Sunday Dharma Talk

Appreciative Joy

Appreciative joy is one of the sublime abidings, qualities of the heart.  We cultivate this sublime abiding by reflecting on our own goodness and the goodness in the world.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains this process of taking care of the heart.  The talk was given at Sunday Night Meditation in August 2014.

Change

We can change.  Indeed, as dharma students this is our task, to bring about change in our lives.  As Peter Doobinin explains, we change, in following the Buddha's path, by developing skills.  And it's something we all can do.  The dharma talk was given at a daylong retreat in April 2011. 

Understanding Our Human Experience

To make the most of our lives, we have to come to understand our human experience.  As the Buddha tells us, we awaken to our human experience through the body.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how we're able to realize our potential by practicing mindfulness of the body.  The talk was given at a Meditation & Yoga daylong retreat in April 2015.

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

The Joy of Life

Life is good.  As dharma students, we're asked to see the goodness inherent in this human life.  We're able to comprehend the preciousness of this life.  In reflecting in this manner, we're able to connect to the feeling of gratitude and the joy in the heart.  And we're able to move forward and make the most of our lives.  

Bringing Insight to Thinking

In dharma practice, we develop skills that enable us to abandon excessive thinking, painful storylines, habitual narratives.  We learn, in this effort, to bring insight to our thinking.  In this dharma talk, Peter explains this skill which when developed helps us greatly in our efforts to alleviate suffering and know happiness of heart.  The talk was given at the Wednesday night meditation class in Berlin in February 2020.

Practice For Others

We practice the dharma so that we might open our heart ... to ourselves and to others.  Our meditation, while often solitary, is a practice that we engage in out of compassion for all beings.  When we become established in this intention, our practice thrives.  When our heart is open to all beings, we know the happiness of heart.  The dharma talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community weekly Sunday class in August 2012. 
May all beings be free from suffering and pain.

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Moving Beyond Fear

As we make effort to take action out of love, for ourselves and others, we often come up against fear.  As dharma students, we  develop certain skills that enable us to move beyond fear and make the most of our lives.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains how we learn to work skillfully with fear.  The dharma talk was given at the Downtown Meditation Community Sunday night class in September 2017.

Being A Non-Conformist

A talk from New Year's Eve in 2013.  As Peter Doobinin explains, in following the path of the dharma, we're going against the grain.  Instead of following the ways of the world, we're seeking to know a greater happiness:  the happiness of the heart, the happiness that comes when we take action that is an expression of love for ourselves and others.  The talk was given at Downtown Meditation Community in New York City.

Your Responsibility

This dharma talk was given on New Year's Eve in 2017 at Downtown Meditation Community in New York City.  As Peter Doobinin explains, as dharma students we don't rely on the things of "the world" for our happiness; our happiness is our responsibility.  As we learn to train the mind and heart, we come to know the happiness that is everpresent, the happiness inside, the happiness of the heart.

May all beings find ease of being, peace, and true happiness in this life.

How Insight Happens

In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin describes how insight occurs:  through paying attention, over a period of time.  Peter explains the skills and qualities of mind we cultivate in the service of developing insight that will allow us to experience freedom from suffering and true happiness in this life.  The talk was given at a Downtown Meditation Community daylong retreat in 2017.