08/05/2021 “Clarity and Beauty” with JD Doyle

To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.

An Auspicious Day
Bhaddekaratta Sutta (MN 131)

Zoom Chat
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Center ReOpening -Volunteers Still Needed

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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.

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07/29/2021 “Inclining the Mind Towards the Dhamma” 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.

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(Remote) Daylong Retreat – Diane Wilde – Finding the Right Question

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An online, One Day Retreat with SIM Community Teacher, Rev. Diane Wilde

“Finding the Right Question”

Our search for liberation, awakening, liberation, release from suffering… whatever you wish to call it, means asking ourselves questions that get to the heart of our unease. Not an easy task when our identities, reactivity, judgement and life experiences obscure insight. Finding the right question and being willing to spend time with it in daily life and on the cushion is crucial for getting closer to the goal of our practice… awakening. Not an easy task due to denial and fear of what we might find out about ourselves and our views of others.

We will reflect on a variety of questions during this daylong. We will use guided meditation and investigation of our lives through queries and personal written reflections. The simple act of writing has the power to help us encode information and insights.

Bring a small notebook or a few sheets of paper and a pen or pencil.

All are welcome. (Pre-registration is required.)

Diane WildeDIANE WILDE has studied meditation in various traditions since 1990. In 2001 she was a founding member of Sacramento Insight Meditation. She founded Buddhist Pathways Prison Project (aka Boundless Freedom Project) in 2010 and has been a prison chaplain for 18 years. She is a graduate of Sati Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy program and graduated from Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Community Dharma Leadership Training Program. She is a board member of Sati Center for Buddhist Studies at the Sacramento Dharma Center. In 2015 she was lay-ordained as a Buddhist minister by Gil Fronsdal.

Sacramento Insight Meditation events are sustained by the generosity of instructors in offering teachings freely and on the generosity of students and members of the meditative community in the form of financial support, service and participation in events. With our practice of dana, we support our Sangha. If you prefer to make a donation for this event online using a credit card or PayPal account, click here to DONATE ONLINE.

Summary of Important Dates

  • 07/23/2021 – Registration opens.
  • 08/28/2021 – Attend and enjoy the wonderful retreat. (Registration via this website closes 30 minutes before the start of the retreat on Feb 27.)

Registration Details

Registration is $15.00 per person due before the start of the event. If you are able and interested in further supporting SIM financially, you have the option of a registration fee of either $25 or $35 dollars. To pay the registration fee online, use the “Tickets” section at the bottom of this page. Specify the number of people you are registering to this retreat and click the button “Get Tickets”. You’ll be automatically directed to a secure web-page where your registration payment can be made by credit card as a guest (no PayPal account required) or payment can be made by PayPal after you sign-in to your PayPal account if you have one.
For the registration fee, we also accept personal checks. No one will be turned away for lack of funds; please contact the registrar for more information.

Before registering to this event, click here to review the terms of use for this website.

Questions for the Registrar?

If you need to contact the retreat registrar with any questions, click here.

How to attend this online retreat

Once you’ve registered, you’ll receive an email “Ticket” that also includes the link to join the Zoom meeting. Use this link at the start of the retreat to participate in the retreat. Additionally, the Wednesday before or the morning of the retreat, the registrar will send you a welcome email that also includes the link to join the Zoom meeting.

Join online meeting: The hyperlink is included in your emailed "Ticket" and also in the email sent by the retreat registrar.
Join by phone: 1-669-900-6833 ( see email sent by retreat registrar for the Meeting ID )
For tips and instructions on how to use Zoom to attend the retreat, click here.
To give a donation after attending this retreat, click here.
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07/22/2021 “Where is Right View?” 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.

For many, sight is the primary connection to the outside world. We marvel at a sunset, smile at an infant, react to a political poster. These sights can bring pleasure or anger, connection or revulsion. But are we aware of the act of seeing itself? “Why have we never noticed seeing?” asks Sayadaw U Tejaniya. We will explore the differences between looking and seeing and its implications for our formal meditation and daily life practice.

Sayadaw U Tejaniya quotes on Seeing
from The Daily Tejaniya (.pdf)Download
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07/15/2021 “Consciousness – A Concrete & Defining Spiritual Experience” 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.

Here is how we grow spiritually: We develop a Conceptual Model of the teachings of the Historical Buddha, their underlying psychology and supporting practice methods; we test that model through trial and error in living so it becomes an Experiential Model; then, we internalize it so it becomes an Intuitive Response.
A pivotal aspect of this growth process is fully integrating the understanding and experience of “Consciousness.” In Buddhist practice, Consciousness is not an idea, abstract theory or philosophical term. It is a concrete and defining experience.
Opening to this experience through specific practice methods is what allows us to access qualities of mind and heart like expansiveness, spaciousness, a deep experience of rest rather than struggle, and a pervasive sense of inter-connectedness.
During this evening, we’ll explore specific elements of the meditation process that lead to these experiences as well as ways to explore the experience of Consciousness in daily life.

Two books that Dennis mentioned are
* In Love with the world: A monk’s journey through the bardos of living and dying by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
* Interconnected: Embracing Life in Our Global Society by The Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Zoom Chat
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Returning To The Dharma Center!

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* Click here for the latest information about attending events in-person *

The SIM Board is very happy to announce that in-person SIM meetings in the Dharma Center will resume on Thursday, July 15th at the usual time of 7 PM. Dennis Warren, our founding teacher, will be the speaker for the evening.

