POST UPDATED 7/30/21
DANA FOR THE SANGHA – OPPORTUNITIES TO VOLUNTEER AT IN-PERSON MEETINGS!
Great news! SIM has opened up for hybrid in-person/ZOOM Meetings. We’re pleased and very grateful for the many sangha members who stepped up to help with Set-Up/Close-Down, and we have no current need for more set-up help, but could use help in the areas below.
We could still use help in the following areas:
- Greeter Coordinator/Greeters: Greeters welcome arriving attendees, guiding them to take off their shoes and, for now, putting on a mask. For newcomers, greeters will help them find the bathroom and kitchen facilities and answer questions about SIM or meeting format. Greeters arrive at least one half hour before the scheduled meeting. The Greeter Coordinator will help recruit and schedule greeters for each Thursday meeting
- Flower Yogi Coordinator/Flower Yogi: Flower yogis bring fresh flowers for the altar and Dharma Hall. Flower yogis should arrive 30-40 minutes before the meeting begins to arrange the flowers. The Flower Yogi Coordinator will help recruit and schedule flower yogis.
- Registrars for Daylongs, Special Events and Classes:
- AV/Tech Support: AV/Tech duties include setting up the AV cart and the big screen TV, connecting the in-house audio and free standing audio systems, logging on to the scheduled zoom program, monitoring the zoom room and camera angles during the evening. Additionally at the end of the evening closing the zoom broadcast and returning the AV cart and TV to the locked storage area. The AV/Tech would participate in a rotating schedule for this volunteer service.
Volunteering is an incredibly valuable and gratifying way to give dana to the community. It rewards volunteers in equal measure by expanding their connection with fellow sangha team members and with the Dharma Center building itself, just as their efforts reward the sangha. If you are willing to try out one of these roles, please complete our volunteer interest form (click here) or send an email to Margaret Buss at sim-volunteers@sactoinsight.com.
ORIGINAL POST 6/22/2021
DANA FOR THE SANGHA – OPPORTUNITIES TO VOLUNTEER AT IN-PERSON MEETINGS!
Great news! SIM will be opening up for hybrid in-person/ZOOM meetings beginning Thursday, July 15, and we will need a few more volunteers to make it happen. Volunteer opportunities include:
- Set-Up/Close-Down: A few more volunteers are needed either as part of a designated weekly or daylong set-up crew, or as occasional crew on an ad-hoc basis. Set-up crew puts out chairs, sets up the altar and back counter, and sets up tea service for breaks, as well as overseeing clean-up at the end of the evening. Set-up volunteers arrive an hour before the meeting: 6 pm for regular meeting nights, 5 pm for the fourth Thursday Introduction to Meditation session prior to the regular meeting.
- Greeter Coordinator/Greeters: Greeters welcome arriving attendees, guiding them to take off their shoes and, for now, putting on a mask. For newcomers, greeters will help them find the bathroom and kitchen facilities and answer questions about SIM or meeting format. Greeters arrive at least one half hour before the scheduled meeting. The Greeter Coordinator will help recruit and schedule greeters for each Thursday meeting
- Flower Yogi Coordinator/Flower Yogi: Flower yogis bring fresh flowers for the altar and Dharma Hall. Flower yogis should arrive 30-40 minutes before the meeting begins. The Flower Yogi Coordinator will help recruit and schedule flower yogis.
Volunteering is an incredibly valuable and gratifying way to give dana to the community. It rewards volunteers in equal measure by expanding their connection with fellow sangha team members and with the Dharma Center building itself. If you are willing to try out one of these roles, please complete our volunteer interest form.
Living Other Side of Suffering (4 of 11)
Classes, Online RemoteThis meeting is part of an eleven week course: Living On The Other Side of Suffering. Registration is closed to new participants however if you’d like us to notify you via email when this course is offered in the future, click here to add your name to the course Interest-List.
To make a DONATION as a course participant, visit https://sactoinsight.org/activities/study-groups/living-other-side/#dana
Living Other Side of Suffering (3 of 11)
Classes, Online RemoteThis meeting is part of an eleven week course: Living On The Other Side of Suffering. Registration is closed to new participants however if you’d like us to notify you via email when this course is offered in the future, click here to add your name to the course Interest-List.
To make a DONATION as a course participant, visit https://sactoinsight.org/activities/study-groups/living-other-side/#dana
Living Other Side of Suffering (2 of 11)
Classes, Online RemoteThis meeting is part of an eleven week course: Living On The Other Side of Suffering. Registration is closed to new participants however if you’d like us to notify you via email when this course is offered in the future, click here to add your name to the course Interest-List.
To make a DONATION as a course participant, visit https://sactoinsight.org/activities/study-groups/living-other-side/#dana
Living on the Other Side of Suffering – September 15th
NewsSIM is happy to announce that we are again offering the “Living on the Other Side of Suffering” 11-week course. This course starts September 15th and is taught by SIM Founding Teacher Dennis Warren. For more information, visit the course summary page at https://sactoinsight.org/…/study-groups/living-other-side/. We encourage you to register (or waitlist since it’s not uncommon for last minute schedule changes to open a new spot on the course roster).
