SIM Community Meeting

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.

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Yang Tai Chi – Ten week class

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.

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02/08/2018 “Clear Comprehension” with Diane Wilde

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.

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Nurturing Sangha Over Dinner

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.

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Introduction to Meditation with SIM Community Mentor, 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 Mentor Diane Wilde

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“.
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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Diane Wilde – Starting Over AGAIN

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.

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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Heather Sundberg – Deep Refuge

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.

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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Rich Howard – Reflections on old age, sickness, and death

Reflections on old age, sickness, and death
Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Community Mentor, Rich Howard

It is said that the historical Buddha started his journey to awakening after being shaken by encountering the “heavenly messengers” old age, sickness and death. He recommended reflecting on these life experiences often. We will take this evening to reflect on and discuss our relationship to these messengers and how they might enliven our practice.

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 – John Travis – Dependent Origination

Dependent Origination

 Sit & Dharma Talk with Senior Teacher, John Travis

Examining this core teaching of the historical Buddha. We’ll look, specifically, at how the past creates the present, and the present creates the future, in our daily lives. And we’ll focus on how a good hear, with clear thinking, creates a positive future.

JOHN TRAVIS is the founding teacher of Mountain Stream Meditation Center and a member of the Senior Teachers Council of Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He studied in Asia for many years with many of the Buddhist masters who have influenced a generation of American meditation teachers—Thubten Yeshe, Kalu Rinpoche, Anagarika Munidra, S.N. Goenka, and Traungpula. He has also trained with and received teaching authorization from Jack Kornfield.
John was a critical force in the early growth of the Sacramento meditation community through his regular presence, guidance, and teachings during the 1990s. His sound and thoughtful advice has been instrumental to the development of Sacramento Insight Meditation. He now teaches regularly in various meditation centers in the United States and overseas. His teachings are characterized by his kindness, compassion, the depth of his meditation experience, and his ability to see deeply into the minds and hearts of those with whom he is working.

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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