Sunday Dharma Talk

Be Who You Are

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.

Kindness

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)

Acceptance

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.

Suffering & Compassion

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.

What is Reliable?

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.

Small Things

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)

Two Kinds of Happiness

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?

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.

What We Know

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.

Journey to the Heart

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.