Valley Streams Zen Sangha

Medicine Buddha Meditation with Susan Farrar
2023-10-09 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Susan began practicing in the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism in 2008 and took refuge with Lama Yeshe Jinpa in 2009. She competed the Buddhist Chaplaincy course of study through the Sati Center in 2019 and considers chaplaincy her “calling” after having spent 5 years as a hospice respite volunteer, 4 years as a volunteer hospital chaplain, and is now embarking on a path of hospice chaplaincy as a volunteer. Through Lion’s Roar Dharma Center, she has also taught beginners classes and facilitated discussion groups since 2015.
Susan also sits with Valley Streams Zen Sangha and serves on its Board of Directors as well as on the Board of Directors of Lion’s Roar Dharma Center.
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.
*Click here for Zoom link.

Potluck Brunch and Valley Streams Zen Sangha Annual Meeting (In-person)
2023-10-14 10:00 - 13:00 | CA
Join the Valley Streams for a Sunday potluck brunch and Annual Meeting. Spouses, partners, friends, and family—all are invited. Gather at 10 am to share a meal and each other’s company. After a fun social mixer, President Dave Jarrell will introduce the 2023-2024 Board and give a report on the state of the sangha. We look forward to enjoyable conversations and thoughtful contributions to deepening our Buddhist practice in sangha life.
RSVP via Eventbrite.

Civil Rights Pilgrimage with Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah and Malia McCarthy (Hybrid)
2023-10-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Cultivating Courage to Engage Calls for Justice.
Inspired by the courage of the Civil Rights Movement Doralee and Malia will continue unfolding their pilgrimage experiences (first presentation was October 9) through reflecting upon the many faces of courage and how our practice life informs us. Come participate in this inquiry in both the larger community and practice circles..

Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah along with Malia McCarthy will speak of their experiences with time for tender discussion amongst all of us in a practice circle.
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.
*Click here for Zoom link.

Workshop with Keiryu Liên Shutt (Zen) and Dawn Haney (Vipassana) (Speakers in person)
2023-10-22 13:00 - 17:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Home Is Here: Healing Harm with Compassionate Connection
What does it mean to attend to our suffering in body, heart, and mind when racism has caused such intense hurt and pain, individually and collectively?
Grounded in the Eightfold Path, this workshop offers us a journey on the Path of restoration from the results of white supremacy culture’s racism by examining deeply and fully individual and collective conditioning, questioning it in mindful and compassionate ways. With courageous honesty, we investigate how we may have been misled, misinformed, or perhaps, even colluded in perpetuating or creating hurt and harm.
We’ll engage in practices from Rev. Liên’s book Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path* which emphasizes wholeness-based interactions, or Compassionate Connections, with each other. These exercises will support and allow us to let go of old beliefs. We will learn new skills and behaviors, building confidence that we are able to heal from the hurts and harms of racism as we practice co-creating liberation for all.
To foster brave spaces, this workshop will have teachings and instructions for the full group while exercises and processing will be in BIPOC or white-identified affinity groups. It is sponsored by SBMG and co-sponsored by the BIPOC Sangha. Please contact the scholarship coordinator; no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
This workshop** is for anyone seeking restoration and healing from the hurts and harm of racism.
* Rev. Liên & Dawn will be in dialogue about the book at Capital Books on Saturday, 10/21, at 3 p.m. Come join us and buy your book for the workshop!
**Workshop participants are encouraged to attend SBMG’s morning program led by Rev. Liên and Dawn on Oct 22, 10 am-12 noon, 3111 Wissemann Dr, Sacramento.
Rev. Liên Shutt (she/they) is a priest lineage holder in the Shunryu Suzuki tradition. Born to a Buddhist family in Vietnam, she received her meditation training in the Insight and Soto Zen traditions in the U.S., Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. She was a founding member of the Buddhists of Color in 1998 and currently is the guiding teacher of Access to Zen, an inclusive, anti-oppression sangha and non-profit in the SF Bay Area. She lives on Ohlone land, currently called San Francisco, with her partner, exploring waterways and forests as often as they can. Visit AccessToZen.org for ways to connect and practice together. Her new book, Home Is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path (North Atlantic Books, pub 8/22/2023) builds on foundational Buddhist teachings – the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path — offering an intersectional framework to help us embody antiracist practices and tend to our healing and wholeness.
Dawn Haney (they/she) has been organizing, coaching, teaching, and writing for 20 years, on feminism, white anti-racism, Buddhism, leadership, and liberation. They braid together wisdom from Buddhism and social justice traditions, understanding identity, power, and change through their own experiences as a white, fat, queer, nonbinary femme, and through social movements from migrant justice to fat liberation. A dharma student since 2003, she is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders program, a Community Teacher at East Bay Meditation Center and the Alphabet Sangha, and taught across the US as former Co-Director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
Click here to register.

