Zen practice goes down the drain

A couple of months ago, Taco told me to blog about this but I refused. I felt that it was against my zen practice of non-indulgence. But today, I have to bow my head and confess that I have an indulgence…I am attached to my iPhone.

I really am not one to indulge in expensive, sophisticated phones. To me, a phone is just for people to contact me and vice versa. But ever since I got an iPhone from the US through a friend two months ago, my use of the phone changed completely, and my zen practice of non-attachment to worldly possessions went down the drain as well.

I now synchronise my phone with my mac and use it as a PDA, jotting down my notes, work and social schedules and set alarms to remind myself of appointments. I use the built-in WiFi to check on my emails and browse websites when I am not in the office. Very strangely, I’ve also begun to play games on the phone while waiting for friends. Checking on the weather here and in other countries as well as monitoring the foreign exchange rates is now a breeze on my phone. Last but not least, the phone also functions as an iPod so I can show off my nieces and nephew's pictures and entertain restless kids with the cartoon videos I have downloaded onto the phone.

I paid almost S$700 for the phone and the unlocking service. It works very well and has served me very obediently in the last two months. Money well spent and I shall use it for many years, I told myself. Today, when I saw Steve Job’s keynote address on the iPhone 3G in WWDC 2008, I almost flipped over. The new 3G iPhone will be sold at half the 2G’s price from 11 July! What a painful revelation!

I have never really indulged in any phones in the past, always choosing a cheap and easy to use phone when my contract ends. But this iPhone is one gadget that has got me hooked. After seeing all the many new stuff that’s going to be available in the 3G version, I think I may just switch service providers when it’s launched here later this year, so that I can get my hands on that version as well!

M1, this loyal customer has stood by you since your emergence in the market. Do you have any better carrots to dangle in front of me, to prevent this loyalist from switching camps to SingTel? My contract expires by year end and if they give me a free 3G iPhone if I switch, I think you know what my decision will be. You still have half a year to work on me. Work hard please…work very very hard with Steve Jobs!

逢著便殺

聖嚴法師說：「人在生命的過程中，不論是物質的或精神的，如果沒有憑藉、依恃，便會覺得缺少保障，沒有安全感，所以會以向內向外的種種現象作為自己的立場和自己的保護膜，而且經常加強這些東西來鞏固自己。其實，保護得愈周密，怕失去的感覺就愈強，煩惱因而增多，那就更不自在了。倒不如把所有一切從心中像開刀切除腫瘤一樣地剮得乾乾淨淨，那才是徹底的自在。」

「人在口袋裡和在銀行裡要有錢，在腦裡和心裡不要有錢。」
。。。這句是聖嚴法師的師父說的。