October 19, 2023
@
7:00 pm
–
9:00 pm
PDT
Noting and Naming
Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Founding Teacher Dennis Warren
For biographical details about the teacher Dennis Warren, click here.
* The teacher will present in-person at the Dharma Center.
Hybrid events can be attended via Zoom or in-person at the Sacramento Dharma Center.
Noting & Naming
“Noting” or “Naming” is the practice of making a soft mental note to highlight the present experience that is unfolding in meditation or in daily life. It has a number of different purposes and uses. Among others, it can interrupt the distorting grip of reactivity, reframe present moment experiences, and create a new context for working with events, particularly difficult or challenging ones.
Noting/Naming is frequently misunderstood or undervalued even though it has the potential to be one of the most helpful, practical, and powerful tools of practice available to us.
This evening we look at the different purposes and applications of the Noting/Naming process through practical illustrations of common situations in meditation and everyday situation. We will also place the practice into the larger framework of Buddhist psychology, teachings, and methods.
The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice. You can attend in person or by ZOOM. Dennis will be presenting in person and encourages you to be there in person as well.
Offer a Donation
Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/join or join by phone at 1-669-900-6833
( Meeting ID: 862 2575 6048 and Passcode: 302015 )
For tips and instructions to join the meeting, click here to check this news blog.
03/16/2023 “How Perception and Memory Shape Experience” with Rick Maddock
Audio DharmaHow Perception and Memory Shape Experience – converging views from neuroscience and early Buddhist teachings
Many of the Buddha’s teachings have close parallels in modern neuroscience. This talk will explore these parallels, with a particular focus on how perception and memory shape experience. Early Buddhist teachings on perception and emptiness point to insights that can be valuable supports for dharma practice. Similar insights emerge from modern studies of the perceptual circuits of the brain. Neuroplasticity, or how the brain is changed by experience, is viewed by neuroscientists as the basis of all forms of memory. Early Buddhist and Yogacara teachings on karma and the “storehouse” (alaya) emphasize how this principle affects our practice and well-being. A similar perspective underlies the effectiveness of many modern psychotherapies.
03/09/2023 “The Compassion of Now” with Seth Castleman
Audio DharmaNOTICE: 3/9/23 Sit & Dharma Talk Switched to ZOOM Only
NewsImportant Announcement
Tonight’s March 9th sitting meditation and dharma talk switched to ZOOM-Only
Tonight’s Thursday, March 9th, 2023 regularly scheduled evening sitting meditation and dharma talk presentation by Seth Castleman will be held only on-line beginning at 7 pm. The SIM Board of Directors has cancelled the in-person part of the meeting.
We look forwarded to having you join us at the Zoom meeting and wish you all may be safe and healthy.
A Weekend Online Mini Retreat
NewsWe’re pleased to announce this online mini-retreat.
(Hybrid) Sit & Dharma Talk – Diane Wilde – Be Your Own Teacher
Online Remote, Weekly MeditationOctober 26, 2023 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm PDT
Be Your Own Teacher
Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Community Teacher Diane Wilde
For biographical details about the teacher Diane Wilde, click here.
Be Your Own Teacher
“Be a lamp unto yourselves and strive forward with diligence” is one of the translations of the last words the Buddha uttered to his grieving disciples as he achieved paranibbana, or complete liberation. He left no heirs — no recommended teachers, but rather advised those gathered around him to depend on the Dhamma itself. He left us with a detailed path which alleviates much suffering and unhappiness in our lives.
The challenge is, how do we each individually stay on the path? Have we incorporated these essential teachings into our daily life? If we have, how do we do it? If not, why? Tonight we’ll discuss a few “prompts” that may be useful as a guide while navigating the path the Buddha outlined, in both daily life and on the cushion.
Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/join or join by phone at 1-669-900-6833
( Meeting ID: 862 2575 6048 and Passcode: 302015 )
For tips and instructions to join the meeting, click here to check this news blog.
