Valley Streams Zen Sangha

Rohatsu Sesshin Morning Program (Online)
2023-11-27 06:00 - 07:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | ONLINE via Zoom
Morning Rohatsu schedule for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – ONLINE
6:00 am Zazen
6:30 am Kinhin
6:40 am Zazen
7:10 am Service
Register for week-long program on Eventbrite
Full 7-Day Rohatsu Schedule
This traditional week of intensified practice celebrates the enlightenment of our original teacher in India, Shakyamuni Buddha. Rohatsu sesshin is a time for bringing light into the dark time of the year and for celebrating Buddha’s awakening, which is our awakening too.

Full Moon Ceremony (Hybrid)
2023-11-27 19:00 - 21:00, 2024-01-22 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
The Full Moon Ceremony acknowledges the karma created by our intentional actions, and reminds us to renew our commitment to the ethical conduct expressed as the 16 Bodhisattva Precepts. These are guiding principles for our daily conduct in the world. This ceremony is rooted in a ritual from pre-Buddhist India. To prepare for the ceremony there are two 25 minutes meditation periods separated by 10 minutes of walking meditation. All are welcome to participate.
*Full Moon Ceremony Chants
*Zoom link to program

Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, or practice circle. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. We invite newcomers and experienced Zen students to join us. If this is your first visit please arrive at least 15 minutes early for a brief orientation.

Rohatsu Sesshin Evening Program (Online)
2023-11-28 17:00 - 21:00 | ONLINE via Zoom
Evening Rohatsu schedule for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – ONLINE
5:00 pm Zazen
5:30 pm Service
Break/Dinner
7:30 pm Zazen
8:00 pm Kinhin
8:10 pm Zazen
8:40 pm Refuges
Register for week-long program on Eventbrite
Full 7-Day Rohatsu Schedule
This traditional week of intensified practice celebrates the enlightenment of our original teacher in India, Shakyamuni Buddha. Rohatsu sesshin is a time for bringing light into the dark time of the year and for celebrating Buddha’s awakening, which is our awakening too.

Rohatsu Sesshin Morning Program (Hybrid)
2023-11-30 06:00 - 07:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Morning Rohatsu schedule for Thursday – HYBRID
6:00 am Zazen
6:30 am Kinhin
6:40 am Zazen
7:10 am Service
Register for week-long program on Eventbrite
Full 7-Day Rohatsu Schedule
This traditional week of intensified practice celebrates the enlightenment of our original teacher in India, Shakyamuni Buddha. Rohatsu sesshin is a time for bringing light into the dark time of the year and for celebrating Buddha’s awakening, which is our awakening too.

Rohatsu Sesshin Full Day Sitting (In Person)
2023-12-01 08:30 - 20:45 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Full-Day Sitting – In Person – 8:30 am – 8:45 pm
This sitting will be in person at the Dharma Center and will not be offered on Zoom. Traditional oryoki meals will be served at noon and for the “medicine meal” in the evening.
Register for week-long program on Eventbrite
Full 7-Day Rohatsu Schedule
This traditional week of intensified practice celebrates the enlightenment of our original teacher in India, Shakyamuni Buddha. Rohatsu sesshin is a time for bringing light into the dark time of the year and for celebrating Buddha’s awakening, which is our awakening too. This sesshin is a combination of in-person and online. It will last a full week, but we’ll be sitting only morning and evening periods, Sunday – Thursday. Friday and Saturday we offer a full day of sitting in person at the Dharma Center. We close out the week on Sunday, Dec. 4, with a half-day, in-person program of zazen, a Dharma talk, and closing ceremony

Rohatsu Sesshin Half-Day Sitting and Buddha’s Enlightenment Ceremony (In Person)
2023-12-03 08:30 - 12:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Half-day Sitting – in person – 8:30 am – 12 noon.
Today concludes the seven days of intensive practice with a half-day sitting and the Buddha’s Enlightenment Ceremony.
We will gather after the ceremony to share a buffet lunch.
Register for week-long program on Eventbrite
Full 7-Day Rohatsu Schedule
This traditional week of intensified practice celebrates the enlightenment of our original teacher in India, Shakyamuni Buddha. Rohatsu sesshin is a time for bringing light into the dark time of the year and for celebrating Buddha’s awakening, which is our awakening too.

