Family Sangha

Family Sangha meets monthly on the second Sunday. If you have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or young friends with whom you’d love to share the path of kindness and mindfulness – please bring them and stay for the morning. This program includes a child-friendly introduction to mindfulness, art projects, snacks, and outdoor exploration and fun. The curriculum is inspired by Awakening Joy with Kids, by James Baraz.

Family Sangha is sponsored by the Sacramento Dharma Center.

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Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Noliwe Alexander

Talk topic to be announced

Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Noliwe Alexander

NOLIWE ALEXANDER has been a student of Vipassana meditation for over 15 years. Throughout this time of deep devotion to the Dharma, Noliwe has become a dedicated practitioner, teacher of various sitting groups around the Bay Area, facilitator of community workshops and Buddhist meditation day longs and class series programs. She is a Life & Business Coach dedicating both her coaching & Dharma practice to the POC, LGBT, At Risk and Elder communities. She is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s CDL4 program and completed EBMC’s Commit 2 Dharma program in 2010. Noliwe is participating in the Spirit Rock Teacher Training from 2017-2020. Noliwe is a wisdom keeper and humbled by the presence of her ancestor’s spirit that lives within and walks beside her.

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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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Tony Bernhard – Suburban Arhats

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

Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher 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.

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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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Tony Bernhard – Suburban Arhats

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

Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher 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.

 

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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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Dennis Warren – Cross The River of Suffering

What Does It Mean To Cross The River of Suffering

Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Founding Teacher Dennis Warren

The Historical Buddha used the image of our making our way across “the River of Suffering,” then leaving the boat we arrived in at the water’s edge, once we are safely on “the other shore.” What does it mean to “cross the river of suffering?” and to reach “the other shore?” Was the Buddha implying that it is our fate to continuously suffer until we have crossed the River?
This evening will examination the Buddha’s guidance for community level practitioners – non-monastics – about the pleasures of community life and practice in the context of the responsibilities and obligations of community life.
This guidance clearly points to the idea that the teachings are designed to support and create ease in our life, not to foster a sense of struggle, and an over-emphasis & self-indulgence, on suffering that may be present. This guidance, for those living full community lives, is a necessary and important element in creating a balanced practice, and a satisfying & happy life.

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.

Thursday Night Talk Dana
“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 the form below to donate by credit card or your PayPal account. Enter the amount you’d like to give and your donation will be shared with Dennis Warren and SIM.

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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Dennis Warren – Starting Anew – Expectations For Practice

Starting Anew – Expectations For Practice During The Next Decade

Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Founding Teacher Dennis Warren

With 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 Dec 19th talk that’s posted to our audio dharma library (click here).

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.

Thursday Night Talk Dana
“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 the form below to donate by credit card or your PayPal account. Enter the amount you’d like to give and your donation will be shared with Dennis Warren and SIM.

[give_form id=”10310″ show_title=”false” show_content=”none” display_style=”reveal”]
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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Rich Howard – The Five Reflections

The Five Reflections: The Adult Facts of Life

Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Community Teacher Rich Howard.

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.

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.

Thursday Night Talk Dana
“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 the form below to donate by credit card or your PayPal account. Enter the amount you’d like to give and your donation will be shared with Rich Howard and SIM.

[give_form id=”10304″ show_title=”false” show_content=”none” display_style=”reveal”]
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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Rich Howard – Dana in Theory and Practice

Dana in Theory and Practice

Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Community Teacher Rich Howard.

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.

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.

Thursday Night Talk Dana
“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 the form below to donate by credit card or your PayPal account. Enter the amount you’d like to give and your donation will be shared with Rich Howard and SIM.

[give_form id=”10304″ show_title=”false” show_content=”none” display_style=”reveal”]
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Introduction to Meditation with SIM Community Teacher Rich Howard

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.

RICH 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. The pilgrimage and the PDL program led to an interest in establishing the SIM Kalyana Mitta (Pali for spiritual friends) groups. He coordinated SIM’s network of Kalyana Mitta groups until he joined the SIM Board in 2010. 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. He is a past president of the SIM Board. His teachers are Dennis Warren and Steve Armstrong.

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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Introduction to Meditation with SIM Community Teacher Rich Howard

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.

RICH 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. The pilgrimage and the PDL program led to an interest in establishing the SIM Kalyana Mitta (Pali for spiritual friends) groups. He coordinated SIM’s network of Kalyana Mitta groups until he joined the SIM Board in 2010. 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. He is a past president of the SIM Board. His teachers are Dennis Warren and Steve Armstrong.

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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