CANCELLED - One Day Sitting with Reb Anderson
2018-04-21 09:00 - 16:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, 95826, United States

Seeing / Drawing Meditation Retreat
2018-05-05 09:00 - 16:00
In drawing, we have an opportunity to set aside our egos while becoming one with the object. The investigation takes us into the essence of the object, seeing it as it truly is. This is not an art class per se, and no prior drawing experience is required. What is asked for is our willingness to deeply observe, connect our eyes with our hearts and hands, and open to whatever may emerge. This mostly silent day will include periods of meditation and movement. Weather permitting, we will work outdoors.
Led by Karen Hamilton and Barb Baccei.
Please bring a bag lunch.
$20 plus $10 for materials. Scholarships are available.
Please contact info@valleystreamszen.org
REGISTER at eventbrite.com

Mind of Compassion, Body of Support
2018-06-02 09:00 - 16:00
A Day of Zen Meditation, Buddhist Teaching & Yoga, taught by Kyosho Valorie Beer and Barbara Baccei
Immerse yourself in a day of traditional Buddhism and alignment Yoga. From Buddhism’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness, you will be guided in identifying long-held emotional patterns and the way they show up in your body. Meditation allows us to study our interpretations of the body’s experience as pain and pleasure. Yoga reveals the visceral connection integrating mind and body together for the relief of suffering. Find ease in your body-mind. Live in the world with more compassion for yourself and others. An adaptive approach for people of all genders, backgrounds, abilities and disabilities.
Kyosho Valorie Beer has practiced Zen Buddhism since 1991. She ordained as a priest in 2005 and received dharma transmission in 2013 from her teacher Edward Espe Brown. She is a visiting teacher for San Francisco Zen Center’s Branching Streams sanghas.
Barbara Baccei has practiced yoga since 1990. She was teacher certified in 1997. She divides her time between Sacramento and Berkeley, practicing and teaching, and completing training through The Berkeley Yoga Room

No meditation or yoga experience required.
Please bring a sack lunch and yoga mat.
Fee: $0-$60 sliding scale
Information: Barbbaccei@gmail.com
REGISTER at Eventbrite.com

Half-day Sitting, led by Rev. So On Jim Hare
2018-07-07 08:30 - 12:30
Like a Snake in a Bamboo Tube – a half-day Zen sitting and Dharma talk

“Putting a snake in a bamboo tube” is an old simile for zazen. Just as the snake naturally wants to wiggle and not be confined, so we often have a problem holding ourselves still. Even when we stop the body, the mind continues to move. So over and over again, we practice patience with our wiggly nature. Sitting and walking, sitting and walking is an excellent method for realizing stillness. We hope you will join us.
REGISTER AT EVENTBRITE.COM

Photographs will be taken after the sitting.
Please bring a bag lunch if you would like to stay for informal lunch after the sitting.

*Our one-day and half-day sittings are generally held on the first Saturday of every month.

Half-Day Sangha Work Practice, led by Linda Dekker
2018-08-04 09:00 - 12:00
“Work as meditation” illustrates how work is just as important a time for mindfulness practice as sitting zazen or walking meditation. In work as meditation, there isn’t too much need for thinking, planning or conceptualizing. While effort is made to do what we are doing efficiently and beautifully, we needn’t hurry or worry about how much is getting done. In not rushing to get the dishes washed or the carpets vacuumed, we have an opportunity to just appreciate the work for what it is—a thoroughgoing engagement with our life in the moment.
We will begin the day with a period of zazen; then pick up our tools with silent intention. Please join us, and bring a bag lunch to stay for social time in our freshly cleaned center!
To register, email zendekker@gmail.com

CANCELLED: One-day Sitting with Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
2018-08-04 09:00 - 17:00
We are sorry that Zenju has had to cancel this retreat with us due to illness.

