September 3
@
7:00 pm
–
9:00 pm
PDT
Insight Meditation and Dharma Talk with SIM Founding Teacher Dennis Warren
For biographical details of the teacher Dennis Warren, click here.
* The teacher will present IN-PERSON at the Dharma Center.
Hybrid events can be attended via Zoom or onsite at the Sacramento Dharma Center.
Intention: The Factor Animating Choice and Karma
Choice plays a pivotal role in the architecture of Buddhist practice. For example, it surfaces in the five strategies for dealing with distracting thoughts, the four types of Right Effort, and the five ways of letting go or abandoning unskillful states of mind. Each set of options asks that we weight the circumstances and select a course of action.
And yet, curiously, the Pali Canon — that vast record of the Historical Buddha’s psychology, teachings and methods — contains no word or phrase equivalent to our conventional sense of “choice.”
This reflects the Historical Buddha’s tendency to redirect attention away from the surface of a question towards what he considered its root. If choice, as commonly understood, is not the true axis of decision-making, then what is? And what might this reveal, as a practical matter, about the nature of skillful decision making and how it can be embodied in practice and life?
This is the question we’ll explore this Thursday evening.
We invite you to join us either in person or via ZOOM. Dennis will be presenting in person. He encourages you to be there in person, as well, to meet with old, as well as new, friends and enjoy an evening of community and investigation the Historical Buddha’s teachings.
Offer a Teacher Donation
Dennis Warren will receive at least 75% of your donation.
Use the following donate button and select Thu Sep 3 – Dennis from the dropdown list.
How to Attend Remotely
Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/join or join by phone at 1-669-900-6833
( Meeting ID: 895 2162 7007 and Passcode: 933142)
For tips and instructions to join the meeting, click here to check this news blog.
6/25/2026 “Right” Effort in Meditation, Practice and Life” with Dennis Warren
Audio DharmaThe importance of focusing our attention and investigation on Effort in meditation, practice and life is frequently overlooked or minimized. “Right Effort,” or “Right Energy,” is foundational to our understanding and development of all the core elements of Buddhist practice. It is essential to integrating practice into daily life and relationships. And the way we use Effort is a significant factor in whether the way we conduct our practice and lives is practical and pragmatic, or informed as “spiritual” or “dharmic” in nature. Join us this evening to explore these questions:
What is Right Effort? What makes it “Right?”
Is Right Effort different from Right “Energy?”
Why is Right Effort considered foundational?
What are specific, practical, useable examples of how to work with Right Effort in meditation?
Other aspects of practice? Daily life? Relationships?
What makes Right Effort a significant factor in informing practice and life as spiritual or dharmic?
Whether you’re just beginning your practice, or have been on the path for years, you’ll find something helpful in this evening investigation. We welcome you to join us either in person or via ZOOM. Dennis will be presenting in person. He encourages you to be there in person to meet with old as well as new friends, and enjoy an evening of community and exploring the Buddha’s teachings.
6/18/2026 “Nibbāna: The Highest Happiness” with Grace Lee
Audio DharmaWhat is Nibbāna? What does it look like when someone is fully enlightened? What might it look and feel like when you are fully enlightened, and how might you practice for this highest of all happiness?
GRACE TALICE LEE is a queer, nonbinary, autistic, direct descendant of immigrants and refugees. Grace has loved the Dhamma for several lifetimes, but in this current birth they began meditation training in 2016, started teaching in 2025, and co-led their first residential retreat in 2026. She offers several books about Dhamma practice, including a travelogue about a 2-week pilgrimage to the Thai Forest Masters which is freely available for download at www.karunabv.org/books.
6/11/2026 “The Long and Winding Path to Freedom” with Rich Howard
Audio DharmaA long hike requires many resources: a healthy body, food and water, the right clothing and gear, not to mention motivation and a sense of direction. The practice of mindfulness, meditation, and ethical living has been described as a noble path, and it may not be a straight line! For many of us, it is a long and winding path that requires physical, emotional, and spiritual supports. Let’s take this evening to discuss and share some of the supports we have found for our practice.
After a dharmette by SIM Community Teacher Rich Howard, we will break into small groups in person and online to consider a series of questions to explore where we are on the path, where we are headed, and what resources might support us on the way.
Question 1:
What benefits have you noticed from your practice? Name one former unwholesome habit or mind state that has weakened or disappeared. Or one relationship that has healed (including with yourself!) If you are new to the practice, what conditions in your life brought you here?
