(Remote) Introduction to Meditation with Dennis Warren

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To join this remote meeting, note the following:

Join Online: https://zoom.us/j/95758794860
Passcode: 171337
Join by phone: 1-669-900-6833 ( Meeting ID: 957 5879 4860 )
For tips and instructions on how to participate, check this news blog.

This 45-minute course is suitable for beginners or anyone who would like a refresher. It is offered on the fourth Thursday of every month before the regular sitting and dharma talk. There is no fee.

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.

At the bottom of this page, you may enter the number of people planning to attend and select the button “Confirm RSVP“.
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(Remote) Daylong Retreat – Rich Howard – Awareness and Friends

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An online, One Day Retreat with SIM Community Teacher Rich Howard

Retreat Theme: Awareness and Friends: A Day of Practice

The practice of mindful awareness is at the core of our practice. When cultivated properly, it brings along several of its friends: clear seeing, clear comprehension, tranquility, acceptance, and eventually compassion and equanimity. This day of practice will be in the style of Sayadaw U Tejaniya, a contemporary Burmese monk, with an open schedule conducive to home practice. It should work well on Zoom.

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

Rich HowardRICH HOWARD has been an active practitioner and volunteer at SIM since 2004. His area of interest is bringing meditative awareness into everyday life. He participated in SIM’s 2007 India Pilgrimage and is a graduate of SIM’s second Practice Development and Leadership (PDL) program. He served on the Board from 2010 until 2015, the last two years as president. He was one of the SIM representatives to the Inter-Sangha Coordinating Committee, predecessor to the Sacramento Dharma Center Board, which now runs our shared space for Buddhist sanghas in Sacramento. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in southern Africa in the 1970s and is fluent in Spanish. His teachers are Dennis Warren, Tony Bernhard, and Steve Armstrong. Rich completed online courses with Steve on the Abhidhamma (the Buddhist psychology) and the Manual of Insight. He took Gil Fronsdal’s online course on the Majjhima Nikaya (Middle-length Discourses of the Buddha). His interest in the environment led him to the One Small Planet training with Kerry Nelson and the Ecosattva training with One Earth Sangha. In 2018, he completed a 10-month Dhamma Awareness Training with Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters called Touching the Earth. In 2019, he completed Meg Gawler’s 8-month course Preparing the Ground for Samadhi.

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

  • 07/11/2020 – Registration opens.
    Registration via this website will close 30 minutes before the start of the retreat (8:00 am, Aug 29).
  • 08/29/2020 – Attend and enjoy the wonderful retreat.

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 include the link to join the Zoom meeting. Use this link at the start of the retreat to join the online retreat. Additionally,  the evening before the retreat, the retreat 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 in the email sent by 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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(Remote) Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Neesha Patel

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Talk Topic: to be announced

Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Neesha Patel

Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92726949448
Passcode: 622908
Join by phone: 1-669-900-6833 ( Meeting ID: 927 2694 9448 )
For tips and instructions on how to participate, check this news blog.

We are fortunate to have NEESHA PATEL, PhD returning to SIM this evening.

NEESHA PATEL, PhD is deeply grateful for the liberative teachings of the Buddha. She has been fortunate to have practiced in both Asia and the US. Her practice has been influenced by the guidance of many wonderful teachers including Sayadaw U Tejaniya and Thai Forest Tradition teachers. She teaches mindfulness meditation at UC Davis and is a participant in the 2017-2021 Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training Program.

Thursday Night Talk Dana
[give_form id=”16147″ show_title=”false” show_content=”none” display_style=”reveal”] “Generosity is the virtue that leads to peace.” – The Historical Buddha
For remote meetings, please use the form above 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 Neesha Patel.

Topic details:

to be announced.

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(Remote) Sit & Dharma Talk – Rich Howard – Turning Toward or Away

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Meditation Practice: Turning Toward or Turning Away?

Sit & Dharma Talk with Community Teacher Rich Howard

Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/j/99275673795
Passcode: 753319
Join by phone: 1-669-900-6833 ( Meeting ID: 992 7567 3795 )
For tips and instructions on how to participate, check this news blog.

Thursday Night Talk Dana
[give_form id=”10304″ show_title=”false” show_content=”none” display_style=”reveal”] “Generosity is the virtue that leads to peace.” – The Historical Buddha
For remote meetings, please use the form above 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 Rich Howard.

Topic details:
In a 2017 article, Naropa University Professors Carla Sherrell and Judith Simmer-Brown warned about using meditation practice to avoid pain: “We take up meditation as a way to avoid or dull the pain, and only feel it “works” if we feel better. This approach is an expression of a prevailing culture that quickly takes a pharmaceutical to alleviate pain or pours a drink to numb anxiety. This kind of response to pain favors meditation practices that feature detachment, peace, bliss, and absolutist thinking as defense mechanisms against anxiety, fear, and anguish.” Yet, our world right now is full of anxiety, fear, and anguish. How do we avoid the temptation to turn away from the painful aspects of our personal and societal lives? How do we turn toward our experience and the harsh realities playing out in our community, nation, and world? How do we find insight and engagement in the midst of chaos and injustice? We will explore these difficult but essential questions on this evening of practice and inquiry. Bring an open mind and a willingness to look at the motivation for practice.

