Finding Your Seat Saturday & Extended Sitting Sunday

There are plenty of opportunities this weekend for Zen practice. On Saturday, November 21, from 11:00 to noon, there’s the weekly Finding Your Seat, a great resource for beginners (but everyone is welcome). On Sunday, there’s the Extended Sitting from 6:15 am to 3:30 pm, in addition to the Ceremony of Gratitude.

Ceremony of Gratitude

This Sunday we’ll take a stab at an online version of our annual Ceremony of Gratitude. Gratitude is arguably the most sublime of emotions, and one of the sweetest fruits of long Zen practice. Those who have participated in the in-person ceremony know it as a vehicle for reaching a fuller experience of gratitude. Others should know that it is one of our most popular ceremonies, perhaps because it includes an opportunity for everyone to make an individual statement of gratitude – and hear others’ statements. The overall effect is heart-melting.

If you can’t make it to the ceremony, you can still write a statement of gratitude and email it to John Pulleyn (john@rzc.org). Your statement will be read aloud by one of the readers at the ceremony.

Finally, so that the ceremony runs smoothly, please refer to these Ceremony of Gratitude Zoom Tips: Know how to (1) set your profile name; (2) use the “raise hand” icon; and (3) mute and unmute yourself. If you need help with how to do these things, please contact Trueman Taylor (trueman@rzc.org). Also, we’ll be chanting the Abbreviated Ancestral Line, which you can find on page 24 of the Center’s Chant Book.

Community Solar

Congratulations to the Zen Center members who have signed up for Community Solar by Ampion. You are now helping save the climate by reducing carbon emissions, while saving money with a ten-percent discount off Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) electric rates. And by signing up using the zensolar promotional code, you have also generated over $500 in donations to the Zen Center from Ampion.

To those members who signed up but have not completed the registration process, please contact Ampion at help@ampion.net or 800-277-3631. Most of the time, the problem is verifying billing data.

It is not too late to sign up for Community Solar. The program is available to all RG&E electric customers, whether you live in a single-family house or an apartment. As long as you pay a separate RG&E electric bill, you are eligible.

For more information about the RAICA/Zen Center program and to sign up, go to:

https://ampion.net/RAICA/?cpid=0012E00002N1UhjQAF&refn=RAICA&vid=a162E000007Jl2JQAS.

Please join other Zen Center members in reducing our carbon footprint. And be sure to use the zensolar promotional code so we can continue to earn donations from Ampion.