The Art & Science of Letting It Be

A Daylong Retreat with Ayya Santacitta and Rev. Diane Wilde

Grasping is not something done by the self, but rather the self is something created by grasping.

“What” are we letting be? What does it mean when we just let things be? Do we accept without concern the state of the world, cruelty, climate change, misogyny, racism, etc? Perhaps we are more precise when we say “letting it be” means not adding onto the already cumbersome, suffering self-identity that we carry around.

Today’s daylong will address the issues that present themselves when we practice “letting it be”, along with periods of meditation and mindful movement.

Please bring a vegetarian dish to share. Along with sharing with each other, we will offer Ayya Santacitta her meal of the day.

AYYA SANTACITTA was born in Austria and has a multifaceted background in hotel management, ethnology and avant-garde dance theater. Her first teacher was Ajahn Buddhadasa, who sparked her interest in Buddhist monastic life. She has practiced meditation for 30 years and trained as a nun in both the East and West since 1993, primarily in the lineage of Ajahn Chah. Since 2002 she has also received teachings in the lineage of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Ayya Santacitta is co-founder of Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery, where she has resided since 2009 and took Bhikkhuni Ordination in 2011. She is particularly interested in creating sanctuary close to nature, practicing in community, and bringing wisdom traditions to the environmental movement.

DIANE WILDE has studied meditation in various traditions since 1990. In 2001 she was a founding member of Sacramento Insight Meditation. She founded Buddhist Pathways Prison Project (BP3) in 2010. Since 2003, she has been a BP3 prison chaplain and aids in coordination of 75 volunteers who offer Buddhist services at numerous California prisons and jails. She is a graduate of Sati Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy program and graduated from Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Community Dharma Leadership Training Program. She is a board member of Sati Center for Buddhist Studies, Sacramento Dharma Center, Buddhist Pathways Prison Project and California Dept. of Corrections Volunteer Advisory Board. In 2015 she was lay-ordained as a Buddhist minister by her teacher Gil Fronsdal.

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.

Summary of Important Dates

• 05/27/2018 – Registration opens.
• 08/24/2018 – Registration via this website will close at 8:00 pm.
• 08/25/2018 – 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. It’s not necessary to Log in before purchasing and you won’t need to print the ticket on paper. On the left side, specify the number of people you are registering to this course. On the right side, click the button “Buy now” and you’ll be automatically directed to a secure webpage 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 checks and cash. No one will be turned away for lack of funds; please contact the registrar for more information. Day-of registration will be on a first-come first-serve basis, contingent on availability of space.

Before registering to this event, click here to review the terms of use for this website.

Volunteer Opportunities

It “takes a village” to put on a large event for our community. If you would be available to assist in set-up, take-down, tea service, providing flowers or other duties for the event, please contact the retreat registrar for more information..

Questions for the Registrar?

If you need to contact the retreat registrar with any questions, click here.

A One Day Retreat With Exploratory Experiential Practices

7 Factors of Awakening, 8 Fold Path, Sitting Meditation, Daily Life, Relationships.

Those pre-registering will receive a set of questions and an experiential  exercise  to work with prior to the one day retreat.

Retreat Flyer (.pdf)

DENNIS WARREN is SIM’s Founder Teacher. He teaches traditional meditation and mindfulness practices as well as their contemporary uses with chronic pain, anxiety, depression, burn out, professional performance and in therapy. He has nearly thirty years of practice experience and residential retreat work in Insight (Vipassana) Meditation. Dennis is a graduate of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Community Dharma Leadership program and has completed the professional trainings in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression Relapse (MBCT). He has been a Volunteer Clinical Professor since 2006 in the Division of Pain Medicine at the UC Davis School of Medicine focusing on mindfulness-based interventions for chronic pain. He has lead two Moving Retreats and Pilgrimages in Thailand, Northern India, and Nepal in the last ten years.

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.

Summary of Important Dates

• 05/27/2018 – Registration opens.
• 06/26/2018 – Registration fee paid on or before this date.
• 06/29/2018 – Registration via this website will close on Friday 6/29 at 7:00 pm.
• 06/30/2018 – Attend and enjoy the wonderful retreat.

Registration Details

Pre-registration is required to secure your space at the retreat. Before registering to this event, click here to review the terms of use for this website.

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. It’s not necessary to Log in before purchasing and you won’t need to print the ticket on paper. On the left side, specify the number of people you are registering to this course. On the right side, click the button “Buy now” and you’ll be automatically directed to a secure webpage 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 checks and cash. No one will be turned away for lack of funds; please contact the registrar for more information. Day-of registration will be on a first-come first-serve basis, contingent on availability of space.

In addition to the registration fee, you may also offer dana (in the form of a financial donation) online using the Donate button shown above; simply enter the amount you’d like to give. At the retreat there will also be an opportunity to offer dana via cash or check. All dana supports the retreat presenter and Sacramento Insight Meditation.

“Generosity is the virtue that leads to peace.” – The Historical Buddha

Volunteer Opportunities

It “takes a village” to put on a large event for our community. If you would be available to assist in set-up, take-down, tea service, providing flowers or other duties for the event, please contact the retreat registrar for more information..

Questions for the Registrar?

If you need to contact the retreat registrar with any questions, click here.