Thanks for bringing this up, Jeremy. This is something that I've thought of for a while in various respects.
To keep this from veering wildly off-topic, I'll frame my research in terms of saying that there are small online communities and a number of websites that explore the ramifications of Tibetan Buddhism and technology.
A particular interest of mine is that of the prayer wheels, flags, and so on that allow the multiplication of supplication through mechanical means.
Following from this, you can guess that there are individuals that believe that the rotation of a digital media platter to be analogous to a prayer wheel armature, and that the inscription of vaious mantras, such as the Om and others would constitute a karmic generator of sorts.
Expanding further, I have a concept (partially realized, I am burning a DVD-R on occasion with the data) for a solar powered prayer wheel run by a 10,000 RPM weed-whacker motor spinning 100 DVD-r's burnt with the Mani mantra. The idea would be to take the life essence (prana) from solar power, store it and upon createing a sufficient storage, engaging the motor, enabling over one TRILLION repetitions per minute, therefore taking the solar prana and using it as a powerful karmic converter.
Off Topic, I know.
Digital Karma generation (almost OT)
-
Type: discussion
Comments
Hey mister, Buddhism and technology, sounds
interesting, up the links!
I can't imagine, though, that Buddhism would
find technology to be anything other than
irrelevant at best, a distraction at worst.
Buddhism is an attempt to transcend the
physical!
On Friday, November 28, 2003, at 05:24AM, <[email protected]> wrote:
>I can't imagine, though, that Buddhism would
>find technology to be anything other than
>irrelevant at best, a distraction at worst.
>Buddhism is an attempt to transcend the
>physical!
Zen Buddhism is an attempt to reach an undifferentiated state. This can be achieved ironically using money (see Japanese conumerism) or the internet (everything's a URL).
I like the idea of prayer wheels on HDs.
- Rob.
I think Zen would say technology is.
-e.
—– Original Message —–
From: "Rob Myers" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2003 5:45 AM
Subject: Re: RHIZOME_RAW: Re: Digital Karma generation (almost OT)
> On Friday, November 28, 2003, at 05:24AM, <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
> >I can't imagine, though, that Buddhism would
> >find technology to be anything other than
> >irrelevant at best, a distraction at worst.
> >Buddhism is an attempt to transcend the
> >physical!
>
> Zen Buddhism is an attempt to reach an undifferentiated state. This can be
achieved ironically using money (see Japanese conumerism) or the internet
(everything's a URL).
>
> I like the idea of prayer wheels on HDs.
>
> - Rob.
> +
> -> post: [email protected]
> -> questions: [email protected]
> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
> +
> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>
Om.
- Rob.
On 29 Nov 2003, at 07:44, Eryk Salvaggio wrote:
>
> I think Zen would say technology is.
>
> -e.
>
>
>
>
> —– Original Message —–
> From: "Rob Myers" <[email protected]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Cc: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Friday, November 28, 2003 5:45 AM
> Subject: Re: RHIZOME_RAW: Re: Digital Karma generation (almost OT)
>
>
>> On Friday, November 28, 2003, at 05:24AM,
>> <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>>
>>> I can't imagine, though, that Buddhism would
>>> find technology to be anything other than
>>> irrelevant at best, a distraction at worst.
>>> Buddhism is an attempt to transcend the
>>> physical!
>>
>> Zen Buddhism is an attempt to reach an undifferentiated state. This
>> can be
> achieved ironically using money (see Japanese conumerism) or the
> internet
> (everything's a URL).
>>
>> I like the idea of prayer wheels on HDs.
>>
>> - Rob.
>> +
>> -> post: [email protected]
>> -> questions: [email protected]
>> -> subscribe/unsubscribe:
>> http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
>> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>> -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
>> +
>> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>> Membership Agreement available online at
>> http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>>
>
From Patrick Lichty
Well, to follow this thread out a bit, and I caution that the only relevance that remains is that this came forth as a question regarding the karma of online communities, it depends a great deal on the form of Buddhism you consult in regards to the nature of karmic generation.
For Theraveda or Mahayana, perhaps the use fo technology would be irrelevent; to Zen it would be ridiculous, or ironic at best. To my understanding ofTibetan, the use of mechanical meditatative devices is a very old tradition.
So, taken in in the context of the Tibetan tradition, the solar prayer wheel was an attempt to create a technologically-mediated spiritual intervention. This is not the first, but I believe that it is one of the first of this type.