Vipassana in NYC

"Vipassanā (Pāli) or vipaśyanā (Sanskrit) means "insight" and is often referred to by Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike as simply "insight meditation". While it is a type of Buddhist meditation as taught by the Buddha it is essentially non-sectarian in character and has universal application. It does not require conversion to Buddhism to practice vipassana meditation. While the meditation practices themselves vary from school to school, the underlying principle is the investigation of phenomena as they manifest in the five aggregates (skandhas) namely, matter or form (rūpa), sensation or feelings (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā, Pāli saññā), mental formations (saṃskāra, Pāli saṅkhāra) and consciousness (vijñāna, Pāli viññāṇa). This process leads to direct experiential perception, vipassanā." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The first time I happened to hear about Vipassana was back in 1984, in India. I am not sure if I heard this term but I was told by people who went for a week of silence, without talking at all , and heard wonderful stories on how it changed their life. Few years ago a good friend of mine did it here in Israel for a full 10 days and his reaction was (again) :" it changed my life" and since than he is putting a pressure on my to do it.
Last week I was in NY for a week, part of it was business and part was my NY Spring vacation, as always NY was great , I spent a weekend with Tali and when she left on Sunday I decided to make the next few days the Vipassana way. I tried hard not to contact people, not to speak, to run a lot in central park , to go to hear music but not to be in physical/talking contact with other. i must say i succeeded!!!
I sure will not call it "real Vipassana" but it was a very interesting experiment, first you meet yourself and always it’s the most difficult thing, than you open yourself to the surrounding, I mean really sharpen your skills of listening to what's going on around you. Since you don't talk, you are concentrating on other people, their behavior, you can notice if they are happy, sad ,angry ,passionate, tired……the world looks different when you listen and not participate in the talking.
After three days like this I couldn't do it any more, and the first one who approached me with question got the all story for few hours……………thank you T. for listening.
My NYC Vipassana didn't change my life but certainly sharpened my listening skills.

And for all of you NYC Jazz lovers – try Zinc , its still one of the best kept secrets in NY.

the metrix

I found the matrix………….
I believe each one of us, when he/she saw, Matrix 1……2……….wonder even for a short time (at least I did) is it possible?
I found it is exist ………Las Vegas……..i know everybody says its big, crazy, beautiful, artificial……but I think its more than that.
They built a world within a world and although you know it you still got confuse, you can't go off the bitten track no matter how much you try, meaning you can't miss going in/near a casino. the hotels lobbies are the casino and if you want to explore the outside you have to work hard to find your way out and when you do it, you ended up in another one.……….my personal "peak" was when I was in the Venecian ,went "out" to the "Italian square" wondering how could it possible that evening has arrive and than got shocked when I understood that the sky I am seeing is ARTIFICIAL!!!
Talking about artificial, on Wednesday started another parallel show to CES (consumer electronics) : THE - Adult Entertainment Expo , and you bet most of the boobs couldn't get that big or that high without a little artificial help!
I spoke with locals who live and do business there, I spoke with tourists who don't gamble and I found out one can enjoy the good of what the place has: great views of desert, beautiful nature, great in winter, excellent restaurants…….but for most of those who come sit next to the Black Jack tables or the Poker ones, and play for hours with the slots or for the older women who walked half naked instead of playing with their grandsons, I am not sure its enjoyable.
A short confession …………I played Black Jack (total of 3 hours in three days) and lost around 100$ - I gave my share to the system!!!
I can understand people who love it. it fulfills a lot of the western world fantasies for men(and sometimes for women) , you can play penny slots and still got served drinks, for free, by an half naked bunny , you sleep in a wonderful hotels which any where as you would pay twice or more, and you even don't have to travel far to see the world, its all there – NY, Paris ,Venice……..but its all for you to spend your Bucks. I wonder when they will have Jerusalem Hotel…………
I am on a plane to Amsterdam (after going from Vegas to Denver, NYC (stayed a day) ) and later on, back home, an interesting week!
CES is amazing, its was my first time and I couldn't figure out the size, its huge…………business wise it was very good for Mportico (www.mportico.com) ,one of our portfolio companies and I hope to see the results soon.
For those of you who like to explore New York, I found two new places , Bond St. restaurant – a sushi restaurant on 6 Bond Street ( the restaurant bar which located below the restaurant is very cool) and another place with the ugliest people in New York , but great drinks, good Mexican food, and Fridays& Saturdays parties ( south American music and bands) – Gonzalens- Gonzalense , on Broadway two blocks south of bond st. and one block north of Broadway/Huston. In Las Vegas you can try TAO bar and restaurant in the Venetian Hotel.