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Thursday, March 12, 2015

The use of Technology to spread the Buddhist Teaching





In the modern era, technology plays an important role in everyday life. Technology has made our life easier and confortable and it is useful in every sector regardless of race, faiths as well as religions. So modern technology makes things easier to use and save time compared to the previous era. As it is an essential tool for everyday life, people use it to make life easy and to save time. Buddhist monks today use technology to spread Buddhist teaching to every part of the world. I support the idea of using technology to spread of Buddhist teaching.

People who are Buddhist or non-Buddhist from all over the world can study Buddhism through technology or the Internet which is one of effective way to spread of Buddhist teaching. It is good thing that Buddhist monks can easily read Tipitaka books by installing Tipitaka software in PC or Tablet and easily carry wherever they go. 


Who has the commitment to keep alive the Buddha’s teachings? In the past it has typically been the monks and scholars with specialised training in the Dhamma. Traditionally they have preserved and spread the Teachings. But 21st century Buddhism will be left behind as a museum piece if we do not harness ourselves to the new technologies and the Internet.[1]
As we are all living in modern era, we all Buddhist have the responsibility to do the best to spread Buddhist teaching to the rest of the world by using technology. If we are ignoring technology and using traditional ways to spreading of Buddhist teaching, Buddhism will be decline gradually and then finally it will be die out  from the earth.
Buddhism is comfortable using the appropriate technology to spread its teachings, but is aware of the potential dangers of imbalance due to over fascination with technology. The key is to be present, to be mindfully present with whatever you’re doing, so even when you’re online you need to be present and aware of what you’re doing.[2]   


Everything has positive and negative aspects. Whatever we use without proper consideration becomes poison of life. If people use technology moderately then nothing negative affects their life. In the same way, Buddhist monks should use technology moderately and heedfully in order to spread Buddhism to every part of the world. It depend on users how they use it.
Even though there is some negative effect on users using technology, the technology will still be an important tool in the future that Buddhist leaders will use for the propagation of Buddhism. This is why I agree with the idea of using technology to spread Buddhist teaching.


In conclusion, today the world biggest influence is technology. Although technology cannot give true happiness and true peace, it has the power to spread Buddhist teaching to every part of the world. Buddhist leaders or scholars should use this effective way to spread  Buddha Dhamma. No one can deny the importance of technology and its influence which can give positive or negative affect on users. But today as a technology era, there is no way to spread of Buddhist teaching without technology.



[1] Venerable Pannyavaro, www.buddhanet.net/mag_surf.htm
[2] Tri Nguyen, 2008, http://www.quangminh.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=182:the-use-of-the-internet-in-buddhist-institutions&catid=1:latest-news


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