About us
The Sky Creek Dharma Center ( https://skycreekdharmacenter.org ) is a non-profit, donation-based meditation center founded in 2004 in Chico. There are currently seven peer-led independent meditation groups meeting Sunday through Friday. We are an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff.
Meditation is a radical practice that reduces stress and dis-ease and leads to increasing freedom and joy in the mind, heart and body. If you are an experienced meditator, we welcome you to our dedicated communities. Group meditation can be a powerful support for those seeking to develop and maintain a regular practice. If you are new to meditation, our communities are designed to provide a supportive environment to help grow and maintain a regular meditation practice and learn from the ancient eastern traditions and their modern western interpreters.
Many of these groups have been meeting weekly for many years independent of Meetup.com, and we are cross-posting these meetings to promote them, thus signups on meetup.com do not reflect the true attendance to these events. The typical weekly attendance for each of these groups varies from 4 to 20+ people.
Meditation is a practice, and Buddhism is a religion, and there is a full spectrum of regular members who vary on how they view this continuum, some seeing meditation as a spiritual/religious practice, while others seeing it as a purely secular activity to reduce stress and improve mental health; all are welcome.
The Sunday Morning group explores translations of the Tao Te Ching.
Sunday Evening is the Vipassana silent meditation sitting with followers of S.N. Goenka.
Monday Afternoon is when Slowly Ripening Sangha meets.
The Vipassana-focused Heart of the Lotus Sangha is every Tuesday Night.
The Soto Zen community Serene Reflections Meditation meets Wednesday Night.
The mystery of Zen koan practice by Mud & Sky Sangha is Thursday night.
Friday Night is our new Young Adult Group, with a rotating cast of peer leaders.
If you are new to meditation, group leaders and experienced volunteers will provide basic instructions and guidance. There is no registration or sign-up to attend our weekly meetings, and there is never a charge for joining us in meditation, but we accept donations to support the center. Although the groups are run by volunteers and the center has no paid staff, we do have a regular monthly mortgage and operating expenses that paid solely through donations. Our website donation page allows both one-time and recurring monthly donations via Square, PayPal, and Venmo.
Slowly Ripening Sangha
Now Sunday Afternoon Zoom 4-5:30pm and In-person at the center Monday Afternoon 3:00-4:30pm. Email Liz at bilinskyliz@gmail.com for Zoom Link. Practicing Zen Buddhism in the Plum Village tradition of Vietnamese monk, scholar, author and poet Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. The weekly sitting group leader is Jasper Lerch. It is affiliated with Plum Village and the Order of Interbeing and its hundreds of sanghas (groups) throughout the world. See https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/thich-nhat-hanh. We meditate and socialize in accordance with the Five Mindfulness Trainings. Currently masks are optional. For your first visit, please be at the door at 3pm. No meditation experience needed. We welcome newcomers and a brief orientation & instructions will be provided. We begin with an hour of meditation— two sitting meditations and one walking meditation. After a short fellowship break, we return to the hall for a brief ceremony, reading, or discussion of our individual practices. Group Contact: Jasper Lerch, jasperlerch@sbcglobal.net
The Heart of the Lotus Sangha
Tuesday Night 6:30 - 8:15 PM. The group leader for this meditation group is Rebecca Cook, with weekly sittings and discussion led by a rotating list of volunteers. This is a peer-led group that practices Vipassana, or Insight Meditation and is loosely affiliated with Mountain Stream Meditation Center in Nevada City. This is Vipassana in the Western Insight Tradition, typically associated with Spirit Rock Meditation Center, in Marin County, and teachers such as Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, and Tara Brach are often an inspiration to our sangha in the form of books chosen for dharma study. We encourage those new to the center and/or meditation to join us 15-20 minutes early.
The Chico Serene Reflection Meditation Group
Wednesday evenings 6:00 – 7:30 PM. We are affiliated with the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives and Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery near the town of Mt Shasta, California. Our practice is Soto Zen, also known as Serene Reflection Meditation. The primary group leaders are Ja'nice Hoobler and Chris Perske. Our practice includes: meditation, ceremony and study of the Dharma. Our weekly meetings consist of meditation, both sitting and walking. Afterwards we have tea, cookies and discuss some aspect of the Dharma. We cordially invite newcomers and visitors to come any time to learn about our practice. Please contact Chris at [3perskes@gmail.com](https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=2perskes@gmail.com) or [srmchico@gmail.com](https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=srmchico@gmail.com) with questions.
Mud and Sky Sangha
Thursday evenings 7:00 – 8:30PM. The mission of our Sangha is to help one another open our minds and hearts to the Buddha nature inherent in all beings. Our practice is one of silent meditation, koan inquiry, and Dharma conversation. The use of koans – stories which provide a bridge between the spoken and the unspoken, and thereby provide a path to fuller embodiment of spiritual practice – is key in our Sangha. We begin with silent meditation, a koan having been dropped into the silence at the beginning of meditation. After silent meditation, both sitting and walking, we have a dharma talk, usually by Chris Gaffney. After the talk, we share experiences we have had in our meditation and in the conversation. Questions? Contact Chris at cgaffney@csuchico.edu (530-588-4941).