Dharma Talk with Rev. So'on Jim Hare (Speaker In-person)
2023-10-23 19:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Rev. 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.

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.
*Click here for zoom link.

Sejiki Ceremony (Hybrid)
2023-10-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
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.
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.
Please bring bells, cymbals, drums, or other noisemakers with which to call the hungry ghosts into the Dharma Hall to eat our food offerings. Everyone is invited to stay for treats and conversation after the ceremony.
*Click here for zoom link.

The Mysterious Unfolding of Our Undivided Reality: a Half-day Retreat with Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (In Person)
2023-11-04 08:30 - 12:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Come rest in the mystery, practice with great awareness, and experience the mystery unfolding amongst us. The retreat includes periods of zazen (sitting meditation), kinhin (walking meditation), and a dharma talk. Please bring a bag lunch and join us for an informal lunch at 12:30 pm. Hot water and tea will be available. Everyone is welcome.

For more information contact us at info@valleystreamszen.org. If you have limited or no experience in sitting meditation, please email the teacher at grindkaton@icloud.com.
Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah serves as Ino, or head of the meditation hall. She studies 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 Sangha in California. She was lay ordained in 2008 and priest ordained in 2019. She served as head student for the spring 2022 practice period at Bamboo in the Wind Zen Sangha. She offers practice interviews upon request.

REGISTER ON EVENTBRITE

Dharma Talk by Rev. So'on Jim Hare (Speaker in Person)
2023-11-06 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Rev. 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
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 Rev. Myō Lahey (Speaker on Zoom)
2023-11-13 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Rev. Myō Lahey is Abbot at Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco and Valley Streams’ guiding teacher. He previously served as the monastic Prior (Tantō) at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Rev. Lahey is a Dharma heir of Tenshin Reb Anderson.
Raised in an observant Roman Catholic home, Myō was drawn to religion and spirituality at an early age and found Zen Buddhism in his teens. Rev. Myō began sitting practice in 1969 while still in high school, and attended zazen-kai at Haiku Zendō in Los Altos, which had recently been established and which hosted Suzuki-roshi from time to time.
*Zoom link to program
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. Newcomers and experienced Zen students alike are invited to join us in the zendo or online via Zoom.

Dharma Talk by Susan Moon (Speaker on Zoom)
2023-11-20 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
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.
Sue has been a Zen student since 1976, practicing in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi at Berkeley Zen Center, Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery, Green Gulch Farm, and now with Zoketsu Norman Fischer’s Everyday Zen sangha. She received “entrustment” as a lay teacher in 2005.
*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.

CLOSED - Thanksgiving Day
2023-11-23 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States

Rohatsu Sesshin - Opening Evening Program (Online)
2023-11-26 19:30 - 20:30 | ONLINE via Zoom
Rohatsu means the 8th day of the 12th month, which is the traditional day for celebrating Buddha’s enlightenment. Sesshin means ‘to gather the mind.’ As the darkest days of the year approach, we sit together with the principle of awakening, fully opening to the ‘wisdom beyond wisdom’ that is revealed in sitting meditation.
The initial days of this week-long retreat will be offered online via Zoom, sitting mornings and evenings, starting Sunday evening Nov. 26 through Thursday Nov. 30. Friday Dec. 1 and Saturday Dec. 2, we will sit in person all day at the Dharma Center, including into the evening. These in-person days will include Oryoki meals, the traditional three-bowl Zen style of eating. We will end with a half-day in-person sitting and closing ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 3. There will be a Full Moon Ceremony on Monday evening and Dharma talks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Register for week-long program on Eventbrite
Full 7-Day Rohatsu Schedule

