Event Attendance Policy Update

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Message 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 PROVIDES OUR GREATEST PROTECTION
    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.
  • MASKING, DISTANCING AND AIR FILTRATION PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PROTECTION
    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.
  • 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.  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

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COVID Update

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The 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.

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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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