Senior Teacher Steve Armstrong in Sacramento Region

December 9, 2017

Dear Friends,

We have an extraordinary opportunity in 2018 to practice with senior teacher Steve Armstrong here in the Sacramento region. First, Steve will be leading SIM’s January daylong retreat. It will be held at the Sacramento Dharma Center on Saturday January 27, 2018, from 8:30 am – 4:00 pm. Registration is open now.  Please see this flyer for more details (Retreat Flyer .PDF).

Second, Steve will lead SIM’s annual residential retreat from September 7-14, 2018. This will be held at the Community of the Great Commission camp and retreat center near Foresthill, CA. More details and registration will be available early next year.

Steve’s theme for both events will be “Awareness, Insight and Liberation.” He will be using the January 27 daylong as both a stand-alone one day retreat and as preliminary groundwork (to prepare) for those planning attending the residential retreat. All who attend the January daylong will receive priority registration for the September weeklong retreat. These are Steve’s only teachings in California in 2018, so interest promises to be great.

Rich Howard
Retreat Manager
SIM Community Mentor

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Update on Permanent Altar

The SDC Permanent Altar Committee has been working for months to develop a series of recommendations regarding the design and composition of a permanent altar for the SDC Dharma Hall and for the statues that would sit atop it. The Committee is comprised of senior practitioners from Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group (SBMG), Sacramento Insight Meditation (SIM), Valley Streams Zen Sangha (VSZS) and the Sacramento Dharma Center (SDC).

After looking at hundreds of Buddha statues, the Committee recently recommended the purchase of a Theravadan, Burmese Buddha from a gallery in Vermont. The Committee agreed to bring the Vermont Buddha to Sacramento for the express purposes of it being viewed by the Boards and community members of each sangha, and to make a decision about its purchase. The decision needed to be made within a short time window dictated by the terms of a potential purchase agreement.

Members of the Committee subsequently and unanimously decided not to purchase, and to return, the Vermont Buddha to its owner. The primary reason for this decision was being informed that the SBMG Board of Directors voted it was not prepared to make a decision at this time.

The Committee has now decided to expand and balance Committee membership by having a total of six (6) members, consisting of one (1) woman and one (1) man representative from each sangha. The newly reconstituted Committee will revisit its mission and plan for the next step in this important project that will shape the feeling and use of the main Dharma Hall for many years to come.

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11/30/2017 “The Atthakavagga: Part 2” with Diane Wilde

The Atthakavagga: the original seeds that gave rise to Buddhist teachings – Part 2

“The wise person does not oppose any other person’s doctrine.” This is one of the reflections from one of the earliest books in the Pali Cannon, the Atthakavagga. Gil Fronsdal states in his introduction to his translation of the Atthakavagga: “Here we find the Buddhist teachings pared down to their most essential elements, free of the more complex doctrines often associated with Buddhism.” The poems and verses from this small collection reveal a pattern of teachings that are much different — in their directness and simplicity — from the later sutta collections. Verses in the Atthakavagga often have an almost koan-like quality, which often seem open to interpretation. We will discuss the exegesis of the Atthakavagga and our own interpretations of a few of its seemingly “simple” verses.

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

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SIM’s Annual Potluck

We are looking forward to seeing all of you at our Annual Holiday Event Thursday evening, December 14th at our Sacramento Dharma Center at 3111 Wissemann Dr, Sacramento, CA 95826. Please go the calendar page for details and to RSVP for yourself and guest(s).

As in the past two years, we will enjoy together our vegetarian potluck dinner and, afterwards, contributions of “personal dana”.  Do you have a favorite poem or reading, whether one you’ve written or one you just love?  Do you play a musical instrument, paint, sing, write, dance?  Do you have a special travel experience with photos you might share a few of?  We would love you to offer your passion, skill, or art to our group.

“Personal dana” performances/contributions can be no more than 3 to 5 minutes long.  You must pre-register in order to assure yourself a space.  “Personal dana” contributions do not have to be strictly Buddhist in nature, just whatever comes from your heart. This is a great way to get to know and enjoy each other.  It is also a generous act to share yourself with our sangha community in this way. We have room for only about a dozen performances in all, so please respond soon.

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Your generosity helps SIM thrive!

Dear SIM Friends,

We hope this letter finds you well. As we approach the end of the year, we want to share what is happening at Sacramento Insight Meditation – changes this year, and how we can come together as a community to help our sangha grow and flourish in the year ahead.

The past year has been a time of growth and accomplishments, as well as significant adjustments for SIM. We moved to the beautiful new Sacramento Dharma Center, improved our website and moved many essential functions online, streamlined our operations and brought new clarity to analyzing our finances, while adjusting to increased expenses and strengthening relationships with our new SDC neighbors. The Board has been working hard to support these changes and lay the groundwork for continued development.

We have great hopes for the future. We want to strengthen our community with new opportunities for practice, including new initiatives for study and mutual support emerging from within the sangha. We seek to develop a stable income base to meet our new monthly obligations, while growing financially so we can offer new programs and reach out to new teachers. Our goal is to fulfill our mission of offering the best support possible to those in Sacramento practicing in the insight/vipassana tradition.

We need your help to accomplish these goals. Our projected operational budget for 2018 is approximately $56,000 – this is the funding needed to provide dana to our teachers and presenters, pay our rent, meet ongoing expenses such as insurance and financial and website support, as well as have funds to develop new programs.
As you plan your year-end giving, please consider supporting SIM by:
• Making a one-time year-end contribution. Any amount will help and be appreciated;
and/or
• Signing up for a monthly, automatic on-line contribution to SIM. It is simple, helps stabilize our finances and is the key to our financial success in the long run.

You can make a donation of any kind at https://sactoinsight.org/what-is- dana/ . If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our Board members at https://sactoinsight.org/contact-us/ .
We hope you will consider regularly supporting Sacramento Insight Meditation. Thank you in advance for your generosity. We look forward to practicing with you in the coming year.

Warmly,
Sara E. Denzler
Treasurer, SIM Board of Directors

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11/16/2017 “The Atthakavagga: the original seeds that gave rise to Buddhist teachings” with Diane Wilde

The Atthakavagga: the original seeds that gave rise to Buddhist teachings
“The wise person does not oppose any other person’s doctrine.”  This is one of the reflections from one of the earliest books in the Pali Cannon, the Atthakavagga. Gil Fronsdal states in his introduction to his translation of the Atthakavagga:  “Here we find the Buddhist teachings pared down to their most essential elements, free of the more complex doctrines often associated with Buddhism.” The poems and verses from this small collection reveal a pattern of teachings that are much different — in their directness and simplicity — from the later sutta collections. Verses in the Atthakavagga often have an almost koan-like quality, which often seem open to interpretation. We will discuss the exegesis of the Atthakavagga and our own interpretations of a few of its seemingly “simple” verses.

Talk handout: Dutthatthaka Sutta (.pdf)

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

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Beginning Meditation Class (6 of 6)

This class is part of a six week meditation course offered twice a year. You must pre-register to the course before attending this class. For course details, click here.

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Beginning Meditation Class (5 of 6)

This class is part of a six week meditation course offered twice a year. You must pre-register to the course before attending this class. For course details, click here.

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Beginning Meditation Class (4 of 6)

This class is part of a six week meditation course offered twice a year. You must pre-register to the course before attending this class. For course details, click here.

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