Sacramento Dharma Center

Yard Sale Event ~ Sept 2nd

August 18, 2017

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!

Summer News

July 14, 2017

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!

May 28, 2017

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

Revised Schedule for Dharma Center Envisioning

May 4, 2017

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

Introducing our New Volunteer Coordinator

May 1, 2017

We want to update you on the status of the SDC volunteer program and some ideas and plans that have been percolating for a while.

First of all, we want to honor all the volunteers who have come forth to help since the center opened. To date well over 60 people like you have signed in at the monthly workday events and various other volunteer efforts. There are likely double or triple this number that provide support to each of our Sanghas in various activities. We are thankful for the time and energy that have been so generously provided. Each and every one of you is responsible for the success of SDC so far. You all have made a huge difference.

Slowly but surely each Sangha and SDC itself is learning what it takes to keep the center up and running, trim and beautiful. We are looking forward to the long awaited envisioning process this coming May 20th and 21st.

The monthly workdays have worked well so far. And now with spring growth and the Center activities ramping up we see a need for a more consistent and organized system of ongoing maintenance tasks and cleaning activities. To do this an idea has been developed to recruit a core group of committed persons who volunteer for specific tasks to be completed on a regular basis.

Ideally, there would be a commitment for a period of time. You could choose a time that is convenient for you then SDC would commit to arranging access to buildings and materials for you. For example, the grass in the front of the building will likely need to be mown at least every two weeks during the spring and summer. We anticipate needing at least four volunteers to maintain this schedule on a rotating basis. if you were interested in offering this dana/service you would contact the Volunteer Coordinator for orientation and scheduling. The same if you were interested in volunteering for interior tasks. Everyone interested in this would be introduced and would work out the details of the rotation.

A list of specific focus areas has been developed and may be viewed below. Does this seem like something you would be interested in helping with? The gift of your time and energy is a wonderful form of dana and dana is central to our practices.

If you are interested please look at the task lists and get back to me, Jerry Simkins, Volunteer Coordinator. We will work to accommodate your schedule as much as possible. If you would like to volunteer or if you simply have questions please contact me. My numbers are below.

Warm Regards,

Jerry Simkins, Volunteer Coordinator

volunteer@sacdharma.org

916 801-3278

Interior Volunteer Tasks

Tasks	Frequency	Volunteers needed
Clean Bathrooms	Twice per month	4 persons
Glass door cleaning (inside/outside)	Twice per month	2 persons
Sweeping, empty trash, resupply: Kitchen, break room, bathrooms	2 x week	2 persons
Vacuuming Library, Foyer, meeting room, open space in front.	Twice per month	2 persons
Vacuuming Sanctuary	1 x week	3 person:
Wet mop open space in front.	Twice per month?	2 persons
Library Service	(Ask Joette, Julia)	4 persons
SDC Open Hours	Three days per week: T, W, Th. 9am – 1pm	8 persons

EXTERIOR VOLUNTEER TASKS

Exterior Volunteer Tasks	Location/Area	Frequency	# persons needed
Lawn Care: Mowing, blowing/raking,	Front and Side visible from street.	Twice per month.	4 persons
Lawn Care: Mowing, blowing/raking,	Back area: scope to be determined	TBD. Watering needs and growth to be considered.	4 persons
Sweeping walk ways		Once per week	2 persons
Sweeping parking lot		Twice per month	4 persons

March News~We have been busy!

March 19, 2017

Pond? Veggie garden? Labyrinth? Tear walls down, put walls up? You are invited to speak your dreams and wishes for SDC’s future. Save these dates, May 20 or 21: as many members of SBMG, VSZS, and SIM as can come are encouraged to join the Envisioning for improvements to the building, gardens, and grounds of SDC. You will be introduced to the “Charette” process, where each of us can freely share what works, or needs improvement, or innovation, in our space. We will brainstorm and give input, facilitated by Lynelle McNeil from SIM and her husband Steve, landscape architects – see link Charrette . Please participate in co-creating our dharma home! There will be a collaborative and transparent decision-making process that follows.

Family Sangha takes a hike! On Sunday morning, April 9^th, 10-12, come join a nature walk guided by Mary Howard of SIM, starting at the Effie Yeaw Center. This outing is suitable for teens and tweens with their adult family member, as well as elementary and younger children. If you are an aunt or uncle, grannie or grandpa, or mom or dad who wants to bring together your love of the dharma with family life, please come! Please confirm details with this session’s coordinators, jamesbarnes778@hotmail.com, and judythornhill17@gmail.com.

Climate sangha is participating in an interfaith planning process for the local people’s climate mobilization April 29^th – stay tuned for details of how you can express your care for the Earth and all its creatures.

Here are newsy highlights from the quarterly meeting of SDC Board with Sustaining Sangha Boards on March 12^th:

The SDC set-up of the sanctuary was revisited when Sangha reps and the Art and Design Committee meet on 3/17, Sangha representatives were invited to attend;
Clearer guidelines about clean-up “as appropriate” will be posted;
Janitorial services are all-volunteer provided, a big thank you to our faithful helpers!;
SDC and Sangha reps will explore whether to create a task force to respond to community situations such as hate crimes or humanitarian needs.
SDC is receiving a multitude of requests for new events and activities. Between now and September, the Board will be developing guidelines and criteria for SDC sponsorship. Until then any new events and activities will need to be sponsored by one of the three sanghas.
Jerry Simkins is the new SDC Volunteer Coordinator, ready to offer and coordinate rewarding short and long-term work projects;
Having investigated repair costs, SDC purchased a new Energy Star HVAC system for the west lobby at $17,000, including a year of maintenance. The unit was installed on March 17th and will be discounted by a SMUD rebate;
Reps from each Sangha; the SDC Board, and long-term volunteers will have three dharma discussions this spring with Hozan Alan Senauke of Berkeley Zen Center, studying The Buddha’s Teachings on Social and Communal Harmony.
Julia and Joette are researching methods of cataloging the many generously donated books for our up and coming SDC Library.

And this just in:

On April 1, the non-existent SDC Center for Canine Awareness will host a one-day seminar, “Meditation for Dogs.” Four-legged participants will chew on the Zen koan that asks “has a dog Buddha-nature or not?” Cat-lovers are encouraged to sit with this.