Posted on 05/07/2026 6:08:54 AM PDT by Cronos
Gabi led a procession of chanting Buddhist monks into a temple in Seoul. Wearing a ceremonial gray and brown robe, black shoes, a rosary and flesh-colored gloves, Gabi brought hands to prayer.
“Will you devote yourself to the holy Buddha?” one of the monks asked.
“Yes, I will devote myself,” Gabi replied.
“Will you devote yourself to the holy teaching?” the monk asked.
“Yes, I will devote myself,” Gabi answered.
If these answers sound robotic, that’s because Gabi is, in fact, a robot.
On Wednesday, Gabi became the first robot to be ordained as a monk in South Korea by the country’s largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order. The name Gabi means Buddha’s mercy.
“The ordination of a robot signifies that technology must be used in accordance with the values of compassion, wisdom and responsibility,” the order said in a statement, “and symbolizes new possibilities for the coexistence of humans and technology.”
The robot, at just over four feet tall, is the latest effort by the country’s monks to show the modern relevance of Buddhism
At its ordination ceremony, Gabi’s movements were remotely controlled from behind the scenes, Mr. Hong said. And he admitted that its words had been prerecorded.
“It was actually my voice,” Mr. Hong said. He said he had recorded Gabi’s words on his phone and sent it to the robot’s manufacturer before the event.
Some people on social media criticized the robot as dystopian and lacking in humanity. Mr. Hong said that it did not make sense to reject robots or artificial intelligence while embracing other types of machines as part of daily life.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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when I visited Japan a few years ago and started reading on their version of Buddhism, I found it quite different from ‘original Buddhism’ - Theravada Buddhism as practiced in Sri Lanka and India.
Their concept of Boddhisattva was quite different from the Buddhist Theravada individual ‘liberation from self’
The Theravada idea of no creator god and the eternal-ness of the universe (like Jainism) seems at odds with the Zen and Korean ideas of (what I call) the “force”
Their concept of Boddhisattva was quite different from the Buddhist Theravada individual ‘liberation from self’
Can you show me, the shine of your Japan?
Looks like a parking meter. Are you sure you don’t have to pay?
? I only visited Tokyo -
And as to "no thing ness," no subscription to the NYTimes either.
No thing.
Isn’t Battlestar galactica basically Mormon theology?
It is good to not overcharge your robot monk especially if it uses cheap Lithium batteries. It might self immolate.
This is the most modern iteration of the parlor tricks that have gone on in temples since ancient times. Greek temples had mechanical birds that would chirp or answer questions. Temples in Alexandria were famous for mechanical devices during Roman times. Then you had the bleeding and weeping statues in Medieval churches.
The original series was.
the Buddha would be appalled to know that he is considered to be "holy" or a deity. that is NOT what he intended.
The sparkle of your China?
It all seems so funny now. But this how a lot of things start: as jokes that people laughed at.
"All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again."
I never watched the original or the rebooted versions.
What was the rebooted version “religion”? Not cloaked Mormonism?
Just a note - you wrote “realized” — AI is not sapient — it isn’t even really sentient
The one thing that I keep coming to: AI is not all it's cracked up to be. The more I work with AI the more I do understand that it will never replace, never approximate real heart and soul and emotions and motivation. It will never be able to approximate the human condition. It simulates those things well. But it will never take the place of them.
AI is nothing but advanced mathematical set theory hooked up to a language synthesizer.
Yup, I agree.
But it will replace people who don’t think.
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