*Sit & Dharma Talk – Laura Rosenthal – The Dharma of Poetry and the Poetry of Dharma

The Dharma of Poetry and the Poetry of Dharma  –  Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Community Member, Laura Rosenthal

Dharma practice and poetry have a natural resonance. Both affect us deeply through direct, “felt experience.” Both may use words in non-literal ways to point us to the intuitive crux of experience. Both invite us to tell the truth to ourselves and to others. In this conversation with long-term SIM participant Laura Rosenthal, we will discuss some of the ways in which dharma and poetry complement each other and we will read a few poems that bring us closer to the insights of practice. Laura’s choice of topic is inspired by her own love of reading and writing poetry and by a recent daylong on poetry and dharma offered by Buddhist teacher Phillip Moffitt at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

Laura has participated in SIM since 2004. She graduated from Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioners Program (DPP 4) in 2013 and from Spirit Rock’s Advanced Practitioners Program this spring. She continues to participate in Heather Sundberg’s Committed Students Program.

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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.

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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Rich Howard – In the Buddha’s Words: Introducing SIM’s New Theme

In the Buddha’s Words:  Introducing Our New Theme

As our practice matures, we may be moved to explore the suttas (discourses of the Buddha) on our own, without interpretation from someone else. After all, our tradition emphasizes direct experience. Yet it may seem difficult to know where to start. There is some repetition, both within a sutta and in thematic material repeated in various suttas. Some translations may have archaic language. The suttas are not in chronological order. And it may be difficult to find a sutta to answer a particular question arising in our practice or daily life.

For over 10 years, practitioners, including many at SIM, have found access to the suttas using a book called “In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon” edited and introduced by Bhikkhu Bodhi (Wisdom Publications, 2005). In addition to presenting suttas edited to be more readable, Bhikkhu Bodhi organizes the material by theme and offers an excellent introduction to each section.

Dennis, Diane, and Rich have chosen this book as the theme for at least the next 6 months of presentations at SIM. Join us this evening as we begin the exploration of this helpful, wide-ranging text.

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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Diane Wilde – Becoming Authentic

Becoming Authentic

Sit & Dharma Talk – A three part series with Community Mentor Diane Wilde

How often have we said to ourselves, “If I could only be ME!  If I didn’t have to play a social roll, pretend I am someone I am not, and could be authentic — my life would be so much easier!“ Too often we create endless identities which hide the authentic person we feel inside. 

Yet, we continue to conform, continue to hide the depths of our true feelings, and too frequently are unable to experience — both in ourselves as well as externally— the freedom of being “real.” 

In this three part series, we will look at what it really means to be authentic, both to ourselves and in the society which we live. We will discuss what authenticity means, and the steps — often challenging— that we need to take to allow ourselves to be truly seen, both internally and externally.  The first in this series will investigate what we mean by “becoming authentic”. The second in this series will address bringing authenticity into the world… especially at this time when it is so needed.  The third in this series will be a community conversation of our own experience with the topic.

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*Sit & Dharma Talk – Dennis Warren – Exploring Attachment and Its’ Consequences Part II

Exploring Attachment and Its’ Consequences – Part II

Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Founding Teacher Dennis Warren

This evening with be the second in an exploration of the Buddhist element of Attachment and its consequences. In particular, we will look at the nature of “positive” attachment which is an important part of practice development; and how positive attachment, which begins as a healthy aspiration, can become problematic and counter-productive.

It would be helpful if you could revisit the first evening’s on-line audio exploration on this topic (click here) presented April 27 and found in SIM’s Audio Dharma posts. Come prepare with your questions about this topic.

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*Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Community Mentor, Rich Howard

Generosity Builds Community

Each of us has benefitted from acts of generosity from others – from our parents to our teachers to friends and strangers. Whether recognized or not, these acts of generosity have allowed us to be who we are today. Similarly, a community grows by accumulated acts of generosity, often unseen or unappreciated. We will take this evening to recognize acts of generosity and construct a symbolic tribute to the power of generosity in our lives, individually and as a community.

Bring an article that represents an act of generosity that has touched your life. After Rich gives a brief introduction, you will be invited to bring your item forward and share its story. Remember to retrieve your item at the end of the evening!

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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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.

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*Day-long Retreat with SIM Founding Teacher, Dennis Warren

Day-long Retreat with SIM Founding Teacher, Dennis Warren. For a biography of Dennis Warren, click here.

Attention & Mindful – An Exploration

Mindfulness is sometimes described as non-judgmental “bare” attention. As helpful as this general description may be, it tends to cloud the fact that there is a significant difference between attention and mindfulness. They play separate and distinct roles in practice. And, most importantly, it gives no hint of the reality that attention and mindfulness are both purposeful in Buddhist practice. In a period of time when both of these terms are been uncoupled from their historical Buddhist meanings, what do they mean for each of us as 21st century, urban practitioners?

This will be a day of practice, reflection, experimentation and investigation:

  •           What is the functional difference between attention and mindfulness?
  •           What are we supposed to be paying attention to and being mindful of?
  •           What does it mean that attention and mindfulness are purposeful in Buddhist practice?

What is the relationship between the answers to these questions and the underlying psychology of the historical Buddha?

We’ll practice together inside the dharma hall, and outside under the trees. The retreat format makes it appropriate for both experienced practitioners, and those new to practice.

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*Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Community Mentor, Diane Wilde

Some of the earliest teachings in the Pali Canon may surprise you!

SIM Community Mentor Diane Wilde has undertaken three “study/meditation” retreats with Venerable Analayo, one of the premier scholars of the early Pali Canon.  Bhikkhu Analayo researches the earliest teachings and determines their authenticity by comparing them to the Chinese āgamas (brought to China 300 years after the Buddha’s death), as well as portions which have survived in Tibetan translation and in Sanskrit. The āgamas’ existence and similarity to the Sutta Pitaka are sometimes used by scholars to assess to what degree these teachings are an historically authentic representation of the Canon of Early Buddhism. Sometimes the differences between them are used to suggest an alternative to the accepted meaning of a sutta in either of the two recensions.  Bhikkhu Analayo is the first Westerner to translate many of these texts from the ancient Chinese.

At the Analayo retreat — held in April 2017 at Insight Retreat Center for teachers and senior practitioners —a wealth of information was offered. Topics included (but were definitely not limited to!) the early teachings on forgiveness, conceptual thinking, sickness and death (research derived from his new book, “Mindfully Facing Disease and Death”) and many other relevant topics for today’s practitioner. Community Mentor Diane Wilde will share what she learned at the retreat and the practical application of these teachings in everyday life.

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*Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Founding Teacher Dennis Warren

Exploring Attachment and Its Consequences

All of us have some understanding of the Buddhist element of Attachment. This evening with SIM Founding Teacher Dennis Warren will involve a practical and in-depth exploration of Attachment; its role in Buddhist psychology; its place in the Buddhist description of causation; the phenomenon of “positive” attachment; and Attachment’s consequences, both intentional and unanticipated. 

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