The Radiant Light of Buddha Nature: One-day Sitting with Kokyo Henkel
2018-09-22 09:00 - 17:00
Kokyo Henkel is the resident teacher at Santa Cruz Zen Center. Prior to assuming his current position, he practiced at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, No Abode Hermitage in Mill Valley, and Bukkokuji Monastery in Japan.
He was ordained as a priest in 1994 by Tenshin Anderson Roshi and received Dharma Transmission from him in 2010. Kokyo enjoys studying the original teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan with an eye to their relevance in bringing peace and harmony to this troubled world.
» REGISTER at EventBrite.com
The fee is on a sliding scale of $20-$60, according to ability. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. You will be invited to give an additional teacher donation on the day of the retreat. For questions, please contact Sarah at sarah_ogara@yahoo.com or 916-484-6808.

Half-day Sitting, led by So On Jim Hare
2018-10-06 09:00 - 13:00
Sitting with Calm and Insight: a half-day schedule of sitting and walking meditation, offered along with a Dharma talk by So On Jim Hare on the teachings of Shamata and Vipassana (Calming and Insight) from the Samdhinirmochana Sutra. This will be a continuation of a Dharma talk that was given on September 10th, but it will stand on its own for people who did not attend that talk.

Please bring a bag lunch if you would like to join us for a social lunch after the formal program.
If this is your first time practicing with us or your first half-day sitting, please call Jim at 916-456-7752 so you can learn more about the day. $20

Register on Eventbrite – or sign up on a Monday evening.

3-Day Rohatsu Sesshin
2018-11-30 09:00 - 2018-12-02 12:00
“…when we practice zazen, it is not that big mind is actually controlling small mind, but simply that when small mind becomes calm, big mind starts its true activity.” ~Suzuki Roshi
This multi-day, non-residential retreat is an opportunity to set aside the concerns of daily life for two and a half days, giving all your attention to your sitting practice and taking care of yourself as you would take care of a guest. The schedule will include sitting and walking meditation, breaks and Dharma talks. Vegetarian meals will be served in a modified oryoki-style for lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday. Oryoki is the traditional 3-bowl way of serving and eating meals together in silence.
Schedule: Friday & Saturday, 9 am – 9 pm.; Sunday, 9 am – noon.
Cost: $60 for full sesshin; $30 per full day; $15 per half day (scholarships available)
Register on a Monday night with So-On Jim Hare.

One-day Sitting, led by So On Jim Hare
2019-03-02 09:00 - 17:00
“I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing;
wait without love,
For love would be love of the wrong thing;
there is yet faith
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.”
~ T.S. Elliot
With this sitting, we will celebrate Dogen’s practice/realization, something that Elliot intuitively describes in his poem. Everyone is invited to join this day of sitting and walking meditation. There will be a Dharma talk and silent bag lunch (please bring your own lunch).
REGISTER ON EVENTBRITE.COM
Questions? Email So On Jim Hare at info@valleystreamszen.org

Every Day Brand New - A One-day Retreat, led by Rev. Mary Mocine
2019-04-06 09:00 - 17:00
Reverend Mary Mocine, Abbess of Vallejo Zen Center aka Clear Water Zendo, will lead this one-day sitting. She trained at San Francisco and Berkeley Zen Centers, and at Tassajara Zen Monastery. She received dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman in May 2005.
The theme for this sitting is “Buddha’s birthday, renewing our practice.” The day will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, a Dharma talk and a ceremony to celebrate the birth of the Buddha (traditionally celebrated on April 8th in Japan).
Registration is on a sliding scale, from $20 to $50, in $10 increments. There is the option to register and pay online, or register and pay at the door. A teacher donation will be requested on the day of the retreat. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. If you would like a scholarship, or if this will be your first one-day sitting with us, please call Jim Hare at (916) 456-7752 before April 3rd and prior to registering.
Please bring a bag lunch to enjoy during this day of quiet, calm and attentive renewal.

Accomplishing the Work of Great Peace - a one-day retreat with Rev. Myo
2019-05-04 09:00 - 17:00
“Accomplishing the work of great peace is without sign” – Tiantong. Since this is so, we can find it everywhere. But some say, “It still eludes my heart/mind.” If so, then we are invited to return to the meditation hall. Please join us for a day of stillness and peace, supported by the deeply practiced wisdom of our guiding teacher, Rev. Myo Lahey, Abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco.
Register at Eventbrite.com is on a sliding scale, $20-$50, or you may pay at the door. A teacher donation will be requested on the day of the retreat. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. If you would like a scholarship, or If this will be your first one-day sitting with us, please call Michael Simpson at ‭(860) 922-7796 prior to registering.
**Please bring a bag lunch to enjoy during this day of quiet, calm and attentive renewal. Rev. Myo will available for individual practice discussion during the sitting.

