A Robot Buddha?

27 thoughts on “A Robot Buddha?”

1. On the bit on conscience betraying us, it means conscience standing up for the truth against us even though we have buried it. If one’s conscience does not collude with us even when we bend our own rules, doesn’t one feel betrayed when the deepest secret, betrayal we think is safe with us becomes the very evidence that exposes itself against us? Let us not forget in the court of Yama, there is this mirror which reveals all the details of one’s deeds done in the period of one’s life. Isn’t that using your own memories against you? Robot can only have consciousness embedded only when science is able to understand consciousness and contain it before finding the right vessels to connect to it. We are already able to send signals or impulses from our minds to switch on a light and move a mouse. The potential of a further extension from this cannot be dismissed. If spirits can even hide in a comb and in dolls which explains why we heard of stories of people being haunted by spirits through objects they brought home even in antiques. The interaction of spiritual energy and inanimate objects cannot be ignored.

   I dun recall any sutra that says dung has Buddha nature. I got this impression when I read a Buddhist comic by asiapac with one page depicting such an illustration. Interestingly the Buddha did say that all sentient beings have Buddha nature, 众生云云皆有佛性. How do we define sentient beings in the 6 realms or even other worlds? Is dung really just dung? Are there not sentient beings living inside it such as maggots or even bacteria. Does maggots not have Buddha nature considering that they will grow into flies and are also sentient beings with Buddha nature? By living in that dung, is it a dung with Buddha nature considering that it is alive with lives and organic? On a micro organism level, it is interesting to note that in the theory of evolution, all lives started of as micro organism which evolves. Based on this, we are also reminded of the account before the microscope was invented, that the Buddha disciples are able to even see micro organism in the water they drink which they refused to drink in order not to kill. But if the human bodies do die of thirst, the living micro organism within us will die as well which is also killing.

   A rock that saves someone is becos the bodhisattvas or buddhas have chosen to manifest themselves in that form at that time becos of a need and mayb operating in the context of that environment and situation, maybe a rock is all it needs to break the speed. It could be an environment filled with rocks but the bodhisattvas or Buddha chose to manifest as a saving rock among them. Whether a rock has Buddha nature or not depends on where consciousness chose to anchor themselves to. If a spirit, a sentient being of this six realms anchor itself onto the rock, is it not a rock with sentient being spirit? Interesting to note, in one episodes of incredible tales, a man brought a stone home which within it resides a river or tortoise spirit and the man was possess by that spirit. In one of haitao fashi video which I caught it by chance while at a centre, he share a story of a mother who was trapped inside a rock, a form of 无间地狱。A son went to seek the house where the rock was and discovered that it was at a restaurant. This rock was used for cooking and everytime it was cooked and near the fire, the son’s mother feel like she is living in fire. The son got a job in that restaurant asking for 3 meals and a roof without any pay. Every nite he wld recite sutras and make merits and dedicate to his mother. Eventually one day, the rock broke and his mother was freed. So whether rocks are sentient depends whether if there are consciousness or not in the various see form and unseen form. 

   In the Avalokiteshvara animation by alcoo.com which does very good animation, there’s this episode of reciting guanyin’s name in flood. A man nearly drowned and while he is drowning in the water, his mind calls out to avalokiteshvara. Strange enuff, a plush Teddy bear doll which was sitting at the bottom of the water bed suddenly let loose and pushes him up like a buoy. On the tsunami, the buddhas and bodhisattvas are bound by precepts in their practice one of which is no killing very much suggests that the idea of a rock killing someone becos it is manifested by a Buddha is impossible. Nature can be active or latent. In the same way, there are still humans despite having Buddha nature hidden in them can still kill for a living. Tsunami is still part of a phenomenal makeup of this cosmical world. At the rate seafood is being eaten and no even sparing the roe or young, we should not forget the wrath of nagakings as well. My fren mentioned that there is a sutra which even states what sort of karma sentient beings have committed of the various continents that invite them hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. What sutra is it? You must go validate from a qualified master since I only hear it from a fren.

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2. Robots can have consciousness only if the forces of karma sends consciousness into them, if possible at all.

   There is a big difference between saying that dung has sentient beings (maggots, which have Buddha-nature) versus saying dung is sentient, that dung (by itself) has Buddha-nature. For example, a house can house sentient beings, but a house is not sentient.

   That life at its most primary physical level is microscopic does not mean everything microscopic is life. In fact, most matter is lifeless. Likewise, since most rocks do not save people, do all rocks have Buddha-nature, as in the potential to attain Buddhahood? There is a big difference between saying some rocks are manifestations of enlightened beings versus saying all are expressions of Buddha-nature.

   We’re returning to the question of the idea that ‘all things have Buddha-nature. Is it true? Or is it that only some things have Buddha-nature?

