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SIM meets online and in-person at the Sacramento Dharma Center
What is Dana?
Dana is a Buddhist word that means generosity or heart. Nearly all Sacramento Insight Meditation activities are offered on a dana (donations) basis. This means our programs 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. Practice dana, please support our Sangha. DONATE NOW
*Sit & Dharma Talk – Walt Opie – The Destruction of Craving
Weekly MeditationThe Destruction of Craving
Sit & Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Walt Opie
This talk topic is based on Chapter 24 on Craving in The Dhammapada.
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.
*Sit & Dharma Talk – Diane Wilde – We are trained to fear each other, but not trained to hear each other
Weekly MeditationThe topic of the talk is “We are trained to fear each other, but not trained to hear each other“ Pastor Les Simmons of Sacramento Congregations Together, commenting after the shooting of Stephon Clark LEARNING TO LISTEN
Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Community Mentor Diane Wilde
Perhaps now, more than ever, with societal polarization leaving us fearful and taking refuge in our “tribes” — those who think and look like us — we need to consciously develop the skill to listen. We will discuss the Buddha’s advise on how to do this. Anguttura Nikaya 5.202 is a deceptively simple, very short exhortation on how to skillfully listen to the Dharma. Yet its simple formula can easily be expanded beyond the few hours a week we come together to listen to a Dharma talk. This sutta also serves as a template on the skills we need to develop as we listen to other people — family and friends as well as strangers and people outside our ‘tribe’ — and perhaps most importantly, how we listen to our own hearts and our inner wisdom.
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.
02/01/2018 “Refinement of the Mind” with Rich Howard
Audio DharmaSometimes we forget that this path of awareness has been described as a “gradual training.” We get impatient or expect our progress to look a certain way and are disappointed when it doesn’t turn out that way. Tonight we will discuss a discourse that likens the refinement of the mind to the purification of gold. The Pansadhovaka Sutta (Anguttara Nikaya 3:100 1-10) makes it clear that this is a gradual training with many steps. We will look at how these steps relate to our householder practice and offer reassurance (if we can avoid comparing mind!) to keep on practicing without expecting results.
Please read the introduction to Text VIII,4 on page 260 of “In the Buddha’s Words” (ed. Bhikkhu Bodhi) and the sutta on pages 273-275. You may find a different translation online at Access to Insight (Pansadhovaka Sutta: The Dirt-washer).
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
01/25/2018 “Awareness, Insight & Liberation” with Steve Armstrong
Audio DharmaSteve’s talk this evening with focus on the meditation instructions of Mahasi Sayadaw and Sayadaw U Tejaniya.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
01/18/2018 “Resolving Conflicting, Contradictory or Paradoxical Teachings” with Dennis Warren
Audio DharmaIt is easy to view our perception that one teaching conflicts with, contradicts or is paradoxical to another teaching as an obstacle to our understanding, insight and progress on the path of practice. This perception is frequently a mis-perception based on uncertainty, confusion and doubt. When properly understood, the skillful resolution of such misunderstandings act as a doorway, rather than an obstacles, to the next level, stage or dimension of practice.
This will be the first in a series of talks and discussions about fundamental issues that shape our understanding of the dharma and practice, and have practical, profound implications for our awakening. This evening will focus on the process, the how, of resolving uncertainty, confusion & doubt regarding teachings that seem to be in conflict, contradictory or paradoxical.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
Nurturing Sangha Over Dinner
NewsNurturing Sangha Over Dinner is something new that we’ll be trying out for a few months and we’ll see if it is something we want to continue. We’ll meet monthly on the second Thursday from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm, before the regular dharma talk and sit. This is an informal gathering. Please bring your dinner and something extra to share, if you would like. We can continue to get to know one another and talk about how SIM can support us in our practice.
*The first Nurturing Sangha Over Dinner meeting occurred Jan 11 where SIM’s Board of Directors shared some plans on how the west end of the SDC lobby might be changed to better suit our needs.
01/11/2018 “Bringing Tranquility to the Land” with Rich Howard
Audio DharmaFor all his teachings on ultimate liberation, the Buddha offered many teachings to laypeople and rulers on practical matters. SIM Mentor Rich Howard has chosen the story of King Mahāvijita and his chaplain to illustrate the compassion of the Buddha towards humans struggling with every day matters. This short selection from the Kūtadanta Sutta (DN 5), offers a vision of society that may sound different from the approaches in current headlines. Our discussion will focus on how we can bring these principles into our every day lives.
In preparation, you may read the last paragraph of Bikkhu Bodhi’s introduction to Chapter IV of “In the Buddha’s Words” (page 114); the sutta selection is on pages 141-142.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
01/04/2018 “Starting Over” with Laura Rosenthal
Audio DharmaWhat does this phrase mean and what does it offer us as Buddhist practitioners? We habitually associate the concept of the new year with a “clean slate.” Perhaps we make resolutions, head back to the gym, or make amends for actions we regret. Yet our practice also teaches us that every moment of awareness and wholesome intention is a moment of renewal – at the same time that awareness brings us closer to an understanding of the ways past mental, verbal and physical actions condition present experience. For our first evening together after New Years Day, join long-time SIM participant Laura Rosenthal for a dharma talk and group discussion of this rich topic.
If you would like to download this talk, please right click and select “save as” here.
Nurturing Sangha Over Dinner
Study GroupNurturing 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.
Envisioning Update
NewsThe three main sections of SDC building
The Sacramento Dharma Center envisioning process is continuing with a focus on plans for the west end lobby. At the request of the SDC Board, the SIM Board has developed recommendations for creating new meeting rooms that could be used concurrently to support the anticipated growth in membership and activities of all three sanghas living together in the SDC building.
We would like to share these recommendations with interested members of the SIM community on January 11th at 6:15 pm, before our regularly scheduled Thursday night sit. Members of the SIM Board will be there to discuss the plans. In preparation for this meeting, you might wish to read through the Board’s recommendations (click here). We hope to see you on January 11th.