九州大学学術情報リポジトリ Kyushu University Institutional Repository
Dharma Devices, Non-Hermeneutical Libraries, and Robot-Monks : Prayer Machines in Japanese Buddhism
Rambelli, Fabio University of California, Santa Barbara : Professor of Japanese Religions and IFS Endowed Chair Shinto Studies
https://doi.org/10.5109/1917884
出版情報：Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University. 3, pp.57-75, 2018-03. 九州大学文学 部大学院人文科学府大学院人文科学研究院 バージョン： 権利関係： Dharma Devices, Non- Hermeneutical Libraries, and Robot-Monks: Prayer Machines in Japanese Buddhism
FABIO RAMBELLI
T is a well-documented fact—albeit perhaps not their technologies for that purpose.2 From a broader emphasized enough in scholarship—that Japa- perspective of more general technological advances, it nese Buddhism, historically, ofen has favored and is interesting to note that a Buddhist temple, Negoroji Icontributed to technological developments.1 Since its 根来寺, was the frst organization in Japan to produce transmission to Japan in the sixth century, Buddhism muskets and mortars on a large scale in the 1570s based has conveyed and employed advanced technologies in on technology acquired from Portuguese merchants.3 felds including temple architecture, agriculture, civil Tus, until the late seventeenth century, when exten- engineering (such as roads, bridges, and irrigation sive epistemological and social transformations grad- systems), medicine, astronomy, and printing. Further- ually eroded the Buddhist monopoly on technological more, many artisan guilds (employers and developers advancement in favor of other (ofen competing) social of technology)—from sake brewers to sword smiths, groups, Buddhism was the main repository, benefciary, from tatami (straw mat) makers to potters, from mak- and promoter of technology. ers of musical instruments to boat builders—were more It should come as no surprise, then, that Buddhism or less directly afliated with Buddhist temples. In ad- also employed technology for religious and ritual pur- dition, numerous professions specialized exclusively poses. Xylography is perhaps the most obvious ex- in the production of Buddhist objects and developed ample. Since the seventeenth century, the enormous development of the printing industry was fostered in part by temple presses and publishing houses related
I would like to express my gratitude to An Pham-guoc, José Cabezón, Sabine Frühstück, Hannah Gould, Leor Halevi, George 2 See ambelli, “Sacred b ects and Design in uddhism.” Hirshkind, Itō Satoshi, ohn odern, ennifer obertson, 3 See onlan, “Instruments of hange,” p. 124. hile it is unclear eter omaskiewic , Stefania ra agnin, and esna allace whether the priests involved in that endeavor envisioned for their comments; suggestions from an anonymous reader modern weapons as new forms of uddhist tools, they may ha e for ha e significantly impro ed this article. thought that the capacity for a strong military defense would 1 lack of more comprehensi e, intercultural studies of uddhist protect their temple from its enemies; in any case, their enemies attitudes toward technology, especially in Southeast Asia, makes proved stronger and better equipped, and the temple was it impossible to decide whether this is a constant feature of destroyed by the army of warlord oyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉 uddhism in general or a apanese cultural speci city. 1537–1598) in 1585.
57 to Buddhist organizations. Buddhists printed all kinds we shall see below, this is a signifcant diference with of materials, from prayers, scriptures, doctrinal texts, modern automated machines. and commentaries to temple gazetteers, legends, his- Concerning Buddhist “prayer,” the English equiv- tories, and hagiographies. Tis vast range of printed alent for contemporary Japanese terms such as kigan material was envisioned as a support for prayer activi- 祈願, kitō 祈祷, and inori 祈り, here it may be under- ties. An important precedent, based on earlier Chinese stood as any interaction, mostly and primarily verbal and Korean models, existed for the printing of the early (or translatable in discursive terms), with one or more modern period (early seventeenth to mid-nineteenth divine beings (buddhas, bodhisattvas, and other beings century): around 770 the Japanese government ordered of the Buddhist pantheon), carried out for multiple the printing of one million copies of a prayer (the so- purposes. Ofen a prayer is made to ask something of called Hyakumantō darani 百万塔陀羅尼) to be placed the divinity on behalf of oneself or others (this also in- inside miniature models of a pagoda and distributed cludes so-called magic formulae), to express gratitude to temples all over Japan.4 Although the printing of the to the divinity, or to perform and display sentiments Hyakumantō darani occurred within social and histori- and acts of devotion. In certain Buddhist traditions, cal circumstances that were very diferent from those of prayers also can be used as instruments or supports the Edo period (1600–1868), this does suggest a strong for visualization or, more generally, for actualizing the interest, within Buddhist institutions, for technology presence of the divinity. Tis is the case for mantras in and its possible religious uses. Tantric Buddhism and repeated formulae such as the Temple bells, musical instruments (such as the nenbutsu 念仏 (the praise given to the Buddha Amida shakuhachi 尺八 fute, gongs, and drums), and ritual 阿弥陀, a formula that actually started as a visualiza- implements (including the vajra club and juzu 数珠 ro- tion practice) in the Pure Land sects and the daimoku sary) were also envisioned as tools to convey prayers in 題目 (chanting of the title of the Lotus Sutra) in sects non-linguistic forms. In fact, any number of mechan- related to the teachings of the thirteenth-century monk ical devices can be turned into prayer machines, even Nichiren 日蓮 (1222–1282). Contemplative prayers in- toilets.5 In this context, “machine” refers to any device volving visualizations of sacred realms also belong to created in order to carry out specifc tasks, one typically this category. In all cases, prayer is believed to gener- made of multiple parts and using some kind of power ate some form of merit (kudoku 功徳), that is, religious (physical, bodily, or mechanical), created in order to virtue that not only can improve the karma of the prac- carry out specifc tasks. In a premodern historical con- titioner but also can be transferred to others. Te term text, machines ofen were operated by human power (in “prayer” also may defne a ritual that includes prayer as some cases, also by natural agencies as with windmills defned above. Prayers do not need to be voiced: even and watermills, or animal force as with ploughs), and when the prayer is silent or meditative (such as when no functioned in close symbiosis with the human body; as specifc words or, in extreme cases, even well-formed thoughts are present), silence can be confgured as a se- miotic system diferent from, and superior to, speech in 4 See Kornicki, “ he yakuman ō arani and the rigin of rinting matters of communication with the divinities. A prayer in ighth entury apan.” can be performed by an individual or a group, either by 5 his is not an exaggeration. resent day toilets at some apanese following established procedures (rituals, liturgies, or temples function as machines to cleanse the impurities caused by human excrement by mobili ing the power of susama ceremonies) or by “improvising” ritual acts. Moreover, yōō 烏枢瑟摩明王 Sk. cchusm idy r a). he user of the a prayer can be performed directly by the practitioner toilet is in ited to chant or isuali e the initial letter of susama’s or by mediators such as monks, priests, and ritual spe- mantric seed hū p. un 吽), pronounced “nn” in apanese. Now, the sound of defecation is normally rendered in the cialists in charge of defning the appropriate words and apanese language as “nn,” which therefore sounds the same procedures for the prayer, and ofen leading the pro- as the mantra un. In this way, the sound of the polluting act is ceedings. In some cases, a prayer (both text and ritual also the ery cause of its purification; these two acts polluting and purification) are thus deeply related by irtue of semiotic procedure) is claimed to have originally been revealed mechanisms centered on the mantra un, its sound, and its directly by a divinity. Finally, a prayer can be extem- meanings see ambelli, u his heory o Semio i s, pp. poraneous (only done when needed) or performed at 136–37). ll of this is made possible by the toilet, which changes its status from a mere practical tool into a eritable prayer regular, specifc times defned by liturgical calendars machine. (nenjū gyōji 年中行事).
