"Living the Way in Tumultuous Times" - One-day Retreat led by Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (In Person Only)
2025-11-01 08:30 - 16:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Manifesting the promise of liberation becomes our legacy for future generations.

This one-day retreat will feature periods of sitting and walking meditation and a Dharma talk by Paravritti Doralee Grindler Katonah, Valley Streams Zen Sangha’s leader of the meditation hall. Lunch will be silent; please bring your own bag lunch.
Attendance is available on a sliding scale from $10 to $100. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. If this will be your first extended sitting with us, please send us a note at info@valleystreamszen.org to introduce yourself.
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.

Please register here.

Introduction to Zen Meditation (In Person Only)
2025-11-10 18:00 - 18:40, 2025-12-08 18:00 - 18:40, 2026-01-12 18:00 - 18:40, 2026-02-09 18:00 - 18:40, 2026-03-09 18:00 - 18:40, 2026-04-13 18:00 - 18:40, 2026-05-11 18:00 - 18:40, 2026-06-08 18:00 - 18:40 and 5 more dates | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
On the second Monday of each month, we offer a 40-minute introduction to Zen practice. We focus on the art of sitting meditation, with emphasis on posture, breath and mental focus. This is for new meditators and those wishing to refresh their practice of meditative immersion.
Following the instruction the Valley Streams Zen Sangha meets for a 30-minute meditation in the Dharma Hall followed by a 10-minute service and Dharma talk. You are invited to stay for these events after the instruction.
* Meets in the Library at Sacramento Dharma Center.
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Gratitude Dinner for the Sangha (In Person Only)
2025-11-24 18:00 - 20:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
As an expression of our deeply felt gratitude for the Sangha and the myriad ways its members support us and each other, the Valley Streams Board will offer dinner to all those who can join us on Monday, November 24.
Dinner will be provided by the board. What better way to enjoy Thanksgiving week than with one less meal to prepare? We’ll begin at 6:00 p.m. with a short sit and chant/dedication. Dinner in the break room will follow.

Rohatsu Sesshin Full Day Sitting (In Person Only)
2025-12-05 08:30 - 20:45, 2025-12-06 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
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 Half-Day Sitting and Buddha’s Enlightenment Ceremony (In Person Only)
2025-12-07 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
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.

"When arrow points meet head-on" - Half-day Sitting led by Rev. So’on Jim Hare (In Person Only)
2026-01-03 08:30 - 12:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Our January half-day retreat will include zazen, walking meditation (kinhin), a Dharma talk by So’on Jim Hare, and a social lunch to follow.

In his Dharma talk, Rev. So’on will discuss the ancient Chinese story referenced in the line, “When arrow points meet head-on, what has this to do with the power of skill” (from Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi) and its meaning for our practice. At the conclusion, we will enjoy our bag lunches and conversation.
Attendance is available on a sliding scale from $10 to $50. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please bring a bag lunch if you intend to stay for lunch.
If this will be your first extended sitting with us, please send us a note at info@valleystreamszen.org to introduce yourself.

Please register here.

"When the Wooden Man begins to Sing, the Stone Woman gets up Dancing" - One-day Retreat led by Rev. So'on Jim Hare (In Person Only)
2026-02-07 08:30 - 16:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Following up on January’s half-day, we’ll explore the next lines in the Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi and their guidance for our practice.

This retreat day will be led by So’on Jim Hare. The day will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, morning Dharma talk and afternoon Q&A/discusson. Jim will be available for practice discussion in the afternoon. Please bring a bag lunch. If this will be your first one-day sitting with us, please introduce yourself and briefly describe your meditation experience in an email to info@valleystreamszen.org

Please registrer here.

Library Debut Party (In Person Only)
2026-03-01 12:30 - 14:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
The SDC Library Committee is excited to announce that we are throwing a debut party to celebrate over two years of volunteer work. Our library of more than 1,600 Buddhist related titles has been reorganized and catalogued online.
**Please join us as we mark this accomplishment and share SDC’s resource!
Highlights include:

Introduction to the new electronic catalog which allows the collection to be searched from anywhere.
Display of unusual and amazing books in the inventory.
Refreshments!

