Sangha Annual Meeting & Potluck Brunch
2017-10-22 10:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA, 95826, United States
This is a once-a-year opportunity to meet your sangha friends, new board members and get the news about Valley Streams Zen Sangha. All members, along with their family & friends are warmly invited to attend.
Please let us know by email or in person, what food offering, and how many people you will bring. Drinks and utensils will be provided.
Sunday, Oct. 22, 10 am – 1 pm at the Dharma Center

Dharma Talk by Rev. Myo Lahey
2017-10-23 19:00 - 21:00, 2017-11-27 19:00 - 21:00, 2018-01-22 19:00 - 21:00
We welcome our guiding teacher from Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco.

Meditation & Talk with Robert Rosenbaum at SBMG
2017-10-29 19:00 - 21:00
Robert “Meikyo Onzen” Rosenbaum started Zen practice around 1971 with Joshu Sasaki Roshi, after which he studied with Omori Roshi in Japan.

Around 1987 he began practice at Berkeley Zen Center with Sojun Mel Weitsman
Around 2005, he was shuso at BZC
Around 2009, he received formal lay entrustment to teach Soto Zen from Sojun Mel Weitsman and was a founding member of Lay Zen Teachers Association
2012-2014, he was residing teacher at Meadowmont Sangha in Arnold/Sonora
2009-present: Robert has given lectures and workshops on various topics at SF Zen Center, Tassajara, and Houston Zen Center
2014-present, invited teacher leading sesshins at Clifton Hill Sangha (Melbourne, Australia); Ordinary Mind Sangha in Tampere/Lammi, Finland
books:
Zen and the Heart of Psychotherapy (1999)
Walking the Way: 81 Zen Encounters with the Tao Te Ching (2014)
What’s Wrong with Mindfulness (and what isn’t): Zen Perspectives (2016; co-edited with Barry Magid)

Sejiki Ceremony
2017-10-30 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.

Half-day Sitting
2017-11-04 09:00 - 13:00
Our November 4th half-day sitting will be followed by a modified Oryoki (3-bowl) lunch at noon. This will help orient us to the meal practice that we will use for our mini-Rohatsu sesshin that’s coming up December 1-3. So, if you are planning to attend November 4th, you don’t need to bring a lunch; it will be provided. Everyone is welcome.
If this is your first sitting with Valley Streams Zen, please call Jim at 916-456-7752 before registering.

Sacramento Dharma Center's One-Year Anniversary Celebration
2017-11-05 13:30 - 16:00
Please join us as we take a look back at how far we’ve come in our first year. We’ll get an “Envisioning” update from Lynelle and Steve McNiel that will help us chart future uses of our building and grounds. Enjoy some treats, drinks, and socializing too.
SDC President Susan Orr’s words are as fitting now as they were a year ago:

“I am so moved by the way we have been co-creating this home for the Dharma. It feels to be a particularly auspicious moment – celebrating our harmonious intentions when our country is so fraught with conflict. May what we do truly benefit the end of suffering for all.”

One Mind: a cinematic meditation
2017-11-06 19:00 - 21:00
One Mind is an intimate portrait of life inside one of China’s most respected & austere monastic communities. Eschewing talking-head interviews and the authority of a narrative voice, audiences can expect an immersion into the textures and sounds of life in a traditional Zen (Chan) monastic community in Southern China.
(2016; Edward A. Burger; filmed in Jiangxi Province, China; 81 mins.; Mandarin with English subtitles)

Practice Talk by Patti Mitchell
2017-11-13 19:00 - 21:00

Dharma Talk by Lama Yeshe Jinpa
2017-11-20 19:00 - 21:00
Lama Yeshe Jinpa is the spiritual director and resident teacher of Lion’s Roar Dharma Center in Sacramento. In 1995, Lama Jinpa received direct heart/mind transmission from Geshe Gyatso after 25 years of Dharma practice and study. He is one of the few western lamas thus far recognized within the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan or Vajrayana Buddhism, the lineage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

3-day Rohatsu Sesshin
2017-12-01 09:00 - 2017-12-03 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 it true activity.” ~Suzuki Roshi
For the first time Valley Streams Zen is offering a multi-day, non-residential retreat. This is an opportunity to set aside the concerns of daily life for two and a half days, giving all our attention to our sitting practice and taking care of ourselves as we 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
Please sign up by November 21 by completing the form and returning it to Jim Hare.
Sesshin Signup Form (pdf)
Sign up at the zendo, by email info@valleystreamszen.org or by US mail to
VSZS, 3111 Wissemann Dr., Sacramento, CA 95826

Tea & Discussion of SDC Envisioning
2017-12-04 19:00 - 21:00
After meditation & service, join us for tea and discussion. The evening will be devoted to responding to building plans envisioned for our home, the Sacramento Dharma Center.

Tea & Discussion of SDC Envisioning
2017-12-11 19:00 - 21:00
After meditation & service, join us for tea and discussion. The evening will be devoted to responding to landscape plans envisioned for our home, the Sacramento Dharma Center. Lynelle McNeil, landscape architect, will be joining us.
Study her design options from your own computer: SDC Concepts Slideshow (PDF)

Dharma Talk by Susan Moon
2017-12-18 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. Her most recent book is most recent book is The Hidden Lamp: Stories from 25 Centuries of Awakened Women.
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.

CLOSED for Christmas Day Holiday
2017-12-25 19:00 - 21:00

Winter Celebration & Refreshments
2018-01-01 19:00 - 21:00
Welcome the new year by celebrating the treasure of sangha with your sangha! Please bring a finger food offering, and poetry, story, or music to share (if you wish).

