Grasping the Dhamma

A talk at the IBMC.

In this Dhamma talk at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles on September 21, 2025, Subodha shares his thoughts on the autumn equinox as a time of balance. He shares how balance is often paired with equanimity and acceptance and how all are often mistaken for the goal of the path rather than part of the path. This is highlighted through his sharing of the five recollections and how even monks sometimes exclude the fifth recollection in favor of framing the first four around acceptance of aging, illness, death, and change. But it is the fifth recollection that has the power to change your life because it is a reminder of the power of your actions.

In this Dhamma talk at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles on July 20, 2025, Subodha discusses the 12 causal conditions in paticcasamuppada (dependent co-arising) and relates them to our direct experience in the present moment, asking us to pay attention to what originates in us due to ignorance and what originates in us as we grow in our understanding of the Four Noble Truths.

In this Dhamma talk on June 15, 2025, at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles, Subodha reflects on Father’s Day and how the Buddha says that part of a parent’s job is to teach children how to be in the world. Subodha discusses the brahmaviharas, the sublime attitudes of goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity as a useful frame of reference to nurture the emotional intelligence of our youth.

In this Dharma talk at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles on May 25, 2025, Subodha shares his thoughts on how we use Buddhism to help others, especially those going through a time of crisis. He shares stories from the Pali Canon and the commentaries while also reflecting on his education in psychotherapy and chaplaincy.

In this Dharma talk given at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles on May 11, 2025, Subodha talks about the importance of being a person of integrity and teaching others by example and how that is the way the Buddha says we truly repay our parents for bringing us into the world as he reflects on Mother’s Day.

In this Dhamma talk at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles on April 20, 2025, Subodha contrasts the Buddhism on display in a recent season of a popular TV show with the Buddhism that exists in real life and leads to the end of all stress and suffering.

In this Dhamma talk at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles on March 16, 2025, Subodha discusses some of the common ways that we grasp the Dhamma incorrectly in the West and what it means to confidently practice the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma.

In this Dhamma talk given on February 16, 2025, at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles, Subodha talks about love and hate in the Pali Canon and how goodwill, metta, transcends both. He also shares the work of John O’Donohue to articulate the importance of knowing ourselves well to achieve true intimacy with ourselves and others.

In this Dhamma talk at the International Buddhist Meditation Center Los Angeles on December 15, 2024, Subodha shares his thoughts on people out in the world celebrating and approving of taking a life. He shares the Buddha’s instructions on having goodwill for even the smallest of lifeforms and even the worst of people no matter the circumstances. Peace on Earth begins with the peace we have in our hearts.