of the spiritual life. When we're able to cultivate gratitude for our mother and father, we're able to move toward a greater happiness in this life. The talk was offered at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class.
We learn, in our efforts to know true happiness, to look to this moment. We learn, in doing so, to turn to the goodness that lies within us. We learn to be who we are. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes our tendency to think that happiness is found in the future ... and how we learn to know the happiness that is available to us in each moment. The talk was given in 2016 at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class.
Can we make kindness a priority? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how, as we make a spiritual journey, we come to understand the blessing of kindness. As Peter explains, it's through cultivating gratitude for the kindness others have shown to us that we deepen in our ability to practice kindness. The talk was given online in April 2021.
"These two people are hard to find in the world. Which two? The one who is first to do a kindness, and the one who is grateful and thankful for a kindness done." (AN 2.118)
How do we relate to our difficulties, mistakes, misactions, pain, suffering? Do we have acceptance? Or do we react with aversion, judgment, self-doubt, self-loathing? As Peter Doobinin explains, when we're able to cultivate acceptance, we're able to relate to our difficulties and challenges with compassion. And we're able to move forward wholeheartedly in life, with compassion and love. We're able to make the most of this life.
The path to the heart travels through an understanding of suffering. In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes how the comprehension of suffering leads to the flowering of compassion. The talk was given, online, in November 2020.
In a world of constant change and uncertainty, what can we rely on? As Peter Doobinin explains, as dharma students we learn to rely on our ability to meet the moments of our lives with the heart, with wisdom, love, compassion. This talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community retreat in July 2015.
The practice of the dharma is a practice of small things. In small things, small moments, we find the dharma, the truth, the qualities of peace, wisdom, and love. As dharma students our task is to pay attention to small things. The talk was given by Peter Doobinin in an online class in March 2021.
"Bhikkhus, if a bhikkhu cultivates loving-kindness for as long as a fingersnap, he is called a bhikkhu." (Iti 1.53)
Where are we looking for happiness? In the happiness of the world, the happiness we find in sense pleasure, gain, status, and praise? Or the happiness of the heart? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes these two kinds of happiness. The talk was given in 2013 at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in New York City.
What is goodness...? This is a question that many of us may ask. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes what goodness is and, importantly, how we learn to develop it. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday Night Meditation class in January 2016.
Much of what will happen to us in the course of our days is unknowable. But there are certain truths that we can rely on and that will see us through in this life. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we can know a reliable and true happiness in life despite the uncertain nature of our day to to day experience. The talk was given at at daylong retreat in February 2017.
The path leads us inward. To the body. To the heart. In this talk, given at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat in 2015, Peter Doobinin describes how we make the journey to the heart.
Appreciative joy is one of the sublime abidings, qualities of the heart. We cultivate this sublime abiding by reflecting on our own goodness and the goodness in the world. In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains this process of taking care of the heart. The talk was given at Sunday Night Meditation in August 2014.
We can change. Indeed, as dharma students this is our task, to bring about change in our lives. As Peter Doobinin explains, we change, in following the Buddha's path, by developing skills. And it's something we all can do. The dharma talk was given at a daylong retreat in April 2011.
To make the most of our lives, we have to come to understand our human experience. As the Buddha tells us, we awaken to our human experience through the body. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we're able to realize our potential by practicing mindfulness of the body. The talk was given at a Meditation & Yoga daylong retreat in April 2015.
They awaken, always wide awake: Gotama’s disciples whose mindfulness, both day & night, is constantly immersed in the body. (Dhp 299)
Life is good. As dharma students, we're asked to see the goodness inherent in this human life. We're able to comprehend the preciousness of this life. In reflecting in this manner, we're able to connect to the feeling of gratitude and the joy in the heart. And we're able to move forward and make the most of our lives.
In dharma practice, we develop skills that enable us to abandon excessive thinking, painful storylines, habitual narratives. We learn, in this effort, to bring insight to our thinking. In this dharma talk, Peter explains this skill which when developed helps us greatly in our efforts to alleviate suffering and know happiness of heart. The talk was given at the Wednesday night meditation class in Berlin in February 2020.
We practice the dharma so that we might open our heart ... to ourselves and to others. Our meditation, while often solitary, is a practice that we engage in out of compassion for all beings. When we become established in this intention, our practice thrives. When our heart is open to all beings, we know the happiness of heart. The dharma talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community weekly Sunday class in August 2012. May all beings be free from suffering and pain.
