Sunday Dharma Talk

Be Who You Are

In practicing the dharma, we're learning that we don't have to "be somebody."  Instead our practice, as Peter explains in this talk, is about learning to be who we are.  Each of us is uniquely different.  And each of us has everything we need to know happiness in this life.  The talk was given at a daylong retreat in New York City in September 2023.

Being In Rhythm

Not an intellectual or academic process, dharma practice is a process of coming into rhythm.  In "coming out of the head" and into the body, we move toward having a felt experience of life.  More and more we meet life from the place of our innate wisdom.  We come into rhythm.  This dharma talk was given by Peter Doobinin in April 2023.

Meeting Change With Grace

Change is a integral condition of life.  And our ability to find happiness in life depends on how well we meet the experiences of change.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains the skills that we learn as dharma students that enable us to meet the changes in life with wisdom, compassion & grace.  The talk was given in April 2023.

The Heart

In the heart, we find our innate wisdom.  In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin explains what the heart is and how we come to this place of wisdom.  The talk was given on the last night of the Eight-Day Retreat in 2017.

Love & Death

In this dharma talk, Peter Doobinin talks about how the development of mindfulness of death leads to the opening of the heart.  The talk was given at the Lovingkindness Retreat in the summer of 2016.

The Liberation of Awareness

As dharma students, in developing insight, we learn to bring awareness to the experiences of affliction (dukkha), blatant and subtle.  In this talk, Peter Doobinin explains what it means to bring simple awareness to experience; and  how, when we're able to do this, we begin to understand what it is to let go.  We begin to understand what it's like when the heart is free from its burdens.  The talk was given in June 2023.

Fear & Love

What is the intention behind our actions...?  Do we take actions out of fear...?  Do we take certain actions in order to gain the approval of others...?  In developing the skill of heedfulness, we learn to discern the quality of our intentions.   In doing so, we become more and more able to let go of actions driven by fear, and, in turn, take actions motivated by love for ourselves.  The talk by Peter Doobinin was given in July 2023.

Don’t Give Up

In this dharma talk, offered in May 2023, Peter talks about the tendency we may have to give up ... in meditation ... and in life.  And he explains how we learn to develop determination, the ablity to stay with it, in terms of our practice and, in terms of our efforts to know a greater happiness in life.

Awake to Love

What is love...?  In this talk Peter Doobinin describes the differences between the worldly definition of love and the Buddha's definition.  And he talks about how, as dharma students, we develop the ability to love.  As he explains, when we are awake, we're able to love.  The dharma talk was offered at the Lovingkindness Retreat in 2016.

What Happiness Is

What is happiness?  In this talk, Peter Doobinin describes the differences between the "happiness of the world" and the happiness we seek to know as dharma students:  the happiness of the heart.  As he explains, in order to find true happiness in this life, we have to begin to develop an understanding of what this happiness is.  The talk was given in July 2016 at the Downtown Meditation Communinty Lovingkindness Retreat.