Sunday Schedule:
7:30 pm Welcome and Orientation
8:00 pm Zazen
8:30 pm Refuges
For more information or to request a reduced fee or scholarship, please contact us at info@valleystreamszen.org

Rohatsu Sesshin Morning Program (Online)
2023-11-27 06:00 - 07:30 | ONLINE via Zoom
Morning Rohatsu schedule for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – ONLINE
6:00 am Zazen
6:30 am Kinhin
6:40 am Zazen
7:10 am Service
Register for week-long program on Eventbrite
Full 7-Day Rohatsu Schedule
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.

Full Moon Ceremony (Hybrid)
2023-11-27 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
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.

Rohatsu Sesshin Evening Program (Online)
2023-11-28 17:00 - 21:00 | ONLINE via Zoom
Evening Rohatsu schedule for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – ONLINE
5:00 pm Zazen
5:30 pm Service
Break/Dinner
7:30 pm Zazen
8:00 pm Kinhin
8:10 pm Zazen
8:40 pm Refuges
Register for week-long program on Eventbrite
Full 7-Day Rohatsu Schedule
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 Morning Program (Hybrid)
2023-11-30 06:00 - 07:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Morning Rohatsu schedule for Thursday – HYBRID
6:00 am Zazen
6:30 am Kinhin
6:40 am Zazen
7:10 am Service
Register for week-long program on Eventbrite
Full 7-Day Rohatsu Schedule
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 Full Day Sitting (In Person)
2023-12-01 08:30 - 20:45 | 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
Full 7-Day Rohatsu Schedule
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. This sesshin is a combination of in-person and online. It will last a full week, but we’ll be sitting only morning and evening periods, Sunday – Thursday. Friday and Saturday we offer a full day of sitting in person at the Dharma Center. We close out the week on Sunday, Dec. 4, with a half-day, in-person program of zazen, a Dharma talk, and closing ceremony

Rohatsu Sesshin Half-Day Sitting and Buddha’s Enlightenment Ceremony (In Person)
2023-12-03 08:30 - 12:00 | 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
Full 7-Day Rohatsu Schedule
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.

Practice Circle guided by Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (Speaker in Person)
2023-12-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
DRINKING FROM THE WELL-SPRING OF LIFE
WHERE SUFFERING AND ENLIGHTENMENT MEET
Come participate in the Practice Circle and listen to and share ways in which your Practice Life offers self-care and well-being for living fully in this ‘world on fire’.
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.
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.
*Chant for all beings
*Zoom link to program

Dharma Talk by Ryuko Laura Burges (Speaker on Zoom)
2023-12-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Ryuko Laura Burges, a lay entrusted dharma teacher in the Soto Zen tradition, teaches classes, lectures, and leads retreats in Northern California. She received monastic training at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and is in long-term recovery. Laura co-founded the Sangha in Recovery Program at the San Francisco Zen Center and is the abiding teacher at Lenox House Meditation Group in Oakland. Shambhala Publications offers her Buddhist children’s books, Buddhist Stories for Kids and Zen for Kids. Her most recent book from Shambhala is The Zen Way of Recovery: An Illuminated Path Out of the Darkness of Addiction. Laura lives in San Francisco.
Laura Burges has recently published a new book, The Zen Way of Recovery, which reflects her long experience working with people in recovery. In her Dharma talk at Valley Streams she will offer a teaching based on this line from the Hokyo Zanmai, the Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi: “When erroneous imaginations cease, the acquiescent mind realizes itself.” She writes: “When we loosen the grip of our self-created suffering, our flowing, flexible, Big Mind is able to shine forth. Perhaps our most pervasive erroneous imagination is, ‘I am alone, a stranded individual in my own tiny boat.’ Actually, we are deeply connected to all things and all beings.”
*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.

Winter Solstice Celebration (Hybrid)
2023-12-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Celebrate the winter solstice with sangha friends.
After a 35-minute meditation and service, we will gather to entertain each other on this long winter night with instruments, song, favorite poetry new and old, stories and skits. Bring your creativity and share your hidden talents. Bring a treat to share after the entertainment.
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.
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.

