Sacramento Dharma Center

Visitors to the Sanctuary have had the opportunity this month to practice in the cold like Zen masters of old. The room’s antiquated rooftop heating unit has been working one minute and not the next, making scarves and heavy jackets required indoor fashion. Technicians have given the 7.5- ton unit just a few months, but a new one is on the way. Look for a large crane hoisting the new Trane heater/air conditioner onto the roof next week. Until then, keep your woolens handy.

Up on the Roof

The ash trees along the north side of the building hung onto their leaves till late into the fall, releasing them all at once right before a big rainstorm. They drifted onto the hidden flat portion of the roof, where they smothered the air conditioning/heating equipment and clogged the roof drains. But the leaves were quickly raked and composted thanks to the efforts of a small corps of intrepid volunteers without a fear of ladders and heights. Special thanks to December work day volunteers Dave, Amy, Terry, Kenny, and Larry.

Our Grand Opening Set for Sunday
January 2 9 from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

Join us at the Grand Opening on January 29th for our big debut as we open wide our doors to our neighbors in the greater Sacramento region. In November, the three Founding Sanghas  celebrated the center’s opening together–now’s the time to thank those in the community whose hard work helped us achieve this milestone. We plan to show our neighbors our new building and grounds and give everyone a chance to learn a bit about who we are and what we do. This event will start off with a period of mingling, followed by an exchange of gratitude, welcoming, and blessing by invited teachers and neighborhood leaders. We’ll conclude with more socializing and table hopping. Everyone is invited. See you there.

Special One-Time Gift Match

Would you like to help with the $14,500 replacement cost for our new Trane HVAC unit? To end 2016 with a bang – any one-time donation made to the Sacramento Dharma Center on December 29, 30, and 31 will be doubled – till we use up our $10,000 matching fund. Two generous Dharma Center donors will match your gifts dollar-for-dollar. To make a one time donation go to our Contribute page!

Sustaining Circle Year-End Match
Going on Now

For current Sustaining Circle monthly donors, we will double your gift for three months if you make any increase in your donation (till we use our $10,000 fund). For example, if you increase your $20 monthly donation by $10, we will double your new $30 monthly amount for three months – talk about math magic! $20 plus $10 equals $90 for SDC. If you would like to become a monthly donor, please consider joining the Sustaining Circle. Your new monthly contributions are also eligible for the three month match.

Coming together on Sunday December 11th, 10:30 – 12:30. 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. Kids from babies to age 12 will be offered a Gratitude Mural project and exploration of the trees and outdoors, as well as a child-friendly introduction to sitting. For more info contact jith.meganathan@gmail.com or Helen.sbmg@gmail.com

Sacramento Dharma Center is created by dana, or generosity – your generosity. We all benefit from your dana of service and funding. From the founding donors to SDC’s initial Capital Campaign, to volunteers who rake, dig, blow, sweep, and mulch the grounds, and wash down counters and clean, to those who meet and make decisions – such as our new Green Policy, with protection of the earth as a criteria for our supplies – Thank you!!

Right now we ask your help for our end-of-year appeal, to meet the operating and special expenses that arise from using the building. New lamps and coat trees, storage shelves, more chairs, utilities, insurance and many more costs must be met. While Sustaining Sangha rents cover about 1/3rd of our costs, the Dharma Center depends on generous individuals like you to cover the remaining 2/3rd of our costs. We currently have no programs that bring in additional income.

Please become a part of the SDC Sustaining Circle, if you haven’t already. We need new sustainers to raise an additional $1800/month, in order to keep rents as low as possible for our Sanghas. Visit our website Contribute page to sign up today! If you currently donate monthly, please consider increasing the amount – and enjoy the matching generosity that results:

Two of our dedicated donors have pledged up to

$10,000 to match all new and increased sustaining gifts for three months!

Whatever amount you can give each month helps us pay the bills and budget for a marvelous future. This coming spring our three Sanghas will participate in an envisioning process planning for that future for our building and grounds.

