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SIM meets online and in-person at the Sacramento Dharma Center
What is Dana?
Dana is a Buddhist word that means generosity or heart. Nearly all Sacramento Insight Meditation activities are offered on a dana (donations) basis. This means our programs 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. Practice dana, please support our Sangha. DONATE NOW
01/09/2020 “The Five Reflections” with Rich Howard
Audio DharmaThe Five Reflections: The Adult Facts of Life
The Five Reflections are that we are subject (1) to aging, (2) to illness, and (3) to death; (4) that we will be separated from all that is dear to us; and (5) that we are responsible for our own actions and destiny. Many Buddhists throughout the world take these as a daily practice, a reminder that everything is impermanent and that loss is never far away. The historical Buddha recommended reflecting often on these facts “whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.” On this evening of reflection and discussion, we will examine each of these “adult facts of life” and explore our relationship to them.
Living Other Side of Suffering (10-week course) INTEREST LIST
Meditation Course, Online Remote, Study GroupSeptember 30, 2025 All day
Living On The Other Side of Suffering:
A Ten Week Course and One Day Retreat with SIM’s Founding Teacher Dennis Warren
For more information about this course, visit the course overview page (click here).
We invite you to add your name to the interest notification list at no cost. When the course is scheduled again, we’ll email you a reminder about the schedule that we’ve set.
Getting On the Notify List
To submit an RSVP, select the button “Going“. Enter your contact details and then select the button “Finished“. After you RSVP you’ll receive a “Ticket” via email however there’s no need to print it. The “You Are Going” email is your confirmation that you are going to be notified as soon as we setup the 2024 course schedule.
Thank you for your interest in this course offering. If you’re not yet ready to RSVP and would like to contact the course registrar for any reason, click here.
Details
Remote Meeting Zoom
01/02/2020 “Starting Anew – Expectations For Practice” with Dennis Warren
Audio DharmaWith the start of a new decade, there is real value in looking at what we can reasonably expect from our individual practices as community level practitioners? What tests or standards did the historical Buddha recommend for assessing how we have done in the last decade, and what we may achieve in the new decade?
This evening will involve an examination of the historical context the lead to the Buddha’s approaches to psychological, emotional and spiritual development. It will also involve an investigation of guidelines for creating a sound practice and assessing it impact in our lives.
The discussion this evening will build on a number of themes explored in Dennis’ presentation on December 19 “Craving and Clinging – Stepping Stones on The Path of Both Suffering & Awakening.” You can listen to the December 19th talk that’s posted to our audio dharma library (click here).
12/26/2019 “Dana in Theory and Practice” with Rich Howard
Audio DharmaIf you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
Dana is one of the core practices of our Insight/Vipassana tradition, and it is fraught with potential baggage. On this evening, we will examine dana and related concepts (giving, generosity, renunciation), its place on various Buddhist lists, and how it might fit into our contemporary practice. Rich will include some of the classical stories of dana from the Pali Canon and invite discussion of how this practice, which like many Buddhist practices runs “against the stream” of current American culture, has been working for you.
Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Neesha Patel
Weekly MeditationTalk topic to be announced
Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Neesha Patel.
We are fortunate to have NEESHA PATEL, PhD returning to SIM this evening.
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.
Cancelled – tonight’s Young Person’s Sangha
NewsWe apologize for the last-minute cancellation of tonight’s Young Person’s Sangha meeting, Dec 24th, 2019. Future meetings are posted to our calendar at https://sactoinsight.org/events/category/young-person-sangha/list/ .
12/19/2019 “Craving and Clinging” with Dennis Warren
Audio DharmaCraving and Clinging (Attachment) – Stepping Stones on The Path of Both Suffering and Awakening
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
The historical Buddha taught that the primary cause of suffering is “Craving.” But a careful examination of his nuanced and interconnected teachings reveals that this basic, and apparently simple, teaching is really about a chain of reactions that lead to suffering. Why did the Buddha designate craving as the second Noble Truth, the origin of suffering? This seems like a surprising simple question, but isn’t?
This evening will involve an examination of the historical parameters defining “craving” and its role in the chain-reaction of suffering. We’ll explore the differences between craving and “clinging”? Should these two experiences be understood as separate and independent experiences? Are they related experiences on a continuum of experience that leads to suffering? Or does craving morph into clinging?
Why being able to feel the difference between craving and clinging – the moment of discernment that sets the conditions for everything that follows and what may be possible – is the key to both managing and being liberated from suffering.
Dennis discusses a new 2020 SIM course entitled “Living and Practicing on the Other Side of Suffering” that is directly related to these questions and their answers.
A Year to Live – 12 month course NOTIFY
Study GroupThe 2020 Year to Live course has completed however if you are interested in the next course planned for 2021-22, you may add your name to the course interest list (wait list) at no cost. The meeting dates are to-be-determined but as soon as a registration opens, we’ll notify you via email and if you’re still interested, you can pay the registration fee to enroll in the course. For course details and registration fee information, click here.
Getting On the Wait List
At the bottom of this page, in the RSVP section, enter the number 1 and select the button “Confirm RSVP“. After you RSVP you’ll receive a wait list “Ticket” via email however there’s no need to print it. The email is your confirmation that your name is included on the notification list and the registrar will follow-up with you after the course schedule is finalized. If you’re not yet ready to RSVP and need to contact the course registrar for any reason, click here.
Thank you for your interest in this course offering.
12/05/2019 “Mindfulness of Mind” with Greg Scharf
Audio DharmaIf you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
This talk explores the nature of mind and will look at the Buddha’s instructions in the Third Establishment of Mindfulness in the Satipatthana Sutta.
The Satipatthana Sutta is one of the most revered teachings in the Pali Canon and forms the Buddha’s single most comprehensive set of instructions for Vipassana Meditation. In the 3rd section of this discourse, Mindfulness of Mind, the Buddha describes simple but extremely powerful & liberating ways to bring awareness to the mind in meditation. This talk explores our direct experience of the mind as process, as well as offering reflections for the practical application of the Buddha’s instructions in this core teaching.
Additionally, here is a link to a similar Mindfulness of Mind talk that Greg Scharf gave last year at Spirit Rock (during a month-long intensive meditation retreat).
A Year to Live (5 of 11)
Meditation Course, Study GroupThis session is part of an eleven month course lead by SIM’s community teacher Rev. Diane Wilde.
This course is FULL and registration is CLOSED.