Dharma Calligraphy: Create Your Own Scroll, with Rev. Val Szymanski
2019-06-01 09:30 - 16:30
Please join us for our 4th annual Dharma Art Day for an opportunity to create your own calligraphy scroll! The retreat will be led by Rev. Val Szymanski, founding teacher of Bamboo in the Wind Zen sangha, and esteemed calligrapher.
No previous experience is necessary, and all supplies will be provided. Class size is limited to 20.
Register at Eventbrite.com

One-day sitting led by Rev. So-On Jim Hare
2019-08-03 09:00 - 16:30
Upright sitting-Zen is a gesture of healing, a gesture of compassion, a gesture of self-respect. From the vista point of this practice we can see things clearly, as they are, stripped of emotional overlays and intellectual interpretations. Such seeing can be called Buddha’s wisdom.
Our Tanto (Practice Leader), So On Jim Hare, will lead this one-day of sitting and walking meditation. There will be a Dharma talk and silent bag lunch.

Please bring a bag lunch.
If this is your first time practicing with us or your first one-day sitting, please call Jim at 916-456-7752 or email info@valleystreamszen.org
Registration on Eventbrite.com – or sign up on a Monday evening. $20 or inquire about scholarship.
Our one-day and half-day sittings are held on the first Saturday of every month.

Zazenkai Half-day Sitting
2019-09-07 08:30 - 12:30
Zazenkai means “to come together for meditation.” As such, it is a short retreat, with the periods marked by the usual bells and interspersed with walking meditation, but with no Dharma talk or instruction. It is a time to come together and enjoy sitting and walking with one’s Dharma friends. It is a time for uninterrupted practice. Everyone is welcome .

Please bring a bag lunch if you would like to join us for a social lunch after the formal program.
If this is your first time practicing with us or your first half-day sitting, please call Jim at 916-456-7752 so you can learn more about the day. $20 or scholarship.

Register on Eventbrite.com – or sign up on a Monday evening.

Buddha Activity: a Two-day Teaching Retreat with Tenshin Reb Anderson
2019-10-05 09:00 - 17:00
Tenshin Reb Anderson will lead this 2-day retreat. His theme is: “An old time buddha said, ‘earth, grass, trees, all living beings are engaged in buddha activity.’ Buddha activity is the unceasing process of freeing all beings so they may live in peace and harmony. The buddha ancestors called this buddha activity zazen. In this retreat we will study, practice and realize this great activity.”
Reb Anderson was ordained as a priest in 1970 by Shunryu Suzuki roshi, who gave him the name Tenshin Zenki (“Naturally Real, The Whole Works”). He received dharma transmission in 1983 and served as abbot of San Francisco Zen Center from 1986 to 1995. Tenshin Roshi continues to teach at Zen Center and No Abode Hermitage, and leads retreats across the U.S. and in Europe.
Register on Eventbrite.com or at a sangha meeting.

A separate teaching donation will be requested at the retreat.
A vegan box lunch is available for people who register by September 30th. Please purchase the $12 meal ticket in addition to your registration or bring your own lunch.
If the registration cost is beyond your means, please email info@valleystreamszen.org to request a reduced rate or scholarship.
Saturday-only registration is available for those unable to attend the full retreat.

