The first several months in our beautiful new home at the Sacramento Dharma Center have been a time of great excitement and satisfaction as we expand SIM’s ability to be a resource for vipassana/insight practitioners like you. We offer regular meditation instruction, teachings, retreats, and opportunities to develop a deeper sense of community.
Along with that excitement comes the practical need to meet our ongoing financial obligations. SIM’s operating expenses, primarily rent that we now pay to the SDC, have increased dramatically. Annual fixed, recurring expenses are estimated at $36,000, or $3,000 per month. At the current rate of giving, SIM is only covering 50% of our monthly expenses.
To support our SIM community, we are asking you and other SIM members to enroll in a monthly donation program to help stabilize our financial future. Donations directly to SIM are crucial, as contributions to the SDC do not reduce SIM’s ongoing expenses. Monthly donations to SIM will help cover our fixed, recurring costs, such as rent and insurance, as well as provide funds for program development. If 60 people give $50 per month we will meet our $3,000 per month goal. Contributions of any size are welcome; we hope that you will be as generous as possible.
Support for our teachers, mentors and visiting presenters will continue to be provided through dana received during teaching events.
It is now easy to make a recurring or one-time donation on SIM’s website using PayPal or a credit card by following the link labeled “dana” at https://sactoinsight.org/what-is-dana/. If you have questions about SIM’s financial situation or about donating, please contact Dennis Warren.
We appreciate your generosity and the generosity of everyone who contributes to SIM financially or through volunteer efforts. Both forms of generosity make SIM’s operations and future possible. We look forward to working and practicing together to create SIM’s future in the months and years ahead.
Sincerely,
SIM Board of Directors
James Barnes Barbara Briscoe Barbara Colton Sara Denzler Renee Kunz Catherine Vigran Dennis Warren
Morning Meditation with Diane Wilde
Weekly MeditationMorning Meditation with Diane Wilde
All are welcome to this open sitting for anyone interested in starting their morning out by sitting with others. The session involves a 40-45 minute sitting, a limited about of meditation guidance, and a few comments at the end of the sitting to set a theme for moving into the world and your daily activities.
Audio Dharma Has Been Tagged
NewsDid you know that many of SIM’s dharma talks are recorded so if you can’t attend the weekly Thursday night meditation and talk you can listen to it later? All talks are posted as mp3 files under the Resources menu, under Audio Dharma: https://sactoinsight.org/category/audio-dharma/. You can optionally be notified via email each time a new audio file is posted to our website.
Note that we’ve also tagged the audio dharma posts so you can readily access previous dharma talks by the presenter’s name. You can view the tag list on the bottom right side of most web pages in the side bar. These tags are also listed below and we hope you’ll enjoy this new feature.
Monthly Donor Program – we’re 1/3 of the way
News03/30/2017 “What about God???” with Diane Wilde
Audio DharmaIt seems appropriate to discuss god and its compatibility — or not — with the holiest seasons in the Judeo-Christian calendar approaching in April. In the West, there is a widespread assumption that you can’t be a Buddhist and believe in a supreme being.
At prison, inmates — especially people who are new to the practice —frequently ask about Buddhism and its teachings on god. Underlying this question is a concern about being cajoled to “convert to Buddhism.” (As I have stated numerous times to inmates, the only conversion is the desire to investigate your own mind.) At SIM as well, practitioners often embrace the Buddha’s path and simultaneously maintain a strong allegiance to a belief system which defines “God” as the supreme being. Tonight we will discuss the “gods” that were an important component of the Buddha’s culture, as well as the Buddha’s teachings on god. For many westerners, reconciling a belief in god while following the Buddha’s path of alleviating suffering can cause confusion. For others there is no problem at all, with a comfortable marrying of both.
Should make for a lively discussion!
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
03/23/2017 “Four ‘Nobel’ Truths: Bob Dylan’s Dharma” with Rich Howard
Audio DharmaBob Dylan received the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” His poetic song lyrics have an ambiguity that allows for many different interpretations. This Thursday night, “far between sundown’s finish an’ midnight’s broken toll,” we will re-visit one of the core teachings of the historical Buddha, through the lens of the words of a Jew who converted to Christianity. Even if Dylan did not have a Buddhist background like Leonard Cohen or Jane Hirshfield, we might learn something about the Four Noble Truths from the lyrics of this important American singer-songwriter-poet. Whether you are a big Dylan fan, or someone for whom he is ancient history from your grandparents’ time, or just one of the “searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail,” join us for an evening of poetry, dharma, and discussion.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here
We Launch Our On-Line Monthly Donation Program
NewsThe first several months in our beautiful new home at the Sacramento Dharma Center have been a time of great excitement and satisfaction as we expand SIM’s ability to be a resource for vipassana/insight practitioners like you. We offer regular meditation instruction, teachings, retreats, and opportunities to develop a deeper sense of community.
Along with that excitement comes the practical need to meet our ongoing financial obligations. SIM’s operating expenses, primarily rent that we now pay to the SDC, have increased dramatically. Annual fixed, recurring expenses are estimated at $36,000, or $3,000 per month. At the current rate of giving, SIM is only covering 50% of our monthly expenses.
To support our SIM community, we are asking you and other SIM members to enroll in a monthly donation program to help stabilize our financial future. Donations directly to SIM are crucial, as contributions to the SDC do not reduce SIM’s ongoing expenses. Monthly donations to SIM will help cover our fixed, recurring costs, such as rent and insurance, as well as provide funds for program development. If 60 people give $50 per month we will meet our $3,000 per month goal. Contributions of any size are welcome; we hope that you will be as generous as possible.
Support for our teachers, mentors and visiting presenters will continue to be provided through dana received during teaching events.
It is now easy to make a recurring or one-time donation on SIM’s website using PayPal or a credit card by following the link labeled “dana” at https://sactoinsight.org/what-is-dana/. If you have questions about SIM’s financial situation or about donating, please contact Dennis Warren.
We appreciate your generosity and the generosity of everyone who contributes to SIM financially or through volunteer efforts. Both forms of generosity make SIM’s operations and future possible. We look forward to working and practicing together to create SIM’s future in the months and years ahead.
Sincerely,
SIM Board of Directors
James Barnes Barbara Briscoe Barbara Colton Sara Denzler Renee Kunz Catherine Vigran Dennis Warren
Morning Meditation with Dennis Warren
Weekly MeditationMorning Meditation with Dennis Warren
All are welcome to this open sitting for anyone interested in starting their morning out by sitting with others. The session involves a 40-45 minute sitting, a limited about of meditation guidance, and a few comments at the end of the sitting to set a theme for moving into the world and your daily activities.
Morning Meditation with Rich Howard
Weekly MeditationMorning Meditation with Rich Howard
All are welcome to this open sitting for anyone interested in starting their morning out by sitting with others. The session involves a 40-45 minute sitting, a limited about of meditation guidance, and a few comments at the end of the sitting to set a theme for moving into the world and your daily activities.
Morning Meditation with Dennis Warren
Weekly MeditationMorning Meditation with Dennis Warren
All are welcome to this open sitting for anyone interested in starting their morning out by sitting with others. The session involves a 40-45 minute sitting, a limited about of meditation guidance, and a few comments at the end of the sitting to set a theme for moving into the world and your daily activities.
Morning Meditation with Laura Rosenthal
Weekly MeditationMorning Meditation with Laura Rosenthal
All are welcome to this open sitting for anyone interested in starting their morning out by sitting with others. The session involves a 40-45 minute sitting, a limited about of meditation guidance, and a few comments at the end of the sitting to set a theme for moving into the world and your daily activities.