Sunday Dharma Talk

Optimism

As dharma students, we learn to meet our practice with an attitude of optimism.  We have faith in our capacity to know a greater happiness.  We believe in ourselves.  When we consider our dharma practice, we bring a quality of brightness.  Peter gave this talk on "Optimism" at the Sunday Night Meditation class in June 2015. 

Conviction in Awakening

As we develop in conviction, we make a greater effort to practice.  This is an important cause and effect relationship.  But what is conviction?  How do we develop it?  In this talk, given at the Sunday Night Meditation class, Peter discusses these essential questions.

Being True

The dharma student learns to make an ongoing, wholehearted effort to develop in truthfulness.  In this talk, given on November 5, 2017, Peter discusses this elemental aspect of our goodness.

 

Letting Go

"Letting Go."  The dharma student doesn't attempt to "let go" of her suffering through an act of will; in fact, the Buddha's instruction when it comes to suffering and clinging isn't simply to "let go."  Instead, the dharma student learns to develop the skill that will enable letting go to happen.  In this talk, given at Downtwon Meditation Community, Peter discusses the skill of letting go.

The Real Problem

The dharma student is a learner.  For the dharma student, practicing meditation is much more than simply a process of attaining tranquility; it's a process of learning.  And when we meditate, we begin to learn why we suffer; we begin to learn what the real problem is.  This dharma talk was given in February 2018 at the Sunday Night Meditation class. 

Heart of the Path

The heart of the path, the Buddha said, is concentration.  If we put wholehearted effort into our meditation practice, in the service of developing concentration, we'll come to know a greater happiness in this life.  In this dharma talk, given at Downtown Meditation Community's Sunday Night Meditation class in December 2015, Peter Doobinin discusses aspects of this elemental theme.

Taking a Step Back

Dharma students make an effort to take a step back from their lives.  Amidst the business and clamor of modern life, we can learn to find a center, a place of silence within, to be in touch with our goodness and the dharma inside us.  In this talk, Peter discusses what it means to take a step back.  The talk was given at Sunday Night Meditation in New York City in the summer of 2017.

Deepening Resolve

What is our resolve to further develop our practice?  A mark of progress in dharma practice is that we're deepening in our resolve.  In this talk, given at the Sunday Night Meditation class, Peter Doobinin discusses how, by following the Buddha's Noble-Eightfold Path, we learn to deepen in our resolve to practice the dharma.

The Buddha's Mindfulness

In this dharma talk, given at Sunday Night Meditation in the summer of 2015, Peter Doobinin explains the practice of mindfulness that the Buddha taught.  In Buddhist lexicon, this is known as "right mindfulness."  When we practice right mindfulness, beginning with mindfulness of breathing, we move toward awakening.  In fact, mindfulness is the first of the seven "factors for awakening."  As such, it's important to know what the Buddha taught when he taught mindfulness.

Knowing the Heart

May all beings be happy of heart.
The practice of the dharma enables us to know the heart and, thereby, take action that's straight from the heart.  In this talk Peter Doobinin discusses how we learn to know the heart.  He explains the practice of lovingkindness meditation and its great benefits to dharma students who practice this meditation on a regular basis.  The talk was given at the Sunday Night class in April 2015.