Question 2:
How do you integrate the dharma into your daily life? What aspirations do you have for your practice?
Question 3:
What resources support your practice most right now? What is the balance of practice, study, and community in your life?
(IN-PERSON) Daylong Retreat – Diana Clark – Letting Experience Teach Us
Online Remote, RetreatSeptember 26 @ 9:30 am – 3:30 pm PDT
Daylong Retreat with SIM Teacher Diana Clark
For biographical details of the teacher Diana Clark, click here.
Letting Experience Teach Us
We don’t meditate to confirm what we already know. During this daylong, we’ll explore how mindfulness and curiosity can allow experience itself to be our teacher.
About This Hybrid Retreat
Summary of Important Dates
Registration
After registration opens, select one of the following registration “ATTEND” buttons to indicate if you’ll be attending via Zoom or in-person. The fee is $25.00 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 $35 or $50 dollars. For the registration fee, we also accept personal checks. No one will be turned away for lack of funds; please contact the registrar for more information.
Before registering for this event, please click here to review SIM’s Registration Refund Policy.
After we receive your registration payment, SIM will confirm your registration within 48 hours. Thanks for your patience.
September Daylong registration – Attend in-person
$25 – $50
Attend In-PersonSeptember Daylong Registration – Attend on Zoom
$25.00 – $50.00
Attend on ZoomQuestions for the Registrar?
If you need to contact the retreat registrar with any questions, click here.
Teacher Dana
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. To make a donation for this event using a credit card or PayPal account, click here to DONATE ONLINE.
How to Attend Remotely via Zoom
Hybrid (in-person and online)
Sacramento, CA 95826 United States
(IN-PERSON) Daylong Retreat – Rich Howard – Begin Again
Online Remote, RetreatAugust 29 @ 9:00 am – 4:00 pm PDT
Daylong Retreat with SIM Teacher Rich Howard
For biographical details of the teacher Rich Howard, click here.
Begin Again
We follow the breath for a while and the mind drifts off: Begin again. We practice diligently for months and life events intervene, taking us away from regular formal practice. Circumstances change: Begin again. We get caught up in the busy-ness of our day and lose awareness. Then we remember: Begin again. It has been said that beginning again IS the practice. Whether in formal meditation, on retreat, or in daily life, the ability to start over without judging ourselves or getting discouraged is key to developing the continuous awareness that leads to insight and transformation. In this daylong retreat, Rich will offer a modified version of SIM’s beginning class retreat, with lightly guided sitting and walking periods. There will be a body scan and opportunities for questions and responses. Bring a lunch and plan to stay all day in noble silence. This day will be ideal for newer students and for more experienced meditators who are willing to bring an open mind and gentle self-compassion to their practice.
About This Hybrid Retreat
Summary of Important Dates
Registration
After registration opens, select one of the following registration “ATTEND” buttons to indicate if you’ll be attending via Zoom or in-person. The fee is $25.00 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 $35 or $50 dollars. For the registration fee, we also accept personal checks. No one will be turned away for lack of funds; please contact the registrar for more information.
Before registering for this event, please click here to review SIM’s Registration Refund Policy.
After we receive your registration payment, SIM will confirm your registration within 48 hours. Thanks for your patience.
August Daylong registration – Attend in-person
$25.00 – $50.00
Attend In-personAugust Daylong Registration – Attend on Zoom
$25.00 – $50.00
Attend on ZoomQuestions for the Registrar?
If you need to contact the retreat registrar with any questions, click here.
Teacher Dana
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. To make a donation for this event using a credit card or PayPal account, click here to DONATE ONLINE.
How to Attend Remotely via Zoom
Hybrid (in-person and online)
Sacramento, CA 95826 United States
(IN-PERSON) Sit & Dharma Talk with Seth Castleman
Online Remote, Weekly MeditationOctober 1 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm PDT
Insight Meditation and Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher Seth Castleman
For biographical details of the teacher Seth Castleman, click here.
Offer a Teacher Donation
Seth Castleman will receive at least 75% of your donation.
Use the following donate button and select Thu Oct 1 – Seth from the dropdown list.
How to Attend Remotely
Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/join or join by phone at 1-669-900-6833
( Meeting ID: 870 6359 1101 and Passcode: 679854)
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
(IN-PERSON) Sit & Dharma Talk – Diana Clark – Awakening the Spirit of Adventure
Online Remote, Weekly MeditationSeptember 24 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm PDT
Insight Meditation and Dharma Talk with SIM Teacher Diana Clark
For biographical details of the teacher Diana Clark, click here.
