Why? Wi-Fi!

Well, as you can see, I’m getting back into this blogging thing rather slowly. Please forgive me if I haven’t responded to everyone’s comments since breaking my silence. I promise I’ll get to your blogs soon to check out what you have all been up to.

One of my primary reason’s for coming back to blogging is the purchase of a laptop and wireless router. Now that I can have the laptop with me anywhere in the house, I don’t feel so confined to just the office upstairs. This helps on the days and weekends that my wife is working a 12 hour shift at the hospital and Amy and I are home together for the day. I can hop on and off the laptop much easier when I can have it downstairs in the midst of the action that Amy might happen to be involved in at the time. I feel a lot less guilty about doing some on-line stuff when I can be right there with Amy rather than holing myself up in the office for hours while Amy is downstairs doing her thing. Wi-Fi is a beautiful thing!

I am very grateful to have the resources to afford these new hi-tech indulgences like the laptop, Wi-Fi and iPod. They are nice, but in need to also remember to keep it all in perspective and not let things get too out of hand. There is a part of me inside that feels I'm being hypocritical when I indulge myself like this while at the same time purporting to be following the way of Dharma. But you know, I'm not a monk (not yet anyway) and I don't have to live the austere life to live according to the Dharma. There may come a time in my life where stripping away these indulgences for the sake of spiritual advancement might make sense, but for now I'm enjoying my new toys and the opportunities they have opened back up for me to encounter the Dharma in my everyday life.

The Art of Happiness

Don't know if you've seen this site yet, The Art of Happiness (based on the book by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and Dr. Howard Cutler).

Just wanted to pass it along just in case you haven't seen it. It's kinda commercialized but there were a few good take aways for me. Enjoy!

iPod

Ok, I just have to share this. You see, I spend from two to two and a half hours in the car everyday on my commute to and from work and I’ve been trying to make good use of that time by listening to wholesome audio programs and music. Well, the CD’s and tapes having been piling up in the past 5 years since I started this job and have my car all cluttered up. To remedy this situation, I’ve had my eye on an iPod for a while now. Well, the wait is over! My wife got me a 20Gb 4G iPod for my birthday back in February and I’ve been obsessed every since!!

Since getting the iPod and ripping all my CD’s and audio books, I’ve discovered another medium to add to the content of my iPod -- Podcasts. I’ve even found a couple of Dharma Podcasts to listen to on my commute: InfiniteSmile and LamRim Radio. Check them out when you get a chance, and you don’t even need and iPod to do so, you can just listen right on your Apple or PC using your favorite MP3 player software.

It is pretty cool however to have these programs automatically downloaded and added to the iPod on a regular schedule. Check out iPodder.org and PodcastBunker.com for more info on this cool new phenomenon sweeping the ‘net.

Silence No More

Here is something I'd like to share as I practice not attaching to silence anymore.

To give is non-attachment, that is, just not to attach to anything is to give.

~ Shunryu Suzuki roshi