“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
As we make effort to take action out of love, for ourselves and others, we often come up against fear. As dharma students, we develop certain skills that enable us to move beyond fear and make the most of our lives. In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we learn to work skillfully with fear. The dharma talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in September 2017.
A talk from New Year's Eve in 2013. As Peter Doobinin explains, in following the path of the dharma, we're going against the grain. Instead of following the ways of the world, we're seeking to know a greater happiness: the happiness of the heart, the happiness that comes when we take action that is an expression of love for ourselves and others. The talk was given at Downtown Meditation Community in New York City.
This dharma talk was given on New Year's Eve in 2017 at Downtown Meditation Community in New York City. As Peter Doobinin explains, as dharma students we don't rely on the things of "the world" for our happiness; our happiness is our responsibility. As we learn to train the mind and heart, we come to know the happiness that is everpresent, the happiness inside, the happiness of the heart.
May all beings find ease of being, peace, and true happiness in this life.
In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how insight occurs: through paying attention, over a period of time. Peter explains the skills and qualities of mind we cultivate in the service of developing insight that will allow us to experience freedom from suffering and true happiness in this life. The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat in 2017.
Practicing heedfulness of thinking is one of the most important aspects of the Buddha's path. In doing so, we learn to pay attention to the karma of our thinking. What are the consequences of the thinking we engage in from day to day, moment to moment? When we're able to gain insight into the karma of our thinking, we're able to abandon thinking that brings suffering and blocks us from our heart. The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat in 2016.
As we make an effort to find greater happiness in life, we meet with many obstacles, we often make mistakes, at times we struggle. When we meet our difficulties with compassion, we're able to move forward toward true happiness. In this dharma talk, Peter discusses the key of compassion, how it opens the door to the path. The talk was given in August 2017 in New York City.
When there's enjoyment in meditation, our practice flourishes. While we may not be inclined to find meditation enjoyable, it's something we can learn. We can learn to find enjoyment in meditation, and as Peter Doobinin explains in doing so we learn to find enjoyment in life. This dharma talk was given in New York City in July 2017.
In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses the integral role that skillful pleasure plays in the development of the Buddha's path. In the talk, Peter describes how we cultivate skillful pleasure and why we should learn to do this. The talk was given at an eight-day silent retreat in April 2017.
The dharma talk "The Middle Path" was given at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat in February 2018. The middle path is one of the most misunderstood subjects in the Buddha's teachings. As Peter Doobinin explains, the middle path is the path of skillful pleasure. When we learn to develop skillful pleasure, we're able to maintain ourselves in the present moment, cultivate wisdom, and live from the heart. In the talk, Peter describes the path of skillful pleasure and how we develop it.
It's through training the mind that we come to know true happiness in life. Knowing this, the dharma students makes it a priority to train the mind, to abandon aversion and desire, and, in turn, to cultivate the qualities of the heart. This dharma talk by Peter Doobinin was given in May 2012 at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday Night Meditation class.
It's the heart, always, that will see us through. In practicing the dharma, we learn to meet life, in all its manifestations, with the heart. We learn to meet our days and nights with love and compassion. When we do this, we know the happiness of the heart. The dharma talk was given at Downtown Meditation in New York City in the winter of 2019. May all beings live with ease and peace.
What are we doing with our time in this life? What kinds of actions are we talking? Is what we're doing bringing us closer to the heart? As dharma students, following the Buddha's lead, we seek to live more and more from the heart. We seek to know the happiness of the heart. In this talk, given at a Downtown Meditation daylong retreat in April 2018, Peter Doobinin describes how we learn to reflect, as we make an effort to come closer to the heart.
Our practice, the effort we put forth to meditate and develop the path, is a profound expression of our goodness. As dharma students, we learn to take joy in our practice, our effort to train the mind and heart. The path is joyful. Life is joyful. As we practice the dharma, we come to know this. The talk was given in 2013 at the Sunday Night Meditation class.
"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)
When we have ease of being, we're able to maintain ourselves in the present moment. We're able to live more effectively. We're able to live more wholeheartedly. Cultivating ease, in meditation and through our daily life, is an act of lovingkindness for ourselves and others. In this dharma talk, Peter talks about how we develop ease of being and the great benefits in doing so. The talk was given in the summer of 2019. May all beings live with ease!
