Valley Streams Zen Sangha

Way Seeking Mind Talk by Patrick Dunn (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-05-04 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Sacramento Dharma Center, Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Patrick Dunn has been practicing with Valley Streams Zen Sangha since 2024. After several years of sitting zazen and reading Dharma books alone, he realized he couldn’t continue without Sangha. He is grateful to have found Valley Streams and to serve on its Board of Directors. Patrick is also a nonprofit executive, musician, and writer. He lives in the Sacramento area with his wife, daughter, and dog.
*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 Nyokai Kristin Diggs (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-05-11 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-06-08 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-08-24 19:00 - 21:00
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.
*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.

"Walking together in the charnel ground awakens the Bodhisattva Path" - Dharma Talk by Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-05-18 19:00 - 21:00
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.
*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. Or you may add a name Monday evening in the Zoom Lobby before zazen. Please consider speaking with the person(s) you want to name for their permission or to know their wish to not be named.
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 Ango Sara Tashker (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-06-01 19:00 - 21:00
Ango Sara Tashker has been a San Francisco Zen Center residential practitioner since 2002. She has held many positions, including Farm Manager, Creek Restoration Project Manager, and Director at Green Gulch Farm, as well as working in the kitchen and bathhouse and being Head Student (Shuso) at Tassajara. She loves that her every activity is the fertile ground of Zen practice: growing food, relating to community, being a mother, appreciating the breath and body. In the fall of 2019, she received Dharma Transmission from her late teacher, Sojun Mel Weitsman.
*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 So’on Jim Hare (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-06-15 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-07-20 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-08-17 19:00 - 21:00
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. Or you may add a name Monday evening in the Zoom Lobby before zazen. Please consider speaking with the person(s) you want to name for their permission or to know their wish to not be named.
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.

"Chapter 4 of the Lotus Sutra" - Group Reading Program (Hybrid)
2026-06-22 19:00 - 21:00
For our Dharma program this evening we will do a group reading Chapter 4 of the Lotus Sutra, titled “Faith Discernment” or “Faith and Understanding.” This chapter tells the story of a son long-separated from his father and is a parable for students of the Way who have trouble recognizing their kinship with Buddha.
*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)
2026-06-29 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-08-31 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.

Wild Women's Sangha 3rd Annual Retreat Panel Presentation (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-07-06 19:00 - 21:00
WILD WOMEN’S SANGHA 3RD ANNUAL RETREAT AT GREEN GULCH FARM (April 2026)
PANEL PRESENTATION by Sangha Participants –
Paravrtti Doralee Grindler Katonah, Wa Den Barbara Baccei
UnJo Karen Hamilton, Valerie Hanson, Lori Chambers
It is important, when some of us go off on ‘pilgrimage’ upon returning, to bring our gifts of wisdom and discovery to the larger community. Time for discussion and questions will follow.
*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 Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-07-13 19:00 - 21:00
Tonight we will learn about and practice together with the ingredients, or processes that make us human – form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness – to be liberated from all that bind us to enter the field of awakened life.
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.
*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 Danan John Wark (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-07-27 19:00 - 21:00
Danan John Wark is a teacher in the Single Flower Sangha line that descends from the Kwan Um School of Zen, which in turn derives from the Sudeoksa mountain lineage of the Jogye Order of Korean Zen (Seon). Danan received precepts in 2009 and Inka in 2019 from Zen Master George Bo Mun Bowman, the founder of the Single Flower Sangha. Danan has practiced in the Rinzai tradition and studied koans with Bo Mun for over 20 years. He has also practiced in the Soto tradition with Tenshin Reb Anderson roshi at No Abode Hermitage for more than a decade. In 2014 Danan established Cloud Zendo, a sangha that presently meets every first and third Saturday of the month and start at 9 AM in Auburn.
*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.

Practice Talk by Shokan Clement Spring (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-08-03 19:00 - 21:00
Shokan Clement Spring serves as Head Doan on the Practice Committee of Valley Streams Zen Sangha. He received Jukai (lay precepts) with Rev. Myō Lahey in 2013 and Shukke Tokudo (priest ordination) with Rev. Kyosho Valorie Beer in 2023. He has completed three practice periods, two pre- and one post-ordination at Green Gulch Farm in Marin County.
*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.

Short Retreat Night (Hybrid)
2026-08-10 19:00 - 21:00
On Retreat Night we offer an opportunity to settle into your meditation practice with two 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 Heather Shōren Iarusso (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-09-14 19:00 - 21:00
Currently, Heather lives at City Center and is the Branching Streams director, providing guidance and support for SFZC affiliate sanghas. Before being in this role, Heather spent nine years total living at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. She completed 17 cloistered, 90-day practice periods and 10 summers of work practice. Heather has held numerous roles at Tassajara, including being the supervisor of the meditation hall (ino), the head cook (tenzo), the director, and the tanto (head of Zen practice).
Heather first received the precepts in January 2003 and was ordained as a Zen priest in October 2014. She received Dharma transmission in 2022. Heather holds master’s degrees in communications, creative writing, and English literature. She writes and podcasts on her Spark Zen Substack.
*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 Nyokai Kristin Diggs (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-09-21 19:00 - 21:00
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.
*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. Or you may add a name Monday evening in the Zoom Lobby before zazen. Please consider speaking with the person(s) you want to name for their permission or to know their wish to not be named.
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 Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (Hybrid, Speaker in Person)
2026-09-28 19:00 - 21:00
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.
*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.