58 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y VOLUME 3 Tis essay will present and discuss the little-known manifestations of the sacred); and the diffusion and subject of the presence, in the Japanese Buddhist tradi- success of Buddhism in general has required many tion, of machines (special tools and other mechanical types of material things, including books, images, devices) used for the production and proliferation of implements, tools, documents and certificates, maps prayers and prayer-related activities, their status within and instructions, furniture, food, flowers, incense, the Buddhist cultural system, and the conceptual chal- clothes, vehicles, and countless other items7 Still, it is lenge that they pose to issues of individual agency, reli- somewhat surprising to find machines, and especially gious practice, and, ultimately, soteriology. prayer machines, among the stuff that made Buddhism what it is, not only today but also in premodern Asia. Te realization that machines, including prayer ma- Buddhist Prayer Machines chines, have been an important part of the Buddhist cultural system challenges received perceptions (wide- Even a cursory search of online sites selling Buddhist spread mainly in the West and dating back to the early objects and implements yields an impressive list of ar- modern period) about Western technological superior- tifacts, including Tibetan prayer wheels powered by ity to other countries, on the one hand, and the sep- solar energy, sofware with mantra-chanting loops to be aration of science and technology from the sphere of installed on computers, loop machines chanting con- the religious, on the other.8 With Buddhism, we have a tinuously the invocation to the Buddha Omituo 阿弥 major religion actually promoting technological devel- 陀仏 (Sk. Amitābha) in Taiwan, even a wallet with an opments also for religious, salvifc purposes. automated scripture-chanting chip that activates when A full treatment of the entire spectrum of Buddhist opened. Ritual services involving technology include prayer machines throughout history and across cul- internet rituals in China and elsewhere, and Buddhist tures goes far beyond the scope of this essay. Here, the TV rituals in Taiwan.6 All of these machines and ma- focus will be limited to a few representative instances of chine-based services ostensibly are sold as ways to pro- prayer machines from the Japanese Buddhist tradition, mote and facilitate Buddhist practice; many are created, both premodern and modern. Tey are, in order of in- used, and promoted by Buddhist organizations. creasing mechanical complexity, the shakuhachi, prayer Some of these devices may appear exotic if not wheels and rotating sutra repositories, early modern even far-fetched, more like souvenir-shop curios than mechanical devices (karakuri からくり or 機巧), and prayer devices, or even as technological degenerations recent digital technologies such as robot priests. We away from the true, spiritual purpose of Buddhism. shall see how each of these devices contributed to pro- Indeed, many observers and practitioners, especially in moting novel and specifc ways to “pray” and spread the West, cling to an image of Buddhism as a purely Buddhism. Next, the semiotic status of those prayer spiritual religion, unburdened by objects and hardly machines as special devices for disseminating signifi- needing any ritual. Yet Buddhism throughout history ers associated with Buddhism and its teachings will be has been characterized by the important role played by evaluated. Finally, the relationship of these prayer ma- materiality, understood as both a system of objects and chines to Buddhist doctrines on materiality, practice, as philosophical speculations on them. To begin with, and salvation will be assessed. the Buddhist ideal of renunciation was predicated upon material objects and worldly attitudes to be abandoned; Buddhist rituals require a wide variety (and, not ▪ Shakuhachi Flute infrequently, vast amounts) of items (such as sacred images, scriptures, ritual implements, and offerings); Te shakuhachi is a vertical fute, made of one single large monastic organizations need numerous kinds piece of bamboo with fve holes (four in front and of materials, commodities, and services, some of which have been sacralized (transformed into direct 7 hereas all religions re uire material ob ects, it may be argued that the sheer amount of material ob ects and the astness of their presence in uddhist practice set uddhism apart from 6 or internet rituals, see ra agnin, “ yber cti ities and i ili ed’ most religious traditions. orship.” 8 n this sub ect, see das, a hines as he easure o en.
S IN 2018 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y 59 one in back), measuring approximately one foot, eight be sacralized and eventually turned into a sort of man- inches (about 54.5 cm). It was brought to Japan around dala, a microcosm that embodies all of the fundamental the seventh or eighth century as one of the instruments forces and components of the entire Buddhist universe. used for court music (gagaku 雅楽), but at the time it Troughout the early modern period, the Fukeshū pro- was not widely played and eventually fell into oblivion. duced doctrinal documents in which the mandalic na- Te shakuhachi as we know it today began to be used ture of their instrument, their music, and their playing in the early Edo period (early seventeenth century) by style was defned and explained. What follows is a brief monks belonging to a newly formed and elusive Zen summary of their instrumental and musical doctrines. sect, the Fukeshū 普化宗, to which the Japanese gov- Mandalization began with the very name and shape ernment granted exclusive use of the instrument. of the instrument itself (in analogy with the Esoteric Musical instruments, especially relatively simple Buddhist interpretations of mantras and other texts, wind instruments such as the fute, normally are not which focused on the terms and the shapes of the considered machines. Buddhist monks treated the objects to which they referred). Tus, shaku 尺 (one shakuhachi, however, as a peculiar device, made with foot) was taken to represent the nature of awakening, specifc technologies, that employed musical tech- whereas hachi 八 (eight [inches]) stood for the eight niques in order to spread the Dharma in its unique types of mind (hasshiki 八識) in Buddhist epistemol- ways. According to governmental regulations, the ogy. Te empty bamboo tube out of which the instru- shakuhachi could not be played in public performances ment was made was seen as the supreme Dao of vacuity of a non-religious nature, but was only to be used by (kyomu shidō 虚無至道), while the three nodes on the Fuke monks (known as komusō 虚無僧) in meditation bamboo represented either the three components of the and other rituals as their unique Dharma device (or Confucian world (heaven, earth, and mankind; ten chi Dharma instrument, hōki 法器). Because the komusō jin 天地人) or the three realms of the Buddhist cosmos did not have a public to please, they were relatively free (the realms of desire, forms, and formlessness, unifed to develop new playing techniques and musical forms, by the single, universal, and pure mind, or yuishin 唯 which constituted the bases of today’s shakuhachi mu- 心). Te two openings on the top and bottom of the sic.9 In addition, the Fuke sect came to develop what instrument were seen as the sun and the moon, heaven can be considered the frst meditative instrumental and earth, and the two fundamental mandalas of Es- music of the entire Buddhist tradition, much before oteric Buddhism. Te fve fngering holes represented contemporary New Age music. For the komusō, playing the fve elements (gogyō 五行) of Chinese cosmology the shakuhachi amounted to practicing Zen; their quest (wood, metal, fre, water, and earth), or, in certain in- for the absolute and ultimate sound (tetteion 徹底音) terpretations, a number of diferent sets of correlative aimed at attaining enlightenment (satori 悟り). series of cosmic elements: the fve cakra centers of the As mentioned above, for the komusō the shakuha- body and the universe (gorin 五輪), the fve musical chi was not just a musical instrument, but a veritable modes (gochō 五調), the fve Chinese elements of re- Dharma device (hōki). Tis term, literally meaning ality (gogyō), the fve fundamental sounds of the pen- “Dharma vessel,” has a broad semantic range. Nor- tatonic scale (goon 五音), or the fve buddhas at the mally it refers to a worthy recipient of the teachings, as center of the mandala (Sk. Śākyamuni, Jp. Shaka 釈迦; in the case of the best disciples of a Buddhist master. Sk. Ratnasambhava, Jp. Hōshō 宝生; Sk. Mahāvairo- Yet “vessel” also may refer to “material objects,” as in cana, Jp. Dainichi 大日; Sk. Amitābha, Jp. Amida; and the expression “realm of material objects” (kikai 器界 Sk. Akṣobhya, Jp. Ashuku 阿閦), all of which are envi- or kisekai 器世界), with a special connotation indicat- sioned together as the origin and the condensation of ing tools and ritual implements. Because of its nature the totality of phenomena (shinra banshō 森羅万象 or as a ritual implement made specifcally to express the banbutsu 万物).10 Dharma and attain awakening, the shakuhachi came to
10 In this regard, the shakuha hi was similar to other professional tools that were sacrali ed in different forms and to different 9 See urt willer, “Shakuhachi spects of History, ractice extents by their users such as the scale for merchants or the axe and eaching”; urt willer, ie Shakuha hi er Kinko S hu e; for carpenters); see ambelli, “ onji Suijaku at ork”; ambelli, Johnson, Shakuha hi oo s an ou es. u his a eria i y, pp. 172–210.
