Over at SweepingZen.com, author and senior editor Adam Tebbe responds to criticisms by Zen teacher Brad Warner, wherein Warner states that he is “fighting the good fight against the forces that want to move Zen practice on-line.” Regarding the idea of online sanghas, or Buddhist communities, Warner writes: “A zendo in Second Life is not a real zendo. Your time spent reading blogs about Zen, including this one, is not real time spent with a Zen teacher. […] I’m starting to get concerned over what the effects will be of a generation that can’t tell the difference, who are accustomed to sitting in their bedrooms on computers for endless stretches and don’t actually understand how to speak to each other anymore.”
A valid concern, to be sure. But as Tebbe writes in his post, The Online Sangha, “Even when we use a tool like the computer to avoid reality, this presents us with our reality. We face it head-on. So, we cannot escape it even if we wish to. Additionally, and this is key, we do not emphasize the virtual aspect of our encounters in Second Life and we advocate that, when possible, individuals should strive to connect with a physical sangha and/or teacher.”
What do you think? Check out Warner’s post, and Tebbe’s post, and join the conversation. And be sure and tell us how you feel about using online technology as a support for your practice of meditation and/or connection to others who share your interest in Buddhist teachings and practice.
See also: A Precious “Second Life” Online? — Nate DeMontigny, author of the Precious Metal blog, explains the online simulation program, Second Life.
What is reality?
I live in a remote area, so the choices are virtual Sangha or nothing. I am immensely grateful for Kannonji in Second Life as well as zencast.org. And yet I retain the ability to talk to people in person—I am a classroom teacher. Virtual Reality/Real Life is not an either/or proposition for most people.
I'm still trying to figure out what happened to Jundo and Taigu. Both of their online teaching/blog/meditation-sit-what nots were incredibly inspiring. For remote people that have no other channel, online is fine, for those of us who can visit a Sangha, by all means, we should.
Hi Solidity,
We still post here from time to time, and can also be found back at Treeleaf (and wherever you are) … here …
http://www.treeleaf.org/sit-a-long/with-jundo-and…
here too
http://www.treeleaf.org/forum/
all "here".
Gassho, Jundo (and Taigu too)
I think this a completely backward post; when Buddhism fails to address changing cultural forces of the time (think Meiji revolution Japan) we lose touch with each other and with the challenges against attachment that face the global community. Many of the addictions and attachments that cause suffering are located online (at least here in the U.S.) so should we also not be in this reality to support those who must live and work in an online reality.