Suburban Dharma

A Dharma talk at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles on 1/2/2022. Subodha shares the Yoga Sutta (AN 4:10) and the four burdens of sensuality, becoming, views, and ignorance. Craving and clinging to these burdens impact the way we think and our existence in the present and future.

A Dharma talk at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles on 12/12/21. Subodha reflects on the importance of simplicity and contentment on the path especially as it relates to the hectic holiday season.

A Dharma talk at the IBMC Sunday service on Zoom 11/21/2021. Subodha talks about the problem with the modern temptation to view traditional Buddhism as repressive and unnecessary in the pursuit of a peaceful mind. He shows how the precepts, especially those kept by dedicated lay disciples of the Buddha on the four moon phases, are taken on voluntarily to emulate the way of life of the Noble Ones, those who have achieved liberation. In this light, the precepts are about freedom.

A talk at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles Sunday service on 10/10/21. In memory of his late friend, Subodha gives a Dharma talk on the seven treasures as a guide to living and dying well.

A Dharma talk at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles Sunday Zoom service on 9/12/21. Tragedies large and small are discussed, including the attack on September 11. The five hindrances are framed as coping mechanisms for troubled times. And then some tactics for working with the five hindrances are offered.

A Dharma talk at the IBMC Sunday service on Zoom, 8/15/21. Subodha shares how the lesson he is preparing for the kids in Dharma school on the Eightfold Path reminded him of a book he read over twenty years ago called Way of the Peaceful Warrior. He then contrasts one of the teachings from the book about the present moment with the Buddha’s teachings on “appropriate attention” showing how the Buddha teaches a purposeful directing of the mind to realizing the Four Noble Truths in meditation.

A Dharma talk at the IBMC Sunday service on Zoom 7/25/21. Subodha shares some of his thoughts on teaching the Noble Eightfold Path to children at an online Dharma school. This leads to a reflection of how Buddhism and the Eightfold Path encompass one’s whole life.

A Dharma talk given at the IBMC Sunday Service on Zoom, 6/20/21. The Buddha’s lessons on developing path factors to a reliable happiness and transcend suffering and stress are shared as a contrast to the popular view that the stresses of life are to be accepted.

A Dharma talk at the IBMC Zoom Sunday Service. Subodha talks about the five aggregates not as an objective description of a human being, but as the Buddha’s explanation of why we suffer and how to find liberation by changing the activities of the mind by abandoning desire and developing dispassion.

A Dharma talk at the IBMC Sunday service on Zoom, 4/25/21. Subodha discusses the Devadaha Sutta (SN 22:2) as a good summary of the path and why we follow it. He also talks about meditation and its role in measuring progress, looking at heart and mind. When developing skillful mental qualities and abandoning unskillful mental qualities, how does the heart feel? Is it heavy, like dragging a cart behind you, or light like your shadow that follows you?