We will continue to carry the meetings on Zoom for those that prefer that format; having Zoom access also allows us to continue to have teachers from outside Sacramento. Both the in-person and Zoom audiences will be able to interact with the teacher. The Zoom links and dana information will be posted on the SIM home page as before at https://sactoinsight.org/

We are asking that all in-person attendees, whether vaccinated or not, wear masks when inside the building. While we believe most of our attendees are fully vaccinated, some members are still uncomfortable being inside in proximity with others when full vaccination of all attendees is not verified. Masks are the next best level of protection. The mask request may be disappointing to some who have enjoyed seeing each other unmasked. However, SIM’s goal is to welcome back the maximum number of sangha members who would like the opportunity to see each other in person. Wearing a mask when indoors will be an act of generosity to the whole community, and members can socialize without a mask outside the building before and after the meeting and during tea break.

The mask requirement will be revisited as conditions change.

Other safety measures for in-person meetings include spacing chairs a few feet apart, and two new HEPA filters in the Dharma Hall to enhance air flow.

We look forward to seeing you all, whether virtually on Zoom or in person in the Dharma Hall!

* * An update from Dec 7, 2021 is included below. * *

Event Attendance Policy Update

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07/08/2021 “Joy” with Seth Castleman

To download this talk, right-click and select ‘save audio as’ or select the 3-dot menu to the right of the speaker icon.
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(Hybrid) Daylong Retreat – Dennis Warren

One Day Retreat with with SIM’s Founding Teacher Dennis Warren

*Hybrid events can be attended via Zoom or in-person at the Sacramento Dharma Center.

Re-Entry – Maybe a Once in a Lifetime Opportunity

Calling the process we are all beginning “Re-entry” is misleading. It implies that we are stepping back into what existed before. That isn’t true… psychologically, emotionally or physically. The pandemic has had us all in a restricted bubble. We have changed, whether we recognize it or not. The same is true for everyone else. The world is a different place. We are all a little different.
Coming out of this bubble in an awake, alive and mindful way potentially represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. An opportunity to see, understand and relate to ourselves, to others and the world around us in a different, fresh, more expansive and healthier way.
Louis Pasteur was the French chemist and microbiologist whose discoveries relating to vaccination and pasteurization influence our lives to this day. He was fond of saying that “chance favors the prepared mind,” by which he meant trial, error, adaptation and growth. This was also the position of the Historical Buddha – “I know of no other single thing so conducive to satisfaction and happiness than a well-trained mind.”
During this one-day retreat, we’ll look at the dynamics influencing our re-entry. We’ll reflect on how we can prepare ourselves – intentionally and purposefully – to be more open, inclusive, accepting and kind with ourselves and with the host of challenges that await us in 2021 and 2022.
(Pre-registration is required.)

DENNIS WARREN is SIM’s Founding Teacher and has been teaching mindfulness, meditation and contemplative practices since 1998. He recently completed his 11th year as a Volunteer Clinical Professor in Mindfulness in the Division of Pain Medicine at the UC Davis School of Medicine and Medical Center. He is certified as a Mindfulness Teacher, Professional Level (CMT-P), by the International Mindfulness Teachers Association. He is a graduate of the professional trainings in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression. He also is a graduate of the Spirit Rock Medication Center’s Dharma leaders training program. You can learn more about Dennis’ background and activities at https://www.denniswarren.net/ .
Dennis has been participating in residential meditation retreats, and has maintained a daily meditation practice, in the Theravadan Buddhist tradition for over 30 years. 2018 was his 20th year of teaching Insight Meditation and mindfulness practices in residential, retreat, educational, medical, corporate and community settings. In 2007 and 2014, Dennis led month long pilgrimages and moving retreats in Thailand, India and Nepal. A third is being planned for late 2021.

Sacramento Insight Meditation events are sustained by the generosity of instructors in offering teachings freely and on the generosity of students and members of the meditative community in the form of financial support, service and participation in events. With our practice of dana, we support our Sangha. If you prefer to make a donation for this event online using a credit card or PayPal account, click here to DONATE ONLINE.

Summary of Important Dates

  • 4/07/2021 – Registration opens.
  • 7/31/2021 – Attend and enjoy the wonderful retreat. (Registration via this website closes 30 minutes before the start of the retreat on Ju1 31.)

Registration Details

Registration is $15.00 per person due before the start of the event. If you are able and interested in further supporting SIM financially, you have the option of a registration fee of either $25 or $35 dollars. To pay the registration fee online, specify if you plan to attend in-person or attend remotely via Zoom. In the “Tickets” section, specify the number of people you are registering to this retreat and click the button “Get Tickets”. You’ll be automatically directed to a secure web-page where your registration payment can be made by credit card as a guest (no PayPal account required) or payment can be made by PayPal after you sign-in to your PayPal account if you have one.
For the registration fee, we also accept personal checks. No one will be turned away for lack of funds; please contact the registrar for more information.

Before registering to this event, click here to review the terms of use for this website.

Use the “Zoom Register button” to buy tickets to attend the retreat remotely via Zoom.
Use the “In-Person Register button” to buy tickets to attend the retreat in person at the Sacramento Dharma Center.

Questions for the Registrar?

If you need to contact the retreat registrar with any questions, click here.

How to attend this retreat

Once you’ve registered, you’ll receive an email “Ticket” and you won’t need to print the ticket. The evening before or the morning of the retreat, the registrar will send you a welcome email.

To give a donation after attending this retreat, click here.
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Registration Open for our Annual Retreat

Registration is now open for SIM’s Annual Retreat, to be held online (via Zoom) over the Labor Day weekend (September 3 – 6, 2021).   This year’s retreat theme is “A Long Enduring Mind”. We are fortunate to have Senior Teachers Kamala Masters and Steve Armstrong join us to share their deep understanding of the Dhamma and provide practical instruction to help us deepen and integrate practice into our daily lives. For details, visit the registration page listed below:

(Remote) 2021 SIM Annual Retreat
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