Paper short abstract:

This paper explores how followers of the controversial monk Ashin Nyāna utilize a disenchanted, secularized form of Buddhism focusing on the Four Noble Truths as a technology to gain prosperity and success in business in Burma/Myanmar and to develop an increased sense of agency.

Paper long abstract:

In 1988, the planned economy of the socialist Ne Win period (1962-1988) was abandoned and the military junta SLORC-SPDC (1988-2011) seized power and implemented a limited market economy. During the second parliamentarian period (2011-2021), a further liberalization of the market economy was brought about. The notion of prosperity has long been integral to Buddhist traditions. Novel forms of Burmese Buddhism promising prosperity emerged in interplay with these economic changes, both enchanted forms (various cults of spirits, spirit possession cults, etc.), which are linked to traditional Theravāda Buddhism, and disenchanted forms. The latter have not yet been examined in the scholarship. One such example is mou-pyā-wāda, the “teaching of the Sky-Blue (One),” established by the controversial monk Ashin Nyāna.

Based on interviews and fieldwork, the aim of this paper is to explore how followers of Ashin Nyāna experienced traditional, enchanted forms of Burmese Theravāda Buddhism, as well as spirit cults, as impediments to economic success, and how they claimed to have achieved economic prosperity by practicing Ashin Nyāna’s secularized form of Buddhism. For them, the latter served as a technology for economic success and provided an increased sense of agency. They perceived traditional Buddhism, especially its teaching of karma accumulated in previous lives, as an impediment to economic prosperity and that had made them rather passive and poor. Ashin Nyāna’s teaching is a doctrinal and ethical form of Buddhism emphasizing one life; a reinterpretation of the Buddhist cosmology of heaven and hells as being merely psychological states, and the Four Noble Truths, especially the Eightfold Path, as an everyday practice for laypeople. This secularized form of prosperity Buddhism is the very opposite of the enchanted forms. Another aim of this paper is to provide some precision to the concept of secularized Buddhism.

Paper short abstract:

Two case studies of how technology has impacted the belief and practice of Buddhism in Beijing: Lóngquán Monastery demonstrates how Buddhism can greatly benefit from technology whereas underground Buddhists and private practitioners claim that technology can disadvantage Buddhism.

Paper long abstract:

This paper offers a contrasting view of how technology has impacted the belief and practice of Buddhism in Beijing. By utilising ethnographic data obtained over the course of five years, this paper seeks to demonstrate that technology has simultaneous brought about advantages and disadvantages to Buddhism in Beijing. Two Buddhist case studies grounded in fieldwork will be employed to demonstrate this vast spectrum of how technology has been received and employed. By examining Lóngquán Monastery (北京龙泉寺) this paper will initially demonstrate how Buddhism has greatly benefitted from embracing technology. By disseminating material online, offering various online resources, establishing a plethora of Buddhist social media avenues, digitising Buddhist texts, and even delving into the realm of Buddhism and robotics, Lóngquán Monastery demonstrates an apparent embracing of technology that has not only aided in increasing official membership but has also brought about a rise in general public awareness of Buddhism. The interviewed monks and lay members readily speak of the power of technology in aiding their cause, and view it as a positive tool to be utilised. Lóngquán Monastery will then be contrasted with a less-defined case study of underground Buddhist movements as well as those who practice Buddhism in private. This paper will demonstrate that this dispersed group paints a more nuanced picture of how technology can pose a threat to the practice of Buddhism in Beijing. Herein, the interviewees cautiously speak of a rise in technological means of observation as well as social media heralding the advent of “half-baked Buddhist teachings” (半调子信佛) that has lost the original purity of the Dharma. This paper will ultimately conclude that the relationship between Buddhism and technology in Beijing is far more nuanced than popular media might initially lead us to believe.

Paper short abstract:

Francisco Varela (1948-2001), biologist converted to Buddhism, pioneered neurophenomenology, a method for studying consciousness. This session will discuss the relationship between neurophenomenology and Buddhist beliefs, as well as neurophenomenology influence on contemporary neuroscience.

Paper long abstract:

Tibetan Buddhism has been increasingly important in neuroscience since the 1980s, when influential converted to Buddhism biologist Francisco Varela (1948-2001) began a series of talks between the 14th Dalai Lama and Western academics. Varela pioneered neurophenomenology, a method for studying consciousness that combines evidence from first-hand experience with empirical measures. Neurophenomenology is the dominant strategy to studying consciousness in neuroscience today. Furthermore, the practises known today as Mindfulness were created inside the network initiated by Varela on the basis of Buddhist traditions. The effectiveness of Mindfulness practises has provided significant impetus to neuroscientific research on meditation activities, validating the Buddhist viewpoint. This session will discuss the intimate relationship between neurophenomenology and Tibetan Buddhist beliefs, as well as the extent to which the neurophenomenological perspective has influenced current neuroscientific research.

Paper short abstract:

Buddhism utilizes the Pali Canon, a spoken language unfamiliar to most Thai people, especially the younger generation. I researched a system to increase engagement within Buddhism utilizing the Google Speech-to-Text API and Python to transfer spoken Pali fragments into a full Thai transcription.

Paper long abstract:

There are more than 70 million people in Thailand and 95% are Buddhists. Buddhism does not require scheduled practice and Thai people do not study Pali. As a result, Pali, the spoken language of Buddhist scriptures, is unfamiliar to most. Thai people, especially the younger generation, do not understand the meaning of Pali chants because there are over 16,000 pages of chants and they are performed in random combinations, creating difficulty in following along during ceremonies. As digital humanities grows, technology helps reduce confusion and create simpler ways to practice religion.

My goal was to utilize the Google Speech-to-Text API with Python to transfer Pali chants into Thai text, helping Buddhists in Thailand increase engagement. I accomplished this by using code to build a program that could recognize a segment of the spoken Pali language, transcribe Pali into written Thai, and return back the full chant for my target audience (Thai Buddhists). I assembled chants for my dataset and utilized Python to incorporate the in-real-time aspect, which was especially important to the functionality of the program. I worked with the Google Cloud Console and programmed my code in PyCharm and in the terminal of my MacBook.

The results showed that the program recognized spoken Pali words in transcriptions and was able to map and generate the full chant in the Thai written language. Success depended on accurate transcription rates from the Google Speech-to-Text API, which resulted in over 95% accuracy.

For future research projects, utilizing this program to expand from Thailand to other Buddhist countries and their respective languages would help preserve the Pali Canon and keep Buddhism applicable to our daily lives. Especially for the younger generation, who are intertwined with technology, utilizing technology encourages a more sustainable modern approach to engaging with religion and accessing spiritual support.