Sacramento Insight Meditation (SIM) is a non-profit organization that supports insight meditation training and practice in the Sacramento area. Our organization is based on the teachings of the historic Buddha as passed down in the Theravada Buddhist lineage represented in the United States by the teachers and students of the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California, as well as a number of monastics in the Thai Forest and Burmese Mahasi traditions. A range of Buddhist-based teachings are offered at SIM—including insight meditation (also known as vipassana or mindfulness meditation), daily life practice, formal study of Buddhist texts, kalyana mitta spiritual friendship groups, and volunteer service. With the guidance of senior dharma teacher John Travis, our founding instructor Dennis Warren formed SIM in 2002. SIM provides a community of support for meditation practitioners regardless of age, gender,
sexual orientation, religious affiliation, race, ethnicity or economic status. We are an all-volunteer group that is cooperatively guided by a board of directors and an instructional team consisting of community-trained
mentors. No membership dues or fees are collected and most programs are funded by voluntary donations (dana in Pali) from community members. Dana is used to support operational expenses (rent, supplies, etc.), special programs such as daylong retreats and classes, and senior visiting teachers and our community mentors. The first Thursday of each month our format changes slightly to include small group discussion. This past year we have focused on the Paramis in our small group discussions. Additionally, there is a daylong meditation retreat on the last Saturday of each month and an annual six day residential retreat. We currently meet at The Sacramento Dharma Center at 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, CA. The SIM website, www.sactoinsight.org, includes a calendar of current events, resources such as downloadable dharma talks and instructional handouts, and information on how to contact us. This year the SIM community is excited about a joint project with two other local sanghas to establish a shared location for a multi-sangha dharma center. The new center will be operated by its own board of directors and each of the participating sanghas will retain its own organizational structure and programs. SIM looks forward to having a location dedicated to Buddhist teaching and practice and also to working in cooperation with the other Buddhist communities.
