Morning Zazen and Service (Hybrid)
2024-07-11 06:00 - 07:30, 2024-07-18 06:00 - 07:30, 2024-07-25 06:00 - 07:30, 2024-08-01 06:00 - 07:30, 2024-08-08 06:00 - 07:30, 2024-08-15 06:00 - 07:30, 2024-08-22 06:00 - 07:30, 2024-08-29 06:00 - 07:30 (America/Los_Angeles) and 3 more dates | 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 take 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)

Study Group (Hybrid)
2024-07-11 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-07-18 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-08-01 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-08-08 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-08-15 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-08-22 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-08-29 08:00 - 09:00, 2024-09-05 08:00 - 09:00 and 2 more dates
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 Meikyo Bob Rosenbaum (Speaker in Person)
2024-07-15 19:00 - 21:00
Meikyo Robert Rosenbaum, PhD. received lay entrustment in Soto Zen from Sojun Mel Weitsman. He is also authorized as a senior teacher of the Taoist practice of Dayan (Wild Goose) Qigong in the lineage of Yang Meijun by Master Hui Liu. In addition, he has received denkai in Ordinary Mind Zen from Karen Terzano. Bob teaches Zen and Qigong at the Meadowmind Center in Sacramento.
Bob is the author of several books including Zen and the Heart of Psychotherapy, Walking the Way: 81 Zen Encounters with Tao Te Ching and most recently, That is not your Mind! Zen Reflections on the Sarangama Sutra.
*Zoom link to program
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.
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 WaDen Eido Barbara Baccei (Speaker in Person)
2024-07-22 19:00 - 21:00
WaDen Eido Barbara Baccei, 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.
*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.

Full Moon Ceremony (Hybrid)
2024-07-29 19:00 - 21:00, 2024-09-16 19:00 - 21:00
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.

Dharma Talk by Rev. Eijun Linda Cutts (Speaker on Zoom)
2024-08-05 19:00 - 21:00
Rev. Eijun Linda Cutts is a Senior Dharma Teacher at San Francisco Zen Center. Priest ordained in 1975, she has lived at Tassajara, SFZC City Center, and at Green Gulch Farm, where she has resided since 1993. She received Dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1996, and served as Abbess from 2000-2019 (with a hiatus from 2007-2010). As Senior Dharma Teacher, she continues to teach, leading practice periods and retreats at Tassajara, Green Gulch, and elsewhere, and has been leading Yoga-Zen retreats and workshops for many years.
*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.

Way Seeking Mind Talk by Konen Scott Lowe (Speaker in Person)
2024-08-12 19:00 - 21:00
Konen Scott Lowe’s Dharma biography: “I first encountered the Buddha Dharma when I was a teenager. In the library of the town I grew up in (Gallup, New Mexico). I randomly picked up a small volume of Hinayana Buddhism Sutras and history. As soon as I read a few pages, I was drawn to the voice of the Buddha, and from that day on, I considered myself a Buddhist.
Many years later, in 1994, I attended a Dharma talk at Green Gulch. Someone named Tenshin Reb Anderson gave the talk, and after hearing his talk, I thought, “I think this man is my teacher,” and so he is to this day. I took Jukai in 1999 and received the Dharma name Konen Shogaku.”
*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 Rev. So’on Jim Hare (Speaker in Person)
2024-08-19 19:00 - 21:00
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
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.
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.

Retreat Night (Hybrid)
2024-08-26 19:00 - 21:00
On Retreat Night we offer an opportunity to settle into your meditation practice with three 25-minute periods of zazen (sitting meditation), interspersed with kinhin (walking meditation). Turning the light inward, we explore the causes of suffering and what can end it.
If you are new to meditation or just exploring the idea, the Introduction to Meditation Class on the second Monday of the month is recommended before attempting an extended evening retreat.
*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. If this is your first visit please arrive at least 15 minutes early for a brief orientation.

Dharma Talk by Susan Moon (Speaker in Person)
2024-09-09 19:00 - 21:00
Susan Moon is a writer, editor, and lay teacher in the Soto Zen tradition. She is the author of a number of books about Buddhism, including the humor book The Life and Letters of Tofu Roshi and This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity. For many years she was the editor of Turning Wheel, the journal of socially engaged Buddhism. Her short stories and essays have been published widely.
Sue has been a Zen student since 1976, practicing in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi at Berkeley Zen Center, Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery, Green Gulch Farm, and now with Zoketsu Norman Fischer’s Everyday Zen sangha. She received “entrustment” as a lay teacher in 2005.
*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.