60 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y VOLUME 3 Concerning musical practice, the Fuke sect taught ture). Known in Japanese as rinzō 輪蔵 (abbreviation that the breath running through the empty bamboo of tenrinzō 転輪蔵, literally, “revolving [sutra] repos- tube transcends all dichotomies, and that each melody itory”), these devices consist of a sort of multisided is a manifestation of the absolute silence of enlighten- (normally, octagonal) bookcase, with shelves on all ment. Te komusō playing the instrument did so not sides, placed on a rotating axis; the bookcase contains for individual pleasure, but as a way to enable listen- sutra scrolls of the entire Buddhist canon. Te inven- ers to understand that the forms are not diferent from tion of this device is attributed to Fu Xi 伏羲 (497–569), mind (shiki soku shin 色即心), and as a way to attain an eccentric Chinese religious fgure also known as Fu Zen samādhi (zenjō zanmai 禅定三昧), understood Dashi 伏大士 (Bodhisattva Fu; Jp. Fu Daishi), who was as a spiritual state of fusion between the self and the worshiped as a manifestation of Maitreya, the buddha universe (banbutsu yo ga yūmei 万物與我幽冥). In this of the future.12 Rotating sutra repositories were brought way, shakuhachi music served as a means to attain lib- to Japan by Zen monks in the late fourteenth century; eration from delusion, or nirvana (jakujō mui chi 寂静 one of the oldest existing rinzō, built in 1408 (Ōei 応永 無畏地).11 15), is located inside the Sutra Hall (Kyōdō 経堂) at An- In the case of the shakuhachi, thus, a musical in- kokuji 安国寺 in Takayama (Gifu Prefecture in central strument is used as a Buddhist device to propagate Japan), and is designated by the Japanese government the Dharma in a diferent form from verbal or visual as a National Treasure.13 dissemination, through manipulation of sound and si- A noh play attributed to Kanze Nagatoshi 観世長 lence, in ways that the human body alone cannot do. 俊 (ca. 1488–ca. 1541), entitled Rinzō, describes a trav- Te status of the shakuhachi and its music does not eling monk’s visit to the rotating sutra repository at depend only on the semiotic substance (sound and Tenmangū 天満宮 Shrine-temple in Kitano, Kyoto. music) that they employ. Rather, shakuhachi music en- At the sacred site, the god of fre (Sk. Agni, Jp. Kajin ables performers and listeners alike to represent and 火神) and the spirit of Fu Dashi appear to the monk, envision alternative ways to understand, practice, and and tell him that by turning this device he can, in fact, experience Zen. Specifcally, strategies of doctrinal en- pay homage to the entire Buddhist canon.14 Tis drama coding (mandalization) turned the instrument into a points to the novelty and exoticism of the device to the mandala or microcosmic device, and composition and Japanese audience in the early sixteenth century. In the performance techniques were correlated with particular early seventeenth century, these devices spread beyond doctrinal elements (such as nondualism and enlighten- Zen institutions to temples of other sects as well. At ment). In other words, the shakuhachi became a prayer that time, many large temples in big cities and regional machine because, once the semiotic system associated centers, which owned the entire Buddhist canon, also with performance techniques and aesthetic principles built rotating sutra repositories. Rinzō provided a way was mastered, playing music on it enabled the player for these temples to display their prestige (owning the to “pray” and practice Buddhism in ways that would entire Buddhist canon was a rare and great privilege, not have been possible with other tools/machines—or, strengthened by the novelty of the rotating reposi- indeed, without them. tory), while at the same time enabling them to share the canon with the illiterate and semi-literate masses, to many of whom the sutras were accessible only through this device. ▪ Prayer Wheels and Rotating Sutra Repositories In some cases, the rotating sutra repository was used
One of the most peculiar and conceptually interesting forms of Buddhist scripture worship is certainly the use 12 In fact, the first reference in hina concerning re ol ing of rotating sutra repositories (fgure 1, an example from bookcases used for sacred texts dates from the ninth century, but such devices became very popular and widespread only during Kegonji 華厳寺, Ibigawa-chō 揖斐川町, Gifu Prefec- the twelfth century. n the history of the prayer wheel in hina, see oodrich, “ he e ol ing ookcase in hina.” 13 he ersion of the uddhist canon stored inside this bookcase was printed at a temple in Hang hou during the Yuan dynasty 11 ased on documents uoted in akahashi, ukeshū shōshi, pp. 1271–1368). 59, 60, 61, 62, 64; see also 187–88. 14 inzō, in Sanari, ed., ōkyoku aikan, ol. 5, pp. 3373–84.
S IN 2018 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y 61 appear to be variants of devices, commonly known as “prayer wheels,” that are particularly popular in Tibet. Gregory Schopen has suggested that both may be de- rived from some kind of device used in India toward the eleventh century, but the evidence is inconclusive.15 Whereas Japanese rinzō are large devices containing the entire Buddhist canon, however, Tibetan prayer wheels are rotating cylinders of various kinds and sizes, upon which only one mantra normally is inscribed (most ofen, the mantra Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ). Westerners came in direct contact with rotating prayer devices in various parts of Central and East Asia from around the nineteenth century. Several decades ago, however, historian of technology Lynn White Jr. suggested that European religious prohibitions against taking Christian slaves issued in the ffeenth century led slave traders to enslave people from Central Asia, some of whom might have brought along with them aspects of prayer-wheel technology. Indeed, the bell- and-chain governor (from hand-held wheels), the vertical-axis windmill (from wheels turned by wind), and the hot-air turbine (from wheels turned over fre- places) were found in Renaissance Italy.16 If this thesis is correct, it would confrm both Buddhism’s interest in technology and, at the same time, the fact that tech- nology in the West was not directly related to religious i re 1. otating sutra repository rinzō). 1902. ood and metal. Si e unknown. Kegon i, Ibigawa chō, ifu refecture. ublic domain; practices but was used mostly for practical, secular en- https a.wikipedia.org wiki 8 8 94 5 media deavors. ile ifu kegon i5738. . Not much doctrinal or exegetical material regarding the prayer wheel seems to exist in China or Japan. In to worship its putative inventor, Fu Dashi, whose statue Tibetan Buddhism, however, where these devices are is sometimes enshrined in front of the device, alone widely used, we can fnd a detailed theoretical treat- or with other saintly fgures. For example, the rotating ment.17 Te Tibetan tradition states that the great In- sutra repository at Zenkōji 善光寺 in Nagano (central dian scholar and Buddhist patriarch Nāgārjuna (ca. Japan) enshrines the two Japanese patriarchs of the 150 CE) found the prayer wheel in the land of the nagas Tendai 天台 sect, Saichō 最澄 (Dengyō Daishi 伝教 (mythological serpents) and transmitted it to a ḍākinī 大師; 767–822) and Ennin 円仁 (Jikaku Daishi 慈覚大 (a demi-god, very important in Tantric Buddhism), 師; ca. 793–864), together with Fu Dashi. Te technical who in turn handed it down to Padmasambhava, the principle of the rotating sutra repository was also ap- founder of Tibetan Buddhism.18 Yet not much is known plied to other devices. For instance, the Rokkakudō 六 about actual historical processes of transmission of this 角堂 (Hexagonal Hall) at Mizusawadera 水沢寺 (Shi- device to Tibet. Some authors argue that a prayer wheel bukawa, Gunma Prefecture), built in 1787, enshrines a very unusual rotating device with six statues of the bodhisattva Jizō 地蔵菩薩, one for each of the six des- tinations of transmigration (the realms of hell, hungry 15 Schopen, igmen s an ragmen s o ahayana u hism in n ia, pp. 345–49; see also oodrich, “ he e ol ing ookcase ghosts, animals, demigods, humans, and deities), as a in hina,” pp. 130–65. way to represent both the process of reincarnation and 16 hite, e ie a e igion an e hno ogy, pp. 49–50. the all-pervading salvifc power of the bodhisattva. 17 or a selection of ibetan commentaries on the prayer wheel, see Ladner, he hee o rea Com assion, pp. 33–84. Japanese and East Asian rotating sutra repositories 18 Ibid., pp. 36, 47–48, 55.
