Everyone planning to attend SIM (at the SDC) this evening, December 8, for meditation and Rich Howard’s dharma talk: there is no heat in the sanctuary. There are a few space heaters that will warm limited spaces. Please dress warmly, bring extra shawls or blankets, and plan to keep on coats, jackets, etc.
NEWS
The Davis Insight Group has an upcoming Winter Daylong Retreat with John Travis, a facility member of Sacramento Insight Meditation. The retreat is in Davis, CA on Saturday Dec 10, 2016. For event details, click here.
Our friends at the Aloka Vihara Monastery, located in Placerville, CA, are inviting folks to join in their last Community Work Day of the year on Saturday, December 10th. Work from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM with a break for lunch at 11:00 AM. For more information visit their event page at http://saranaloka.org/7877-2/.
A Special Message from the SIM Board of Directors
Contributions to the Sacramento Dharma Center do not reduce SIM’s operating expenses. Those SIM expenses, including rent and insurance, have increased by more than $10,000 for the coming year as a result of our move to the SDC. Contributions to the SDC are not shared with SIM.
The SIM Board of Directors encourages you to support SIM through a year-end contribution. In addition, we will be urging members to enroll in a new SIM monthly contribution program beginning January 2017. This monthly contribution program will be designed to create a stable financial foundation to cover SIM’s fixed, on-going expenses and to support plans for new SIM projects and programs.
Details on options for making year-end contributions, or for participating in the monthly contribution program, through a new Bank of America on-line service on SIM’s website, will be available by Monday, December 19. In the meantime, if you prefer to donate via check (payable to Sacramento Insight Meditation), please send to:
Sacramento Insight Meditation 3111 Wissemann Drive Sacramento, California, 95826.
If you have questions or would like to discuss these two tax deductible opportunities for generosity, please contact SIM’s President and Founding Teacher, Dennis Warren.
eNews Update – Nov 28, 2016 – News and Upcoming Events for SIM and the Wider Community
Much gratitude to Barbara Briscoe; to date, she has uploaded five dharma talks to SIM’s website. We are in need of more volunteers to assist us with this effort. If you’re interested, “Leave a Reply” on this post or fill in the contact us form.
Many of the volunteer opportunities available at SIM are now posted to the website at https://sactoinsight.org/activities/sangha-service/.
SIM’s facebook page currently has 398 LIKES. If you’re on Facebook, we hope you’ll head over to the SIM page (www.facebook.com/sactoinsight/) and check the LIKE button to ensure our posts appear in your newsfeed.
The Brahma Viharas Study Group enrollment and waitlist are both full. SIM is no longer accepting registrations to this group.
HOME PRACTICE. At the SIM inaugural sitting and discussion on November 3 at the Sacramento Dharma Center, Community Mentor Diane Wilde gave three assignments for discussion on November 10 at our quarterly Community Discussion evening. We will discuss and investigate aspects of Right Speech and Skillful Listening. Have fun with one or all of these investigations! Take a chance and learn a bit more about freedom and yourself.
- Offer a kind observation. When you notice something admirable about another person — friend, acquaintance or a stranger — say it to them. Perhaps you have admired something about a friend or appreciated the kindness of a stranger, but never took the time or had the nerve to state it out loud. Internally notice if you are embarrassed, afraid, spacious, ebullient, or ? What is the external response from the other person? How would you describe the entire experience?
- Listen! Take time to listen carefully to a friend, acquaintance or a stranger. Internally, do you wish you were somewhere else? Are you daydreaming? Was this difficult to do or was it enjoyable? Keep coming back to listening and perhaps even asking a question to keep yourself present. Externally, notice the reaction of the other person.
- Notice! Your Own Experience with Skillful Speech and Skillful Listening. When has your speech and/or listening to others been skillful? When has it not been skillful? What did you learn?