Practice Circle guided by Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (Speaker in Person)
2023-12-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
DRINKING FROM THE WELL-SPRING OF LIFE
WHERE SUFFERING AND ENLIGHTENMENT MEET
Come participate in the Practice Circle and listen to and share ways in which your Practice Life offers self-care and well-being for living fully in this ‘world on fire’.
Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah serves as Ino, or head of the meditation hall. She studied in the Soto Zen lineage with Sojun Diane Martin, founder and guiding teacher of Udumbara Zen Center in Illinois and Rev. Val Szymanski, Head Priest of Bamboo in the Wind Zen Center in Sunnyvale, California. She was lay ordained in 2008 and priest ordained in 2019. She served as head student for the Spring practice period at Bamboo in the Wind Zen Sangha in May 2022. She offers Practice Interviews upon request.
Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, practice circle or retreat night. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. We invite newcomers and experienced Zen students to join us.
*Chant for all beings
*Zoom link to program

Dharma Talk by Ryuko Laura Burges (Speaker on Zoom)
2023-12-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Ryuko Laura Burges, a lay entrusted dharma teacher in the Soto Zen tradition, teaches classes, lectures, and leads retreats in Northern California. She received monastic training at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and is in long-term recovery. Laura co-founded the Sangha in Recovery Program at the San Francisco Zen Center and is the abiding teacher at Lenox House Meditation Group in Oakland. Shambhala Publications offers her Buddhist children’s books, Buddhist Stories for Kids and Zen for Kids. Her most recent book from Shambhala is The Zen Way of Recovery: An Illuminated Path Out of the Darkness of Addiction. Laura lives in San Francisco.
Laura Burges has recently published a new book, The Zen Way of Recovery, which reflects her long experience working with people in recovery. In her Dharma talk at Valley Streams she will offer a teaching based on this line from the Hokyo Zanmai, the Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi: “When erroneous imaginations cease, the acquiescent mind realizes itself.” She writes: “When we loosen the grip of our self-created suffering, our flowing, flexible, Big Mind is able to shine forth. Perhaps our most pervasive erroneous imagination is, ‘I am alone, a stranded individual in my own tiny boat.’ Actually, we are deeply connected to all things and all beings.”
*Zoom link to program
Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, or practice circle. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. We invite newcomers and experienced Zen students to join us. If this is your first visit please arrive at least 15 minutes early for a brief orientation.

Winter Solstice Celebration (Hybrid)
2023-12-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Celebrate the winter solstice with sangha friends.
After a 35-minute meditation and service, we will gather to entertain each other on this long winter night with instruments, song, favorite poetry new and old, stories and skits. Bring your creativity and share your hidden talents. Bring a treat to share after the entertainment.
We offer a Well-Being Ceremony on the third Monday of every month to remember friends, family, neighbors, pets and people of the world who are ill, facing a recent loss, or struggling with some difficulty in their lives. Please send the names of those you wish to be remembered to: Parāvrtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (Ino@valleystreamszen.org) by the Sunday evening prior.
Zoom link to program
Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, or practice circle. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. We invite newcomers and experienced Zen students to join us. If this is your first visit please arrive at least 15 minutes early for a brief orientation.

CLOSED - Christmas Holiday
2023-12-25 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States

Welcoming the New Year (In Person)
2023-12-31 19:00 - 21:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
On Sunday evening December 31st, we will welcome the New Year at the Dharma Center with a silent sitting, walking meditation, and the traditional ringing of 108 bells. We hope to debut a new Densho bell of unknown provenance, acquired from Japan. The sitting will be from 7 to 9 p.m., followed by a quiet celebration with mock sake and treats. Since Valley Streams Sangha will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day (both Mondays), this will be an opportunity for communal practice during the holidays. This sitting will be open to everyone, with a special invitation to those who regularly practice with other sanghas at the Dharma Center and elsewhere.
Register on Eventbrite

CLOSED for New Year's Day
2024-01-01 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States

Knowing without Touching Things - Half-day Retreat Led by Rev. So'on Jim Hare (In Person)
2024-01-06 08:30 - 12:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Hongzhi lived in 12th century China and is famous for his Zen poems, which are recorded the Book of Serenity and elsewhere. Eihei Dogen admired his poem called Zazenshin and commented on it in his own text of the same name. During this retreat we’ll look at Hongzhi’s Zazenshin, particularly the line, “Knowing without touching things, illuminating without facing objects.”
Our morning will entail alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talk, and end with a chanting service. Please bring some previous meditation experience and, if you like, a bag lunch – there will be a social lunch following the sitting.
If this will be your first half-day sitting or you have questions, please contact us through our website or at 916-456-7752.
To register go to Eventbrite.