Sharing inspiration: We encourage participants to bring a short (no more than one small paragraph) quote, adage or saying from a book/author that has inspired your practice to read at the gathering.
For more information, please contact Jody Ansell (Joaansell@gmail.com)

"Zen Freedom, Zen Enjoyment" - Half-day Sitting led by Nyokai Kristin Diggs (In Person Only)
2026-03-07 08:30 - 12:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
This half-day retreat will include zazen, walking meditation (kinhin), a Dharma talk by Nyokai Kristin Diggs, and a social lunch to follow.
Nyokai Kristin Diggs joined our sangha as Teacher in 2026. Prior to moving to Sacramento, she trained residentially at all three San Francisco Zen Center temples (2014-2025), holding a number of senior positions, including Ino, Tenzo, and Work Leader. Lay ordained by Tenshin Reb Anderson and priest ordained by Eijun Linda Cutts, she served as Shuso during the winter 2025 practice period at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, led by Eijun Linda Cutts.
In her Dharma talk, Nyokai Kristin Diggs will discuss “Not ignoring causation and not falling under its yoke.” Suzuki Roshi said, “Real freedom is to not feel limited when wearing this Zen robe, this troublesome formal robe. Similarly in our busy life we should wear this civilization…without ignoring it, without being caught by it. Without going anywhere, without escaping it, we can find composure in this busy life.”
A social lunch – bring your own – will follow the sitting.
Attendance is available on a sliding scale from $10 to $50. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
If this will be your first extended sitting with us, please send us a note at info@valleystreamszen.org to introduce yourself.
Please register here.

"Shitou's Thatched Hermitage" - One-day Retreat led by Kokyo Henkel (In Person Only)
2026-04-04 08:30 - 16:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
In this Dharma poem we hear how to build a thatched hut and to practice zazen by turning the light around.
Our daylong retreat will focus on the classic Zen poem, Song Of The Thatched Hermitage by our lineage ancestor Shitou, who also wrote the Sandokai or the Harmony of Difference and Equality. There will be morning and afternoon talks, zazen, and optional dokusan (private interviews). The retreat will end with a celebration of Buddha’s Birthday.
Your registration offering supports our guest teacher and the ongoing activities of Valley Streams Zen Sangha. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Contact info@valleystreamszen.org to request a scholarship, or if this will be your first retreat with us.
Kokyo Henkel has been practicing Zen since 1990, in residence at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, No Abode Hermitage in Mill Valley, Bukkokuji Monastery in Japan, and Santa Cruz Zen Center. He was ordained as a Zen priest in 1994 by Tenshin Anderson Roshi and received Dharma Transmission from him in 2010. Kokyo has also been practicing with the Tibetan Dzogchen (“Great Completeness”) teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche since 2003, in California, Colorado, and Kathmandu, as well as other Tibetan teachers in the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions, completing Vajrayana ngondro (foundational practices) in 2020. Kokyo’s retreat near Tassajara, called Bright Window Hermitage, welcomes Buddhist practitioners of all traditions.
Please register here.

Women’s Retreat at Green Gulch Farm (In Person Only)
2026-04-30 - 2026-05-03 | Green Gulch Farm, 1601 Shoreline Hwy, Muir Beach, CA, 94965, United States
Be part of our Sangha of Embodied Women Co-creating Our Future. Our weekend together at Green Gulch Farm will include dharma teachings, meditation, mindfulness practice, yoga, conversation and sharing, communal living and eating. There will be generous free time for walking in nature or whatever your heart desires. Plus, the merriment of art making and koan theater. This is the place from which trust, faith, creativity and friendship grow.
Registration is limited, so please apply today. For registration details and application, contact Doralee Grindler Katonah, grindkaton@icloud.com, 916.284.4783 or Katrena Paine, katrenapaine@gmail.com, 916-261-9902.

"Cultivating the Mind of Equality" - Half-day Sitting led by So’on Jim Hare (In Person Only)
2026-05-02 08:30 - 12:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Our practice of observing thoughts and feelings without getting involved in them cultivates the mind of equality.
As we go through life, we learn that it is not possible to control circumstances so that everything always goes smoothly; not possible to make it so that there are never any deviations from our plans, our hopes, and our desires. Zen practice is teaches us how to meet pleasant and unpleasant circumstances with the mind of equaity.
“There is a power which you cannot grasp with your rational mind. It operates freely, according to the situation, in a more natural way. At the same time, this power functions in our lives to clarify and settle activities and is beneficial to all living beings.” Dogen
If this will be your first extended sitting with us, please send us a note at info@valleystreamszen.org to introduce yourself.
A social lunch – bring your own – will follow the sitting.
Attendance is available on a sliding scale from $10 to $50. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Please register here.

