Sunday Dharma Talk

True North

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.

Mothers Day

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! 

Journey to the Moment

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.

On Emotions

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.

Why True Happiness?

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?

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.

A Home for the Mind

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. 

Contentedness

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!

Inner Strength

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. 

Thoughts of Happiness

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!