Sacramento Insight Meditation

Monks and ascetics in the Buddha’s time practiced non-attachment which meant leaving wives, husbands, parents, children, and society. Contemporary monastics also take on the homeless life which the Buddha said was necessary for complete awakening. Where does this leave lay people? Lay people value the teachings, but there is confusion about practicing non-attachment in everyday life. How can we keep ourselves free from attachment with those beings we care about pets, partn...ers, children, grandchildren, good friends. Please join us Thursday evening, June 3 as SIM Community teacher Diane Wilde guides our look at how lay people can practice with the challenge of attachment in our relationships, in order for our practice to grow with the hope of achieving true freedom. This talk was recorded and posted to http://sactoinsight.org/06-03-2021-practicing-nonattachmen/ See more

Two minutes and twenty-three seconds. Listen to Community Teacher Rich Howard as he guides us on a fresh take of some Bob Dylan lyrics: https://soundcloud.com/sactoinsig/love-minus-zero-bob-dylan

If you’re planning to attend our annual Holiday Party this year, please RSVP as soon as possible. Because we’ll be setting up some smaller break-out groups during this event, your RSVP will help us be better hosts. We look forward to seeing you there! http://sactoinsight.org//remote-holiday-virtual-gathering/

What if you are not forgiven? ... A Discussion and a True Story Psychologists generally define forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness or not. It’s a state of mind that our culture and most faith traditions hold as a positive and worthwhile aspiration. Buddhism sees forgiveness a little differently. Community teac...her Rev. Diane Wilde and guest Edwin Paragas recently discussed those differences and the practicality of the Buddhist definition of forgiveness. Edwin Paragas was recently released from twenty years of incarceration beginning when he was sixteen years old. He tells the story of his own search for forgiveness from his victim’s family and his life now as a returning citizen. The discussion was recorded and posted to our audio dharma library at http://sactoinsight.org/12-03-2020-forgiveness-what-if-you/. See more

LovingKindness practice, or Metta, is a process of opening our hearts. This form of meditation is a concentration practice one pointed attention to cultivating an unconditional and non-judgmental care and concern for ourselves, others, and all of nature. It is an expression of a deep intention for ourselves and for every living being to have the conditions in their life that will allow them to be free from suffering, to be happy, and to act skillfully with wisdom and compas...Continue reading

SIM welcomes visiting teacher Gullu Singh... http://sactoinsight.org/welcome-visiting-teacher-gullu-sin/

Through stories and personal experience, as a visiting teacher at Sacramento Insight Meditation, Walt Opie's talk last week described how wisdom is cultivated and how it benefits our lives and the lives of others. He also spoke about the relationship of wisdom and insight. The recording is posted at http://sactoinsight.org/10-08-2020-becoming-wise-with-walt/. WALT OPIE was first introduced to insight meditation in 1993 at Spirit Rock and began attending regular residential r...etreats in 2005. He is a graduate of both the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders’ (CDL4) training program and the Sati Center Buddhist Chaplaincy program. He has led sitting groups for people in recovery since 2011. Walt also serves as a volunteer chaplain with Buddhist Pathways Prison Project (BP3) at Solano state prison in Vacaville, CA. In addition, he is currently a trainee in the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) Teacher Training program based in Barre, MA. See more

In the devastating fires this summer, we have seen folks needing to evacuate where they live on short notice. Public safety officials recommend having a Go Bag packed and ready with batteries, a crank radio, first aid supplies, extra socks, and other essentials. Maybe we should take this idea and think about what to bring with us from our toolkit of meditation practices. What is essential? What would you want to have with you to protect your mind in any circumstance? Listen to Rich Howard's recent talk (posted to our audio dharma library) where folks shared the practices and essential teachings that they have found most useful. http://sactoinsight.org/09-24-2020-what-is-in-your-go-bag-/

Registration for today's daylong retreat is open for one more hour. There's still time to join...

We still have space available in our online Beginning Meditation,6-week course. This course provides the basic techniques for learning Insight Meditation (vipassana), both during sitting meditation and in daily life. This is insight meditation that has been handed down from the time of the Buddha. This course is intended as an introduction to the practice of meditation as it is taught at the Sacramento Insight Meditation group. As an introduction to meditation it is meant to ...support and encourage you to take up the practice of meditation and to see if meditation is a worthwhile activity in your life. The course is a hands-on, experiential program for beginners as well as those more experienced meditators who are interested in revisiting and working with their meditation skills. It is not meant as an exploration of comparative meditation techniques or a scholastic treatment of meditation theory. In the course of our work we discuss the theory of meditation but put these concepts aside to investigate our direct experience of what is happening. This is also not a course in Buddhism. We discuss Buddhist terms and concepts only to the degree that they are helpful in learning the process of meditation. Insight meditation does not require any belief system or adherence to any philosophy or religion. It meets Tuesdays 7 pm to 9 pm: Sep 22, 29, Oct 6, 13, 20, 27 & a retreat Sat, Oct 24, 9 am to 4 pm. The registration fee is $35. For details, visit http://sactoinsight.org/event/beg-meditation-starts-sep2020/

In a 2017 article, Naropa University Professors Carla Sherrell and Judith Simmer-Brown warned about using meditation practice to avoid pain: We take up meditation as a way to avoid or dull the pain, and only feel it works if we feel better. This approach is an expression of a prevailing culture that quickly takes a pharmaceutical to alleviate pain or pours a drink to numb anxiety. This kind of response to pain favors meditation practices that feature detachment, peace, bli...ss, and absolutist thinking as defense mechanisms against anxiety, fear, and anguish. Yet, our world right now is full of anxiety, fear, and anguish. How do we avoid the temptation to turn away from the painful aspects of our personal and societal lives? How do we turn toward our experience and the harsh realities playing out in our community, nation, and world? How do we find insight and engagement in the midst of chaos and injustice? Join Rich Howard in exploring these difficult but essential questions on this evening of practice and inquiry; posted to our audio dharma library in this recorded talk "Meditation Practice: Turning Toward or Turning Away?" at http://sactoinsight.org/09-03-2020-turning-toward-or-away-/ See more