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.

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:

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 SIM Board of Directors meets every month and all are welcome. If you can’t attend this meeting, please join us for one of our other up-coming meetings. For details on contacting any of the board members, click here.

The SIM Board of Directors meets every month and all are welcome. If you can’t attend this meeting, please join us for one of our other up-coming meetings. For details on contacting any of the board members, click here.

The SIM Board of Directors meets every month and all are welcome. If you can’t attend this meeting, please join us for one of our other up-coming meetings. For details on contacting any of the board members, click here.

The SIM Board of Directors meets every month and all are welcome. If you can’t attend this meeting, please join us for one of our other up-coming meetings. For details on contacting any of the board members, click here.

A message from Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group (SBMG)

You are invited to attend in-person.

  • We will not be turning anyone away due to capacity limits, and we will strive to maintain seating about three feet apart.
  • We will not be requiring masks for vaccinated persons, however, this will be based on the honor system and we will not be verifying
  • For more details, click here.

Talk topic: to be announced

Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Tony Bernhard

Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/j/93294149106
Passcode: 166547
Join by phone: 1-669-900-6833 ( Meeting ID: 932 9414 9106 )
For tips and instructions to join the meeting, check this news blog.

Thursday Night Talk Dana

[give_form id=”15406″ show_title=”false” show_content=”none” display_style=”reveal”] “Generosity is the virtue that leads to peace.” – The Historical Buddha
We recognize that donating by cash or check at the time you attend this event may not always be convenient for you. If that’s the case, please use this form to donate by credit card or your PayPal account. Enter the amount you’d like to give and 75% of your donation will be shared with Tony Bernhard.

TONY BERNHARD is a Buddhist chaplain and teacher. He maintains an active practice with inmates in Folsom Prison and hosts sitting groups in Davis. He sits on the board of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies and teaches regularly around the bay area and central valley. His practice is non-traditional, guided by his chaplaincy work in prison, his teaching and by his study of the early Pali scriptures.

Topic details:
to be announced

After a year of isolation, Sacramento Insight Meditation (SIM) volunteers have again been preparing and serving dinner to the women and children who are living at St. John’s Program for Real Change in Sacramento.  The cooks and servers practice COVID safety by wearing masks.  Most of the volunteers have been fully vaccinated.

We will soon be scheduling shifts for July 21, August 18, and September 15, 2021.  Volunteer opportunities include cooks, who prepare the meal from 2:30-4:15 pm, and servers, who work from 4:15-6:00pm. You are not expected to work all three dates, just whatever works for you.  We are welcoming new volunteers as we bolster our volunteer pool.  Come join us as we practice generosity and compassion in the greater community.

If you are not already on the email list and wish to volunteer or have questions, please contact Mary Howard at mary@sactoinsight.org.

If you would like to volunteer for other programs or tasks at SIM, visit https://sactoinsight.org/activities/sangha-service/volunteer-interest/.