Friday Evening
Young Adult Group
Meets 7:00-8:00 PM
Meditation: Each session will begin with a partly guided, partly silent meditation to help participants ease into their practice, regardless of experience level. Volunteer leaders rotate each week, with different meditations and discussion topics. Our goal is to foster a deeper sense of connection and insight. Contact for Questions: Curtis Bell, [curtisrbell@outlook.com](https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=curtisrbell@outlook.com)
Sunday Morning
The Chico Taoist Group meets 11:00 AM-Noon Sunday to practice ongoing contemplative meditation and discuss the 81 Chapters of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching.
We welcome you to the practice. There is no right or wrong way to be in the Tao. As soon as we try to name it, it eludes us. Yet speaking and our sitting with these paradoxes, we find, helps us to drop our suffering, recognize our common humanity and to live more openly in the world. We are all seekers and guides upon this path.
Newcomers are welcome. Instruction in meditation available on request.
For further information, contact David Philhour dphilhour@csuchico.edu.
Vipassana
Sunday Evening 6:00-7:00pm. We practice Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. This is a weekly group sitting for experienced students, as no instruction is provided. Lee Altier leads this group and is a teach at their Kelseyville Vipassana Center. Here is a short introduction on the tradition. This organization conducts donation-based 10-day silent meditation retreats in Kelseyville (Clear Lake) California. Please contact: Lee at laltier@csuchico.edu
Upcoming events
23
Daylong Zen Retreat with Roshi Rachel Mansfield-Howlett
120 Three Oaks Ct, Chico, CA, US# Daylong Zen Retreat with Roshi Rachel Mansfield-Howlett
Sliding Scale Entry, REGISTER HERE VIA EVENTBRITE
Please join us for a day of meditation and conversation with Zen Roshi Rachel Mansfield-Howlett (Vegetarian Lunch Included)
Join us at Sky Creek Dharma Center for a daylong Zen meditation retreat with Rachel Mansfield-Howlett on April 25th 2026, 9am-3pm. Open to the Public, welcoming beginners, no previous meditation experience is needed! Suggested Donation $50, sliding scale entry, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Rachel is multifaceted, being both a skilled horticulturalist as well as a koan master in the Pacific Zen School lineage. For decades she has provided vital nourishment for flowers – especially human ones – which have flourished under her care. She is the founder and senior teacher at CityZen in Santa Rosa CA. Rachel’s deep insight into Zen koans enables her to help others build sturdy connections between silent meditation and everyday life. She will be accompanied by senior student Gary Brandt Sensei, composing a dynamic duo sure to warm the heart.
There will be both sitting and walking meditation and we will all be keeping company with a koan – a long-time friend who you might be meeting for the first time. The only experience you need is the one you are currently having. Bringing a curious mind and an open heart helps encourage fresh growth and surprise blooms.
Rachel Mansfield-Howlett Roshi will also be offering one-on-one meetings (Dokusan) during the day. A marvelous opportunity that seldom comes our way.Schedule
8:45 Arrive and find a seat (cushions and chairs available)
9:00 Welcome and info
9:15 Meditation Begins (25 min sitting periods followed by 5 minute walking meditation)
One-on-one meetings (Dokusan) available
10:30 Dharma Talk followed by some time for questions and answers followed by meditation
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Meditation begins
One-on-One meetings (Dokusan) available
Period of outdoor walking meditation (weather permitting)
3:00 ClosingAbout Rachel –
A 40-year practitioner of Zen, she was authorized to teach Zen and koans in 2003 and received full transmission, Inka Shomei, in 2009 in the Pacific Zen School lineage from John Tarrant Roshi.
In 2011, she founded City Zen In Santa Rosa, CA. She is a contributor to The Book of Mu: Essential Writings on Zen’s Most Important Koan and The Hidden Lamp, Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women.
Rachel Mansfield-Howlett has degrees in botany and law. She is a public benefit environmental attorney, law professor, cook, gardener, and grandmother. Complimentary to her environmental law practice, she teaches a western style of Zen that emphasizes social justice, environmental, and community values.
Born into a family of ranchers, farmers, and schoolteachers in rural Oklahoma she moved with her family to southern California in the 1960s, attended college in Chico and settled in Sonoma County in the early 70s. Rachel traces her Chickasaw heritage through her maternal grandfather, a descendant of former Chickasaw leader Daugherty (Winchester) Colbert.
Rachel’s style of Zen practice helps us to awaken to the joyful spring of our life and to recognize the interconnectedness of all beings. Bringing this awakening and recognition into our daily lives is central to the practice.About Gary –
Gary is a Santa Rosa native and writer of fiction. He has worked as a bartender, bookseller, editor, and teacher, and holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts. A 30-year practitioner of Zen, Gary first doing koan work with John Tarrant Roshi and Joan Sutherland Roshi. He began practicing with CityZen in 2011 and received authorization to teach as Sensei from Rachel Mansfield-Howlett Roshi in 2023. Gary was given the dharma name Community Dragon.
He is keenly interested in the way the koan curriculum—an uncanny literary tradition in its own right—enlists the imagination to route us back to our native joy. He believes Zen is essentially a practice of the heart.
You can find more information about Rachel, Gary and CityZen at: http://www.cityzensantarosa.com
For questions about the retreat contact:
Jan Black
janfblack@comcast.net
707-206-82224 attendees
Past events
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