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Sacramento Dharma Center

Your Chance to View and Comment on the November 5th Presentation

For Your Perusal…
 
 Presentation by Lynelle and Steve McNiel, November 5, 2017
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OPTIONS FOR SACRAMENTO DHARMA CENTER
The originals of the drawings in this presentation will be on display at the Center in the west lobby until at least the end of the year. They are being presented here in order to reach more of our participants and to allow you some time to study them. We encourage your comments! Please be patient! There is a lot to look at.
In the west lobby along with the originals of the conceptual drawings, is a basket and some 3″ x 5″ cards. Please use them to write to us to identify why you like or dislike a plan or element. You may also email your comments to info@sacdharma.org

Click on this link to view presentation 

~ Comments appreciated by the end of the year ~

Nov. 5th Celebrate our First Full Year Together

You’re invited to Sacramento Dharma Center’s
One-Year Anniversary Celebration
Sunday, November 5, 2017 from 1:30 to 4 p.m.
1:30 – 2:00 ~ Meet and greet
2:00 – 2:15 Welcome ~ The first year in review
2:15 – 2:30 ~ A few words from the Sanghas
2:30 – 3:00 ~ Envisioning presentation
3:00 – 4:00 ~ Sharing Ideas, tea, and cookies
 
“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.”
Susan Orr, SDC president

Yard Sale Event ~ Sept 2nd

Volunteers are needed at the Center Friday evening from 5pm till at least 9pm, and early Saturday morning at 7 am. Help with this fun event at the 3111 Wissemann location. Sale is Saturday from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm.
How you can help:

Bring your clean, functioning item donations to the Center, including: furniture, appliances, electronics, clothes, etc. Due to limited storage space, please do not bring items with no resale value (ie. free).

Donated items will be accepted at SDC during the following open hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 am ~ 1 pm, and when you come to your Sangha nights on Sunday, Monday, and Thursday.

We also need volunteers:
  • before the event sorting and pricing items,
  • early morning on the day of the event, setting up,
  • and during the event as cashiers, parking attendants, general assistance and clean up.
Anything you can do to help is much appreciated! Please contact the event organizer, Leilani, to sign up to voluteer or if you have questions, at leilaniDives@gmail.com or 916-764-0653 (no texts)
Special Notice  
All items that have been in our lost and found for more than a month will be put out for sale at this event! There were many nice coats and jackets left during last winter that have never been claimed. Please check our lost and found for any items you may have left behind before September 2nd. Here is a picture of a few of the things!
Coats 

Summer News

Our second annual Interdependence Day ice cream social was a sucess ~ a celebration of our donors, volunteers, and all sangha members who make the Center our home.

It’s been a busy few months since the last edition of the Sacramento Dharma Center News. We’d like to update you on some of the changes going on around here.

We’re Now Open Three Mornings a Week—Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

Start your day with open sitting in the Meditation Hall led by one of our sanghas. Or just drop by later to meditate, to visit our library, to enjoy a cup of tea, or to sit under a tree.

Open Morning Sittings

Tuesdays 7:00 to 8:15 a.m. Led by Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group

7:00 Sitting

7:30 Walking

7:45 Sitting

Wednesdays 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. Led by Sacramento Insight Meditation

7:00 Sitting

7:45 Dharma Conversation

Thursdays 6:00 to 7:25 a.m. Led by Valley Streams Zen Sangha

6:00 Sitting

6:30 Walking

6:40 Sitting

7:10 Brief Service

Open Drop-in Hours Come by and enjoy the Dharma Center

Tuesdays 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Wednesdays 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Thursdays 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon

SDC Library

The library is now open. Located in the former teller area, you can browse, read, and check out Buddhist books and magazines whenever the building is open. On Tuesday mornings from 9 to 11, come by for Teatime in the Library—a chance to have tea and do handicrafts. Bring your knitting, needlework, or other handicraft projects to work on with others.

Bricks and Mortar, Grass and Trees

Our building and grounds quietly await the plans we devise in envisioning. Nevertheless, subtle improvements are taking place. Aided by a rebate from SMUD, soon most of the lights inside and out will have been converted to LED. An audio team has been formed to come up with an amplification system for the Meditation Hall that all three sanghas can share.

Outside, the pedestrian gates on either side of the building now have push bars-to exit, just push. The shed in the backyard now has electricity and lights, and is the perfect place to charge our new battery-operated lawnmower. You may have noticed the new picnic table, where you can eat and watch the birds that are attracted to our brush piles.

With the rainy season over, some of the the sprinklers have been reactivated-not counting the occasional downtime to repair out-of-control watering. And a more prominent (temporary) SDC sign is in progress on Wissemann Drive.