Although we may have a wish to have compassion for ourselves, we may find it difficult to cultivate this quality of the heart. As Peter Doobinin explains, developing compassion requires that we learn a skill; in this dharma talk Peter describes the basics of this important skill. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in 2015.
For many of us, regret about the past is a burden that we carry through our days. But we can find freedom from regret. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we develop the skills that enable us to let go of painful emotions and thoughts of regret. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community weekly Sunday class in the winter of 2016.
To move skillfully through life, we need equanimity. Equanmity enables us to stay balanced and strong in the midst of the joys and sorrows of life. Equanimity is rooted in insight, in understanding of "the way it is," including understanding the truth of aging, illness, death, and separation, and the pain that is unavoidable in human experience. In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we develop in this understanding and learn to meet life with wisdom and an open heart. The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat in the autumn of 2017.
It's often said that, as dharma students, we learn live in the world but don't subscribe to the ways of the world. How is this accomplished? In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes elements of the path we learn to develop in an effort to follow the path as householders living amidst the complexity of modern life. The talk was given in 2010 at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday Night Meditation class.
Where do we look for happiness? The dharma student learns to gradually abandon the effort to find happiness in the things of the world. And, instead, to know a happiness that transcends conditioned, impermanent things. The talk was given in 2016 at the Downtown Meditation Community weekly Sunday Night Meditation class.
As dharma students we learn to develop internal assurance, the ability to rely on our innate wisdom to guide us as we make our way in this life. In this dharma talk, Peter explains what internal assurance is and how we develop it. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday Night class in the autumn of 2016.
To be able to practice the dharma is an extraordinary blessing. It's important for dharma students, in making their way along the path, to recognize the blessing of the practice. And, in turn, to reflect on it. In this talk, given in 2008, Peter Doobinin explains the rudiments for reflecting on the blessing of the practice. The talk was given in New York City at the Sunday Night Meditation class.
When conviction is developed, we make an effort to follow the path. In the end, we must develop conviction in ourselves, in our goodness, in our innate wisdom, in the dharma inside us. This talk on "Conviction in Yourself" was given in December 2011 at the Downtown Meditation Community weekly Sunday night class.
We shape our lives through the decisions we make from day to day, moment to moment. It's through the practice of heedfulnes that we're able to make decisions and take actions - big actions and subtle actions - that will lead us to true happiness in this life. This talk was given in 2014 at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class.
"Just as the footprints of all legged animals are encompassed by the footprint of the elephant, and the elephant's footprint is reckoned the foremost among them in terms of size; in the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is reckoned the foremost among them." (AN 10.15)
What lies on the other side of wanting? As human beings, we're involved, it seems, in an incessant process of wanting: wanting what we don't have, wanting things to be different than what they are. Dharma practice leads us to know the other side of this painful wanting. The talk was given by Peter Doobinin in 2014 at the Downtown Meditation Community weekly Sunday class.
Having a daily meditation practice is a foundational component as we make our way along the Buddha's path. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin discusses what it means to have a daily practice. The talk was given in New York City at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday Night class in the summer of 2016.
When things are difficult, in dharma practice and in life, our tendency may be to doubt ourselves. This self doubt - and doubt in dharma practice - is a profound impediment to our ability to move forward as dharma students. For this reason, it's essential that we learn to be mindful of doubt and to see into its empty nature. In this talk, given on March 23, 2008, Peter Doobinin describes how we practice this important mindfulness. The talk was givein at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday Night Meditation class.
The dharma student is a happy warrior. The practice requires effort and determination, it's often difficult, there are many ups and downs ... but when we practice skillfully, with compassion and lovingkindness, the practice is joyful. Our hearts are open and we understand that, although the road is long, we're moving toward a greater happiness in our lives. Our effort, then, is joyful. The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community retreat in 2013.
Compassion is one of the sublime abidings of the heart. As dharma students, we seek to open the heart and connect to the quality of compassion. But ultimately compassion informs action. As one of the primary skillful intentions - the other is lovingkindness (metta) - we seek to cultivate action that is driven by compassion. We learn to do this in meditation and this skill is one that we take with us as we go through our days and nights. The talk was given in Berlin in the winter of 2020 at the Wednesday Night Meditation class in Mitte.
