If you want to attend any of our Thursday night talks remotely via Zoom (July 2 through September 24), use this button at the time of the meeting to join in.
If you don’t have a computer/smartphone/internet access, you can still join a meeting by regular phone. If you’re in California, dial 1-669-900-6833. To find a local number in a different state or country, visit (https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kgzz84Yos). After you dial the Join-Zoom number, enter the Meeting ID: 895 2162 7007 & Passcode: 933142.
Note: When Zoom is an option for any event at SIM, you can always locate the Join Meeting link by checking our calendar (click here) for the specific day and time of the event of interest.If a meeting link ever fails, try this alternate link https://www.zoom.us/join and manually enter the posted meeting ID and passcode.
Starting October 1, 2026, the Join Meeting on Zoom details will change to use Meeting ID: 870 6359 1101 and Passcode: 679854.
https://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/video-conference-5363856_640.png421640Sabitrehttps://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.pngSabitre2026-06-29 20:24:012026-06-30 12:23:03Thursday Night Talks Zoom Link (Jul-Aug-Sep)
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.
Celebrating the end of the Residential Retreat 2022
To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.
More and more ethical questions are arising in society due to the rapid “advancement” of AI technology. Spiritual leaders, philosophers, politicians and individuals are cautioning that a moral code has to be developed which addresses the rapid implementation of AI technology.
A few of the many, many issues of concern are:
Students using AI to write essays and term papers and claiming the results as their own. Blatant lying by individuals, corporations and politicians, by creating harmful AI versions of others. The acceleration of climate catastrophes due to a lack of concern for other life forms as well the earth herself. Individuals seeking revenge on others by threatening to expose private online conversations and videos.
Navigating everyday ethical challenges is a challenge. Now we must face the consequences of unethical behavior due to technological advances. Do our individual ethical choices even make a difference any longer?
Tonight we will discuss ethics and morality in today’s world. In other words: “What Would the Buddha Do?”
https://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.png00David Guerrierihttps://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.pngDavid Guerrieri2026-09-17 22:00:002026-09-17 22:03:389/17/2026 “What Would the Buddha Do?” with Diane Wilde
To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.
There are so many crisis happening simultaneously, at the personal as well as collective level. Learning to practice with the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion is essential to transform suffering into healing and liberation.
https://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.png00David Guerrierihttps://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.pngDavid Guerrieri2026-09-10 22:00:002026-09-10 21:15:559/10/2026 “Practicing with a World on Fire” with JD Doyle
Registration is now open for this four week online course facilitated by SIM Teacher Diana Clark.
The Noble Eightfold Path invites us to discover for ourselves what helps us live with less suffering and more freedom. In this four-week course, we’ll explore the path not simply as a Buddhist teaching to learn and follow, but as a path to engage with. Please join us as we’ll consider how the path can inform the ways we understand our experience, relate to others, and cultivate our minds.
This course meets remotely via Zoom for four consecutive Tuesday evenings: Nov 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026 from 7pm to 8:30pm. For registration details, visit https://sactoinsight.org/event/8-fold-path-2026/.
https://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.png00Sabitrehttps://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.pngSabitre2026-09-08 10:16:162026-09-08 10:16:17Registration Now Open (The Eightfold Path: A Practical Path to Freedom)
To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.
Choice plays a pivotal role in the architecture of Buddhist practice. For example, it surfaces in the five strategies for dealing with distracting thoughts, the four types of Right Effort, and the five ways of letting go or abandoning unskillful states of mind. Each set of options asks that we weight the circumstances and select a course of action.
And yet, curiously, the Pali Canon — that vast record of the Historical Buddha’s psychology, teachings and methods — contains no word or phrase equivalent to our conventional sense of “choice.”
This reflects the Historical Buddha’s tendency to redirect attention away from the surface of a question towards what he considered its root. If choice, as commonly understood, is not the true axis of decision-making, then what is? And what might this reveal, as a practical matter, about the nature of skillful decision making and how it can be embodied in practice and life?
https://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.png00David Guerrierihttps://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.pngDavid Guerrieri2026-09-03 22:00:002026-09-03 22:25:189/3/2026 “Intention: The Factor Animating Choice and Karma” with Dennis Warren
To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.