Many of us are feeling blown about as we meet the inner and outer winds of change in our country and the world. How wonderful it is that the Dharma Center is here for all of our community to come together, and here for those in search for equanimity and compassion!  We are so grateful for each of you.

What a wonderful opportunity for us to offer dana for our Dharma Center! Part of our shared practice is working with ‘what is’.  Within this turbulent world, we are fortunate, my friends, to have a Dharma Center as part of our ‘what is’.

We will gather at the Dharma Center at 9am, bow in with one another, and play and work until Noon.  Please bring work gloves and your big heart!  An extra wheelbarrow would be nice, too. This Sunday we have many gifts to provide the Dharma Center, including:

• Finish off the wall painting by filling in the trench we dug and making sure it slopes away from the building.
• Raking and mulching leaves.  Linda Franklin and Dave Judd have contributed a chipper to the SDC and will show us how to operate it!
• Moving chips to the valley oaks.
• Creating a designated compost pile.
• Creating bird sanctuary and playgrounds by using sticks from North and SE yards to create a couple of enclaves along the East fence.  Can you imagine birding in the SDC backyard?!
• Breaking down and storing the wood from the large containers SBMG used to store zabutons and zafus.
• Dusting, vacuuming, and mopping the floors.
• Cleaning the bathrooms.  As a special treat, the new countertops in the older bathrooms may be installed this Friday and we will have a chance to see how they look!
• Cleaning the kitchen.

 

With love and gratitude,

Julia Mullen, Grounds Shepherd

916-844-8643

 

Sunday, November 6, 2016 ~ from 1:00-3:00

Sustaining Sangha members are invited to the once-in-a-lifetime Sangha Dedication and Celebration of opening our Dharma Center, come and participate as each sangha creates a dedication of our sanctuary and shared space, inside and out. Join members of Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group, Sacramento Insight Meditation, and Valley Streams Zen Sangha to celebrate how we are realizing our Mission: “to create a sanctuary for meditation and Buddha’s teachings, welcoming everyone who seeks to end suffering and live in harmony.” And stay awhile, to enjoy refreshments and time with our community!

Arriving home: Move-in, storage, and first gatherings have taken shape for Valley Streams Zen Sangha and Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group in October. We look forward to Sacramento Insight Meditation’s first night at SDC on November 3^rd.

Work in progress: SBMG and VS are experimenting with set-up, altar location, audio, entryways, storage, all kinds of procedures and systems in our new home. Beginner’s mind is helping us find our way in this new freedom, with patience and enthusiasm.

Maintenance: Bathrooms; walkways; leafy gutters; clean floors; tidying and cleaning; supplies; grass, trees, and shrubs, all need and are receiving attention. In its front office window, SDC has posted Interim Housekeeping and Opening/ Closing Guidelines for everyone. Feedback is invited.

Art and Design: Generous offers of art, questions about décor, colors, entry hall, information tables, and more continue to be explored. SDC’s newest committee will be grappling with creating guidelines and criteria for a harmonious and pleasing environment.

Happy HVAC savings! – after investigation of two HVAC units previously evaluated as inoperable, we’re delighted that SDC saved over $20,000 for replacement units, when Buckley Heating determined that minor electrical repairs were all that was needed for safe and efficient operation. And less landfill!

Access: SDC welcomes your ideas in the new Suggestion Box, located in the breakroom. Recent progress includes completion of our pristine ADA bathrooms; signage at driveway; lightweight sandwich boards to indicate where meetings are; contact info at the front door; maps and contact info on our website and Facebook page; training for sangha boards about the security alarm; and much more.

Volunteers: Your generous hearts have brought our community home to this refuge – thank you! Rain or shine, we invite your energies for the October 30^th Workday, 9am-12 noon, for an hour or more, doing outdoor projects and indoor preparation for our Sangha gathering on November 6^th. More info: Julia at juliam@surewest.net or Terry at terrywenner@gmail.com. And if you love working with people committed to the dharma, let Helen know at hdhobart@gmail.com, as we’re seeking a co-coordinator for the SDC Volunteer Program.