Way-Seeking Mind Talk, by Doralee Grindler Katonah
2019-05-20 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States

CLOSED for Memorial Day Holiday
2019-05-27 19:00 - 21:00

Dharma Talk by Rev. So On Jim Hare
2019-06-03 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. He was priest ordained by Myo Lahey in 2016.

Zen Poetry Night, led by Linda Dekker
2019-06-10 19:00 - 21:00
Sangha member, Linda Dekker, will lead us in an evening of reading and writing poetry.

Full Moon Ceremony
2019-06-17 19:00 - 21:00
This ceremony reminds us that enlightenment is enacted with Bodhisattva precepts, which are recited in a call and response format during the ceremony. We enter the ceremony following two periods of zazen interspersed with walking meditation. Whole-heartedly we celebrate the whole moon. Everyone is invited to participate.

Reading & Discussion Circle, led by Rev. So'on Jim Hare
2019-06-24 19:00 - 21:00
Reading “A Field Far Beyond Form & Emptiness”, by Tenshin Reb Anderson. (in Warm Smiles from Cold Mountains, SFZC, 1995)

Way-Seeking Mind Talk by Berry Crawford
2019-07-01 19:00 - 21:00
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.Mon

Tea & Conversation led by Linda Dekker
2019-07-08 19:00 - 21:00

Dharma Talk by Rev. So'on Jim Hare
2019-07-15 19:00 - 21:00
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.

Dharma Talk by Rev. Myo Lahey
2019-07-22 19:00 - 21:00
Our guiding teacher from Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco.

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.

Practice Talk by Bruce and Barbara Baccei
2019-07-29 19:00 - 21:00

Practice Talk by Doralee Grindler Katonah
2019-08-05 19:00 - 21:00

Sewing Buddha's Robe, with Doralee Grindler Katonah
2019-08-12 19:00 - 21:00
After zazen & a short service, we will have an opportunity to add some stitches to Doralee’s bowing cloth, which she has been sewing as part of her preparation for taking priest ordination vows. All are welcome to learn about this process and help support Doralee along her path.

Dharma Talk by Rev. Myo Lahey
2019-08-19 19:00 - 21:00
Rev. Myo Lahey is Abbot at Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco and our guiding teacher. He has previously served as Practice Leader at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. He is a Dharma heir of Tenshin Reb Anderson. Rev. Myo is available for individual practice discussion by appointment prior to our evening program.

Dharma Talk by Rev. So'on Jim Hare
2019-08-26 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. He was priest ordained by Myo Lahey in 2016.
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.

CLOSED for Labor Day Holiday
2019-09-02 19:00 - 21:00

Dharma Talk by Rev. Amie Diller
2019-09-09 19:00 - 21:00
Sensei Chiko Amie Diller practiced at San Francisco Zen Center before being priest ordained by Maurine Stuart, Roshi. In 2019 she received dharma transmission from Sokaku Kathie Fischer. Her Buddhist training has also included study and teaching in the Tibetan Gelupa tradition. She is a certified nurse-midwife, mother, and teacher of ‘Cultivating Emotional Balance’.

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.

Full Moon Ceremony
2019-09-16 19:00 - 21:00
This ceremony is an affirmation of the vow to live for the benefit of all beings. In the Zen tradition we associate the full moon with the ideal of awakening. All are welcome.

Dharma Talk by Rev. Myo Lahey
2019-09-23 19:00 - 21:00
Rev. Myo Lahey is Abbot at Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco and our guiding teacher. He has previously served as Practice Leader at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. He is a Dharma heir of Tenshin Reb Anderson. Rev. Myo is available for individual practice discussion by appointment prior to our evening program at the Dharma Center.