Hybrid (in-person and online)
Sacramento, CA 95826 United States
(Hybrid) Sit & Dharma Talk – Dennis Warren – Noting and Naming
Online Remote, Weekly MeditationOctober 19, 2023 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm PDT
Noting and Naming
Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Founding Teacher Dennis Warren
For biographical details about the teacher Dennis Warren, click here.
Noting & Naming
“Noting” or “Naming” is the practice of making a soft mental note to highlight the present experience that is unfolding in meditation or in daily life. It has a number of different purposes and uses. Among others, it can interrupt the distorting grip of reactivity, reframe present moment experiences, and create a new context for working with events, particularly difficult or challenging ones.
Noting/Naming is frequently misunderstood or undervalued even though it has the potential to be one of the most helpful, practical, and powerful tools of practice available to us.
This evening we look at the different purposes and applications of the Noting/Naming process through practical illustrations of common situations in meditation and everyday situation. We will also place the practice into the larger framework of Buddhist psychology, teachings, and methods.
The subject matter of this evening will be appropriate for all stages of practice. You can attend in person or by ZOOM. Dennis will be presenting in person and encourages you to be there in person as well.
Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/join or join by phone at 1-669-900-6833
( Meeting ID: 862 2575 6048 and Passcode: 302015 )
For tips and instructions to join the meeting, click here to check this news blog.
Hybrid (in-person and online)
Sacramento, CA 95826 United States
(Hybrid) Sit & Dharma Talk – Vance Pryor – Renunciation
Online Remote, Weekly MeditationOctober 12, 2023 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm PDT
Renunciation
Sit & Dharma Talk with SIM Legacy Project Teacher Vance Pryor
For biographical details about the teacher VANCE PRYOR, click here.
Renunciation
The talk for the evening will be about the movement of letting go through renunciation. Its role in coming to a more refined and subtle happiness in our lives will be examined. There will be a guided meditation, a talk on the topic at hand, followed by a question and response period.
Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/join or join by phone at 1-669-900-6833
( Meeting ID: 862 2575 6048 and Passcode: 302015 )
For tips and instructions to join the meeting, click here to check this news blog.
Hybrid (in-person and online)
Sacramento, CA 95826 United States
03/02/2023 “Cultivating the Five Spiritual Powers” with Tony Bernhard
Audio DharmaThe 37 wings of awakening are the set of interrelated mental qualities that cultivate Right View and lead to the cessation of suffering. The five spiritual faculties are listed twice, both as ‘faculties’ and as ‘powers’. we will talk about what the spiritual faculties are and how they can be developed into the five spiritual powers.
02/25/2023 “Taking Inspiration from the Buddha’s Life” with Walt Opie
Audio DharmaThe Buddha represents the human potential to awaken that we all share. During this day of practice together, we will look at ways we can take inspiration from the life of the historical Buddha, as presented in the early discourses or suttas, as we travel on our own spiritual journey. We’ll look at some of the practices the Buddha tried before finding the path of awakening, as well as what led to his breakthrough, his decision to teach, and some of the important teachings he offered throughout his teaching career. Instructions will be offered in Mindfulness of Breathing, which was one of the Buddha’s favorite meditation practices. This day included sitting and walking instructions, dharma talks, and discussion/Q&A. Suitable for both beginning and more experienced meditators.
02/23/2023 “How the Buddha Found the Path to Awakening” with Walt Opie
Audio DharmaBefore he discovered the path to awakening, the Buddha tried various ascetic practices in accord with the beliefs of his time in ancient India. One belief was that “happiness cannot be gained through happiness, but instead requires going through (self-inflicted) pain,” according to Bhikkhu Analayo in his book A Meditator’s Life of the Buddha. However, at a certain point the Buddha saw that he was not achieving his goal of liberation, so he began looking for another way. This led him to a realization that certain types of wholesome joy or happiness related to meditation and renunciation might lead in the direction of awakening. The Saturday, February 25 daylong retreat will also touch on this theme and expand on it, but both events are standalone; you may attend one or both. Bhikkhu Analayo’s aforementioned book A Meditator’s Life of the Buddha (Windhorse Publications, 2017) is one of the main inspirations for this theme.