CLOSED - Christmas Holiday
2023-12-25 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States

Welcoming the New Year (In Person)
2023-12-31 19:00 - 21:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
On Sunday evening December 31st, we will welcome the New Year at the Dharma Center with a silent sitting, walking meditation, and the traditional ringing of 108 bells. We hope to debut a new Densho bell of unknown provenance, acquired from Japan. The sitting will be from 7 to 9 p.m., followed by a quiet celebration with mock sake and treats. Since Valley Streams Sangha will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day (both Mondays), this will be an opportunity for communal practice during the holidays. This sitting will be open to everyone, with a special invitation to those who regularly practice with other sanghas at the Dharma Center and elsewhere.
Register on Eventbrite

CLOSED for New Year's Day
2024-01-01 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States

Morning Zazen and Service (Hybrid)
2024-01-04 06:00 - 07:30, 2024-01-11 06:00 - 07:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Join us for two periods of zazen (seated meditation) and kinhin (walking meditation), or just the first or second second meditation periods, as your schedule allows.
6:00 am – Zazen (sitting meditation)
6:30 am – Kinhin (walking meditation)
6:40 am – Zazen
7:10 am – Morning Service
Please arrive a few minutes before the beginning of each period to take your seat in the zendo or, if arriving via Zoom, to allow the AV person time to admit you. If you arrive on Zoom after the beginning of the sit, the AV person will not admit latecomers until the beginning of the next period. Stay for a cup of tea after service if you join in person.
•Zoom meeting link
•Chants used in our morning service (SFZC website)

Study Group (Hybrid)
2024-01-04 08:00 - 09:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
The Zen Study Group meets at the Sacramento Dharma Center and on Zoom. The study group is facilitated by Rev. So’on Jim Hare, with readings from ancient and contemporary Mahayana Buddhist & Soto Zen texts and commentaries.
To join the Thursday morning study group, email the coordinator, Rollin Ives, twl4148@gmail.com

Knowing without Touching Things - Half-day Retreat Led by Rev. So'on Jim Hare (In Person)
2024-01-06 08:30 - 12:30 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
Hongzhi lived in 12th century China and is famous for his Zen poems, which are recorded the Book of Serenity and elsewhere. Eihei Dogen admired his poem called Zazenshin and commented on it in his own text of the same name. During this retreat we’ll look at Hongzhi’s Zazenshin, particularly the line, “Knowing without touching things, illuminating without facing objects.”
Our morning will entail alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talk, and end with a chanting service. Please bring some previous meditation experience and, if you like, a bag lunch – there will be a social lunch following the sitting.
If this will be your first half-day sitting or you have questions, please contact us through our website or at 916-456-7752.
To register go to Eventbrite.

Introduction to Zen Meditation (In Person Only)
2024-01-08 18:00 - 18:40 | 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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Relinquishment Ceremony led by Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (Hybrid)
2024-01-08 19:00 - 21:00 | Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
We are entering a New Year – an auspicious time to ‘commune with the “source”‘ and deepen our Practice life. Our practice of relinquishment is our practice of liberation.
A RELINQUISHMENT CEREMONY invites us to receive a message from our Buddha Nature, after asking: ‘what life pattern or habit do I need to be released, something that I hold onto tightly, something no longer needed in my life, a need to detach from what constricts me, each for the sake of our enlightenment, for sustaining our growth as bodhisattvas‘.
This evening, after sitting together in silence, we will each consider this question and make a scroll that expresses our Relinquishment Vow. Paper, and drawing utensils will be provided.
There will be time to share and reflect upon our drawings. You may take your scroll home for your altar or find a ritual time to burn your scroll, a symbol of letting go.
REMEMBER – Letting go is a vast teaching. When we let go we lift our burdens; we open into this amazing interdependent field of being where possibilities for liberation are always arising.
People coming on zoom will bring their own paper and drawing utensils. For questions contact: Ino@valleystreamszen.org
Rev. Parāvrtti Doralee Grindler Katonah serves as Ino, or head of the meditation hall. She studied in the Soto Zen lineage with Sojun Diane Martin in Illinois and Rev. Val Szymanski in California. She was priest ordained in 2019 by Sojun Diane Martin.
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.
*Zoom link to program
