Sunday Dharma Talk

Meeting Life With the Heart

It's the heart, always, that will see us through.  In practicing the dharma, we learn to meet life, in all its manifestations, with the heart.  We learn to meet our days and nights with love and compassion.  When we do this, we know the happiness of the heart.  The dharma talk was given at Downtown Meditation in New York City in the winter of 2019.  May all beings live with ease and peace.

Closer to the Heart

What are we doing with our time in this life?  What kinds of actions are we talking?  Is what we're doing bringing us closer to the heart?  As dharma students, following the Buddha's lead, we seek to live more and more from the heart.  We seek to know the happiness of the heart.  In this talk, given at a Downtown Meditation daylong retreat in April 2018, Peter Doobinin describes how we learn to reflect, as we make an effort to come closer to the heart.

The Merit of Practice

Our practice, the effort we put forth to meditate and develop the path, is a profound expression of our goodness.  As dharma students, we learn to take joy in our practice, our effort to train the mind and heart.  The path is joyful.  Life is joyful.  As we practice the dharma, we come to know this.  The talk was given in 2013 at the Sunday Night Meditation class.

"Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice jhana, monks. Don't be heedless. Don't later fall into regret. This is our message to you."  
(MN 19)

Ease of Being

When we have ease of being, we're able to maintain ourselves in the present moment.  We're able to live more effectively.  We're able to live more wholeheartedly.  Cultivating ease, in meditation and through our daily life, is an act of lovingkindness for ourselves and others.  In this dharma talk, Peter talks about how we develop ease of being and the great benefits in doing so.  The talk was given in the summer of 2019.  May all beings live with ease!

Self-Compassion

Although we may have a wish to have compassion for ourselves, we may find it difficult to cultivate this quality of the heart.  As Peter Doobinin explains, developing compassion requires that we learn a skill; in this dharma talk Peter describes the basics of this important skill.  The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in 2015.

Freedom From Regret

For many of us, regret about the past is a burden that we carry through our days.  But we can find freedom from regret.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we develop the skills that enable us to let go of painful emotions and thoughts of regret.  The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community weekly Sunday class in the winter of 2016. 

The Way It Is

To move skillfully through life, we need equanimity.  Equanmity enables us to stay balanced and strong in the midst of the joys and sorrows of life.  Equanimity is rooted in insight, in understanding of "the way it is," including understanding the truth of aging, illness, death, and separation, and the pain that is unavoidable in human experience.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we develop in this understanding and learn to meet life with wisdom and an open heart.  The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat in the autumn of 2017.

Living in the World

It's often said that, as dharma students, we learn live in the world but don't subscribe to the ways of the world.  How is this accomplished?  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes elements of the path we learn to develop in an effort to follow the path as householders living amidst the complexity of modern life.  The talk was given in 2010 at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday Night Meditation class.

Things of the World

Where do we look for happiness?  The dharma student learns to gradually abandon the effort to find happiness in the things of the world.  And, instead, to know a happiness that transcends conditioned, impermanent things.  The talk was given in 2016 at the Downtown Meditation Community weekly Sunday Night Meditation class.

Internal Assurance

As dharma students we learn to develop internal assurance, the ability to rely on our innate wisdom to guide us as we make our way in this life.  In this dharma talk, Peter explains what internal assurance is and how we develop it.  The talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday Night class in the autumn of 2016.