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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Beginning Meditation Class (3 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 (2 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 (6 week course)

This class is part of a six week meditation course offered twice a year. Classes meet Tuesday evenings, April 17, 24, May 1, 8, 15, 22, with a daylong retreat Saturday May 19, 2018 and details for this event are posted on the Course Overview page.

Registration Details

Walk-in registrations are not available since the course registrar provides follow-up information required prior to this first class meeting.

Before making the $35 registration payment, click here to review the terms of use for this website.  Use the Tickets section shown below to pay the registration fee now. It’s not necessary to Log in before purchasing and you won’t need to print the ticket on paper. On the left side, specify the number of people you are registering to this course. On the right side, click the button “Buy now” and you’ll be automatically directed to a secure webpage where your registration payment can be made by credit card as a guest (no PayPal account required) or payment can be made by PayPal after you sign-in to your PayPal account if you have one.

If there are no tickets available, the course is full but you can still add your name to the waitlist (click here).

 

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2018 SIM Residential Retreat

SIM Residential Retreat with John Travis – Friday, September 7 through Friday, 12:00 Noon, September 14, 2018

John Travis, another of SIM’s Senior Teachers who has taught many of our retreats in the past, has graciously volunteered to teach for us again this year.  SIM is very grateful to John for his willingness to step in and lead this retreat in place of Steve Armstrong.

From Effort to Ease

This seven-night retreat in a forest retreat grounds just outside Foresthill, California in the Sierra Nevada foothills is suitable for both new and experienced meditators. People of all walks of life are warmly welcome.

John will emphasize the simple discipline of walking and sitting.
Resting with the good heart and unruffled mind.
Seeing that when there is great ease there is also effortless freedom.

Buddha emphasized over and over that it takes effort to follow the path of Dharma.
Yet the ultimate result is about the nature of ease.
We use effort to see into the nature of a fearful and restless mind/heart.
Then the fundamentals of insight:
– relaxing in the deepest recesses of our psyche
– diminishing the power of anxiousness and dis-ease.
Ultimately finding its own good heart and relaxed mind.

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.    More… 

Cost

We’ve worked very hard to keep cost down. Registration fees are substantially lower than previous years. You can select from two different registration fee levels:     Regular: $700.00       Donor Level:  $775.00
Both levels cover the costs of accommodations, meals and administration. Donor level registration reduces overall retreat costs and supports scholarship assistance for participants facing special financial demands.

Registration

  • Priority Registration including $400.00 deposit for those attending Steve’s January one day retreat opens January 25 and closes February 15.
  • Open Registration including $400.00 deposit for those who did not attend Steve’s January one day retreat opens February 16. You may, however, register and pay the $400.00 deposit as soon as January 27. Such registrations will be accepted beginning February 16 based on date of registration order.

Registration fees do not cover any financial support for the retreat teacher. An opportunity will be provided at the end of the retreat for voluntary donations for the teacher. Upon registration, you will receive a confirming email and a participant package of documents approximately 1 month prior to the retreat.

To register to the retreat, or to include your name on the wait list, or to pay the retreat deposit, or to pay any remaining balance of registration fees, simply click the orange “Register” button.


Cancellations

  • Up to June 5, full refund.
  • After June 5 and up to July 15, $400 deposit will be retained by SIM.
  • After July 15, no refunds will be given. A waiver of this policy will be considered in limited circumstances based on application demonstrating financial hardship.

Dana

If you’re attending the retreat and would like to offer a retreat donation by credit card, click here.

Contact the Registrar

For more information or for questions, contact the retreat registrar using the form below:

[contact-form to=”registrar@sactoinsight.org, website@sactoinsight.org” subject=”To REGISTRAR: Residential Retreat with J. Travis ({name})”][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea”][/contact-form]

 

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