Rohatsu Sesshin, One-Day Sitting (online)
2021-12-03 06:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
One-Day Sitting – ONLINE – 6 am – 8:45 pm
The Zoom link and schedule will be sent to those who have registered at Eventbrite.com.
Full Rohatsu Sesshin 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 will be online only; Saturday we offer a full day of sitting in person at the Dharma Center. We close out the week on Sunday, Dec. 5, with a half-day, in-person program of zazen, a Dharma talk, followed by a closing ceremony.

Rohatsu Sesshin, One-Day Sitting (in person)
2021-12-04 09:00 - 17:00
One-Day Sitting – in person – 9 am – 5 pm
This sitting will be in person at the Dharma Center and will not be offered on Zoom. The schedule will be sent to all who have registered at Eventbrite.com
• Please remember to bring a lunch.
Full Rohatsu Sesshin 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 will be online only; Saturday we offer a full day of sitting in person at the Dharma Center. We close out the week on Sunday, Dec. 5, with a half-day, in-person program of zazen, a Dharma talk, and closing ceremony.

Rohatsu Sesshin, Half-day sitting & Closing Ceremony (in person)
2021-12-05 09:00 - 12:00
Half-Day Sitting and Buddha’s Enlightenment Ceremony

This sitting will be in person at the Dharma Center. It will not be offered on Zoom. The schedule for the day will be sent to all who have registered at Eventbrite.com
Full Rohatsu Sesshin 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 will be online only; Saturday we offer a full day of sitting in person at the Dharma Center. We close out the week on Sunday, Dec. 5, with a half-day, in-person program of zazen, a Dharma talk, and closing ceremony.

Dharma Talk on Patience by Paravrtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (in person & online)
2021-12-06 19:00 - 21:00
What my quirky coffee pot taught me about patience and what this has to do with Buddha’s Awakening —
According to Norman Fischer, “Patience (Kshanti paramita) is the most important of all the bodhisattva practices because without it all the others will eventually fail.” In this world of polarization, pandemic fears and terrible realities, shocking racial injustice and violence, impatience easily takes over. Through the practice of patience we can transform our impatience – yet what does this mean exactly? We will together look freshly at the paramita of patience in light of Buddha’s gift of the dharma.
Paravrtti 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.
*Zoom link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82008151977

Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (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.

Morning Zazen & Service (in-person and online)
2021-12-09 06:00 - 07:30, 2021-12-16 06:00 - 07:30, 2021-12-23 06:00 - 07:30, 2021-12-30 06:00 - 19:30
Please join us for early morning silent meditation each Thursday before Study Group meeting. Contact Rollin Ives at twl4148@gmail.com for Zoom login and program information.
Schedule:
5:45-Zoom room opens,
6:00-Zazen,
6:30-Walking Meditation,
6:40-Zazen,
7:10-Service
•Download SFZC Chants in PDF.

Study Group (in-person & online)
2021-12-09 08:00 - 09:00
The Zen Study Group is now meeting at the Dharma Center AND online. 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

Prior to the meeting, download the free Zoom Client for Meetings (13 MB) As you “Wait for the host to start the meeting” click the Test Computer Audio button to make sure you can hear and be heard by others.

Meeting ID: 83295648686 (the same each week)
At 7:50 am, join the meeting at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83295648686

**From your telephone, tap once: +16699006833,,83295648686# US (San Jose)
OR
Call 669 900 6833 (San Jose). At the prompt, enter 83295648686
Use these controls: *9 = Raise hand; *6 = mute/unmute

Introduction to Zen Meditation (in person)
2021-12-13 18:00 - 18:40
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.
•Meets in the Library at the Sacramento Dharma Center.
Sign up for Weekly Emails to receive current program information.

Dharma Talk by Susan Moon (in person & online)
2021-12-13 19:00 - 21:00
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 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82008151977

Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (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.

Winter Solstice Celebration (in person and online)
2021-12-20 19:00 - 21:00
Welcome the new year by celebrating the treasure of sangha with your sangha friends. This will be an evening of sharing poetry, stories, and music.

Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (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.

Relinquishment Ceremony, led by Paravrtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (in-person & online)
2021-12-27 19:00 - 21:00
We are entering a New Year – an auspicious time to “commune with the source” and ask what specific mind habit or pattern is in the way of our enlightenment practice. “Relinquish” means to renounce or surrender something – to let go of your grip on something, to give something up that is no longer needed, to desist from a pattern, to ask what is holding me back, what am I afraid of, and to bring compassion to something that is difficult to change. This is a question to sit with; to allow emptiness to offer a message. Tonight we will create “Relinquishment Scrolls” with simple art supplies provided to express our Relinquishment Intentions for the year 2022. People on zoom are invited to gather their own art supplies – paper, crayons and pen. After the ceremony you may choose to place your scroll on your home altar or ‘burn’ it in the fire 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.
Paravrtti 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.

Way-seeking Mind Talk by Cody Miller (in-person & online)
2022-01-03 19:00 - 21:00
Each of us has come to Zen practice as a seeker, with a spirit of inquiry, from diverse backgrounds. The idea of our way-seeking mind talks is for members to share how it is they came to practice. Each person tells his or her own story in a unique way that often blends autobiography, spiritual biography, and the practice questions that each is engaged with.

