The Enso Clock
It was never my intention to pay $150 for what is essentially a glorified egg timer. I had been looking around at meditation timers, but for numerous reasons I was very much leaning towards the PrannaTimer.For starters, the PrannaTimer is a piece of art. It's hand crafted from natural materials and it doesn't require batteries to run. There are disadvantages, they are incredibly expensive, and you're very dependent on the consistency of your incense if you want to maintain a regular sitting time every day. On top of all of this, they aren't very portable.
So I started looking at the other options. There wasn't as many as I had expected and the majority of the offerings that did exist were quickly discounted for being corny and unsightly.
I came across the Enso Clock and hoped it wasn't the best option. Further research revealed that it wasn't only the best contender, but the Australian reseller was the company that supplies the my local Buddhist book store, so it was the most convenient too.
I was on the way home one day when I decided to drop in to the aforementioned Buddhist book store, and they happened to have a few in stock. I was given a quick demonstration and left to play.
It was smaller than I thought and was thus incredibly portable, especially as it comes with a nice carry case. It had some functionality that I hadn't known about. For starters it functions as a standard alarm clock. This was convenient as I was also after one of these thanks to my phone alarm being too quiet to hear from the other room when it's on charge.
Another nifty feature is its ability to set periods. This allows me to set two 15 minute periods for my morning sit. My partner Mel likes to get up after 15 minutes whilst I sit for 30. It's set and forget, the bell sounds and Mel gets up and goes for a shower. Another 15 minutes pass and the bell sounds for me to get ready. There's three memory settings, so if Mel's not sitting with me, I press one button and I've got a single 30 minute period without interruption. I press another and I've got four 25 minute periods with 5 minute intervals for kinhin.
There's multiple sound effects as well. The expected Tibetan bowls, the Japanese bells or the Han. There's even the standard jarring alarm sound if you prefer. Oh, and a nice blue backlight that's reminiscent of the original G-Shock watches. (Remember them?)
So are there any downsides? For starters at $150AUD, it's quite expensive. It's all plastic and it obviously requires batteries, although it did come with a set included. I was originally concerned about the stand as it felt a little delicate. Fortunately this hasn't been a problem as I prefer to use the Enso Clock flat on the ground. It's nicely angled to allow for easy access to the buttons and I usually put it behind me during meditation so I don't get distracted by the clever enso that gets drawn on the display as the session progresses.
The unit has obviously not been designed by Apple, there's a total of 15 buttons on the front face and not all of them behave as would be expected. For example, after the bell has sounded to signify the end of a session, I assumed pressing the clock button would bring you back to the main clock screen. That it does, but it starts flashing at you because the huge clock button is used to set the time. You should actually press the stop button to return to clock.
Another gripe is that the unit doesn't sound when you start a session. Although there is a little play symbol when a session is in progress, I do find myself waiting for the start of the enso to be drawn before I am convinced it's doing it's thing. A bell sounds at the beginning of every meditation session at the Zen center and I suppose it's just something I'm used to. Ideally there would be a way to turn this on.
Despite these imperfections, I am glad that I made the decision to buy the Enso Clock. For me, by far the biggest advantage is the fact that I don't have to fight with my computer every morning. I'd previously been using the meditation timers available to download for free at AudioDharma.org. I was playing these through iTunes and at first it worked fairly well.
Then my computer started playing up. Some mornings it would take forever to get iTunes open and playing. Some mornings iTunes wouldn't open at all and other mornings it would open fine at first, but then freeze half way through a session. I would be left wondering why I could no longer smell the incense and end up being late getting ready for work.
The Enso Clock fixes this problem. So far it has worked first time every time. It also fixes another problem that is probably unique to me. See, at least as far as I know, the Enso timer doesn't keep a play count.
As I got further and further into my meditation practice, I began to get attached to the play counts of the meditation bells in iTunes! As the Enso does not record the number of times particular memory functions have been used, I no longer have this issue and my motivation for meditating every day is that little bit less tainted by my ego. It's also far easier to get into the 'non attainment' aspect of practice when you're not going for triple digits on your different meditation timer mp3s…
Finally, the Enso Clock is useful as a 'mindfulness bell' or a simple work timer. I've started breaking my day up into blocks of time as I find that I get more done this way. It's an interesting concept which I'll probably touch on again, but the Enso Clock makes this very easy.
So there you have it! It's expensive and ugly, but it's incredibly functional and portable and although I've only had it for a few weeks I'm already hooked. I don't miss fighting with my computer every morning and the programmable sessions are a very nice touch. It's handy as a standard alarm clock and work timer and the only thing I miss is not having a starting bell. I would definitely recommend the Enso Clock to any seriously meditation practitioner.
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