In order to know happiness in this life, we need to keep ourselves in the present moment. But how do we do that? The Buddha gave clear and specific instructions for keeping present, not just in meditation but all the postures of our lives. In this talk, Peter describes elements of the skill for learning to keep present. This talk was given at the Berlin Dharma weekly class in the winter of 2020. May all beings be at ease and live with joy!
Association with wise beings - teachers and fellow meditation students - is an integral element of the path to awakening. As Peter explains, developing a relationship with wise beings and being part of a community is a skill that we learn to cultivate. The dharma talk was given in May 2015 at the Downtown Meditation Community weekly Sunday Night Meditation class.
There is path to the end of suffering. It's a path on which we learn to acknowledge the truth of our suffering. It's a path that we follow by developing certain skills. Most importantly, the skills of jhana and heedfulness. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes this path that leads us to freedom from suffering and true happiness in our lives. The talk was given at Downtown Meditation Community in the summer of 2017.
"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)
As dharma students, we're asked to cultivate love and compassion for all living beings. This is something that we can learn. It's a skill. It's a skill that, when developed, enables us to know a greater happiness in life. The talk by Peter Doobinin was given at a Meditation & Yoga Retreat in 2019.
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)
What does it mean to be present? We may talk about "being present," but what actually is it to be present? In this dharma talk, Peter explains what it means, according the Buddha's teachings, to be be present, how we establish ourselves in the present, and why there's such great benefit in doing so. The talk was given in New York City on September 18, 2016.
Dharma practice offers, for those who seek it, a way of liberation. It's a way of living. As such, dharma students are asked to make choices about how they live. In this talk, we discuss these choices and how to make them in a wise and compassionate manner. The dharma talk was given in New York City in September 2016.
What is your true north? In this dharma talk, Peter explains how we continue to remain true to our most wholehearted resolves. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class on August 21, 2017.
This dharma talk was given on Mothers Day in 2007. In the talk, Peter describes how by learning the skills the Buddha teaches, we're able to develop a skillful, loving, compassionate relationship with our parents and all beings. The talk was offered at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class. May all beings be happy of heart!
In meditation, we learn to make the journey to the present moment. Of course, it's often a difficult journey, fraught with obstacles. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes the obstacles we're bound to encounter and how we make our way through them. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class on October 22, 2017.
In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we learn to develop a skillful relationship to emotions. The skill of practicing mindfulness of emotions is, of course, one of the most important elements of dharma practice. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in October 2017.
What is true happiness? Why should we seek to know it? In this talk, Peter Doobinin discusses these questions - questions the dharma student must learn to ask. The talk was given on February 4, 2017, in New York City, at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat.
What is insight? In the Buddha's teachings, there are two primary forms of insight. Each of these ways of practicing discernment is important to cultivate as we seek to find a greater happiness in life. In this talk, Peter describes the forms of insight and how the dharma student develops them. The talk was given at the Sunday Night Meditation class in November 2017.
Through the practice of breath meditation, the dharma student builds a home for the mind. In this talk, Peter describes how we learn to build a home for the mind that's strong, secure, easeful, and realible, an abiding, inside, that's available to us no matter the circumstances of our lives. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday Night Meditation class in September 2017.
As dharma students, we learn skills that enable us to meet the difficulties in life. When we're developed in our practice, we're able to maintain the qualities of ease, inner pleasure, and contentedness amidst the ongoing challenges and uncertainty that human life, by its very nature, presents. In this dharma talk, Peter describes how we learn to remain at ease and connected to the heart as we make our way through life. The talk was given on Sunday, November 27, 2016, a few weeks after the 2016 election. May all beings live with ease!
In the practice of the dharma, we learn to develop inner strength; it is this quality of inner strength that sees us through in life. What is inner strength? How do we develop it? In this dharma talk, Peter discusses these questions. The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in October 2017.
As human begins, we have the potential for true happiness. As dharma students, we seek to know this happiness. It begins with our thoughts. With our thoughts, the Buddha teaches, we make the world. In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we cultivate skillful thinking in an effort to know the happiness of the heart. The talk was given at Downtown Meditation Community on Sunday, August 13, 2017. May all beings be well & happy!