62 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y VOLUME 3 embodies all the actions of the buddhas and ter-wheels, the constant turning would add to the bodhisattvas of the ten directions. To beneft merit of those connected with their erection.22 sentient beings, the buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest in the prayer wheel to purify all of our Simpson also indicated that merit-making does not re- negative karmas and obscurations and to cause sult from a mere mechanical act of putting the wheel and actualize awakening. All beings—not only in motion, but involves the chanting of the mantra Oṃ humans but also animals and insects—in the area maṇi padme hūṃ, ofen inscribed in Tibetan prayer where the prayer wheel is built are saved from wheels: “Before turning the wheels, the performer rebirth in the lower realms.19 should repeat the Mantra, else he will derive no merit from it; while he is turning, he may repeat the words as Tis salvifc power seems to derive from the fact that ofen as possible, and at the end a repetition is neces- prayer wheels contain the powerful mantra Oṃ maṇi sary, or the whole of the performance will be useless.”23 padme hūṃ, which embodies the buddhas and their In any case, Simpson described here the two ends of virtues. Tus, touching or turning a prayer wheel puts the spectrum of the functions of prayer machines, from the practitioner directly in contact with that powerful a situation in which merit is accrued without further mantra and, by extension, with all of the buddhas and need of human intervention to cases in which humans the benefts they generate. Te salvifc efects of the must at least operate the machine and/or chant a man- wheel are magnifed when it comes into contact with tra while doing so. the natural elements (earth, water, fre, and wind), be- Regarding China, an account of the practice of a re- cause then the wheel’s benefts are transmitted to the volving Dharma repository at Wutaishan 五台山 given elements, which carry and spread them throughout the by a Western traveler toward the end of the nineteenth universe.20 century suggests that “those who turn this ponderous Tibetan Buddhism also has developed visualization cylinder believe that they acquire as much merit by techniques centered on the prayer wheel. Te frst visu- the act as if they read all the books [contained in the alization describes a centrifugal process in which light device], repeated the prayers, and knocked their heads emitting from the mantra in the prayer wheel is visu- on the ground before all the gods whose images are alized; this light permeates the world and purifes it by enshrined in the wheel.”24 Miss Gordon Cumming, a sweeping away all negative karma. Te second visual- Western traveler to China and Japan during the same ization is about a centripetal process in which the light period, reports the presence of revolving Dharma re- emitting from the wheel’s mantra absorbs and elimi- positories, which she calls “Scripture-Wheels,” at many nates all negative elements.21 temples, but they were kept inside closed buildings and William Simpson, one of the frst Westerners to rarely used.25 study the prayer wheel (focusing mostly on its Tibetan In Japan, it is said that by making this apparatus ro- versions), pointed to its main function as a merit-mak- tate, an amount of merit equivalent to that produced by ing device. As he wrote, actually reading the scriptures would be acquired. Tis was clearly a ritual act, as indicated by the fact that, in according to the Buddhist doctrine of Karma, or premodern times, people turned the prayer wheel while good works, the more a wheel is turned, the more chanting the nenbutsu. Karma, or merit, is acquired by the person who We can clearly see a continuity in both action and causes it to turn; and from this it may be assumed signifcance between Tibetan prayer wheels and Si- that in the case of the cylinders propelled by wa- no-Japanese rotating sutra repositories: the action sets in motion a rotating device, the function of which is understood as the generation of merit; merit is in turn explained as being produced by the power of the sa- 19 uoted in ibid., p. 37. 20 See also ibid., pp. 48–50. Some of the semiotic strategies in which mantras are deemed effecti e in antric uddhism, with 22 Simpson, he u his raying hee , p. 16. special focus on the apanese Shingon tradition, are discussed in 23 Ibid., p. 28. ambelli, u his heory o Semio i s, especially chapter 4. 24 Ibid., p. 21. 21 Ladner, he hee o rea Com assion, p. 39. 25 uoted in ibid., p. 115.
S IN 2018 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y 63 cred words (either mantras or entire scriptures) carried ual device that bases its efcacy on Buddhist scriptures by those devices. In the specifc case of sutra reposi- while at the same time making their “reading” com- tories, we do have indirect contact with the sutras pletely unnecessary. (touching the shelves where they are placed), but none Despite these operational and functional similari- of the actions we usually attribute to “reading” (even if ties, prayer wheels and rotating sutra repositories also we understand this action in a very broad sense); the show important diferences in technological structure scriptures themselves are not even touched. And yet, and economic scale. Te former is a relatively small ob- this practice is supposed to produce merit. How can we ject, easy to build and carry; the latter is a large device, explain its underlying logic? which cannot be moved, the construction of which re- Te efcacy of the prayer wheel seems to be based quires specifc skills and huge investments. In this re- on the complex semiotic drif of an infuential Bud- spect, we can see why rotating sutra repositories were dhist image, the “turning of the wheel of the Dharma,” considered tokens of prestige for the temples owning which originally referred to the Buddha preaching the them.27 Dharma. Rhys Davids, almost a century ago, explained that this expression should be understood as referring to “the setting in motion onwards of the royal chari- ▪ Early Modern Automata and Mechanical ot-wheel of the supreme dominion of the Dhamma,” Devices which means “the inauguration, or foundation, of the Kingdom of Righteousness.”26 In prayer wheels, we Japan has a long history of fascination with automata observe a metaphor (the expression “turning of the and clockwork mechanisms. Legends dating back sev- Dharma wheel” as referring to the Buddha’s preaching eral centuries tell of magicians or master carpenters and, by extension, to spreading Buddhism) being taken creating mechanized humanoids to help them in con- literally and made into a blueprint for mechanical de- struction work—veritable “robots” (laborer-automa- vices. In these rotating objects (wheels), ofen incorpo- tons) ante litteram. In most versions of these legends, rating the shape of the Indian cakra wheel (to reinforce the automata eventually were discarded afer the job their meaning), placed at temples or other religious sites was completed, but they continued to live; they married to be used by pilgrims and devotees, parts—if not the human females and raised progeny, whose descendents totality of the Dharma (individual mantras or the entire became some of the leading families of carpenters in canon)—literally are “turned” to indicate the spread of premodern Japan.28 Buddhism and its efcacy. As such devotional opera- Te technology of automata fourished during the tions involve manipulation of Buddhist sacred objects, Edo period, when a number of artisans and profession- they are considered to be highly meritorious and, by als began to specialize in producing automated devices, extension, to contribute to the difusion of Buddhism. known as karakuri in Japanese. Typically, karakuri Later, an additional layer of signifcation was added were moving dolls carrying cups of tea or sake, but we to these devices, as the rotating apparatus came to con- also fnd walking or horse-riding dolls, dolls playing a tain written mantras and even entire Buddhist scrip- drum, and pairs of animated puppets performing plays. tures. Te new implication is that the actual turning Artisans also built clocks and clockwork models of the of the entire apparatus carrying the scriptures, or of earth, and even of the Buddhist world centered on Mt. its components inscribed with sacred writings, would Sumeru.29 spread those sacred words into the air. In this case, the A stunning example of an automated puppet, dating Buddha’s speech has been transformed into writing, but the Dharma wheel presupposes the idea that writ- ing can be spread through the air similarly to speech. 27 or a fascinating study on rotating sutra repositories in apan, “Dharma” is understood here as “scriptures,” “wheel” addressed from a different perspecti e than that discussed here, see ubanks, “ ircumambulatory eading.” is the revolving bookcase, and “turning” is the actual 28 See ambelli, u his a eria i y, pp. 177–78. performance of the ritual. In other words, rinzō is a rit- 29 or a study of premodern apanese automata, see atsukawa, Karakuri. n clockwork representations of ount Sumeru, see ambelli, “Sada Kaiseki n lternati e Discourse,” pp. 104–42; ambelli, “ isions of the In isible Images and epresentations,” 26 uoted in ibid., p. 52. pp. 132–43.
