Qigong and Meditation Daylong Retreat

You will learn (besides other moves) the “Master-Exercise”, a simple and beautiful Qigong movement meditation from the Wudang mountain in China.
“Ehi Pasiko”…come and see for yourself!

Everyone welcome. Those with any previous Qigong practice experience and current/past workshop participants encouraged to attend.

FRANZ MOECKL has practiced Qigong and Tai Chi for more than 35 years. He lived in a Taoist hermitage in the Rocky Mountains; spent time as a monk in Burma and Thailand; and has trained and taught at Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) clinic in MA. Franz now lives at the holy mountain of Arunachala in So. India & he teaches worldwide which includes Sacramento each year.

All classes are offered on Dana (donation) an ancient practice of generosity. Your donations help support the livelihood of the teacher, including travel and a few related workshop expenses, as well as the continuation of the teachings.

As this event is co-hosted with Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group.

Registration

For more information or to register to this event, click here.

“Blowin’ in the Wind”: The Eight Worldly Winds are “the way of the world”. Only equanimity brings balance.

 Daylong Retreat with SIM Community Mentor Rev. Diane Wilde

Equanimity is a protection from the “eight worldly winds”: praise and blame, success and failure, pleasure and pain, fame and disrepute. Becoming attached to or excessively elated with success, praise, fame or pleasure can be a set-up for suffering when the winds of life change direction, which is inevitable.

The practice of equanimity is one of the most sublime emotions of Buddhist practice. It is the ground for wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love. While some may think of equanimity as dry neutrality or cool aloofness, mature equanimity produces a radiance and warmth of being.

Yet when we are actually entangled in one of the eight worldly winds, equanimity often seems a practice that is beyond our ability. At this daylong retreat, we will discuss the teachings on — and practices that develop equanimity — as well as learning from each other as we share our own experiences, both skillful and unskillful, with the eight worldly winds.

The day will include gentle mindful movement, periods of sitting and walking, a Dharma discussion and sharing.

Please bring your lunch. 

Diane WildeDIANE 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

  • 03/21/2018 – Registration opens.
  • 04/20/2018 – Registration fee paid on or before this date.
  • 04/27/2018 – Registration via this website is now closed however you can register in person on the day of the event.
  • 04/282018 – Attend and enjoy the wonderful retreat.

Registration Details

Pre-registration is required to secure your space at the retreat. 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. In addition to the registration fee, at the retreat there will be an opportunity to offer dana (in the form of a financial donation) to support the retreat presenter and Sacramento Insight Meditation.
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. 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.

Registration via this website is now closed however you can register in person on the day of the event.

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.

 

This is a meeting of the SIM community. After our regular sit we will have a break with refreshments, followed by presentations from the SIM Board and Senior Faculty regarding what we’ve accomplished in the last year and areas where we plan to direct attention and effort in the year ahead. We have scheduled ample time for community questions and comments, and are looking forward to seeing and hearing from all of you.

Tai chi, which originated in China as a martial art, is a mind and body practice. Tai chi is sometimes referred to as ‘moving meditation’ – practitioners move their bodies slowly, gently, and with awareness, while breathing deeply. ~ NCCAM From an article published by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine which is the Federal Government’s lead agency for scientific research on complementary and alternative medicine.

This is a ten week class for beginning and experienced students introducing the Yang Tai Chi Foundation 8 form. Specific Tai Chi movements covered include Brush Knee, Play the Lute, Part Wild Horse’s Mane, Wave Hands Like Clouds, and Repulse Monkey.

Class meets Thursdays from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM for 10 weeks on the following dates: March 1, 15, 29, April 5, 12, 19, May 3, 10, 17, and 31. There is no class on March 8, March 22, April 26, and May 24. To register, click the orange button and you’ll have an option to pay the $35 registration fee by cash, check, or PayPal.

The registration fee does not cover any financial support for the instructor. An opportunity will be provided at each tai chi class for voluntary donations beyond the registration fee.

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

You may 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 SIM and the course instructor.

$ 1
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Donation Total: $1 for three

Most of us consider ourselves rational, caring human beings who can be counted on to do the right thing. We rarely consider that this “rationality” is a bundle of views, opinion, experiences and even genetics! Without hesitation, we assume our actions, whether in personal relationships or large political movements, are wise and undertaken for all the right reasons. But are they? In an interesting commentary on the Satipatthana Sutta, clear comprehension in everyday life is addressed through a series of steps that are recommended to come to a rational, helpful solution to any situation. With this guidance we do our best to leave views and judgement behind and ACT with wisdom and compassion for ourselves and all other sentient beings.

If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.

Nurturing Sangha Over Dinner meets informally at six o’clock on the second Thursday of the month, before the regular dharma talk and sit. Please bring your dinner and something extra to share, if you would like. We can continue to get to know one another and talk more about how SIM can support us in our practice. We’ll try this out for a few months and see if it is something we want to continue.

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“.

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.

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.

At the bottom of this page, you may enter the number of people planning to attend and select the button “Confirm RSVP“.

Starting Over AGAIN
No blame. No shame.  Let’s start again.
Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Community Mentor Diane Wilde

Frequently, we need to remind ourselves about this practice; what we are doing and why are we doing it.  It is so easy to slip into the stress and demands of everyday life, and put meditation and mindfulness WAY in the background… “When I have time.” By the time we get back to it, if we ever do, we may have lost our way.  Where should we start, AGAIN?  What do I need to do now?  Am I failure as a Buddhist practitioner?  Have my previous efforts been lost?

Tonight we will discuss the basics of this practice… the Three Trainings of virtuous behavior (sila), meditation or concentration (samadhi) and discernment or wisdom (panna), which make up the map that the Buddha encourages us to follow.  Whether we follow a linear path or determine an area which needs more attention, we are practicing mindfulness and meditation and we are starting over again.  The wonderful thing about the Dharma is when we focus on one aspect of the path, it automatically brings in the others.  Tonight, let’s start again.

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.

Deep Refuge:  What does it really mean to be alright?
Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Senior Teacher, Heather Sundberg

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.