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(Remote) Sit & Dharma Talk – Seth Castleman- Big Mind, Small Mind

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Talk Topic: Big Mind and Small Mind

Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Rabbi Seth Castleman

How we can move out of our small-mindedness into a more expansive “Big Mind.”

Join online meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81560805271
Passcode: 944656
Join by phone: 1-669-900-9128 ( Meeting ID: 815 6080 5271 )
For tips and instructions on how to participate, check this news blog.

Thursday Night Talk Dana
[give_form id=”16677″ show_title=”false” show_content=”none” display_style=”reveal”] “Generosity is the virtue that leads to peace.” – The Historical Buddha
For remote meetings, please use the form above 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 Seth Castleman.

RABBI SETH CASTLEMAN is a teacher, writer, and storyteller with over twenty years experience teaching mindfulness and spiritual practice. Castleman is trained in both the Jewish and Buddhist traditions. After 20 years of meditation practice and two years of silent retreat as a lay-person in the US, India, and Nepal and as a monk in Burma, Seth was trained as a teacher by Jack Kornfield at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA. He was authorized as a meditation/dharma teacher in 2008. Following eight years of rabbinical studies in the US and Israel/Palestine, Castleman was ordained in 2011 as a rabbi by one Orthodox, one Conservative, and one Reform rabbi. Castleman has published in two dozen newspapers, periodicals, and anthologies on the intersection of contemplative practice and social justice and the transformational power of brokenness. As a storyteller, Seth has performed in theaters, on radio and television, and at countless kitchen tables. Seth uses myth, storytelling, and humor as central tools in his teaching and counseling work. Seth Castleman is married to Reverend Elizabeth Griswold, making them, quite possibly, the only rabbi—Christian minister married couple in the US. Seth and Elizabeth live in Davis, CA with their three children.

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(Remote) Sit & Dharma Talk – Rich Howard – Awareness and Friends

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Talk Topic: Awareness and Friends: An Introduction

Sit & Dharma Talk with Community Teacher Rich Howard

Join online meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85362255266
Passcode: 302533
Join by phone: 1-669-900-9128 ( Meeting ID: 853 6225 5266 )
For tips and instructions on how to participate, check this news blog.

Thursday Night Talk Dana
[give_form id=”10304″ show_title=”false” show_content=”none” display_style=”reveal”] “Generosity is the virtue that leads to peace.” – The Historical Buddha
For remote meetings, please use the form above 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 Rich Howard.

Topic details:
Mindful awareness is at the core of our meditation practice. When cultivated properly, awareness is joined and supported by other mental factors that arise naturally: clear seeing, clear comprehension, tranquility, acceptance, joy, and eventually non-attachment, compassion, equanimity, and wisdom. We will explore the role of awareness in our practice and look more deeply at this circle of “friends” that accompany awareness.
This evening will stand alone and will also serve as an introduction to the daylong on Saturday August 29. This day of practice will be in the style of Sayadaw U Tejaniya, a contemporary Burmese monk, with an open schedule conducive to home practice. It should work well on Zoom.

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(Remote) Sit & Dharma Talk – Dennis Warren – A Meditation to Rest, Recharge and…

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A Meditation To Rest, Recharge and Prepared To Engage Your Life

Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Founding Teacher Dennis Warren

Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92062095534
Passcode: 846496
Join by phone: 1-669-900-6833 ( Meeting ID: 920 6209 5534 )
For tips and instructions on how to participate, check this news blog.

Thursday Night Talk Dana
[give_form id=”10310″ show_title=”false” show_content=”none” display_style=”reveal”] “Generosity is the virtue that leads to peace.” – The Historical Buddha
For remote meetings, please use the form above 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 Dennis Warren.

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(Remote) *Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Neesha Patel

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Talk Topic: to be announced

Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Neesha Patel

Join online meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86342293049
Passcode: 029207
Join by phone: 1-669-900-6833 ( Meeting ID: 863 4229 3049 )
For tips and instructions on how to participate, check this news blog.

We are fortunate to have NEESHA PATEL, PhD returning to SIM this evening.

NEESHA PATEL, PhD is deeply grateful for the liberative teachings of the Buddha. She has been fortunate to have practiced in both Asia and the US. Her practice has been influenced by the guidance of many wonderful teachers including Sayadaw U Tejaniya and Thai Forest Tradition teachers. She teaches mindfulness meditation at UC Davis and is a participant in the 2017-2021 Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training Program.

Thursday Night Talk Dana
[give_form id=”16147″ show_title=”false” show_content=”none” display_style=”reveal”] “Generosity is the virtue that leads to peace.” – The Historical Buddha
For remote meetings, please use the form above 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 Neesha Patel.

Topic details:

to be announced.

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07/09/2020 “Ordinary” 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.

Insight is central to our practice of mindful awareness at SIM, as it is central to our name. We may frame it as a dramatic experience, “a flash of lightning in a summer cloud” as it says in the Diamond Sutra. We may hold an expectation that it is only available in settings far from our daily lives, on pilgrimage to a holy land or in extended retreat at a meditation center. What if it is available in the most ordinary of circumstances? What if we are setting the conditions for insight in the most mundane activities and familiar places of our lives? What if we let our expectations drop away and came into just this moment? In this evening’s talk and discussion, we will explore the terrain of the ordinary.

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