Sunday Dharma Talk

Abandoning Unskillful Thinking

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.

Ultimate Reality

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.

Beginning to Live

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.

Journey to the Heart

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.

A Different Way of Learning

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.

Making a Commitment to the Heart

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.

Joy & Faith

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!

According to Reality

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.

What You Are

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.

The Effort to Be Where You Are

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.