   About this – ‘My fren mentioned that there is a sutra which even states what sort of karma sentient beings have committed of the various continents that invite them hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. What sutra is it? You must go validate from a qualified master since I only hear it from a fren.’ Please help to find it as it is from your friend. It’s not very good to post comments based on hearsay, and to say ‘you must go validate’. Since you posted it, do help to locate the source. Thanks.

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3. Hi. Pls see this article on the karma created by beings that bring them disasters
    
   佛在《楞严经》里面告诉我们，贪瞋痴叫三毒烦恼，这是我们内心的病毒，感召的是什麽？感召是三灾。贪心、贪婪，所感召的是水灾。瞋恚所感召的是火灾，现在地球大家知道，温度不断上升，你看前天报纸上登着，北极的冰可能在今年九月就全部融化。我们晓得南北极的冰要融化之後，高山积雪没有了，大灾难就来了。海水上升，沿海的城市会被淹没。雪山上没有水，长江、黄河水源没有了，都变成枯乾，动物、植物离开水不能生存，你说这是多麽严重的灾难。这个灾难是瞋恚，温度上升是属於瞋恚，人容易发脾气，容易动瞋恚心，是你的念头感召来的。风灾，风是愚痴，愚痴感召的风灾。傲慢、不平所带来的是地震。所以佛说，如果我们能够「勤修戒定慧，息灭贪瞋痴」，这三灾就不起了，就没有了。

   [Administrator: We are sorry, we have to remove the link because it disrupted the layout]

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4. Can the exact quote from the sutra be shared? Can’t recall that part in the sutra. Thanks

   I agree that disasters that affect sentient beings are a reflection of their karma, but in which part of which sutra is it stated that a specific defilement causes a specific disaster?

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5. Hi. This is the one on sentient beings or another world which maybe made of metal or diamonds.

   大方广佛华严经卷第八
   　　
   华藏世界品第五之一
    
   此上过佛刹微尘数世界，有世界，名：恒出现帝青宝光明，以极坚牢不可坏金刚庄严为际，依种种殊异华海住；其状犹如半月之形，

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6. 金刚 in Buddhism means diamond – a synonym of hardness, indestructibility, power, the least frangible of minerals, definitely not a metal.

   Human beings and animals in this samsara are made of some metals like iron, potassium and etc… 😉

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7. On whether all things have Buddha nature vs some things have Buddha nature, we have to ask if some things have Buddha nature, what these somethings are. Supposedly we look at Mara, does he have Buddha nature? Sure he does. How do we know if something is buddha?

   The planet earth is a host to all forms of life. Inanimate it maybe comprising of almost the five elements, would you consider the planet earth as alive or just an physical object without life? While not all microscopic things is life, if you take it at the atomic level. All physical objects are made of atoms. Organic living stuffs are made up of molecules which are also made up of atoms. Are atoms dead or alive? 

   It is said that amitabha pure land is a manifestation of his vows. On that pure land, one can wish for inanimate stuff like houses and clothing just by one thought, are these houses one wishes dead or alive? Do these lifeless houses have Buddha nature? Is a piece of pure land lifeless without any Buddha nature in it? Whatever the mind can conjure, there is nothing that is impossible. All things are manifested from our minds and hearts. Does mind not have everything? Everything that ever existed in this world existed in our heads first before it existed physically in this world either through someone’s head and efforts. The copyright law is a secular expression that acknowledge and credits the same dharma logic which the Buddha once said “With our minds, we make the world”. The connecting element is still consciousness at some level.

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8. The 华严经 quote does not speak of beings being made of metal, but of the environment?

   Mara has Buddha-nature. The original question was how can all things, including ALL sticks and stones and such have Buddha-nature.

   If the whole of Earth is seen as a living organism, what about a barren planet with sticks and stones? How is it said that ALL things have Buddha-nature? The question is not about sentient life being supported by non-sentient elements – but why is it that some teach that all things have Buddha-nature? Back to the barren planet – how can the sticks and stones there become enlightened?

   Of course, the environment of Pure Land has Buddha-nature – it is the very expression of if. What about the war ravaged lands in this world? Where is the Buddha-nature in the rubble, if it is true that all sticks and stones have Buddha-nature?

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9.  http://www.zhuanjinglun.com/viewthread.php?tid=6618
    
   很多孤独地狱的众生就在我们身边
    
   达真堪布  
    
   孤独地狱的众生没有固定的住处，没有固定的痛苦，也没有固定的寿命量。无论何时何地，有各种各样的痛苦就有各种各样的孤独地狱的众生。他们以意识来感受那些痛苦，所以叫孤独地狱。
   有时候他们感觉自己被夹在山崖里，有时候感觉自己被压在巨石下，有时候感觉自己就是那颗大树，大树被砍、被锯的时候，就感觉是自己被砍坏、锯断了，特别恐怖而又无助。
   我们关门、敲门都要注意。有时候，那些孤独地狱的众生就在门里，他们就觉得那个门就是自己。我们使劲一关，使劲一敲，他就觉是自己被敲、被关。他们也会特别害怕，会感受很多痛苦。所以我们任何时候都要轻轻地、慢慢地！谁知道哪里有孤独地狱的众生，谁知道什么时候会伤害它们呢？
    