The Jataka Tales are folksy stories of the past lives of the being who would become Siddhattha Gotama and eventually the historical Buddha. To become a Buddha, this being had to perfect the ten qualities known as “Paramis” (or “Perfections”), and each tale tells how one or more of the Paramis was developed in a particular past life, as an animal or human. The Mahā-Sīlava Jātaka is particularly rich in its inclusion of the Paramis, so we will listen to the story and reflect on which qualities are illustrated and how the story informs our understanding of them.
https://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.png00David Guerrierihttps://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.pngDavid Guerrieri2026-08-27 22:00:002026-08-27 21:29:118/27/2026 “Mahā-Sīlava Jātaka (“Not One Drop of Blood”)” with Rich Howard
To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.
This will be a talk on how to work skillfully with thoughts while we are practicing insight meditation. The Buddha warned us about how mental proliferation (papanca in Pali) can be a formidable obstacle to progress on the path.
https://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.png00David Guerrierihttps://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.pngDavid Guerrieri2026-08-20 22:00:002026-08-20 21:28:568/20/2026 “Working with the Thinking Mind” with Walt Opie
To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.
We will explore the Buddhist teaching of Mudita: what it is, what it isn’t and how to cultivate it. In watering the seeds of delight and joy in our lives as part of our spiritual practice, we begin to recognize that happiness grows when it is shared.
https://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.png00David Guerrierihttps://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.pngDavid Guerrieri2026-08-13 22:00:002026-08-13 21:07:598/13/2026 “The Practice of Delight” with JD Doyle
https://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.png00Sabitrehttps://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.pngSabitre2026-08-09 11:48:422026-08-09 11:48:48Save the Date – Residential Retreat – June 2027
As retreat details become finalized, we’ll post more information here. Meanwhile, please save the date (Sunday, June 20 through Sunday, June 27, 2027) for your planning purposes. For general information about SIM’s residential retreats, visit https://sactoinsight.org/retreats/residential-retreat/.
https://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Buddha-holding-Lotus.jpg6671000Sabitrehttps://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.pngSabitre2026-08-09 11:41:082026-08-09 11:51:562027 SIM Residential Retreat – Save the Date
Join us for an ice cream social to celebrate ten years as a beacon of the Buddha’s compassion and wisdom in our community. Saturday, August 15, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
https://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.png00Sabitrehttps://sactoinsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SIM-logo-trans.pngSabitre2026-08-07 22:35:092026-08-07 22:35:24Dharma Center Anniversary
Thursday Night Talks Zoom Link (Jul-Aug-Sep)
NewsIf you want to attend any of our Thursday night talks remotely via Zoom (July 2 through September 24), use this button at the time of the meeting to join in.
Optionally, you may download and import this iCalendar (.ics) file (click here) to your calendar system.
If you don’t have a computer/smartphone/internet access, you can still join a meeting by regular phone. If you’re in California, dial 1-669-900-6833. To find a local number in a different state or country, visit (https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kgzz84Yos).
After you dial the Join-Zoom number, enter the Meeting ID: 895 2162 7007 & Passcode: 933142.
Note: When Zoom is an option for any event at SIM, you can always locate the Join Meeting link by checking our calendar (click here) for the specific day and time of the event of interest. If a meeting link ever fails, try this alternate link https://www.zoom.us/join and manually enter the posted meeting ID and passcode.
Your generosity helps SIM thrive!
NewsDear SIM Friends,
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:
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.
To donate today, use the form shown below or visit https://sactoinsight.org/what-is-dana/.
Sara E. Denzler
Treasurer, SIM Board of Directors
9/17/2026 “What Would the Buddha Do?” with Diane Wilde
Audio DharmaMore and more ethical questions are arising in society due to the rapid “advancement” of AI technology. Spiritual leaders, philosophers, politicians and individuals are cautioning that a moral code has to be developed which addresses the rapid implementation of AI technology.