64 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y VOLUME 3 from the late eighteenth century and still functioning today, is a representation of the monk Hotei 布袋 on a stage (called Hoteidai 布袋台).30 With two acolytes (dōji 童子) fying above him, Hotei performs various movements for about ffy minutes until the fan he holds in his lef hand opens up to reveal the religious message wakō dōjin 和光同塵 (“dimming one’s radiance and becoming one with the dust of the secular world”), a passage originally found in the ancient Chinese classic Laozi 老子 that was used widely in premodern Japan to refer to the way in which divinities appeared and inter- vened in this world. Tis mechanical device was used at temple festivals.31 A karakuri catalogue of 1757 (Hōreki 宝暦 7), en- titled Ōkarakuri etsukishi 大からくり絵尽, authored by Nishimura Shigenaga 西村重長 (1697–1756), in- cludes an image of the tainai totsuki no zu 体内十月 図 (“image of the ten months inside the womb”), also known as tainai totsuki henge 体内十月変化 (“trans- formations in the ten months inside the womb”). It rep- resents the development of the baby inside the womb during the ten months of gestation, overlooked by ten Buddhist divinities (from Fudō 不動 to Amida), one for each month (fgure 2). Te conceptual framework for this device is based on medieval embryology and the cult of the ten buddhas (in itself, a variation of the i re 2. ainai o suki karakuri (mechanical device representing the cult of the thirteen buddhas), as described in texts such fetus’s transformations inside the womb). rom Nishimura, karakuri e sukushi, ol. 2, p. 5. ourtesy of the National Diet ibrary, okyo. as Sanken itchisho 三賢一致書 (1649) by Dairyū 大龍 (n.d.). According to Furukawa Miki, Buddhist priests used Tis statement was followed by explanations of the two this device as a ritual implement to explain gestation— mandalas of Esoteric Buddhism, the existence of a lotus and, additionally, the cycle of life and reincarnation. in the body corresponding to the heart, and a narrative Furukawa reports a typical sermon as follows: about a spear (man) placed in the sea (woman) until it reaches the lotus (vagina) at the bottom; when that happens, afer ten months a baby is born.32 Te woman’s jade gate is the origin of the three One of the last of these devices is reported in worlds. All ornaments of the buddha-body are Asakusa in 1862.33 Tis type of Buddhist-inspired kara- tools (dōgu 道具) abiding inside women’s wombs. kuri, very popular in the Edo period, suggests the need If pulled apart they become Buddhist ritual imple- for further study on early modern prayer machines and ments, if kept together they stay inside the womb Buddhist attitudes toward technology. as women’s tools. Te shape of the fetus in the frst month, and in general the shape of the human being when it is born, they all arise from this staf (shakujō 錫杖).
30 Hotei h. udai) is commonly known in the est as “laughing 32 Furukawa, use su shomin geinō, pp. 185–86. uddha” or “fat uddha”; he is a figure of early modern hinese 33 oward the end of the do period, this type of de ice inspired folk religion who also became popular in apan. other karakuri related to sex and pornography; see Kinoshita, 31 See atsukawa, Karakuri, pp. 59–61. iju su o iu misemono, p. 102.
S IN 2018 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y 65 ▪ Robot Monks and Virtual (Online) Services fore death). It will stay with the family of the bereaved for forty-nine days, the traditional period of mourning; Tese premodern precedents can perhaps contribute on the last day, it will say some fnal words and shut to explaining the Japanese interest in technological of. According to Fujii, this limited scope of activity will gadgets and, recently, in robots, as well as the fact that facilitate the labor of mourning; of course, nothing will Japan is the country where the most advanced research prevent future customers from keeping robotic ver- in robotics is carried out.34 In recent years, robots have sions of deceased people for a longer time.37 also surfaced in religious settings. A robot monk wel- A more complex device, called Robo-Priest, has comes visitors to Hōtokuji 報徳寺 in the city of Kak- been employed at a Yokohama funerary chapel since ogawa, Hyōgo Prefecture, in central-western Japan. It 1993. It has been programmed to deliver prayers in normally sits still and silent in meditation (zazen 座禅) ceremonies according to the liturgy of seven Buddhist position, with a rosary (juzu) in its lef hand, but when a sects, Shinto, and two Christian denominations. A sensor detects a visitor in the temple hall, the robot au- computer records the date of death of each individual tomatically begins chanting a Buddhist scripture while memorialized at the chapel. On that day every year, the striking the mokugyo 木魚 (literally, “wooden fsh”), a Robo-Priest comes down from its location in the chap- percussion instrument used in Buddhist ceremonies. el’s ceiling to a place in front of the altar and chants the Tis robot monk, built out of recycled material, is a appropriate prayers—according to the religion of the low-tech device, closer to a doll than to a full-fedged deceased person—for thirty minutes. Tis robot, de- robot. Te resident priest of the temple found that the veloped by a commercial, for-proft funeral enterprise, parishioners actually like the robot monk, who has be- ofers customers (the deceased and their families) rit- come a sort of “temple mascot.”35 ual services that are cheaper and more accurate than A very recent and more developed version of a robot those normally ofered by Buddhist monks and other monk is an adaptation of Pepper ペッパー, SofBank religious specialists.38 Te fact that this robot is custom- Group Corp.’s humanoid robot. Since the summer of ized to pray according to diferent religious traditions is 2017, a specially programmed variety of Pepper is able also noteworthy, as it indicates an emphasis not on the to recite sutras from four major Japanese Buddhist actual person ofering the prayers, but on the prayers denominations; it is mostly intended to perform ac- per se. companying a human priest. Tis robot monk is now An even more high-tech type of memorial service available to chant Buddhist scriptures at funerals for a recently has been developed by Shunkeiji 春慶寺 in signifcantly cheaper fee than that charged by human Oshiage, one of Tokyo’s northeastern suburbs. Parish- monks, refecting changing perceptions in Japan about ioners can log on to a specifc website, called Netto the role of traditional Buddhist funerals and a growing Nōkotsudō ネット納骨堂 (literally, “internet crypt”), secular-minded attitude.36 Other robots engaging in fu- where they can view images of the funerary tablets (ihai neral-related activities are also under development. For 位牌) of their departed relatives and order sutra-chant- instance, neurologist and entrepreneur Fujii Naotaka ing for them, in which case they will see a recorded 藤井直敬 uses a version of Pepper as the prototype for image of a Buddhist priest chanting scriptures for the the so-called “Digital Shaman” (dejitaru shāman デジ dead.39 Te temple’s website ofers a free demonstration タルシャーマン). Tis shaman-like Pepper will have a of how the system works.40 An additional service is the mask reproducing the facial image of the dead person, so-called “computer memorial service” (pasokon kuyō and will speak with his or her voice (pre-recorded be- パソコン供養), in which parishioners can view, for a fee (currently, approximately US $1300), the funerary
34 n the situation of robotics in apan, see obertson, obo Sa iens a oni us. 37 Nagakura, “Shi kunichi made wa robotto de issho ni.” 35 See “ obo onk Sutra hanting Doll ecomes emple ascot,” 38 See en Hillis, “ he robot priest,” http benhills.com articles 1999.5.28, http web apan.org trends00 honbun t 990527. apan unlimited the robot priest ; originally published in the html. Sy ney orning era , 1993.5.4. 36 See “ uneral rites of the future” and “ epper to don monk’s robe 39 See im Hornyak, “ apanese turning to robotic crypts, irtual in new funeral role,” he a an imes, 2017.8.17, https www. gra e isits,” 2013.4.10, http www.cnet.com news apanese apantimes.co. p multimedia 2017 08 17 news funeral rites turning to robotic crypts irtual gra e isits . future . 40 See http www.syunkei i. p html taiken.html.
