"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 (America/Los_Angeles) | 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.

"Shitou's Thatched Hermitage" - One-day Retreat led by Kokyo Henkel (In Person Only)
2026-04-04 08:30 - 16:30
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.

"Releasing Nests of Being" - One-day Retreat led by Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (In Person Only)
2026-06-06 08:30 - 16:30
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
In zazen, we rest awake in the boundless silence and stillness that invisibly nourishes and sustains our everyday, active lives.
The mind holds the body, and the body holds the mind, in deeply habitual ways. In zazen (just sitting with nothing to get ahold of and nothing to get away from – in complete acceptance), we sit upright and settle deeply in the embrace between gravity and the earth. In zazen, we simply settle the body and disengage from excessive thinking, thus releasing the breath, the nervous system, and the musculature of the body. We dare to rest awake in the boundless silence and stillness that invisibly nourishes and sustains our everyday, active lives.
This retreat will be led by Nyokai Kristin Diggs. Our day will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, and a Dharma talk. A silent lunch break will be offered, during which indoor and outdoor seating will be available. Please bring your own 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.
This day of sitting will also offer periods of optional, personalised posture suggestions/adjustments to those who wish to receive help establishing a settled/easeful sitting posture.
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.
