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Lisa Hannigan - Safe Travels, Don't Die

Digital Dharma - Buddhism and the Internet

On Wednesday, I was one of many who attended a talk, "Digital Dharma: Buddhism and the Internet," that was held on Chico State's campus. Before listening to the panel of speakers, I had no idea how big of a thing Buddhism on the internet had become.

Our keynote speaker, Charles S. Prebish of Utah State University, gave examples of many of the different websites and their functions. I found the amount of different reasons and/or needs represented in these websites very surprising. They ranged from being purely informational to providing an online world, complete with temples and avatars, and everything in between. One of the bigger issues that he brought up was the commodification of Buddhism and if it's affect on the religion and the community was a good or bad thing. There are many sites that promote themselves as companies who will sell anything from books to crafts dedicated to Buddhism. Prebish even brought up a site that was dedicated to helping Buddhists find a relationship, much like match.com or eharmony.com. The argument is ongoing about whether this type of website helps the religion grow in the number of truly dedicated believers or not. It also brings up the question of where the line is drawn for what can still be considered a true religious experience and what is just a gimmick. Does it depend on the medium or service offered?


Some of the other speakers on the panel gave a little more information about what Second Life, the online avatar world, is and how Buddhists use it. It is like most other online simulated interactions in that you make your character and can go around in this world to do things, like practice your religion, and meet people, perhaps other Buddhists. A Buddhist belief is that life is impermanent...Second Life is like an extension of this belief because it is impermanent in the same way. But the question, "Do people see what is represented in Second Life as being sacred even though it is not real life?" was brought up and it was stated that some devotees believe that they are different. One of the possible reasons for this might be that in this online world, you are able to send your avatar to a temple to meditate. Is this "extension" of yourself giving you the benefits of meditation if you aren't doing it yourself? Some say that it depends on the person, the medium, and the amount of engagement. As you can see, a lot of debate has circled this topic. What do you think?

I wanted to attach links to the websites that were talked about at this panel so that you can go check them out for yourselves and get a taste of how big Buddhism online has become. I did not mention all of these in my blog, but they were mentioned in the panel, so I thought I'd share all of the ones I managed to copy with you. You will find the links below.


www.buddhanet.net
http://blogs.dickinson.edu/buddhistethics/
http://www.jbeonlinebooks.org/Buddhism/
www.h-net.org/~buddhism
www.buddhistchannel.tv
www.dharmamatch.com
www.dharmacrafts.com
www.angryasianbuddhist.com/
www.secondlife.com   (you have to look up Buddhist Center because this is not a site dedicated to just Buddhism)
www.blogisattva.org/

What kind of Tourist are You?

It is a pretty common thing to travel, to go to new places and explore what is unknown or foreign to us. Trekking across the globe brings you to new places and cultures. It is often pointed out that in your native place, you can usually tell the difference between a native and a tourist. Why? Is it the big cameras or the cargo shorts and fanny packs? Or is it the lack of knowledge of the culture that is made evident through their actions?

Rattawut Lapcharoensap addresses this topic in two of the stories in his book Sightseeing. The first tourists that we meet are what the natives of Thailand call ‘farangs,’ which basically means outsiders/tourists that don’t understand the culture. Lizzie, the girl he meets on the beach, is portrayed as clueless and ignorant. He can tell she is American right away because of her Budweiser bikini that she throws around so freely. He decides to take her to ride an elephant and we see that the owner is not pleased with how she is dressed. She doesn’t realize at first that she should have dressed more appropriately for riding the elephant, the animal Thailand considers a national symbol. It is interesting though that once she is told; she seems to be somewhat concerned about lacking that knowledge. It almost seems like she is an unprepared and oblivious tourist that needs guidance. Then everything changes when we see her on the elephant.

“Lizzie hummed contentedly. Then she stood up on Yai’s back. ‘Here’s your shirt,’ she said, tossing it at me. With a quick sweeping motion, Lizzie took off her bikini top. Then she peeled off her bikini bottom. And then there she was – my American angel – naked on the back of Uncle Mongkhon’s decrepit elephant” (13).

It seems like a deliberate move on her part to go against the culture. Where she was just ignorant before, she is now ignoring what she knows. Her boyfriend, Hunter, who we meet later, is also a pretty ignorant tourist. But he is worse than Lizzie because he just doesn’t seem to care at all. He is the spitting image of Ma’s first statement, “You give them history, temples, pagodas, traditional dance, floating markets, seafood curry, tapioca desserts, silk-weaving cooperatives, but all they really want is to ride some hulking gray beast like a bunch of wildmen and to pant over girls and to lie there half-dead getting skin cancer on the beach during the time in between” (2). Hunter is the epitome of the ugly American abroad who lacks any respect or decency for the culture and place he is in.

In the second story, Lapcharoensap shows the reader tourism from a different perspective. Instead of outsiders coming into a foreign land, we are seeing locals ‘touring’ their own land. It is the story of a son and his mother going on a trip to bond because she is going blind. Unlike the tourist sense we get from the previous story, this is more about cleansing and communicating. The fact that they don’t stick out gives them the opportunity to travel and have a ‘true’ experience. The story ends with the narrator saying, “I’m walking on the sandbar, warm waves licking up across my bare feet, out to watch the sun rise with Ma, and then to bring her back before the tide heaves, before the ocean rises, before this sand becomes seafloor again” (98). Their travels are not to become worldly or to be able to brag that they have been somewhere, it is to rejuvenate and learn more about their relationship with each other and their culture.

Up for a Cause

From mid-afternoon to midnight on a particular day each year, for the past 10 years, there is a gathering of people on the Chico State campus. There is a different feel to this crowd compared to the normal hustle and bustle of a normal school day. There is a common purpose and a common direction that can been seen and felt.

Up 'til Dawn has arrived.

When you get into the gym, you can see how everyone has come together for this amazing cause, to help raise money for the children of St. Jude's. It is a fulfilling and eye-opening experience to see everyone come out voluntarily to give their time and effort.

But how does it work? Well, you come in (with all of your friends) and grab a table. You get a stack of premade letters to sign and address to everyone you know. This is part of what makes the amount of money we raise so astounding...it comes from the people we send letters to! It is their generous donations that make this possible. The donations we receive from them goes to benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in their treatments for childhood cancer and in their search for the cure.

And it is not a night of boring paperwork either. You don’t just come and fill out letters; you come to have a good time with your friends at the school. They provide free food and a free t-shirt for all those who are participating. There is entertainment throughout the night as well as a chance to meet a patient from St. Jude’s. It is a come-and-go-as-you-please type of environment, you do not have to stay for the entire time unless you choose to. But the crowd usually swells a bit more at the end of the night because that is when the raffle drawings begin. When you arrive, you are automatically given a raffle ticket and have the chance to win a bunch of different prizes…the most coveted being Spring tuition! I remember my first year at Up ‘til Dawn, I won tickets to go see Wicked in San Francisco. It was an awesome prize and a great trip.

If you have been to Up ‘til Dawn, you know the excitement and energy this night holds for everyone involved. If you have not gotten the chance, I urge you to come out next year and experience being a part of Up ‘til Dawn at Chico State, which has been holding the title for #1 National Fundraising School. An amazing time and an even greater cause, come out and join us!