66 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y VOLUME 3 tablets of their deceased family members, request and people from other countries, many Japanese show a view a virtual sutra-chanting, and also watch a slide distinctive interest in, and willingness to interact with, show of selected pictures of the deceased. Te temple’s robots. Robert Geraci, among others, explains this is a internet contractor also provides computer installation consequence of Japan’s religious heritage: “Valorization and support.41 Tis type of funeral service, known as of being human in Shinto and Buddhism explains the “computer tomb” (dennō haka 電脳墓), is receiving in- Japanese preference for humanoid robots.”44 Tis sup- creased interest in Japan.42 posed “valorization of being human,” however, stands In addition, companies are developing digital forms in contrast to the lack of diferentiation between hu- of ancestor worship (dejitaru kuyō デジタル供養) for mans and inanimate entities that we encounter in many the home. A recent example is the digital-worship set aspects of the Japanese religious tradition, as discussed “Fenestra” created by Uriu Daisuke 苽生大輔 at Tōyō by many authors including Geraci. Geraci and others, University. Te set consists of a round digital display moreover, seem to overemphasize, on the one hand, the resembling a mirror, a digital photo frame, and a candle positive view of technology and robots held by the Jap- holder. When a worshipper stands in front of the mir- anese, and on the other hand, the negative, dystopian ror for a few seconds, an image of the deceased person views that supposedly dominate Western visions of ro- will appear; similarly, when the candle holder is placed bots. Just as motifs such as Frankenstein and authors in front of the digital photo frame and the candle is lit, such as Philip Dick are not representative of the entire pre-recorded images of the deceased will appear.43 range of positions expressed in Europe and America Arguably, the development of these kinds of auto- about robots and artifcial life, anime characters such as mated services points not so much to a degeneration Astroboy, created by Tezuka Osamu 手塚修, and popu- of Buddhism, but rather to the attempts of Buddhist lar robots such as ASIMO (produced by Honda) do not institutions to address new challenges in contemporary exhaust Japanese attitudes on the subject. Te West has Japanese society—in particular, the growing number a long tradition of visions of a technological, robotic of senior citizens (the segment of the population most utopia, and Japan has produced some of the most vio- involved in Buddhist practices) and their reduced mo- lent and disturbing dystopian visions of a technologi- bility, and the increasing fragmentation of Japanese cally dominated future.45 families, with younger people living far from their par- Tese treatments of attitudes toward Japanese robot- ents and grandparents and their family tombs. Most ics also ignore the distinction between natural entities Japanese today (and especially Buddhist priests) see and man-made artifacts, a distinction that is also pres- Buddhism from a sociologically pragmatic stance that ent in premodern Japanese philosophical speculation. encourages the tradition to adapt to changing social Such treatments also are characterized by a remarkable conditions in order to better serve its adherents (but confusion between Shinto and Buddhism, and by the also in order to survive). Automated technologies and vagueness of philosophical arguments regarding issues the internet make it possible to have religious services of materiality and sentience, as we shall see below.46 available at all times, and from a distance. Te Japanese robotics feld is well known for its development of humanoid robots that are engineered Theoretical Perspectives on Buddhist Prayer to operate in close contact with human beings in the Machines household (as pets, toys, and—in recent prototypes— even as sex objects), in the hospital (as nurses), and in Elsewhere I have proposed a general classifcation of ob- the workplace (as receptionists). In this regard, unlike
44 eraci, “Spiritual obots,” p. 10. In this passage, eraci 41 See http www.syunkei i. p html kuyou.html. repeatedly refers to eader and anabe, r., ra i a y e igious, 42 See obertson, “ obot eincarnation,” p. 23, and especially pp. 34–35, 46. obertson, obo Sa iens a oni us; also, Dutei gata, “New 45 n this sub ect, see omarasca, “ obottoni, esoscheletri, echnologies and New uneral ractices in ontemporary armature poten iate,” pp. 220–62. apan,” pp. 227–44. or other recent de elopments, see the 46 or an analysis of the cultural and ideological scenarios behind “web bu su an” at http www.onrain. p. contemporary Japanese robotics, see the recent work by 43 Nagakura, “Shi kunichi made wa robotto de issho ni,” p. 25. See ennifer obertson on the sub ect, in particular her “ endering also www.fenestra. p. obots,” pp. 405–26.
S IN 2018 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y 67 jects on the basis of their nature and function, by elabo- In order to better understand how machines inter- rating on the work done by cultural historian Krzysztof vene in Buddhist prayer activities, a detour through Pomian and philosopher Maurizio Ferraris.47 Te clas- Umberto Eco’s discussion of the various types of ob- sifcations under this system are natural objects (raw jects that extend the natural capacities of the human objects found by humans in their environment), ideal body is in order here. Eco divides such objects into objects (such as numbers and scientifc facts, which do three distinct groups, which he calls prostheses, instru- not occupy a place in space and do not depend on sub- ments, and machines.49 Broadly speaking, a prosthesis jects for their existence), social objects (such as texts, is “an extension of our body’s capacity”; instruments rituals, and countries), human-made objects (tools, and machines are both prostheses. Prostheses are made food, and waste), and virtual objects (digital entities). by imitating the body and its natural functions, and Human-made objects include tools, those objects used can be used more or less intuitively; instruments and to make and modify other objects; machines also be- machines are not modeled afer the body. Moreover, long to this category. Tese categories are not necessar- instruments require human force to function, whereas ily distinct and impermeable. A piece of bamboo is a machines operate automatically with only minimal natural object, but it can be worked into a shakuhachi, human intervention and supervision. thus becoming a human-made object; a shakuhachi is Eco further distinguishes between four types of also a tool that transforms aspects of the materiality of prostheses, which he calls substitutive, extensive, per- the Dharma by playing music (a social object). In an- fective, and magnifying. A “substitutive prosthesis other set of transformations, a rotating sutra repository does what the body used to do but by accident is no can become waste (another type of human-made ob- longer able to”; this type includes artifcial limbs, walk- ject) as a consequence of iconoclastic actions, and be ing sticks, and eyeglasses. Extensive prostheses “extend recycled as mere pieces of wood (natural objects) ready the body’s natural actions”; they include cups, spoons, to be assembled in other confgurations (tools). chopsticks, and mirrors. Next, perfective prostheses en- In the context of this article, this typology allows us able the body to accomplish, with a higher degree of to see that Buddhist prayer machines are conceptually perfection, actions that it was already able to carry out amphibious objects, situated as they are at the intersec- naturally; these prostheses include chairs, tables, beds, tion of human-made objects (artifacts) and social ob- houses, and stairs. Finally, magnifying prostheses en- jects (texts): they are tools, made by other tools, used able the body to perform actions that it would not be to modify reality by enhancing the human capacity to able to accomplish by means of its own natural capac- pray, but they also produce intersubjective sense efects ities; examples are lenses, telescopes, bicycles, TV sets, (more or less directly related to their use, functions, and and musical instruments. signifcation) in a broad sense, in uses such as spread- Instruments (which Eco envisions as operated man- ing the Dharma and creating ways to understand the ually) perform actions that the human body is not able teachings and attain salvation. Furthermore, prayer to do; they include knives, scissors, hammers, and even machines are the product of diferent types of labor: cinema. An important feature of instruments as Eco material (the physical labor involved in the transfor- conceives of them is that they produce new objects and, mation of the raw materials and their assembling), se- in so doing, contribute to creating a new reality. Un- miotic (conceptualization, design, and artistic aspects), like prostheses and instruments, machines do things ritual (the type of labor that goes into the ritual uses of independently of the bodily organs that they replace or these machines), and performance (involving the user, perfect. Moreover, a machine operates by itself, without other participants, and possible observers).48 signifcant human intervention; ofen, human beings operating machines do not even know how their mech- anisms (and their inner operations) function. It is possible to envision a continuum, rather than 47 omian, “Histoire culturelle, histoire des s miophores,” pp. 82–83; erraris, o umen a i . See ambelli, “ ateriality, abor, and Signification of Sacred b ects in apanese uddhism,” pp. 5–8. 48 or a preliminary definition of these types of labor, see ambelli, 49 co, “ sser a ioni sul design del futuro prossimo,” pp. 1–4; the “ ateriality, abor, and Signification of Sacred b ects,” pp. following discussion is based mostly on pp. 2–3. n the semiotic 8–14. alue of prostheses, see also co, Kan e ’orni orin o, pp. 317–18.