Deep Listening as a Spiritual Practice, by Doralee Grindler Katonah
2018-01-06 09:00 - 12:30
Suzuki Roshi said practice is about “listening to ourselves.” This is not always so easy. Being truly understood by another helps us to listen within. In ordinary conversation, it is rare that we really listen to each other. When we feel heard, we comprehend something about ourselves that has been a mystery. In this workshop, Doralee Grindler Katonah will guide us through simple exercises to help us listen to each other with our whole bodies.
Sign up at a meeting or email Doralee at dgk@livingforwardwhole.com

Dharma Talk by Bob Rosenbaum
2018-01-08 19:00 - 21:00

Discussion, led by Patti Mitchell
2018-01-15 19:00 - 21:00
Patti Mitchell will lead our discussion to recognize and celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Full Moon Ceremony
2018-01-29 19:00 - 20:45
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.

One-day Sitting, led by So On Jim Hare
2018-02-03 09:00 - 17:00
“Outwardly still while inwardly moving, like a tethered colt or a trapped rat, the ancient sages pitied them and bestowed the teachings.” – Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi
“Traps and snares can never reach it.” – Eihei Dogen, Fukanzazengi
The traps and snares of thinking and feeling often seem to block the way of calm, joyful sitting. How do we become free of these apparent obstacles? No one really knows, yet zazen keeps drawing us back to encounter our essential freedom. This one-day sitting provides another opportunity, supported by a schedule of sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks, and noble silence throughout the day. Please arrive early so we can begin sitting promptly at 9 a.m. Bring a bag lunch. Everyone is welcome.
If this is your first one-day sitting, please call practice leader Jim Hare after January 28th and prior to registering. 916-456-7752.
REGISTER HERE

Dharma Talk by So On Jim Hare
2018-02-05 19:00 - 21:00
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.

Expression with What is Arising: Practice Circle led by Doralee
2018-02-12 19:00 - 21:00
Sangha member and VSZS board president, Doralee Grindler Katonah, PsyD & MDiv, will lead our discussion.

Discussion on Engaged Practice: What We Do in the World
2018-02-19 19:00 - 21:00
Our Presidents’ Day discussion will be led by So On Jim Hare, head of practice.
Monday night programs always begin with zazen (sitting meditation). Additional offerings include a devotional service, dharma talks by visiting teachers, group discussions, practice circles and retreat nights. There are no membership requirements to participate. 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 So On Jim Hare
2018-02-26 19:00 - 21:00
Our guiding teacher Rev. Myo Lahey from Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco is unable join us this evening due to illness. In his place, practice leader, Jim Hare will comment on and lead a discussion on Case 94 of the Book of Serenity, “Dongshan is Unwell”.

Study Group on "The Harmony of Difference and Equality"
2018-03-01 08:00 - 09:00
Six Thursdays, 8 – 9 am • March 1 – April 5, 2018 • Led by Rev. So On Jim Hare
Using Shunryu Suzuki’s book, Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness as a guide, we will study the classic 8th century poem, Sandokai, “The Harmony of Difference and Equality.” We will also use the text by Shohaku Okumura, Living By Vow, chapter 7.

Space is limited to the first 10 who sign up. There is no fee, but we ask you to consider offering a donation to help support Valley Streams Zen and the Sacramento Dharma Center.
Please bring your own copy of Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness.
To Register: email Rollin Ives TWL4148@gmail.com

Half-day Sitting - "Throughout the body, hands and eyes."
2018-03-03 08:30 - 12:00
Sitting zazen is extending an invitation to great compassion. Not doing anything, yet compassion arises spontaneously, “like reaching back for a pillow at night,” according to one Zen story. On Saturday March 3rd, we’ll send invitations all morning, still and silent on our cushions, and moving in walking meditation. Our morning will include a short Dharma talk by Rev. So On Jim Hare, practice leader. If this is your first extended sitting with Valley Streams Zen Sangha, please call Jim at 916-456-7752 prior to registering. Our morning will be followed by a social bag lunch. Please bring your lunch and join us.
Register for the sitting.

Discussion: Jiaoan's Sand in the Eye
2018-03-05 19:00 - 21:00
Linda Dekker and Karen Hamilton will facilitate Koan Study. This will be an opportunity to get a taste of what we do in the Women Ancestors group which meets every third Thursday at 9 am. The Koan we will look at is Jiaoan’s Sand in the Eye, pp. 90-92 of The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-five Centeries of Awakened Women, ed. by Florence Caplow and Susan Moon. We chose this, in part, because the commentary is offered by Zenki Mary Mocine, who was scheduled to give a Dharma talk, but is unable to do so due to an injury.
The case:
Jiaoan was the niece of a high official of the Song dynasty. When she was young, she decided not to marry or bear children and she set her heart on the way of Chan. She experienced a clear awakening at the words of Master Yuanwu Keqin as he spoke to the assembly. Later, Yuanwu said to her, “You should go on to erase your views–then you will finally be free.”
She answered in verse:
The pillar pulls out the bone sideways;
the void shows its claws and fangs;
even if one profoundly understands,
there is still sand in the eye.

Dharma Talk by Edward Espe Brown
2018-03-12 19:00 - 21:00
Edward Espe Brown is a well-known Soto Zen Buddhist teacher, author, and chef. He was ordained in 1971 by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, who gave him the Dharma name Jusan Kainei , “Longevity Mountain, Peaceful Sea.” He leads sitting groups and meditation retreats in Northern California and internationally.

BONUS: Please join us for a potluck supper with Rev. Brown at 5:30 pm at the Dharma Center.