A few of the many, many issues of concern are:
Students using AI to write essays and term papers and claiming the results as their own.
Blatant lying by individuals, corporations and politicians, by creating harmful AI versions of others.
The acceleration of climate catastrophes due to a lack of concern for other life forms as well the earth herself.
Individuals seeking revenge on others by threatening to expose private online conversations and videos.
Navigating everyday ethical challenges is a challenge. Now we must face the
consequences of unethical behavior due to technological advances. Do our individual ethical choices even make a difference any longer?
Tonight we will discuss ethics and morality in today’s world. In other words: “What Would the Buddha Do?”
9/10/2026 “Practicing with a World on Fire” with JD Doyle
Audio DharmaThere are so many crisis happening simultaneously, at the personal as well as collective level. Learning to practice with the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion is essential to transform suffering into healing and liberation.
Registration Now Open (The Eightfold Path: A Practical Path to Freedom)
Course Portal, NewsRegistration is now open for this four week online course facilitated by SIM Teacher Diana Clark.
The Noble Eightfold Path invites us to discover for ourselves what helps us live with less suffering and more freedom. In this four-week course, we’ll explore the path not simply as a Buddhist teaching to learn and follow, but as a path to engage with. Please join us as we’ll consider how the path can inform the ways we understand our experience, relate to others, and cultivate our minds.
This course meets remotely via Zoom for four consecutive Tuesday evenings: Nov 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026 from 7pm to 8:30pm.
For registration details, visit https://sactoinsight.org/event/8-fold-path-2026/.
9/3/2026 “Intention: The Factor Animating Choice and Karma” with Dennis Warren
Audio DharmaChoice plays a pivotal role in the architecture of Buddhist practice. For example, it surfaces in the five strategies for dealing with distracting thoughts, the four types of Right Effort, and the five ways of letting go or abandoning unskillful states of mind. Each set of options asks that we weight the circumstances and select a course of action.
And yet, curiously, the Pali Canon — that vast record of the Historical Buddha’s psychology, teachings and methods — contains no word or phrase equivalent to our conventional sense of “choice.”
This reflects the Historical Buddha’s tendency to redirect attention away from the surface of a question towards what he considered its root. If choice, as commonly understood, is not the true axis of decision-making, then what is? And what might this reveal, as a practical matter, about the nature of skillful decision making and how it can be embodied in practice and life?
8/27/2026 “Mahā-Sīlava Jātaka (“Not One Drop of Blood”)” with Rich Howard
Audio DharmaThe Jataka Tales are folksy stories of the past lives of the being who would become Siddhattha Gotama and eventually the historical Buddha. To become a Buddha, this being had to perfect the ten qualities known as “Paramis” (or “Perfections”), and each tale tells how one or more of the Paramis was developed in a particular past life, as an animal or human. The Mahā-Sīlava Jātaka is particularly rich in its inclusion of the Paramis, so we will listen to the story and reflect on which qualities are illustrated and how the story informs our understanding of them.
8/20/2026 “Working with the Thinking Mind” with Walt Opie
Audio DharmaThis will be a talk on how to work skillfully with thoughts while we are practicing insight meditation. The Buddha warned us about how mental proliferation (papanca in Pali) can be a formidable obstacle to progress on the path.
8/13/2026 “The Practice of Delight” with JD Doyle
Audio DharmaWe will explore the Buddhist teaching of Mudita: what it is, what it isn’t and how to cultivate it. In watering the seeds of delight and joy in our lives as part of our spiritual practice, we begin to recognize that happiness grows when it is shared.
Save the Date – Residential Retreat – June 2027
NewsSIM Residential Retreat
Sunday, June 20 through Sunday, June 27, 2027
Please hold these dates for Sacramento Insight Meditation’s next residential retreat. Details to come.
2027 SIM Residential Retreat – Save the Date
RetreatJune 20, 2027 – June 27, 2027 PDT
Dharma Center Anniversary
NewsJoin us for an ice cream social to celebrate ten years as a beacon of the Buddha’s compassion and wisdom in our community. Saturday, August 15, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.