Imagination & the Bodhisattva Path: a Day-long Retreat with Zoketsu Norman Fischer
2019-10-20 10:00 - 16:30
The full title of this retreat is “The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path.” Norman will lead us in sitting and walking meditation, and speak on themes from his new book, The World Could Be Otherwise, Through the Buddhist teaching of the six paramitas or “perfections”, this book demonstrates an imaginative approach to spiritual practice in difficult times, leading to kindness, wisdom, and a more awakened life. Copies will be available for purchase at the event.
Norman Fischer is a poet, essayist, and a Zen Buddhist priest who teaches in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. In 2000, he retired as co-abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center to found Everyday Zen Foundation, an organization dedicated to adapting Zen Buddhist teachings to Western culture.
This retreat is sponsored by SBMG (Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group)
Register on Eventbrite.com

Half-day Sitting, led by So On Jim Hare
2019-11-02 09:00 - 13:00
A half-day schedule of sitting and walking meditation, offered along with a Dharma talk by So-On Jim Hare.

Please bring a bag lunch if you would like to join us for a social lunch after the formal program.
If this is your first time practicing with us or your first half-day sitting, please call Jim at 916-456-7752 so you can learn more about the day. $20

Registration TBA – or sign up on a Monday evening.

Rohatsu Sesshin, Day 1
2019-12-06 09:00 - 21:00
“…when we practice zazen, it is not that big mind is actually controlling small mind, but simply that when small mind becomes calm, big mind starts its true activity.” ~Suzuki Roshi
For the third year, Valley Streams Zen is offering a two-and-a half day non-residential sesshin. This is an opportunity to set aside daily concerns, giving all our attention to our sitting practice, and taking care of ourselves as we would a guest. The schedule for this retreat will be 9am – 9pm on Friday, December 6 and Saturday, December 7, and 9am – 12pm on Sunday, December 8 (plus 1/1/2 hours cleanup). In addition to a schedule that includes sitting and walking meditation, break periods and Dharma talks, we will serve oryoki-style meals for lunch and dinner on the first two days of the retreat. Oryoki is the traditional practice of serving and eating meals together in silence. Please sign up by November 25, by completing the form below and returning it to Practice Leader Jim Hare.
Schedule: Friday & Saturday, 9 am – 9 pm.; Sunday, 9 am – 2 pm.
Cost: $60 for full sesshin; $30 per full day; $15 per half day (scholarships available)
Register using this form; on a Monday night; or email So-On Jim Hare at info@valleystreamszen.org
** Watch a short video demonstrating basic Oryoki forms
** Oryoki Instruction Booklet

Rohatsu Sesshin, Day 2
2019-12-07 09:00 - 21:00
“…when we practice zazen, it is not that big mind is actually controlling small mind, but simply that when small mind becomes calm, big mind starts its true activity.” ~Suzuki Roshi
For the third year, Valley Streams Zen is offering a two-and-a half day non-residential sesshin. This is an opportunity to set aside daily concerns, giving all our attention to our sitting practice, and taking care of ourselves as we would a guest. The schedule for this retreat will be 9am – 9pm on Friday, December 6 and Saturday, December 7, and 9am – 12pm on Sunday, December 8 (plus 1/1/2 hours cleanup). In addition to a schedule that includes sitting and walking meditation, break periods and Dharma talks, we will serve oryoki-style meals for lunch and dinner on the first two days of the retreat. Oryoki is the traditional practice of serving and eating meals together in silence. Please sign up by November 25, by completing the form below and returning it to Practice Leader Jim Hare.
Schedule: Friday & Saturday, 9 am – 9 pm.; Sunday, 9 am – 2 pm.
Cost: $60 for full sesshin; $30 per full day; $15 per half day (scholarships available)
Register using this form; on a Monday night; or email So-On Jim Hare at info@valleystreamszen.org
** Watch a short video demonstrating basic Oryoki forms

Rohatsu Sesshin, Day 3
2019-12-08 09:00 - 14:00

Meditation and Writing Retreat, led by Susan Moon
2019-12-14 09:00 - 16:30
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.
This event is sponsored by SBMG. Register on Eventbrite

Half-Day Sitting led by So-On Jim Hare
2020-01-04 09:00 - 13:00
Zazen practice eases anxiety and fear, and brings forth our courageous spirit, strengthening our capacity to meet what comes with a calm mind. Please join us for a morning of sitting and walking meditation and a Dharma talk.