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.

Meeting ID for Monday Evenings: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82008151977
Prior to the meeting, download the free Zoom Client for Meetings (13 MB) As you Wait for the host to start the meeting click the Test Computer Audio button to make sure you can hear and be heard by others.
Download the chants in PDF.
At 6:50 pm, join the meeting.
The program will begin at 7pm with this approximate schedule: 30 minute sitting; 5 minute chant; announcements; then a 30-40 minute Talk/Discussion.

*To join by telephone (audio only):

Dial 669 900 6833 (San Jose) and follow voice prompts for entering the Meeting ID and password.
Phone Controls: *9 = Raise hand; *6 = Mute/unmute

Morning Zazen & Service (in-person and online)
2022-01-06 06:00 - 07:30
Please join us for early morning silent meditation each Thursday before Study Group meeting. Contact Rollin Ives at twl4148@gmail.com for Zoom login and program information.
Schedule:
5:45-Zoom room opens
6:00-Zazen
6:30-Walking Meditation
6:40-Zazen
7:10-Service
•Download SFZC Chants in PDF.

Zazenkai Half-day Sitting (online)
2022-01-08 08:30 - 12:30
Please join us online for a half-day “Zazenkai” retreat on Saturday, January 8th. This retreat will focus on the practice of just sitting (Shikantaza) and just walking (Kinhin), in silence and inner stillness. Zazenkai is a silent meditation retreat that doesn’t feature a Dharma talk. It is simply to go deeply into the practice of zazen, allowing silence and stillness to offer their blessings. The schedule will alternate six half-hour periods of sitting and walking meditation, with a short silent break mid-morning. A donation is requested, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Register on Eventbrite

Introduction to Zen Meditation (in person & online)
2022-01-10 18:00 - 18:40
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.
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8678881476
Sign up for Weekly Emails to receive current program information.

Dharma Talk by Rev. Myo Lahey (online)
2022-01-10 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. Tonight’s talk will be online from Hartford Street Zen Center.
Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (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.
*Zoom link for this program: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82008151977

Morning Zazen & Service (online)
2022-01-13 06:00 - 07:30

Study Group (online)
2022-01-13 08:00 - 09:00, 2022-01-27 08:00 - 09:00, 2022-02-03 08:00 - 09:00
The Zen Study Group is temporarily meeting online. 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

Anti-Racism Book Club (online)
2022-01-13 16:30 - 18:00
The Anti-Racism Book Club will gather to envision the next phase of practice and inquiry together. The intent of the group is to explore how to live beyond our social conditioning, while holding a vision of a world of diversity and inclusion, where peace and justice are intertwined. This is a good juncture for new people to join the group and, of course, for existing members to continue. At this meeting, the group will consider its future regular meeting day and time. Group leaders are Doralee Grindler Katonah, Linda Dekker, and Sarah O’Gara. Books are chosen by the group, and we rotate facilitators. ALL ARE WELCOME.
• For more information please contact Doralee at grindkaton@icloud.com.
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85317508594
Meeting ID: 853 1750 8594 Passcode: [REDACTED]
One tap mobile:
+16699006833,,85317508594#,,,,*[REDACTED]# US (San Jose)
+12532158782,,85317508594#,,,,*[REDACTED]# US (Tacoma)

Martin Luther King, Ancestral Guide Along the Bodhisattva Path (online)
2022-01-17 19:00 - 21:00
Please join us online while sangha members Richard Hicks and Omonivie Okhade lead our program to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Richard Hicks was first introduced to Buddhism in an Asian Philosophies class in college and has been practicing Soto Zen since 2011 at Valley Streams Zen Sangha. In 2019 he became a member of the BIPOC Sangha (affiliated with SBMG) and has intensified his study of Buddhism through participating in the Valley Streams Dharma Study Group.
Omonivie Okhade has been practicing meditation for 15 years and has been a member of SBMG for over 10 years, previously serving on its Board as an officer and Board President. She reestablished SBMG’s People of Color Sangha (now BIPOC Sangha) in 2018 and served as its facilitator, creating a safe and intimate space for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Omonivie is a multidisciplinary artist in Sacramento, with a body of work in handmade jewelry and sculpture under the moniker Tula in Bloom.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all Indirectly.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

*Zoom link for this program: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82008151977

Morning Zazen & Service (online)
2022-01-20 06:00 - 07:30, 2022-01-27 06:00 - 07:30, 2022-02-03 06:00 - 07:30

Study Group (online)
2022-01-20 08:00 - 09:00
The Zen Study Group is temporarily meeting online only. 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

Dharma Talk by So'on Jim Hare (online)
2022-01-24 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 Rev. Myo Lahey in 2016.
*Zoom link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82008151977

Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (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.

"Who Am I?" - A One-Day Sitting, led by So'on Jim Hare (online)
2022-02-05 09:00 - 17:00
Settling the body-mind in stillness and ease, opening to the ineffable wisdom of Dharma, the deepest questions may arise.
This online retreat will be led by Valley Streams practice leader So’on Jim Hare. The day will include a morning Dharma talk and afternoon discussion.

NOTE: If this will be your first day-long sitting with Valley Streams Zen, please contact us at info@valleystreamszen.org for an orientation or call us at 916-456-7752. Register at Eventbrite.com
