Board of Directors Update

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UPDATE – March 15, 2020

Dear SIM attendees,

SIM is working with the Sacramento Dharma Center and our sister sanghas to minimize the threat of coronavirus/COVID19 transmission.

To that end, we are suspending all SIM in-person events at the Sacramento Dharma Center through April 15th. Instead we will offer our Thursday night evenings and ongoing classes online using the Zoom application. It is easy to use if you have access to the internet. See the instructions below to join this Thursday night.

We will send an update regarding next week’s scheduled events with Vance Pryor later this week.

We recognize that meeting online is not the same as practicing together in one place, but in light of the rapidly evolving situation and the risk of person-to-person transmission, we think this is the best way to protect the health of our community for the near term.

Please take a moment to think of members of our SIM community who might not be comfortable going online and reach out to them directly or let us know so we can follow up with them. We want to include as many as possible as we try using this technology to meet!

A word about dana: SIM relies on the generosity of our attendees. Though we won’t be meeting at the SDC for the near term, there will still be bills to pay and teachers to support. We encourage you to give generously online at https://sactoinsight.org/what-is-dana.

To join SIM’s Zoom meeting online for Thursday March 19th, note the following:

Whether or not you join us on Thursday night, remember that you can access recent talks on our audio dharma page: (https://sactoinsight.org/category/audio-dharma/).

Thank you for your flexibility and help in keeping our community healthy!
The SIM Board

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Instructions to join a remote meeting

For SIM events held via teleconference or online, here are general instructions for how to participate. The two main methods for joining meetings are by phone or by internet (choose only one method). If you have concerns about getting online or into the meeting, call or text David at 562-310-2383 or Sara at 916-620-3795 for help.

Before you Join the meeting

  • Enter the meeting 10 to 15 minutes early to be sure you’ll have time to address any connection issues.
  • We recommend that you close other applications on your computer before you open Zoom.
  • Join the meeting by either hyperlink or by phone.

— join by hyperlink (via computer or Smartphone)

  • SIM is using an application called “Zoom” to host our meetings. You may download the application directly from their official website at https://zoom.us/ or …
  • Click on the hyperlink that the meeting organizer has provided. If you have registered to a course, the instructor will email all students with a hyperlink to join the course meetings. Links for other meetings can be found on SIM’s online calendar. Go to the date and the event you are interested in and click on the event title to get the details and link to the meeting. (Thursday evening Zoom links are updated Quartey and are posted here.)
  • If you don’t already have Zoom installed, when you click the link it should prompt you to click on a button to download Zoom instantly. Then you can join the meeting.

–– join by phone (internet access not needed)

  • Dial the phone number and meeting access code that the meeting organizer has provided.
    • If you are registered to a course, the instructor will email all students with a meeting access code to join the course meetings. Access codes for other meetings can be found on SIM’s online calendar. Go to the date and the event you are interested in and click on the event title to get the details.
    • Note, when phone numbers are not toll-free, there may be long distance fees incurred depending on your service plan. To find the number nearest your location, click here.

Leaving the meeting

  • After you leave the meeting, go to the top left corner of your screen to quit the Zoom program.
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Board of Directors Message, coronavirus

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March 12, 2020

Dear SIM attendees,

Tonight’s SIM gathering will be focused on “Meditative Tools for These Uncertain Times”.  The evening will include an opportunity for people to share what is happening for them, as well as some thoughts from Rich Howard about how practice can help us deal with the current situation in a helpful, heartfelt way.

We want you to know that SIM is working in concert with the Sacramento Dharma Center and our sister sanghas to minimize the threat of coronavirus/COVID19 transmission. We are not cancelling our events at this point but ask that you read the following, use wise judgement, and help keep everyone safe and reduce the potential spread of this virus.