Please bring a bag lunch if you would like to join us for a social lunch after the formal program.
If this is your first time practicing with us or your first half-day sitting, please call Jim at 916-456-7752 so you can learn more about the day. $15

Register on Eventbrite.com – or sign up on a Monday evening.

A Good Voyage of Nothing - One-day Zen Sitting led by So-On Jim Hare
2020-02-01 09:00 - 17:00
“I have discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color—something which exists before all forms and colors appear.” ~ Shunryu Suzuki, roshi
This theme will be explored in our practice and in the Dharma talk. The retreat will be led by So-on Jim Hare, Valley Streams Zen’s practice leader. This is a day-long sitting and walking meditation retreat for people with previous retreat experience, though not necessarily in Zen.

Please bring a bag lunch.
If this is your first time practicing with us or your first one-day sitting, please call Jim at 916-456-7752 or email info@valleystreamszen.org
Register on Eventbrite.com – or sign up on a Monday evening.
$20 or inquire about scholarship.
Our one-day and half-day sittings are held on the first Saturday of every month.

Jizo Ceremony - For Loved Ones Who Have Died and Other Losses
2020-03-07 13:00 - 16:00
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 facilitators 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.
Everyone is welcome and there is no fee. Donations offered will be given to the Susan Orr Memorial Garden.
Registrer at Eventbrite.com
For further information contact: Doralee Grindler Katonah at grindkaton@icloud.com
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). Doralee Grindler Katonah will lead, assisted by Rev. Amie Diller. Doralee has received two years of training in preparation for guiding this ceremony.

Journal Practice for the Pandemic, led by Beth Jacobs, Ph.D. (ONLINE)
2020-06-20 10:00 - 12:00
In this unprecedented time, a writing practice can help sustain a sense of orientation within the chaos. We can discern awareness of the First Noble Truth through articulation of our personal challenges, behaviors, feelings, and reactions to events. Expressive writing helps us both stay with and let go of the enormous pressure of current changes as expressed by the pandemic. After a 30-minute meditation, we will discuss applications of therapeutic writing processes to global and shared trauma. Beth Jacobs will guide us through three different writing techniques.
Beth Jacobs is a writer, clinical psychologist, and a lay-entrusted Soto Zen teacher. Her books include The Original Buddhist Psychology, A Buddhist Journal; Guided Practices for Writers and Meditators.
REGISTRATION: at Eventbrite.com
Fee: $20 or what is realistic for you.
Information: Doralee at grindkaton@icloud.com

Half-day Sitting, led by So-on Jim Hare
2020-08-17 08:00 - 12:00
Details to follow.

Bringing Mindfulness to the Fore; a half-day sitting
2020-09-12 09:00 - 13:00
“A monk goes to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty room, sits down cross-legged in the lotus position [or some other way], holds the body straight, and establishes mindfulness in front of him/her.” ~The Satipatthana Sutra.

The schedule for this retreat will include sitting and walking meditation, and a short Dharma talk by Valley Streams Zen Sangha practice leader, So-On Jim Hare. The schedule will include the option to begin sitting early, before joining the group on Zoom.
•This event is offered by donation. Please consider making an offering through Eventbrite.com when you register, or from the link on our homepage.
REGISTER HERE to receive full details and instructions for joining via Zoom.

Half-day Sitting (outdoors), led by So-On Jim Hare
2020-10-10 08:30 - 12:30
After these many months of sitting at home, we have an opportunity to practice together, sitting outside, socially distanced. (Air quality and weather permitting!) This will be a “zazenkai” sitting, meaning a schedule of silent sitting and walking meditation, with no dharma talk. Everyone will be masked and at least 6 feet apart.
Registration is by donation and the number of attendees is limited. Please send an email if you are not already on our email list.

Half-day Sitting, led by So-On Jim Hare
2020-11-07 09:00 - 13:00
Resting the mind in the midst of the habitual activity of thought is the ultimate form of relaxation.

This will be a online sitting with a schedule of sitting and walking meditation and a short Dharma talk by Valley Streams Zen practice leader, Jim Hare. The schedule will include the option to begin sitting early, before joining the group on Zoom, as we did in the September sitting.
Register on Eventbrite.com
