Happy New Year 2010

I am back again from the break.

I wish all readers a happy and harmonious new year!

I completed the ten day Vipassana course organised by www.dhamma.org, an organisation initiated by S. N. Goenka, which I mentioned before Christmas. Here is a good introductory article describing the goals and the technique. I can highly recommend this retreat to anyone interested in meditation and with ten days to spare, the investment in time is well worthwhile. Beside the goals of seeing things as they really are and freeing yourself from suffering, the dhamma foundation offers a fantastic support for relaxing and learning. It provides an environment where you have

• No worries of any kind.
• Your only responsibility is to work hard.
• Food and lodging is provided.
• No cost is involved.
• Completely voluntary donations are accepted only after completing the course.
• No email, no computers, no phones, no books, no reading at all, no writing whatsoever, no talking, no contact whatsoever with the external world, complete separation from the opposite sex, no freedom of movement except for a very limited area within the facilities.
• Enough time to sleep, wash, eat and enjoy the view and just about nothing else.

In my case, the course was housed in an unusually luxurious environment in the Bauhaus-style hotel by Emil Fahrenkamp on the Monte Verità in Ascona overlooking the Lago Maggiore, instead of one of the dhamma foundation's meditation centres, so the view was beautiful indeed.

The ten days of isolation obviously had both pleasant and less pleasant aspects. I enjoyed and appreciated it very much and was still keeping track of every single day remaining before I get out into the world again. Anyway, to my great surprise, I actually got out of bed earlier and meditated for an hour this morning. The ten day habit still works for me so far. I will see how I keep it up in future.

Anyway, now I am happy to return to work and the Revit API and The Building Coder. I have completed a first pass through my inbox. I see there are a lot of pending blog comments.

We will start The Building Coder year by having an in depth look at geometry in the Revit API.