Relinquishment Ceremony led by Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (Hybrid)
2024-01-08 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
We are entering a New Year – an auspicious time to ‘commune with the “source”‘ and deepen our Practice life. Our practice of relinquishment is our practice of liberation.
A RELINQUISHMENT CEREMONY invites us to receive a message from our Buddha Nature, after asking: ‘what life pattern or habit do I need to be released, something that I hold onto tightly, something no longer needed in my life, a need to detach from what constricts me, each for the sake of our enlightenment, for sustaining our growth as bodhisattvas‘.
This evening, after sitting together in silence, we will each consider this question and make a scroll that expresses our Relinquishment Vow. Paper, and drawing utensils will be provided.
There will be time to share and reflect upon our drawings. You may take your scroll home for your altar or find a ritual time to burn your scroll, a symbol of letting go.
REMEMBER – Letting go is a vast teaching. When we let go we lift our burdens; we open into this amazing interdependent field of being where possibilities for liberation are always arising.
People coming on zoom will bring their own paper and drawing utensils. For questions contact: Ino@valleystreamszen.org
Rev. Parāvrtti Doralee Grindler Katonah serves as Ino, or head of the meditation hall. She studied in the Soto Zen lineage with Sojun Diane Martin in Illinois and Rev. Val Szymanski in California. She was priest ordained in 2019 by Sojun Diane Martin.
Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, or practice circle. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. We invite newcomers and experienced Zen students to join us. If this is your first visit please arrive at least 15 minutes early for a brief orientation.
*Zoom link to program

Dharma Talk by Rev. Liên Shutt (Speaker on Zoom)
2024-01-15 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Rev. Liên Shutt (she/they) is the author of Home Is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path and a priest lineage holder in the Shunryu Suzuki tradition. Born to a Buddhist family in Vietnam, she received her meditation training in the Insight and Soto Zen traditions in the United States, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. She was a founding member of the Buddhists of Color in 1998 and currently is the guiding teacher of Access to Zen, an inclusive, anti-oppression sangha and nonprofit in the San Francisco Bay Area. She lives on Oblone land, currently called San Francisco, with her partner, exploring waterways and forests as often as they can. Visit AccessToZen.org for ways to connect and practice together.
We offer a Well-Being Ceremony on the third Monday of every month to remember friends, family, neighbors, pets and people of the world who are ill, facing a recent loss, or struggling with some difficulty in their lives. Please send the names of those you wish to be remembered to: Parāvrtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (Ino@valleystreamszen.org) by the Sunday evening prior.
*Zoom link to program
Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, or practice circle. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. We invite newcomers and experienced Zen students to join us. If this is your first visit please arrive at least 15 minutes early for a brief orientation.

Morning Zazen and Service (Hybrid)
2024-01-18 06:00 - 07:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Join us for two periods of zazen (seated meditation) and kinhin (walking meditation), or just the first or second second meditation periods, as your schedule allows.
6:00 am – Zazen (sitting meditation)
6:30 am – Kinhin (walking meditation)
6:40 am – Zazen
7:10 am – Morning Service
Please arrive a few minutes before the beginning of each period to t ake your seat in the zendo or, if arriving via Zoom, to allow the AV person time to admit you. If you arrive on Zoom after the beginning of the sit, the AV person will not admit latecomers until the beginning of the next period. Stay for a cup of tea after service if you join in person.
•Zoom meeting link
•Chants used in our morning service (SFZC website)
•Make a donation to help support our building expenses.

Study Group - Canceled
2024-01-18 08:00 - 09:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
We will meet again next Thursday, January 25th.
The Zen Study Group meets at the Sacramento Dharma Center and on Zoom. The study group is facilitated by Rev. So’on Jim Hare, with readings from ancient and contemporary Mahayana Buddhist & Soto Zen texts and commentaries.
To join the Thursday morning study group, email the coordinator, Rollin Ives, twl4148@gmail.com

Dharma Talk by Rev. Myō Lahey (Speaker on Zoom)
2024-01-29 19:00 - 21:00, 2024-03-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Rev. Myō Lahey is Abbot at Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco and Valley Streams’ guiding teacher. He previously served as the monastic Prior (Tantō) at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Rev. Lahey is a Dharma heir of Tenshin Reb Anderson.
Raised in an observant Roman Catholic home, Myō was drawn to religion and spirituality at an early age and found Zen Buddhism in his teens. Rev. Myō began sitting practice in 1969 while still in high school, and attended zazen-kai at Haiku Zendō in Los Altos, which had recently been established and which hosted Suzuki-roshi from time to time.
*Zoom link to program
Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, practice circle, or retreat night. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. Newcomers and experienced Zen students alike are invited to join us in the zendo or online via Zoom.