Awakening the Spirit of Adventure
What if meditation were less about getting somewhere and more about discovering what is here? This talk explores how curiosity, openness, and a willingness to enter the unknown can enliven our practice.
Offer a Teacher Donation
Diana Clark will receive at least 75% of your donation.
Use the following donate button and select Thu Sep 24 – Diana from the dropdown list.
How to Attend Remotely
Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/join or join by phone at 1-669-900-6833
( Meeting ID: 895 2162 7007 and Passcode: 933142)
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
(IN-PERSON) Sit & Dharma Talk – Diane Wilde – What Would the Buddha Do?
Online Remote, Weekly MeditationSeptember 17 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm PDT
Insight Meditation and Dharma Talk with SIM Teacher Diane Wilde
For biographical details of the teacher Diane Wilde, click here.
What Would the Buddha Do?
More and more ethical questions are arising in society due to the rapid “advancement” of AI technology. Spiritual leaders, philosophers, politicians and individuals are cautioning that a moral code has to be developed which addresses the rapid implementation of AI technology.
A few of the many, many issues of concern are:
Students using AI to write essays and term papers and claiming the results as their own.
Blatant lying by individuals, corporations and politicians, by creating harmful AI versions of others.
The acceleration of climate catastrophes due to a lack of concern for other life forms as well the earth herself.
Individuals seeking revenge on others by threatening to expose private online conversations and videos.
Navigating everyday ethical challenges is a challenge. Now we must face the
consequences of unethical behavior due to technological advances. Do our individual ethical choices even make a difference any longer?
Tonight we will discuss ethics and morality in today’s world. In other words: “What Would the Buddha Do?”
Offer a Teacher Donation
Diane Wilde will receive at least 75% of your donation.
Use the following donate button and select Thu Sep 17 – Diane from the dropdown list.
How to Attend Remotely
Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/join or join by phone at 1-669-900-6833
( Meeting ID: 895 2162 7007 and Passcode: 933142)
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
(ZOOM) Sit & Dharma Talk – JD Doyle – Practicing with a World on Fire
Online Remote, Weekly MeditationSeptember 10 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm PDT
Insight Meditation and Dharma Talk with Visiting Teacher JD Doyle
For biographical details of the teacher JD Doyle, click here.
Practicing with a World on Fire
There are so many crisis happening simultaneously, at the personal as well as collective level. Learning to practice with the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion is essential to transform suffering into healing and liberation.
Offer a Teacher Donation
JD Doyle will receive at least 75% of your donation.
Use the following donate button and select Thu Sep 10 – JD from the dropdown list.
How to Attend Remotely
Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/join or join by phone at 1-669-900-6833
( Meeting ID: 895 2162 7007 and Passcode: 933142)
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
(IN-PERSON) Sit & Dharma Talk – Dennis Warren – Intention: The Factor Animating Choice and Karma
Online Remote, Weekly MeditationSeptember 3 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm PDT
Insight Meditation and Dharma Talk with SIM Founding Teacher Dennis Warren
For biographical details of the teacher Dennis Warren, click here.
Intention: The Factor Animating Choice and Karma
Choice plays a pivotal role in the architecture of Buddhist practice. For example, it surfaces in the five strategies for dealing with distracting thoughts, the four types of Right Effort, and the five ways of letting go or abandoning unskillful states of mind. Each set of options asks that we weight the circumstances and select a course of action.
And yet, curiously, the Pali Canon — that vast record of the Historical Buddha’s psychology, teachings and methods — contains no word or phrase equivalent to our conventional sense of “choice.”
This reflects the Historical Buddha’s tendency to redirect attention away from the surface of a question towards what he considered its root. If choice, as commonly understood, is not the true axis of decision-making, then what is? And what might this reveal, as a practical matter, about the nature of skillful decision making and how it can be embodied in practice and life?
This is the question we’ll explore this Thursday evening.
We invite you to join us either in person or via ZOOM. Dennis will be presenting in person. He encourages you to be there in person, as well, to meet with old, as well as new, friends and enjoy an evening of community and investigation the Historical Buddha’s teachings.
Offer a Teacher Donation
Dennis Warren will receive at least 75% of your donation.
Use the following donate button and select Thu Sep 3 – Dennis from the dropdown list.
How to Attend Remotely
Join online meeting: https://zoom.us/join or join by phone at 1-669-900-6833
( Meeting ID: 895 2162 7007 and Passcode: 933142)
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