​Theravada Buddhism

The teachings in insight meditation offered by Peter Doobinin come largely from the Theravada Buddhist tradition.  Theravada practice is derived from the core teachings of the Buddha, as found in the Pali Canon, the earliest surviving record of what the Buddha taught.  The Canon comprises thousands of suttas, the discourses given by the Buddha and his foremost disciples.

The  Buddha gave many teachings during his 45 years of passing on the dharma.  Toward the end of life, he delineated his most essential teachings.  These core teachings are known as the wings to awakening.  They are:  the four foundations of mindfulness (also called the four frames of reference), the four right exertions, the four bases for power, the five faculties, the five strengths, the seven factors for awakening, and the noble eightfold path.  In his final days, the Buddha became even more succinct.  Again and again, he emphasized that dharma students should make an effort to develop virtue, concentration, and discernment.

Theravada Buddhism is practiced in Asia primarily in Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka.  Within Theravada there are various streams, lineages.  At Berlin Dharma we practice in the Thai Forest tradition.  The teachings of Ajaan Lee, a 20th century Thai meditation master and Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Ajaan Geoff), abbot of Metta Forest Monastery, provide the inspiration for our dharma practice. 

In the early 20th Century, in Thailand, the Thai Forest tradition experienced a renaissance.  Ajaan Mun was one of the main leaders of the monks who left the city and went to the forest in order to practice the dharma in the manner the Buddha taught.  One of Ajaan Mun’s students was Ajaan Lee.  The meditation practice taught by Peter Doobinin reflects the Ajaan Lee method for practicing mindfulness of breathing. 
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Ajaan Lee’s student was Ajaan Fuang; and Thanissaro Bhikkhu was a student of Ajaan Fuang.  After living as a monk in Thailand for fifteen years, Ajaan Geoff returned to the US, where he was originally from, to assist another of Ajaan Mun’s students, Ajaan Suwat, in the forming of the Metta Forest Monastery.  Ajaan Geoff has been the abbot at Wat Metta since 1993.  Located in San Diego County, in California, Wat Metta is a monastery in the Thai Forest tradition where monks and lay men and women practice the dharma and continue to pass on the teachings of the Buddha.
 

Find out more about Metta Forest Monastery.

For more information, including many of the suttas, as well as talks and readings pertaining to the Thai Forest tradition, visit www.dhammatalks.org

Buddha, Wat Metta

While staying there near Koṭi Village, the Blessed One often gave this Dhamma talk to the monks: “Such is virtue, such is concentration, such is discernment. Concentration nurtured with virtue is of great fruit, great reward. Discernment nurtured with concentration is of great fruit, great reward. The mind nurtured with discernment is rightly released from the effluents, i.e., the effluent of sensuality, the effluent of becoming, the effluent of ignorance.”
(DN 16)