Virtual Paradise Not

‘Assault Girls’, from the makers of ‘Ghost in the Shell’, is quite a letdown, lacking the usual profound philosophising. Its premise is predictable, though nevertheless unnerving and possible in the near future. It speaks of the world in the future, when the global environment, economy and politics become so dishearteningly hopeless that people retreat into virtual worlds, where they take on magnificent personas (avatars), to do whatever they wish – with rules restricted by the designers and game-masters though.

Sounds like a paradise? Not really – because as long as the hearts and minds of the virtual worlds’ creators and the players are not purified, all the three poisons of greed, hatred and delusion are brought along. In fact, these poisons become magnified with their personas’ superpowers. To maintain one’s place in the virtual world and to improve ‘life’ there, struggle continues. And even if it’s truly paradise, it’s only virtual – no Pure Land that leads to True Happiness of liberation.

1 thought on “Virtual Paradise Not

  1. 换膏不换药,来来去去都是同样的问题。斩草不除根春风吹又生. That’s the reason why the dharma studies deeply into the mind and the heart. Every action of man does leave imprints/footprints onto the sands of time. There are some we fondly remember and there are some we are filled with disgust. All things arises inside us before they get expressed and acted on outside us leaving imprints onto this continuum of existence. Everything about this world whether it is the past, present or the future are all the footprints of the hearts of many humanity left onto the sands of time. 人生的所有一切本来就是人心人性所遗留的足迹。有心才有性。所以可称得上是心的足迹。有善有恶也因妄想执著,贪憎痴的足迹。That’s the same reason why we must understand our heart before we can awaken to our original nature. 明心才能见性。 Only when we awaken to our original nature then is enlightenment found. Buddhism is really a heart yoga(内功心法) other than a religion, a philosophy and a path of liberation. All the answers we seek are already in our hearts. We seek our answers within which differentiate us as internalist and not externalist. 

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