68 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y VOLUME 3 clear-cut distinctions, between prostheses, instruments, Buddhist understanding of what it means to spread the and machines—a continuum characterized by a grad- Dharma and of the standard ways to accomplish this ual abstraction and separation from direct bodily con- through scriptures (and images based on them) is in nections. In Eco’s interpretation, prostheses are based order. Spreading the Dharma implies not only a quest directly on the shape of the body part that they are en- to win adherents, but also the achievement of various hancing. Instruments are less direct, but their use can goals, such as the proliferation of material tokens of still be inferred fairly well by their shape and design. In Buddhism (temples, texts, images, and various types of the case of machines, however, the direct relationship sacred artifacts), the prosperity of religious institutions, between their function and the human body has disap- and social respect for Buddhist practitioners. Normally, peared almost completely, being replaced instead by an the difusion of specifc scriptures in ancient and medi- “interface” such as a button, a keyboard, or a lever. Eco eval Buddhism took the shape of scripture worship. Te argues that the expanding presence and role of “ma- Lotus Sutra, one the most infuential scriptures in Jap- chines” (as he defnes them vis-à-vis prostheses and anese Buddhism, presents four diferent and orthodox instruments) in human life might end up dehumaniz- modes of sutra worship: possession (juji 受持), reading ing our interactions with tools in general. Of course, we (dokuju 読誦), copying (shakyō 写経), and explaining may note that dehumanization is being balanced by a (gesetsu 解説).50 Tese practices originally comprised counter-tendency to humanize complex machines, in- means of spreading the teachings, but with the devel- cluding robots, but the potential problem still remains. opment of the Mahayana tradition, they became full- In the case of Buddhist machines, however, it may fedged religious and devotional activities that were be argued that practically all ritual implements—not believed to produce merit. only the most complicated apparatuses, but also the Possession (juji) is ofen translated as “embracing,” simplest tools—are similar to “machine interfaces” in as indicating a belief in the teachings of the sutra. From Eco’s sense. Teir use may be simple and fairly intuitive, the context in which it appears, however, this term— but very few users would understand how these devices literally meaning “receiving and holding”—should be actually operate and why they are supposed to work. translated more accurately as “keeping,” “owning,” or Understanding requires competence in advanced Bud- “holding,” perhaps with the nuance of “holding dear” dhist doctrine, especially on the status of inanimate ob- but also “remembering.” Tis is the primary mode of jects and the possibility for inanimate entities to spread scripture worship. To worship a scripture, indeed, the the Dharma and play a salvifc role (which can be either worshipper frst must “own” it in some form: as an ob- passive or active, according to the interpretation and the ject, as a memorized series of sounds or graphs, or as a tradition). A shakuhachi can be played rudimentarily in set of teachings. a relatively intuitive way, and listeners may associate its Reading (dokuju, Sk. svādhyāya, adhyayana) refers sound with Zen Buddhism, but only very few of them to two diferent forms of “reading” a scripture: a direct will be able to actually spell out why sound—and, in reading from the text, either voiced or silent (doku 読); some cases, even noise, including natural noise such as and chanting (ju 誦)—that is, a memorized form of breath and the efects it produces by vibration through reading. Tis distinction in the actualization of the se- the bamboo tube of the instrument—can have a sote- miotic expression of a scripture—i.e., between reading riological efect. Te same applies to rotating sutra re- or listening aimed at understanding, and chanting as a positories. Paradoxically, however, complex machines voicing of the written signifer of the text—is particu- such as robots and internet ritual services have been larly important here, because the former is not privi- designed to be the easiest to understand and operate. leged over the latter.51 Sutra copying (shakyō) is one of the most distinc-
octrinal Iss es Related to the Effcac of Buddhist Prayer Machines 50 iao a ianhua jing wen gou 妙法蓮花経文句 p. yōhō rengekyō mongu), attributed to hiyi 智顗 538–597), contains In order to assess the theoretical role of machines in a description of modes of worshiping the o us Su ra; see especially pp. 107c–12c. Buddhism as devices primarily used to spread the 51 or a history of sutra chanting with a discussion of its arious Dharma and generate merit, a discussion of both the functions, see Shimi u, okyō no sekai.
S IN 2018 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y 69 tive Buddhist devotional practices. In Japan, we fnd es- people. Tools and technological devices also could be sentially two forms: handwritten copying and printing. mustered in order to contribute to a more massive and Handwritten copying (shakyō proper) consists literally pervasive difusion of the Dharma by various means. of copying the text onto various materials (usually Now, these modes of Dharma difusion were focused paper) with a brush. Printing (surikyō 摺り経) histor- on spreading not so much the signifed of the teachings, ically was carried out by the incision of the characters but their signifers. Tis raises an important doctrinal on wooden boards, which were then painted with ink issue: the intentionality of, and direct participation in, and fnally brayed.52 ritual activity aimed at spreading the Dharma. Prayer Explaining (gesetsu) is the general term for any kind wheels and rotating sutra repositories, for instance, of commentarial activity on a scripture. Tis ranges were built to spread the teachings (their written signi- from the practices of itinerant preachers to scholastic fers) to the four elements, and these devices, in turn, teaching, and from exegetical activity to state-spon- became channels for the difusion of Buddhism (again, sored lectures on specifc scriptures attended by the of its signifers) by giving a concrete, literal form to emperor and the highest secular authorities; such lec- the image of the Buddha’s “turning of the wheel of the tures were included among the ofcial activities con- Dharma.” At the least, the shakuhachi creates a Buddhist ducted for the religious protection of the political atmosphere, but transmission of the Dharma through it system (chingo kokka 鎮護国家). is only possible through a non-textual, non-linguistic To summarize, sutra worship as a means of spread- exegesis of musical signifers: the musical expression ing Buddhism consists of various ways to disseminate of shakuhachi Zen music cannot be directly and fully the material and semiotic aspects of a scripture. Posses- translated into verbal doctrines, and ends up creating a sion is the most general form of sutra worship, as it pre- music-based Zen experience. Robot and online priests supposes the availability of actual copies of the sutra. substitute with a virtual reality the traditional need of Reading refers to the proliferation of the phonic signi- a direct, physical co-presence of ritual specialist and fer, whereas copying is the proliferation of the written participant. Tey are not real monks, only images (on signifer. (Here, it is methodologically important to dis- websites) or simulacra (robots). Tis suggests not only tinguish between a sutra as an object and its two signi- that full ordination of the performer is not important fers.) Explaining disseminates the signifed of the sutra (Japanese Buddhism has a long history of downplaying (its doctrinal content). From this classifcation, we see the role and importance of monastic precepts), but that that understanding the doctrines of a scripture—that the emphasis is placed on ritual itself and not on direct is, the hermeneutic activity—was just one, and perhaps performance or attendance; again, the emphasis is on not even the most important, form of sutra worship ritual as signifer, not as a set of signifeds. Moreover, we and source of religious merit. can also detect a trend (already pointed out by Umberto It is important to note that scripture worship was Eco in his discussion of prosthetic devices) towards the related to the development of methods and devices difusion of easy-to-employ digital interfaces as Bud- used to ensure the broadest possible difusion of the dhist prayer machines that require only limited use of scriptures/teachings (the Dharma), thus resulting in a the human body in religious activities: no need exists to maximization of accrued merit. Study and exegesis (the play the shakuhachi, it is enough to play some digital re- fourth mode of scripture worship), because of their very cordings of it; there is no need to go to a temple to me- nature, could only be pursed on an individual basis (or, morialize one’s deceased family members, as this can be at most, in small groups). Te other forms of worship, done from home via personal computer. Direct bodily in contrast, lent themselves to large-scale endeavors, involvement has always been one of the key features of such as printing (copying) and continuous chanting at Buddhist practice, and we may wonder how that will busy crossroads (recitation) so as to be heard by many change with the further difusion of digital technolo- gies and simple interfaces. In general, scholars tend to present ritual uses of 52 he oldest sutra copy extant in apan is a copy of the inggang sutras aimed at spreading the Dharma and its benefts hang ou uoni jing 金剛場陀羅尼経 p. Kongōjō arani kyō), as merit-making activities. Especially in contemporary dating to the fourteenth year of the reign of mperor enmu 686). he practice of surikyō already existed in the Nara period Japan, however, merit does not seem to be a major con- 710–794). cern among participants in Buddhist rituals involving
