Morning Meditation with Jerry Simkins

All are welcome to this open sitting for anyone interested in starting their morning out by sitting with others. The session involves a 40-45 minute sitting, a limited about of meditation guidance, and a few comments at the end of the sitting to set a theme for moving into the world and your daily activities.

Reflections on a Year of Practice

A One Day Retreat with SIM Community Mentor Rich Howard

This will be a day of practice, reflection, and discussion as we honor the end of the year. Sitting and walking meditation will alternate with periods devoted to looking at how our practice is evolving. SIM Community Mentor Rich Howard will support these reflections with perspectives from “Altered Traits,” a new book by Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson that summarizes the science on “how meditation changes your mind, brain, and body.” Bring a lunch and plan to stay at the SDC all day. Half-day attendance is also fine.

Registration Details

Pre-registration is required to secure your space at the retreat. Registration is $15.00 per person due before the start of the event. If you are able and interested in further supporting SIM financially, you have the option of a registration fee of either $25 or $35 dollars. In addition to the registration fee, at the retreat there will be an opportunity to offer dana (in the form of a financial donation) to support the retreat presenter and Sacramento Insight Meditation.

For the registration fee, we accept credit cards, checks and cash. No one will be turned away for lack of funds; please contact the registrar for more information. Day-of registration will be on a first-come first-serve basis, contingent on availability of space. If you plan to pay on the day of the retreat, please register now using the “Register” button below. Specify “Offline Payment”; payment on the day of must be by check or exact cash amount.

Summary of Important Dates

  • 11/24/2017 – Registration opens.
  • 12/26/2017 – Registration fee paid on or before this date.
  • 12/30/2017 – Attend and enjoy the wonderful retreat.

Questions for the Registrar?

Use the form below only if you need to contact the retreat registrar with any questions. Expect a reply within 48 hours. If you are ready to register for the retreat, click here.

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Volunteer Opportunities

It “takes a village” to put on a large event for our community. If you would be available to assist in set-up, take-down, tea service, providing flowers or other duties for the event, please mention this in the comments of contact information form shown above.

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.

How do I get off this Cycle of Reactivity?
Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Community Mentor, Rich Howard

Our beginning classes offer an accessible approach to the profound core teaching of dependent origination called the Cycle of Reactivity. This evening, we will explore that very helpful teaching, with some deeper background drawn from the Nidanasamyutta, a chapter of the Samyutta Nikaya devoted to dependent origination. In preparation, you may read as much of Bikkhu Bodhi’s introduction to Chapter IX of “In the Buddha’s Words” as you wish; we will focus on page 315 through the first six lines on page 316. You may read all six suttas in Section IX(4)4; we will focus on two suttas on pages 355-357: IX(4)4(c) SN 12:33 and IX(4)4(d) SN 12:15.

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.

This meeting was originally planned for September 25 but was rescheduled for October 2.


The SIM Board of Directors meets every month and all are welcome. If you can’t attend this meeting, please join us for one of our other up-coming meetings. For details on contacting any of the board members, click here.

Morning Meditation with Cathy Vigran

All are welcome to this open sitting for anyone interested in starting their morning out by sitting with others. The session involves a 40-45 minute sitting, a limited about of meditation guidance, and a few comments at the end of the sitting to set a theme for moving into the world and your daily activities.

Morning Meditation with Rich Howard

All are welcome to this open sitting for anyone interested in starting their morning out by sitting with others. The session involves a 40-45 minute sitting, a limited about of meditation guidance, and a few comments at the end of the sitting to set a theme for moving into the world and your daily activities.

Morning Meditation with Dennis Warren

All are welcome to this open sitting for anyone interested in starting their morning out by sitting with others. The session involves a 40-45 minute sitting, a limited about of meditation guidance, and a few comments at the end of the sitting to set a theme for moving into the world and your daily activities.

Morning Meditation with Laura Rosenthal

All are welcome to this open sitting for anyone interested in starting their morning out by sitting with others. The session involves a 40-45 minute sitting, a limited about of meditation guidance, and a few comments at the end of the sitting to set a theme for moving into the world and your daily activities.

Morning Meditation with Jerry Simkins

All are welcome to this open sitting for anyone interested in starting their morning out by sitting with others. The session involves a 40-45 minute sitting, a limited about of meditation guidance, and a few comments at the end of the sitting to set a theme for moving into the world and your daily activities.