Practicing Patience - One-day Retreat Led by Rev. So'on Jim Hare
2024-02-03 08:30 - 16:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
The stream of sorrow is cut through by patience: so teaches an ancient Buddhist text. Practicing patience with the many ideas and feelings that arise in our sitting meditation trains our body/mind to more wisely respond the many situations in life that don’t align with our wishes or meet our expectations.
Our retreat day will include sitting and walking meditation, a Dharma talk and afternoon discussion period. Outside the meditation hall we will maintain noble silence. Please bring a bag lunch.
The suggested donation is $20 -$60. No one will be excluded for lack of funds. If this will be your first retreat day with us or you have questions, please email: info@valleystreamszen.org
Register on Eventbrite.

Dharma Talk by Rev. Taiga Ito (Speaker in Person)
2024-02-05 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Our guest, Rev. Taiga Ito, trained at Daihonzan Sojiji, one of the head monasteries of Soto Shu (Soto Zen in Japan). In 2016, Taiga Ito became Kokusaifukyoshi (international teacher of Soto Shu). He served as secretary of the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center between 2016 and 2018, and has served as its Assistant Director since 2019.
*Zoom link to program
Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, practice circle, or retreat night. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. Newcomers and experienced Zen students alike are invited to join us in the zendo or online via Zoom.

Interview with Tim Burkett by Berry Crawford (Speaker in Person)
2024-02-12 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Since 2021, Valley Streams sangha member Berry Crawford has been recording interviews with Zen teachers and practitioners for his Simplicity Zen Podcast. This evening’s program will feature a recorded interview with Tim Burkett.
Tim Burkett is Zen priest, Zen teacher and retired licensed Ph.D. psychologist. Tim was the Guiding Teacher of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center from 2002-2019 and the retired CEO of one of Minnesota’s largest non-profit mental health agencies, People Incorporated. He was among Suzuki Roshi’s and Katagiri Roshi’s first students and received dharma transmission from Sekijun Karen Sunna in the Katagiri lineage in 2000. He is the author of “Enlightenment Is an Accident: Ancient Wisdom and Simple Practices to Make You Accident Prone” published by Shambhala in 2023.
*Zoom link to program
Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, practice circle, or retreat night. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. Newcomers and experienced Zen students alike are invited to join us in the zendo or online via Zoom.

Dharma Talk by Berry Crawford (Speaker in Person)
2024-02-19 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Since 2021, Valley Streams sangha member Berry Crawford has been recording interviews with Zen teachers and practitioners for his Simplicity Zen Podcast. This time Berry will talk about what he has learned in the process of creating the podcast.
We offer a Well-Being Ceremony on the third Monday of every month to remember friends, family, neighbors, pets and people of the world who are ill, facing a recent loss, or struggling with some difficulty in their lives. Please send the names of those you wish to be remembered to: Parāvrtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (Ino@valleystreamszen.org) by the Sunday evening prior.
*Zoom link to program
Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, or practice circle. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. We invite newcomers and experienced Zen students to join us. If this is your first visit please arrive at least 15 minutes early for a brief orientation.

Dharma Talk by Shōku Kathy Early (Speaker on Zoom)
2024-02-26 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Guest teacher Shōku Kathy Early came to zen practice in 1994 through classes with Tenshin Reb Anderson at the Yoga Room in Berkeley while working as a semiconductor engineer in Silicon Valley. She then practiced for several years with Keido Les Kaye at Kannon Do Zen Center in Mountain View, after which she trained at San Francisco Zen Center for 16 years. She was priest ordained by Tenshin Anderson in 2005. Shōku also spent a year and a half in residence at Toshoji International Training Monastery, in Okayama, Japan, including four angos (90 day training periods).
*Zoom link to program
Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, practice circle or retreat night. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. We invite newcomers and experienced Zen students to join us in-person or on zoom.

A Buddhist Women’s Retreat (In Person)
2024-03-01 - 2024-03-03 | Green Gulch Farm, 1601 Shoreline Hwy, Muir Beach, CA, 94965, United States
EMBODYING OUR WILD SPIRIT ~ A Buddhist Women’s Retreat at Green Gulch Farm.