"Releasing Nests of Being" - One-day Retreat led by Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (In Person Only)
2026-06-06 08:30 - 16:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
We create nests of being that call for release for our true nature to freely engage our everyday lives. Come practice together.
The theme of this one-day retreat will be a discussion of the koan, “If you don’t swing the sword, the fisherperson stays in the nest.” (68 Jiashan “Swinging the Sword”, Book of Serenity.)
Come Practice together: Wonder “What is this nest of being?” (not Why), let the sword swing, let go, let go, exhale into emptiness.
The day will feature periods of sitting and walking meditation and a Dharma talk by Paravritti Doralee Grindler Katonah, Valley Streams Zen Sangha’s leader of the meditation hall. Lunch will be silent; please bring your own bag lunch.
Attendance is available on a sliding scale from $10 to $100. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. If this will be your first extended sitting with us, please send us a note at info@valleystreamszen.org to introduce yourself.
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.

Please register here.

One-day Sitting led by Nyokai Kristin Diggs (In Person Only)
2026-07-18 08:30 - 16:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
This one-day retreat will feature periods of sitting and walking meditation and a Dharma talk by Nyokai Kristin Diggs. Lunch will be silent; please bring your own bag lunch.
Nyokai Kristin Diggs joined our sangha as Teacher in 2026. Prior to moving to Sacramento, she trained residentially at all three San Francisco Zen Center temples (2014-2025), holding a number of senior positions, including Ino, Tenzo, and Work Leader. Lay ordained by Tenshin Reb Anderson and priest ordained by Eijun Linda Cutts, she served as Shuso during the winter 2025 practice period at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, led by Eijun Linda Cutts.
If this will be your first extended sitting with us, please send us a note at info@valleystreamszen.org to introduce yourself.
Registration link is coming soon.

Doan Training For Everyone (In Person Only)
2026-08-01 08:30 - 12:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
After 2 opening periods of zazen, followed by morning service, we will offer Doan training for anyone who would like to strike the bells (the doan), play the wooden fish or mokugyo (the fukudo), or intone the sutra title and dedication (eko) of the service (the kokyo). Participants don’t have to commit to future service on the doan ryo (the doan team), but can express their interest if so moved. Our morning will end with a closing service and social lunch (please bring your own). This is a free event.
If this will be your first extended sitting with us, please send us a note at info@valleystreamszen.org to introduce yourself.

Inter-Sangha Jizo Ceremony Led by Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (In Person Only)
2026-08-30 13:30 - 16:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Jizo is the beloved Great Bodhisattva found within many Buddhist traditions, who carries us across the threshold of death and loss and safely accompanies us through the ‘hell zones’ of deep suffering.
Especially honored in Japan, Jizo (also known as ‘Earth Store’ or ‘Earth Womb’) brings to us the qualities of courage, fearlessness, and tenderness needed to enter into our experiences of grief and loss and to open our hearts to the mystery of life and death.
This will be a sacred time for us to come together to acknowledge and remember the death of someone dear to us or another kind of significant loss, whether recent or from long ago. We will take refuge in the safe container of our shared presence with each other for the sake of our healing.
We will be introduced to this ceremony by our facilitator and then in silence we will create hand-made offerings for our loved ones. In a ceremony of remembrance we will honor their lives and our relationship with them. We will complete the ceremony with a processional into our garden to offer prayer flag messages for the dying and for ourselves as we continue to live our lives.
In this sacred space we will together turn towards the complexity of grief and discover the strength that arises when we embrace our interconnectedness with all beings.
For further information contact: Paravrtti Doralee Grindler Katonah at Ino@valleystreamszen.org.
This ceremony has been brought to us from Japan by Yvonne Rand and Jan Chosen-Bays and transmitted to Chris Forten and Sarah Emerson (all transmitted Zen Priests). Paravrtti Doralee Grindler Katonah will lead this fourth inter-sangha event. She has had two years of training in preparation for guiding this ceremony.
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.

Sangha Annual Meeting & Potluck Brunch (In Person Only)
2026-10-24 10:00 - 13:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
You are invited to Valley Streams Zen Sangha’s Annual Meeting and potluck brunch. Spouses, partners, friends, and family—all are welcome. Gather in the West Lobby at 10 a.m. to share a meal and each other’s company. After the brunch, the 2026-2027 Board and officers will be introduced and give a report on the state of the Sangha. You will get an update on the Sangha’s financial health, including the Maitreya Fund that was established last year to provide a resource for future Sangha leadership. We look forward to enjoyable conversations and hearing your thoughts about ongoing Sangha activities.