What we are doing at SIM events:

  • Extra cleaning, wiping of shared surfaces with disinfectant.
  • Setting up chairs farther apart.
  • Discontinuing tea service for the near term. (We have been asked to not use SDC utensils, dishes or cups at this time.)
  • Discontinuing providing shawls/blankets for the near term.
  • Providing paper towels in the bathroom.

What you can do to help:

  • Please stay home and make use of our audio dharma link.
    • If you have a fever (oral temperature 99°F or greater), cough or shortness of breath
    • If you have traveled by plane within the past 14 days
  • Use bows or verbal greetings instead of handshakes or hugs to greet people.
  • Wash your hands thoroughly before coming in the Dharma hall for at least 20 seconds (hum Happy Birthday twice or chant the Refuges to time yourself!). Also wash hands thoroughly after using the bathroom or touching shared surfaces. 
  • Keep your hands away from your face – mouth, nose, eyes (a good awareness practice).
  • For sneezes and coughs, do so into the crook of your arm. If you have them, you may use tissues, then throw away and wash your hands as described immediately.
  • Bring your own water container with a lid. 
  • Bring your own shawl or blanket if you want one.

We will continue to track the situation and make adjustments as needed. 

Thank you for your help keeping our community healthy! 

The SIM Board

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Sit & Dharma Talk – Rich Howard – These Uncertain Times

Meditative Tools for These Uncertain Times

Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Community Teacher Rich Howard

This gathering will be focused on “Meditative Tools for These Uncertain Times”. The evening will include an opportunity for people to share what is happening for them, as well as some thoughts from Rich Howard about how practice can help us deal with the current situation in a helpful, heartfelt way.

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.

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03/05/2020 “Suburban Arhats” with Tony Bernhard

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

Suburban Arhats — exploring the possibilities of full awakening for those of us living a lay lifestyle

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02/27/2020 “Awareness, Effort, and 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.
HANDOUT: Awareness, Effort, and Right ViewDownload

Google “mindfulness” and you’ll find this definition (from Psychology Today): “Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention to the present.” On the other hand, Burmese monk and meditation teacher Sayadaw U Tejaniya titled one of his books “Awareness Alone is Not Enough.” What else is needed? Won’t it be complicated? With all the approaches to mindfulness floating around, it may be a challenge to know how to practice a simple yet effective form of awareness that leads to insight and eventually freedom. With reminders from Sayadaw’s two most recent books, “Collecting Gold Dust” and “Relax and Be Aware” as well as his classics, we will look at the wider context of Awareness/Mindfulness/Attention: how it might differ from some of the popular notions, how it fits in the Noble Eightfold Path, and how it supports our search for freedom. This evening will be a good preparation for the retreat on February 29*.

* The daylong retreat on February 29 was themed “Awareness Practice and Inquiry”. Although the retreat talks were not recorded, here are a couple of related handouts that Rich Howard wanted to share with this post.

HANDOUT: Right Attitude for MeditationDownload
HANDOUT: Collecting Gold DustDownload
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02/20/2020 “The Truth About Lying” with Diane Wilde

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

Do you lie? Yes you do. Research shows we all lie on a daily basis… often many times a day! Yet, truthfulness, and the avoidance of falsehood is emphasized over and over again in the Buddha’s teachings. Truthfulness is the first factor of Right Speech with specific guidelines on how to evaluate when, and how, to speak truthfully. Speaking truthfully is also the fourth of the Five Training Precepts, which are the basic virtues to be cultivated on our path to ease and happiness. Yet, we lie so frequently and for such a variety of reasons, that lying becomes an acceptable “necessity.” We maintain that we have plausible reasoning for our lies. Did the Buddha mean we must always be truthful? Let’s find out!

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(Cancelled) Eco-Crisis Public Talk with David Loy

In-person events will not be meeting at SDC through 4/15/20. SIM is working with David Loy to see when we can schedule this retreat in the future.

