Jan 5th sitting meditation and dharma talk switched to ZOOM-Only
Due to the hazardous weather conditions anticipated over the next 24 hours, the Thursday, January 5th, 2023 regularly scheduled evening sitting meditation and dharma talk presentation by Diane Wilde will be held only on-line beginning at 7 pm. The SIM Board of Directors has cancelled the in-person part of the meeting.
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Did you contribute to this year’s Adopt-a-Family fundraiser? Vicki has an update to share with us!
SIM’s fifth fundraiser for St. John’s came to a close on December 2, 2022. Despite this year’s inflation and down turning market SIM’s caring community shined brightly in generosity, raising a five year high of $1,572. That didn’t even include dana that was received after the online donation window closed. Funds for St. John totaled close to $2,000 all together. Due to our munificent budget, we were able to sponsor eight people instead of four or five. In addition we were able to supply St. John’s 26 additional $25 Target gift cards to help other families have a bountiful Christmas. Deepest gratitude to you all.
Mary Howard and I did the shopping in early December. This is the second year Mary has joined for the shopping, making it even more fun and joyful. This year we “adopted” two single women, a mom and her teen age girl, and a mom with three children, ranging in age from 8 years to one year old. Rather than list everything, the “shopping elves” procured a balance of fun, educational, and practical gifts. We were able to provide some needed items that are more expensive such as high quality work boots and a convertible car seat for a family that is very close to graduating from the program at St. John’s.
We brought the gifts to St. John’s on December 9th. This has consistently been a wonderful experience as Karen Edwards, head of the fundraising program is a very kind and gracious person who makes one feel how appreciated and valued this support is.
That being said, please receive this deep bow of gratitude to our generous Sangha and teachers, and a special thanks to Sabitre Rodriguez, Sara Denzler, and Mary Howard. Wishing all of you a peaceful, happy, and love filled holidays.
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Our popular six-week Beginning Meditation Course begins Wednesday, Jan 18th with Rich Howard and Sara Denzler instructing. For more information, click on the flyer image or visit the registration page at https://sactoinsight.org/event/beginning-meditation-jan2023/.
On December 1, 2022 we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of SIM’s supporting those practicing in the Insight (Vipassana) Meditation tradition. This could not have happened without the dedication of the Sangha, our volunteers, and financial supporters. We are deeply grateful to you.
In addition to our longtime faculty of Dennis Warren, Rich Howard, and Diane Wilde, visiting teachers rounded out a rich year of teaching at SIM.
Because of your dana in 2022 we were able to:
continue to offer hybrid events and classes at the Sacramento Dharma Center, allowing us to meet again in person in the meditation hall, as well as on Zoom. Meeting together strengthens our community.
hold our annual week-long residential retreat at Mercy Center Auburn under the leadership of Senior Teacher Greg Scharf. Our thanks to the volunteer Retreat Committee, Greg, the caring staff at the Mercy Center, and the generous dana of attendees.
create the Legacy Project, a plan to carry SIM into the future by nurturing and supporting new teachers in the Vipassana tradition. Details of the Legacy Project will be presented at the December 1 anniversary celebration.
Our fund-raising goals for 2022 include the continued expression of gratitude to our faculty through a year-end dana contribution as well as ongoing support for SIM’s Teaching and Development Initiative, including the new Legacy Project.
As you plan your year-end giving, we sincerely hope that you will continue to support SIM. You can do so through a one-time, year-end contribution and/or signing up for a monthly, automatic on-line contribution to SIM. Monthly contributions are key to our long-term financial health; all donations are received with deep gratitude.
Use the DONATE button below to make a year-end or monthly donation to Sacramento Insight Meditation. To donate online without a PayPal account, enter a donation amount and select “PayPal” along with the button “Donate Now”. Then select “Donate with a Debit or Credit Card“. To donate by personal check, enter a donation amount andselect the “Offline Donation” option.
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Celebrating the end of the Residential Retreat 2022
The Sacramento Dharma Center’s Family Sangha seeks folks in the mahasangha who would like to help them by volunteering, or by referring good people who might consider a childcare or dharma facilitator role for a stipend. Helpers could be a simpatico college student- someone from a young adult sangha- or maybe an elder who loves kids and the practice. Family Sangha meets monthly on the last Sundays from 10 am to noon. Upcoming meetings are Nov 27, Dec is canceled, and then Jan 29. For details, contact Helen Hobart or email familydharma@sbmg.org.
Sacramento Insight Meditation is celebrating 20 years as a sangha! We have come a long way since the start in 2002 and will be commemorating the anniversary at a special event on Thursday, December 1st (7:00-9:15 pm).
The meditation portion of the evening will be shortened a bit to have time for cake and tea afterwards. This will also be an opportunity to socialize with one another. We should still be able to end about the same time as usual at 9:15 pm.
We hope that you can join us in person or via Zoom to celebrate this special event.
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A message from the Sacramento Insight Meditation Board of Directors
The SIM Board is continuing to monitor developments regarding the Delta AND the Omicron variants of Covid19. After careful review of the latest available evidence, we have decided that it continues to be safe to maintain a hybrid program of in-person and Zoom attendance for now. We want to share with you not only our decision, but also the thinking behind it.
VACCINATION PROVIDES OUR GREATEST PROTECTION – Vaccination continues to provide good protection from infection and serious illness due to both Delta and Omicron, and we strongly urge all members of our community to be vaccinated. We also recommend you receive a booster vaccination, according to the CDC guidelines, no later than seven days before attending events in person. Booster vaccines are recommended after 2 months for everyone vaccinated with the J&J vaccine and 6 months after either their second Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. If anyone would like to be vaccinated but hasn’t been able to do so, we would be glad to help. We want to send a clear message that anyone who is not fully vaccinated should NOT attend SIM events in person for their own safety and the safety of others. Those who choose to remain unvaccinated are welcome to participate remotely on Zoom and not attend in person.
MASKING, DISTANCING AND AIR FILTRATION PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PROTECTION – To maximize safety, we will continue to require indoor masking, and high quality KN95 masks will be available at the door to anyone who would like one. We will continue to arrange socially distanced seating, and for lunch time and break periods to make maximal use of our two high-quality HEPA air filters. All of this creates a low-risk environment in which we feel that we can safely practice together.
PRACTICING TOGETHER PROVIDES IMPORTANT SUPPORT FOR OUR COMMUNITY – We do not want the focus on minimizing risk to overshadow the benefits that we are striving to provide to our community, namely the opportunity for us to practice together. After this long period of isolation and loneliness, coming together to practice as a sangha is an opportunity that we truly value.
We understand that each of us, including our teachers, will need to evaluate the personal risks and benefits of in-person attendance and make individual decisions about how to attend SIM. All of us on the Board want to support you in whatever you choose to do. We extend sincere thanks to the members of our audiovisual and set-up teams who have agreed to participate in making in-person attendance possible.
With deep gratitude to all of you who have remained faithful supporters of our sangha,
SIM’s Community Teacher Diane Wilde will be teaching a new nine-month course “The Noble Eightfold Path: A Path for Living with Contentment, Compassion and Purpose“. This 2023 course offering runs monthly from March 19 through November 19, meeting in-person at the Dharma Center. For more information or to register now, visit the course overview page listed below.
Regarding the 2022 Sacramento Insight Meditation Retreat at the Mercy Center in Auburn, CA, we have some retreat photos and reflections to share. Click on a photo or click here for details, including reflections written by Cedric Orange and by Megan Carney.
