Sunday Dharma Talk

Consequences of Actions

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.

Bodhisatta

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.

A Lot of Love

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.

What is Clinging?

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.

Two Important Skills

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.

Cultivating Skillful Thinking

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.

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.