Sunday Dharma Talk

Happiness Is Felt

True happiness is found inside.  It's not something abstract or conceptual; it's something we come to know as a felt sense in the body.  As dharma students we seek, gradually, day to day,  moment to moment, to put aside the kind of happiness that's dependent on things outside ourselves: the things of the world. Instead we learn, little by slowly, to know a more reliable happiness, the happiness inside.  This dharma talk was given by Peter Doobinin at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday Night Meditation class on August 6, 2017.

Wisdom of the Body

As dharma students, we learn to alleviate our suffering by developing wisdom.  This is not an intellectual wisdom, but rather a wisdom that we cultivate in the body and in the heart.  In this dharma talk, given at a daylong Meditation & Yoga retreat, Peter Doobinin describes the wisdom we come to know in the body and how we learn to come to know it.

They awaken, always wide awake:
Gotama’s disciples
whose mindfulness, both day & night,
is constantly immersed
in the body.
(Dhp 299)

Patience & Compassion

The dharma talk, "Patience & Compassion," was given at a Downtown Meditation Community residential retreat in January 2009.  In the talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we cultivate these essential qualities, in the service of deepening our practice and knowing a greater happiness in life.  As Peter explains, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the dharma student must learn to develop a "tough mind and a tender heart."
May all beings live with patience and compassion.

The Nature of the Heart

In the heart we find compassion and love.  This is the nature of the heart.  The truth of the heart.  The dharma student learns to know the truth of heart, to cultivate the sublime qualities of the heart, to meet suffering with compassion, to live straight from the heart.  This talk was given by Peter Doobinin at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat on December 3, 2016.

The Truth of Our Goodness

"The Truth of Our Goodness" is a dharma talk given by Peter Doobinin at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat in March 2018.  As human beings we have a goodness ... and as dharma students we learn to develop our goodness.  We learn to know the truth of our goodness.  We learn to know the dharma inside us.  We learn to know the heart.

Heedfulness of Thinking

The dharma talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community retreat in July 2015.  In the talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we practice "Heedfulness of Thinking."  When we're heedful of our thinking, in meditation and in our lives, we're able to abandon unskillful thinking: thinking that leads to suffering; and we're able to cultivate skillful thinking: thinking that leads to true happiness.  As Peter explains, this is a skill that all dharma students can all learn.

Thought Worlds

How are we spending our days and nights?  Much of our time, we may come to see, we're living in thought worlds.  We're lost in thought.  We're not present.  As dharma students, our task is to abandon our thought worlds and establish ourselves in the present moment.  When we're able to maintain present moment awareness, we're able to live from the heart.  We're able to make the most of our days and nights.  Peter Doobinin gave this dharma talk at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in the summer of 2009.

Tranquility

When tranquility develops, we know ease of being, stillness, peace.  In a world of busyness and commotion, we may not put value on tranquility, but it's one of the most important factors for dharma students to cultivate in their efforts to know a greater happiness.  In this talk,  Peter Doobinin discusses the factor of tranquility, what it is and how we develop it.  The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in August 2015.

Silence

In the place of silence, we know the heart; we're able to connect to our innate wisdom, compassion, lovingkindness.  In this dharma talk, Peter discusses how we develop external and, importantly, internal silence.  The talk was given at a daylong retreat in New York City in 2016.

Right Understanding

Right understanding is the first factor of the Noble Eight-fold Path.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains what it is and how we develop it.  The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday Night class in 2015.