Sunday Dharma Talk

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 timele…

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 d…

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 …

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 …

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…

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 tru…

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…

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, …

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 di…

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 …

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…

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 th…

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 Medit…

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 meditatio…

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, i…

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…

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 t…

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…

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 t…

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…