Practice Circle - Topic TBA
2019-09-30 19:00 - 21:00
The Three Treasures are the foundation of the Practice Circle: (1) the Oneness of Buddha, (2) the Diversity of Dharma, (3) the Harmony of Sangha. The circle itself is a container for being in the present, manifesting just as we are in the truth of the moment.
Our Practice Circle Guidelines: (adapted from the Zen Center of Los Angeles)
When speaking, we practice speaking from integrity and speak the truth as we know it. We stay focused on our own experience as opposed to taking about others or talking abstractly.
In listening, we try not to interrupt, even with our thoughts. We practice receiving whatever is being offered by another without attachments or judgements.
In silence, we allow all things to arise and pass away, accepting and honoring different expressions and perspectives. We sit with our discomfort.

Practice Circle - Fall Study Period begins
2019-10-07 19:00 - 21:00
Study period reading is The Record of Transmitting the Light: Zen Master Keizan’s Denkoroku, translated by Francis D. Cook, Wisdom Publications, 1996.
Online at SOTOZEN-NET. (different translation)

Dharma Talk by Rev. So-On Jim Hare
2019-10-14 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. He was priest ordained by Myo Lahey in 2016.
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.

Dharma Talk by Rev. Myo Lahey
2019-10-21 19:00 - 21:00
Rev. Myo Lahey is Abbot at Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco and our guiding teacher. He has previously served as Practice Leader at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. He is a Dharma heir of Tenshin Reb Anderson. Rev. Myo is available for individual practice discussion by appointment prior to our evening program at the Dharma Center.

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.

Sejiki Ceremony
2019-10-28 19:00 - 21:00
Our Sejiki, or food-offering, ceremony is an opportunity to call forth the spirits of those who have passed this way before, offering them solace and acknowledging our ongoing connection to them. Treats, tea and conversation after the ceremony. Please bring noise makers and a treat to share.

If you would like the name of a loved one who has died during the past year, recited in the ceremony, please send the full name of that person (and pronunciation) to info@valleystreamszen.org.
All are welcome.

Celebration of Doralee Grindler Katonah's Priest Ordination
2019-11-04 19:00 - 21:00
After zazen, we will celebrate Doralee Grindler Katonah’s recent priest ordination with her root teacher, Sojun Diane Martin, with whom she has studied for the past 18 years. Doralee’s ordination into the Soto Zen lineages of Shunryu Suzuki and Dainin Katagiri, took place on October 19th at Indian Creek Zen Farm near Ottawa, Illinois.
During her time of priest training Rev. Val Szymanski, Guiding Teacher at Bamboo in the Wind Zen Sangha in Sunnyvale, CA. has been her second teacher, here in California. Rev. Val received transmission from Roshi Diane Martin in 2010. In addition, Cornelia Junfu Shonkwiler, Head Teacher at Middle Way Zen in San Jose, Ca., was Doralee’s sewing teacher.
Rev. Val with the assistance of Practice Leader Jim Hare will conduct this welcoming of priesthood ceremony at the Sacramento Dharma Center.
All are invited to share in this auspicious event and enjoy tea and treats after the ceremony.

Dharma Talk by Rev. So-On Jim Hare (Fall Study Period ends)
2019-11-11 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. He was priest ordained by Myo Lahey in 2016.
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.

Dharma Talk by Alan Block
2019-11-18 19:00 - 21:00
Alan Block, Onzan Shinsho, is entrusted as a teacher of Zen Buddhism by Zoketsu Norman Fischer in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki of the San Francisco Zen Center. He worked in construction for 30 years and previously taught college level history. He leads an Everyday Zen Oakland sitting group called “meditation and a buddhist approach to life” on Tuesday evenings in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland.

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.

Way-seeking Mind Talk by Susan Farrar
2019-11-25 19:00 - 21:00

Discussion of a koan, led by So-On Jim Hare
2019-12-02 19:00 - 21:00
Discussion of a case from the Denkoroku: Record of the Transmission of the Light, led by Rev. So-On Jim Hare.
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.

Full Moon Ceremony
2019-12-09 19:00 - 21:00
This ceremony is an affirmation of the vow to live for the benefit of all beings. In the Zen tradition we associate the full moon with the ideal of awakening. All are welcome.
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.