Hozan Senauke Workshops

Hozan Alan Senauke of the Berkeley Zen Center has been conducting a series of three classes based on the book The Buddha’s Teaching on Social and Communal Harmony. These workshops have been a great chance for members of the three Sustaining Sangha Boards and other leaders in their Sanghas to share ideas, learn about building harmony, and get to know each other. Insights gained through the readings and classes will be a benefit to each Sangha.

Change
Before we came together under the same roof, each of our three Sanghas was used to going it alone. Coming together has brought a lot of joy and relief (we no longer have to worry about eviction), and also a period of adjustment as we work out shared spaces and rules. We’d like to acknowledge that this process of change and adaptation will be on-going. In fact, when Shunryu Suzuki was asked to reduce Buddhism to one phrase, he answered, “Everything changes.” We will listen, adjust, and live in change together. (And by the way, trash does not go in the recycling bin & and food waste goes in the compost.)
Lost and Found
What do 16 water bottles, some hats, socks, earphones, glasses, and a multitude of coats and jackets have in common? They are all in the lost and found cupboard, located in the small office just off the entry into the former teller area. Please come by and claim your items.
Some new and ongoing programs at SDC:

Dharma en Espanol
A new Spanish-language Sangha, open to all, meets the fourth Friday of every month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Si hablas o estudias español, ven a meditar y estudiar el dharma con nosotros. For more information, contact helenb.sbmg@gmail.com or benderkenny@att.net.

Climate Sangha 
Beat the heat! Everyone complains about the weather, goes the old joke, but nobody does anything about it. As the signs of global warming and climate disruption multiply, the Climate Sangha offers a way to use Buddhist practice to face the changes. Meeting on the fourth Tuesday of every month from 7 to 9 p.m.

People of Color Sangha
On behalf of all Persons of Color [POC] who came before us and for the benefit of those who are yet to be born, this Sangha is dedicated and committed to awakening our Buddha-wisdom to uplift, strengthen and appreciate ourselves within the diversity of humanity. Meets the first Friday of every month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Family Sangha
If you have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or young friends with whom you’d love to share the path of kindness and mindfulness – please bring them and stay for the adult sit and discussion. Comes together every second Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon.

Interdependence Day Ice Cream Social ~ July 8th!

Join us for our Second Annual Interdependence Day party, Saturday, July 8th, from 2 to 4 p.m. We are celebrating the support of our generous donors, energetic volunteers, and the greater Maha Sangha that makes our center possible!

Enjoy some ice cream and shaved ice, take part in our raffle, and listen to some far out music as we also mark the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. Be sure to wear flowers in your hair and your favorite tie dye!

Enter the raffle for a chance to win two tickets to “The Summer of Love Experience” at the de Young Museum in San Francis
co.

Please RSVP here

Scan of title heart, name, shirt

 

Revised Schedule for Dharma Center Envisioning

To allow for the possibility of more attendance, and for us to have access to the entire property while we are together, we have altered our timing of the envisioning. There will still be two dates, but they will be separated by almost a month.
As before, Sunday, May 21, 2017, will be one of the dates. May 20th IS NO LONGER SCHEDULED! On May, 21st, we will be meeting for a shorter period of time than originally scheduled: from 9 am to 1 pm. During this time, we will have the opportunity to discuss the changes and additions we would like to see to the building and grounds. As part of this process, the facilitators will lead us through the design process, from how the site currently functions (issues of use, circulation, sun/shade patterns, etc.), to possible locations for different uses, and we will begin to prioritize those uses.
The second day of envisioning is now set for June 18, 2017, from 9 am to 3 pm. Yes, this is Father’s Day, but perhaps if that’s a celebration for you, you can celebrate later in the afternoon or evening? This day will invite further participation from both those who attended the May 21st event and those attending only on the 18th. This day will have a slightly different agenda. In addition to community input, we will look at some rough ideas of the result of the first go-round and work them into the overall “figuring out” portion of the design process.
This time, set aside from the Dharma Center’s increasingly busy schedule, will be for all of us in the community have the chance to come together to discuss how we want to use our new space – both the inside and the outside. We encourage as many Sustaining Sangha members as possible to come and share their ideas for use of the building and grounds. Please come to one or both meetings, the envisioning process will build on itself over the two days, but individual ideas and input will be welcome on both days.

 

Can’t come? Then please share your ideas in writing; respond to this email, or email, info@sacdharma.org. Or talk to any Dharma Center Board member. They are: Susan Orr, Joe Countryman, Julia Mullen, Dennis Warren, Barbara Colton, Bob Jenne, John Penfield, Kenny Bender, and Linda Dekker.

While this will not be the only time when community members may weigh in on proposed changes they would like to see, the planning and conceptual designs produced during this weekend will be used to guide the overall changes that will be made to the property. If you want to contribute your ideas for how the interior and exterior spaces will be used, please come and help out.

Envisioning schedule
May 21st ~ 9 am – 1:00 pm
June 18th ~ 9 am – 3:00 pm
3111 Wissemann Drive