Coronavirus Protection Support
COVID-19, NewsVaccinations
Getting vaccinated remains the best protection against COVID 19 and known variants. Sacramento County maintains a comprehensive current list of vaccination sites and vaccinations are free.
If lack of transportation affects your ability to go to a vaccination site, email SIM at info@sactoinsight.org. We will arrange for a volunteer to help you.
Masks
Masks remain a very effective tool against the spread of coronavirus. Because of the Delta variant’s higher transmissibility, medical experts are recommending upgrading mask use when indoors for longer periods, either by using an authenticated N95 or KN95 medical grade masks (see article cited below) or by double masking with a cloth mask over a disposable surgical mask. A mask with an exhale valve should not be used: it allows plumes of viral particles to escape.
New York Times (NYT) Articles
The New York Times has published several well-researched articles on masks, social distancing, and other tools to protect yourself against the Delta variant. As conditions change, these precautions will also need to be updated.
Other Useful Links
08/12/2021 “Is Movement Meditation?” with Dennis Warren
Audio DharmaIs Movement “Meditation”? An Exploration
You hear people say “running is my meditation.” Or maybe yoga, biking, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, kayaking, archery, dancing, golf, swimming or gardening. Or how about aerobic exercise and weight lifting?
Are people who talk this way talking about the same thing? Or different things? Can we be in movement, even vigorous movement, and simultaneously be in “meditation”?
During this evening we’ll explore whether movement, in its many different forms, is “meditation.” If the answer is “Yes,” what allows movement, or a particular activity, to become meditation? If the answer is “No,” why not? And a pivotal question: can movement be meditation when done by one person, but not when done by another person? What if the person is a world class Olympic athlete?
This will be a practical dive into a rich and wonderful field of exploration. There is a wealth of commonalities, and valuable practice and life lessons, that emerge from an investigation of the relationship between movement and meditation.
Event Attendance Policy Update
COVID-19, NewsMessage from the SIM Board
The SIM Board is continuing to monitor developments regarding the Delta variant of Covid19 and met last week to discuss whether we should remain open for in-person attendance. After careful review of the most recent information, we have decided that is it 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 continues to provide good protection from infection and serious illness due to Delta, and we strongly urge all members of our community to be vaccinated. 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. We value the participation of all members of our sangha, whether remotely or in-person.
To maximize safety, we will continue to require indoor masking, and will provide high quality KN95 masks at the door to anyone who would like one. We will continue to arrange socially distanced seating and make maximal use of our two high-quality HEPA air filters. All of this helps to further reduce risk so that we can safely practice together in accordance with county and CDC guidelines.
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. Over the next several weeks we will monitor attendance and decide in consultation with our volunteers whether the number of attendees justifies continuing the in-person component. We will also continue careful monitoring of the latest scientific information regarding Covid and re-evaluate our plans accordingly.
With deep gratitude to all of you who have remained faithful supporters of our sangha,
Cathy Vigran, for the SIM Board
COVID Update
COVID-19, NewsThe SIM Board is monitoring the current available health information and will be considering whether to make changes to the format for Thursday nights. To confirm whether the evening format of our Sit & Dharam Talks are hybrid or online, check the website on the day of the meeting.
08/05/2021 “Clarity and Beauty” with JD Doyle
Audio DharmaCenter ReOpening -Volunteers Still Needed
News, VolunteerPOST UPDATED 7/30/21
DANA FOR THE SANGHA – OPPORTUNITIES TO VOLUNTEER AT IN-PERSON MEETINGS!
Great news! SIM has opened up for hybrid in-person/ZOOM Meetings. We’re pleased and very grateful for the many sangha members who stepped up to help with Set-Up/Close-Down, and we have no current need for more set-up help, but could use help in the areas below.
We could still use help in the following areas:
Volunteering is an incredibly valuable and gratifying way to give dana to the community. It rewards volunteers in equal measure by expanding their connection with fellow sangha team members and with the Dharma Center building itself, just as their efforts reward the sangha. If you are willing to try out one of these roles, please complete our volunteer interest form (click here) or send an email to Margaret Buss at sim-volunteers@sactoinsight.com.
ORIGINAL POST 6/22/2021
DANA FOR THE SANGHA – OPPORTUNITIES TO VOLUNTEER AT IN-PERSON MEETINGS!
Great news! SIM will be opening up for hybrid in-person/ZOOM meetings beginning Thursday, July 15, and we will need a few more volunteers to make it happen. Volunteer opportunities include:
Volunteering is an incredibly valuable and gratifying way to give dana to the community. It rewards volunteers in equal measure by expanding their connection with fellow sangha team members and with the Dharma Center building itself. If you are willing to try out one of these roles, please complete our volunteer interest form.