The Ecological Crisis: The Encounter Between Personal and Social Transformation

– with David Loy, PhD

This public talk with David Loy is offered to all who care about the earth and covers how we might find the strength and resilience to face challenges with deepening wisdom and compassion for all beings.


DAVID LOY, PhD, is an international Buddhist teacher whose focus is on Buddhism and the environment.  On April 17 he will open his Sacramento Dharma Center visit with a Friday night public talk.  His emphasis is on personal transformation which in turn transforms society. His latest book is “EcoDharma: Buddhist Teaching for the Ecological Crisis.”  Copies of the book will be made available at this event.

Registration Details

  • 02/22/2020 – Online registration opens.
  • 03/19/2020 – Registration via this website will closed. In-person events will not be meeting at SDC through 4/15/20.

The registration fee is a sliding scale of $20 to $40 however NO ONE IS TURNED AWAY DUE TO LACK OF FUNDS!  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 the talk 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. On the evening of the talk, you may pay in person with cash or a check.

Before registering, click here to review the terms of use for this website. If you need to contact the event registrar with any questions, click here.

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(Remote) Daylong Retreat – Heather Sundberg – Support of Compassion & more

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An Online, Daylong Retreat with visiting Senior Teacher Heather Sundberg

The Support of Compassion & Equanimity, Resilience & Patience

Developing the qualities of Compassion, Equanimity, Resilience & Patience are an important basic toolkit to nurture ourselves & others in today’s world. As we connect with our experience from a place of spacious stillness and steadiness, we learn to meet the changing and challenging conditions we encounter with greater caring, patience and balance of mind.

Enjoy a day of quiet sitting and walking meditation, which allow our body & mind to settle down and our hearts to open to an inner wisdom. In addition to insight meditation practice, Heather will offer teachings & guided meditations on the theme, as well as optional Qi Gong practice & discussion about how to live these teachings in our daily lives.

In this daylong retreat, we will:

  • Open the mind & heart to our natural capacity for caring in a balanced way through Compassion practice.
  • Find balance within reactivity through Equanimity practice.
  • Deepen inner Resiliency through somatic practices.
  • Rediscover the gifts within the quality of Patience.

Note there will be a lunch break from Noon to 1:00 pm.

HEATHER SUNDBERG Heather Sundberg has taught insight meditation since 1999 and has completed the Spirit Rock/IMS Teacher Training. Beginning her own meditation practice in her late teens, for the last 25 years Heather has studied with senior teachers in the Insight Meditation (Vipassana) and Tibetan (Vajrayana) traditions and has sat 1-3 months of retreat a year for the last 25 years. She was the Spirit Rock Family & Teen Program Teacher & Manager for a decade. Between 2010 and 2015 she spent a cumulative one-year in study, practice, and pilgrimage in Asia. Since 2011, she has been a Teacher at Mountain Stream Meditation Center and sister communities in the Sierra Foothills, and teaches retreats nationally & internationally. Her teaching emphasizes embodiment, compassion, awareness, and practical wisdom. For more information about Heather visit heathersundberg.com.

The Teacher offers the teachings freely in the tradition of the Buddha, and her livelihood is completely sustained by the generosity of the communities she serves. Dana (donation) for these priceless teachings will be gratefully accepted by the teacher, giving participants the opportunity to freely engage in the practice of generosity, the first step toward freedom. You may donate for this event online using a credit card or PayPal account.

Summary of Important Dates

  • 02/15/2020 – Registration opens.
  • 05/29/2020 – Registration via this website has closed. Before 9:00 pm, the registrar will send you an email with details on how to join the online retreat.
  • 05/30/2020 – Attend and enjoy the wonderful retreat. (There will be a lunch break from Noon to 1:00 pm.)

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 accept checks and cash. 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 the evening before the retreat.

Join online meeting: see email sent by retreat registrar for the hyperlink.
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 the access methods listed above, click here.
To give a donation after attending the retreat, click here.

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SIM Board of Directors Meeting

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.

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