70 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y VOLUME 3 scripture manipulation. Te use of sutras ofen is con- disposal of pet robots (such as Sony’s AIBO).56 In ad- sidered simply as an activity defned as arigatai ありが dition, a Buddhist temple, Kōfukuji 光福寺 in the city たい, a term meaning something valuable, blessed, ed- of Isumi (Chiba Prefecture) east of Tokyo, has begun ifying, or uplifing—something to be appreciated and to ofcially perform Buddhist funerals for robots— thankful for. Te idea of merit being transferred both to again, with a special focus on AIBO pets. For the tem- the memorialized person and the sponsors of the ritual ple priest, in this ceremony “the robots could pass from is largely absent in Japan today. Still, scriptures are pres- their body.”57 ent as material objects (as amulets or paraphernalia in One of the most infuential proponents of the an- the family’s Buddhist altar), and they are “actualized” in imated nature of robots is engineer and AI scientist rituals through chanting (sound is another “material” Mori Masahiro, who famously wrote, “robots have the form of scriptures). Hence, sutras today (and perhaps, buddha-nature within them—that is, the potential for to a certain extent, also in the past) are not used pri- attaining buddhahood.”58 Mori argues for the ontologi- marily to produce merit; they tend to function as just cal identity of human beings and machines. His starting another liturgical implement, part of the ritual setting. point is a pantheistic view of the universe, in which a As such, they contribute to creating what we could call fundamental and eternal life-force permeates all beings a Buddhist “atmosphere,” much like design objects and and entities. Tis life-force “forms and moves every- other commodities. thing from the elementary particles through … human Te fact that machines are entrusted with spreading beings, society … to the entire cosmos.”59 Mori refers the Dharma raises another important doctrinal issue, to this basic life-force by the Buddhist term “Empti- an extension of traditional doctrines about “nonsen- ness” (Sk. śūnyatā, Jp. kū 空), inaccurately rendered in tients preaching the Dharma” (mujō seppō 無情説法), the English version of the book as “Void.” It appears and, more fundamentally, questions about the status that Mori considers Emptiness to be equivalent to an- of both sentience and the nonsentient. Authors have other Buddhist concept, that of the buddha-nature. He pointed out that, in the Japanese religious tradition writes, “Te buddha-nature, then, is the principle or (usually identifed with Shintoism), no ontological dis- law that moves everything. It exists throughout the uni- tinction is made between animate and inanimate be- verse and flls it completely.”60 Elsewhere, Mori seems ings, humans and machines. Tus, it has been argued to equate the buddha-nature with the Buddha himself, that “Shinto acknowledges no necessary contradiction envisioned as the totality of the universe. between animism and modern scientism.”53 As Asak- It is worth mentioning that, in strictly doctrinal ura Reiji has written, “In Japan … where the native terms, Emptiness is emphatically not a life-force; Mori’s religion sees kami … in all the myriad manifestations interpretation hews closely to modern developments in of nature, it follows naturally that a robot would have Japanese Buddhist thought that, in many respects, are a spirit as well.”54 Perhaps, then, it is not surprising to not in line with traditional, orthodox doctrines. Tis fnd out that, in the early phases of the introduction of modernist pantheism lies at the basis of Mori’s argu- robots to industrial manufacturing processes, compa- ment that robots are also endowed with the buddha-na- nies hired Shinto priests to perform consecration and ture and therefore are not diferent from human beings. naming rituals for the newly installed machines; later, According to Mori, machines are created by men, but as when robots became commonplace in industry, such men are “appearances created by the Void,” by which he ceremonies were discontinued.55 As recently indicated means Emptiness or cosmic life-force, “then whatever by Jennifer Robertson, however, a new web-based ser- men create must also be created by the Void. It must vice was inaugurated in 2014 to provide “robot funer- also partake of the buddha-nature, so do the rocks and als” (robotto sō ロボット葬), mostly aimed at the ritual
56 See http robotsou.com. 53 c arland, ush our o he o s, p. 26. 57 obertson, “ obot eincarnation,” pp. 13–14. n Kōfuku i’s robot 54 sakura, “ he ndroids are oming,” p. 18. funerals, see Su uki, “ n Inside ook at a apanese obot Dog 55 Schodt, nsi e he obo King om, pp. 196, 197, and 195–212; uneral.” Henry Scott Stokes, “ apan’s lo e affair with the robot,” New ork 58 ori, he u ha in he obo , p. 13. imes, 1982.1.10; Harry . lifford, “ apan’s robot re olution,” 59 Ibid., p. 112. New ork imes, 1982.2.14. 60 Ibid., p. 174.
S IN 2018 N SI N H NI I S KY SH NI SI Y 71 trees around us.”61 Even more fundamentally, “every- Mahāvairocana. Tus, everything in the universe is part thing in the universe is identical with the mind of the of a cosmic semiotic process of Dharma transmission, Buddha.”62 Tus, continues Mori, called hosshin seppō 法身説法 (the Dharmakāya, i.e., the Buddha in its absolute mode of existence, preaching From the Buddha’s viewpoint, there is no mas- the Dharma). According to this pansemiotic doctrine, ter-slave relationship between human beings tools (including ritual implements) are one of the four and machines. Te two are fused together in an fundamental modes of existence of the cosmic buddha interlocking entity. Man achieves dignity not by as represented by the karma mandala.66 subjugating his mechanical inventions, but by recognizing in machines and robots the same bud- dha-nature that pervades his own inner self.63 Conclusion
Despite their overall modernist framework, in which Tus far, we have seen that Buddhism historically is not a vague pantheistic and spiritualist animism predom- against technological advances and their application to inates, Mori’s theories are not unrelated to classical religious devices. One of the reasons for this attitude Japanese Buddhist doctrinal speculation going back is the efort to promote the Dharma, an efort that re- to the ninth century. Mori indeed refers to some Zen quires methods and tools for reproducing and prolif- teachings as formative of his understanding of the sym- erating tokens of Buddhism. Te privileged types of biotic relationship between humans and machines. Zen Dharma tokens that have been reproduced most exten- Buddhism developed the idea that nonsentients (ob- sively through mechanical devices relate directly to the jects and natural entities such as trees and mountains) teachings themselves (in a literal understanding of the preach the Dharma; words on this subject by the Zen Dharma), as sanctioned and encouraged by infuential patriarch Dōgen 道元 (1200–1252) are well known.64 In Mahayana scriptures, particularly the Lotus Sutra. East Asian Buddhist thought, the inanimates (mostly, It is important to note, though, that this proliferation material entities in the environment) normally have of tokens of the teachings (Dharma) through mechan- been considered to be able to preach the Dharma only ical means takes the shape of reproducing and spread- to an enlightened person. Another position has main- ing signifers of Buddhism: copies of the scriptures or tained that no ontological distinction exists between of mantras produced by mechanical printing presses, animate beings and inanimate entities, and thus the musical sounds associated with Zen Buddhism, ritual latter are also able to preach the Dharma. Te argu- forms and appearances as embodied in robots and in- ment is that ultimately no distinction is found between ternet memorial services, and perhaps, in more theo- subject and object, the enlightened being and his/her retically problematic forms, the exposure of written own environment; thus the Dharma is not present in signifers of the scriptures to the four elements as chan- specifc places (scriptures, temples) or associated with nels for universal difusion through revolving sutra re- specifc people (the Buddha, Zen masters).65 Esoteric positories and prayer wheels in general. In many cases, Buddhism, in both its Shingon and Tendai variants, for- these types of Dharma machines or their uses were mulated an analogous doctrine, according to which the explicitly sanctifed and ritualized in order to sanc- entire universe, in all its individual phenomena and en- tion their use in an orthodox, Buddhist context. Tis tities, is in fact the material body of the cosmic buddha sanctifcation mobilized doctrines of merit-making by contact with Buddhist tokens, and doctrines of the universal pervasiveness of the Dharma and buddha-na- 61 Ibid., p. 179. ture. One of the consequences of this use of technology 62 Ibid. for religious purposes, with its almost exclusive focus 63 Ibid., pp. 179–80. on signifers, has been the narcotization of the signi- 64 See Dōgen, Shōbōgenzō, ol. 2, pp. 61–71; ol. 1, pp. 331–41. 65 n the status of nonsentients in ast sian uddhism, with feds (the actual contents of the teachings themselves), particular attention to Japanese doctrinal developments, see ambelli, u his a eria i y, pp. 11–57; for a brief o er iew of apanese iews on nature in relation to discussions about nonsentients and sentience, see ambelli, “ uddhist 66 n all of this, see ambelli, u his heory o Semio i s, pp. n ironmentalism imits and ossibilities,” pp. 32–40. 66–68.
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