Led by: Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah, Ino and WaDen EiDo Barbara Baccei, Sensei
Imagine connection, creativity, body practices, deep sharing, and other guided practices.
Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah serves as Ino, or head of the meditation hall. She studied in the Soto Zen lineage with Sojun Diane Martin, founder and guiding teacher of Udumbara Zen Center in Illinois and Rev. Val Szymanski, Head Priest of Bamboo in the Wind Zen Center in Sunnyvale, California. She was lay ordained in 2008 and priest ordained in 2019. She served as head student for the Spring practice period at Bamboo in the Wind Zen Sangha in May 2022. She offers Practice Interviews upon request.
WaDen, an ordained Soto Zen Teacher, received Lay Entrustment from Kyōshō Valorie Beer Roshi. She is also a Soto Zen sewing teacher lineage holder of Suzuki Roshi. An alignment-focused yoga teacher, she is a graduate of the Berkeley Yoga Room Teacher Training. A contemplative artist and book artist, she works on paper and fabric embellished with findings from the natural world.
This retreat is now full.

Half-day Silent Retreat Led by Rev. So'on Jim Hare (In Person)
2024-03-02 08:30 - 12:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
This will be a silent meditation retreat (no Dharma talk). It is offered to simply to rest in samadhi (aka zazen), allowing silence and stillness to offer their blessings. The schedule will alternate six half-hour periods of sitting and walking meditation, with a short break mid-morning.
We’ll have an optional social lunch following the retreat. Please bring your own lunch.
Note that this sitting coincides with the Valley Streams women’s retreat at Green Gulch Farm, so our numbers may skew male. That said, everyone is welcome.
A donation of $20 is requested. No one will be turned away for lack of funds or donations of lesser amount.
If this will be your first half-day sitting or you have questions, please contact us through our website or at 916-456-7752.
Register on Eventbrite.

Dharma Talk by Rev. So'on Jim Hare (Speaker in Person)
2024-03-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Rev. So’on Jim Hare serves as Tanto, or head of practice. He lived in the San Francisco Zen Center community from 1980 to 1984 and was lay ordained by Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1985. He served as Head Student at Green Gulch Farm during the spring 2002 practice period, and was priest ordained by Rev. Myo Lahey in 2016.
*Zoom link to program
Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, or practice circle. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. We invite newcomers and experienced Zen students to join us. If this is your first visit please arrive at least 15 minutes early for a brief orientation.

Talk on "Climate change and the Dharma" by Oscar Balaguer and Diana Cassady (Speaker in Person)
2024-03-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
How do we think about something so big and inexorable as climate change? How should we live with that in the background of our lives? How do we face and practice with it? Oscar Balaguer and Diana Cassady will explore these big questions in their Dharma talk.
Senior student and longtime member of Valley Streams Sangha, Oscar Balaguer was lay ordained by Tenshin Reb Anderson. Diana Cassady practices with Sacramento Insight Meditation (SIM). She leads Third Act Sacramento (for climate activists over 60) and is currently head of SDC’s Climate Sangha.
We offer a Well-Being Ceremony on the third Monday of every month to remember friends, family, neighbors, pets and people of the world who are ill, facing a recent loss, or struggling with some difficulty in their lives. Please send the names of those you wish to be remembered to: Parāvrtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (Ino@valleystreamszen.org) by the Sunday evening prior.
*Zoom link to program
Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, practice circle or retreat night. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. We invite newcomers and experienced Zen students to join us in-person or on zoom.

Sangha Picnic and Hike (In Person)
2024-03-24 10:00 - 14:00 | Cache Creek Nature Preserve, County Road 20, Woodland, CA, 95695, United States
Join the sangha for a private guided tour and a picnic lunch at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve. Cache Creek Nature Preserve is a 130-acre complex of wetlands, oak woodlands, grasslands, and creekside lands located outside of Woodland. The site is home to two unique features: the Tending and Gathering Garden (TGG) and the Jan T. Lowrey Memorial Grove. The Nature Preserve has about 1.5 miles of trails through the grasslands, oak savanna, and by the wetlands. The riparian area bordering the Lower Cache Creek has been maintained in a natural state with willows and cottonwood trees shading the trail that winds along the southern edge of the Nature Preserve.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn about the Native American stewardship of this land and share time with each other in this special place.
To learn more and reserve you spot on the tour see Eventbrite.