   文章来源：http://www.dymf.cn/Article/sskq/jjks/2008-01-15/820.html

   Sticks and stone dun need to be enlightened. Do they have the five poisons? In the same way, sand also dun need to be enlightened. Yet we are aware that in some teachings 金光明沙，we can use sand, imbued them with some mantras and sprinkle them onto any dead animals or bones, the beings can still be liberated. If sands have no Buddha nature. How can it respond and become efficacious? Then the power of the dharma is not boundless but privately limited. 佛法本就是无边。有何难处？ If we view all things as atoms, dharma is like the living atomic energy that can connect or tap into whatever atomic nature even in non sentient things and can transmute them, the same way we harness gold and make them useful and applicable in electronic parts. Even non sentient things can have Buddha nature. This logic is very much parallel to the ideal that plants have no nervous system and we can eat them. Plants are sentient. Do plants have Buddha nature?

   This is my personal belief. I believe the dharma is a very advanced branch of study of energies of the universe, beyond and their migratory and interactive nature. We are all different expressions of energy. Some latent. Some active. Some destructive. Some bright. Some dark. Karma is also energy created from our actions of body, speech and mind which explains why psychics can get visions from objects used by people. If one look at the yogas in Buddhism, it is actually a form of energy management and transformation using the energies of our body to transform, subdue or pacify. All non sentient beings have energy too. Energy is meant to be free and liberated in order to do greater things. Energy cannot be destroyed but it can only be transformed from one state to another wic explains why sentient beings can burn for so long in lower realms becos they are sustained by their karmic energies. Of course, we hope to be in a better state, a purer state rather than encapsulating our indestructible nature into destructible and impermanent forms fabricated with our minds. A cup that is broken may look impermanent but if one look at it at an atomic level. Is the atom of a intact cup the same as a broken cup? Did the cup really break?

   Is a cup a cup becos it’s functional purpose is to hold and allow one to drink water? Creatively, if a potter designed a cup deliberately in the form of a broken cup yet it is able to hold water and be drunk from it. Is that design considered broken? Back to energies, looking at the five poisons that arise in us, dun they all create certain energies in us that affect us once we transform them into active energies of karmic actions should we let them lead us by our nose which further create new karmic energies affecting others and our environment. The only difference is are we using our energies for good or evil? Commenting on this blog definitely uses energy powered by my iPad and migrated from the wireless network to the server.

   Collectively even when we do group prayers and the merits and energies generated as a group is definitely bigger than alone.

   I dunno if anyone watches MATRIX. But in episode one towards the end, when Neo saw the entire world, both sentient and non sentient in it’s original machine language, he became the one capable of manipulating the machine controlled world. In other words, he has become free. He can hack and change the system when trinity in episode two nearly died and he can bring her back to life. All he needed was some codes or new quotes. He was the only one who can fly in that virtual world becos he is free from the system.

   So if we put our energies into the pure land teachings, like a strong beam of laser, we will be able to travel billions of lightyears with just one thot. That is better than any spaceship. For all we know, maybe we dun need to travel anywhere. If the pure land is oredi in your heart, where do you need to go?

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10. 1. The Chinese comment seems irrelevant. That SOME beings might abide in SOME inanimate things does not imply that ALL things have Buddha-nature. The original question again, is ‘how is it said that all things have Buddha-nature?’

    2. By saying sticks and stones don’t need to be enlightened, what does that mean? How does this explain that they have Buddha-nature? What do you mean by Buddha-nature? If it is the potential to be Buddhas, how can sand become Buddhas? Becoming Buddhas and being an instrument used by Buddhas are different things. For example, if you can be possessed by a ghost, it doesn’t mean you are the ghost.

    3. That sand can be consecrated, infused with spiritual energy does not mean ALL sand and other things have Buddha-nature. How does non-consecrated sand have Buddha-nature?

    4. If Buddha-nature is in all atoms, why are not all atoms already Buddhas now? How can atoms form to be beings doing evil? Where is the Buddha-nature in a tsunami wave that kills 240,000?

    5. Which Buddha taught that plants are sentient? Sutra quote please. You mentioned in another comment that sticks and stones don’t need enlightenment. But you now say plants are sentient. How can plants become enlightened then, since they are sentient?

    6. The cup did break. It’s just that the atoms didn’t. Something is considered broken if it no longer serves its original function as designed to be.

    7. What are the five poisons?

    8. If Neo ‘can hack and change the system’, why did he not rid all the ‘evil’ machines in the end, instantly? If Buddha-nature is everywhere, even in sticks, stones and plants, why is there evil anywhere?

    9. Pureland is both physical and mental. It can be both within and without. Here is why: http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2010/09/is-pureland-here-or-there-now-or-later

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