January 25th-26th Treeleaf Weekly Zazenkai - Do Robots Have Buddha Nature?

[Jundo]

Our Heart Sutra Today will be recited by PEPPER the ROBOT! (Details Below)

Hello All,

Please 'sit-a-long' with our weekly FRIDAY/SATURDAY 'LIVE FROM TREELEAF' 90 minute ZAZENKAI, netcast from 10am Japan time Saturday morning (that is New York 8pm, Los Angeles 5pm (Friday night), London 1am and Paris 2am (early Saturday morning)

... and to be visible on the following screen during those times and sit-a-long-able any time thereafter ...

LIVE ZAZENKAI NETCAST IS HERE:
CLICK ON THE TAB ON LOWER RIGHT FOR 'FULL SCREEN

FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO JOIN TO SIT LIVE WITH A CAMERA, A LINK TO JOIN WILL BE POSTED BELOW IN THIS THREAD ABOUT 15 MINUTES BEFORE START TIME. JUST CLICK AND JOIN. WE ARE NOW LIMITED TO 10 INDIVIDUALS WITH CAMERAS, BUT ANY NUMBER CAN WATCH LIVE 'ONE WAY' AND SIT-A-LONG VIA THE ABOVE SCREEN. IF JOINING WITH CAMERA, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR MICROPHONE IS MUTED::

00:00 – 00:15 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA in English) and Dedication
00:15 – 00:45 ZAZEN
00:45 – 00:55 KINHIN
00:55 – 01:25 ZAZEN
01:25 – 01:30 VERSE OF ATONEMENT & FOUR VOWS

As you can see, our Zazenkai consists of chanting the 'Heart Sutra' in English (the words are at the link below), some full floor prostrations in sets of three (please follow along with me ... or a simple Gassho can be substituted if you wish), followed by our Dedication, Zazen twice for about 30 minutes each, with 10 minutes of Kinhin in between, and we end the sitting with 'The Verse of Atonement' and 'The Four Vows'.

Please join us in the Chanting of the Heart Sutra (although please keep your microphone muted). You can download and print out the Chants we will recite at the following link (PDF):

Chant Book (PDF)

or

Chant Book (SHORT VERSION HTML)

Not everyone realizes that they can join in the Chanting of the Heart Sutra, Verse of Atonement and Four Vows (although we ask that you keep your microphone down). Please follow along with the Chant Book, and let your voice ring!

So, please join us as soon as you can, and we will keep a Zafu open for you.

Remember, when we drop all thought of 'here' 'there' 'now' 'then' ... we are sitting all together!


Gassho, Jundo

SatTodayLAH

PS - There is no "wrong" or "right" in Zazen ... yet here is a little explanation of the "right" times to Bow (A Koan) ...

https://youtu.be/GR6POpsXh9Q

The other video I mention on Zendo decorum is this one, from our "Always Beginners" video Series:

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (12) - Basic Zendo Decorum At Home
https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...093#post189093

[Jundo]

Our Heart Sutra today, in Japanese, will be recited by Pepper the Robot ...

Pepper is a semi-humanoid robot manufactured by SoftBank Robotics (formerly Aldebaran Robotics), which is owned by SoftBank, designed with the ability to read emotions. ... Pepper's ability to detect emotion comes from the ability to analyze expressions and voice tones. ... Pepper is available as a research and educational robot for schools, colleges and universities to teach programming and conduct research into human-robot interactions.

In 2017, an international team began research into using Pepper as versatile robot to help look after older people in care homes or sheltered accommodation. The project received funding worth two million pound, with donors including the European Union and the Japanese government.

... Pepper is not a functional robot for domestic use. Instead, Pepper is intended "to make people happy", enhance people's lives, facilitate relationships, have fun with people and connect people with the outside world. ... The robot's head has four microphones, two HD cameras (in the mouth and forehead), and a 3-D depth sensor (behind the eyes). There is a gyroscope in the torso and touch sensors in the head and hands. The mobile base has two sonars, six lasers, three bumper sensors, and a gyroscope

For today, our recital will be with this recording, but I will contact SoftBank and see if there is any possibility of having Pepper over to Treeleaf Tsukuba for a live recitation sometime in the near future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3bVGaTMrXQ

This is not Pepper's only Buddhist ceremony ...

The custom-coded Pepper robots can perform multiple functions such as chanting sutras, and even tapping a drum the same way a human Buddhist priest would. Another interesting function of the robot priest is that it also provides live-streaming of the ceremony for people who are unable to attend.

This artificial priest might just be a suitable alternative for those hoping to conduct a funeral ceremony merely for the sake of formality, but some may be seeking something more spiritual. Buddhist monk Tetsugi Matsuo questions the robot priest’s “heart” because he believes that this is where the foundation of religion lies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce5cPawxFUs

In doing so, we celebrate the town of Tsukuba, Science City and home to our Zendo, more notably the home to some of Japan's most advanced robot research ...

More here:

Of Buddhabots and Dharmadroids ...

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?13248-Of-Buddhabots-and-Dharmadroids

Gassho, J

STLah

[Mp]

Thank you Jundo ... I will be there live two way, instruments ready if our Jakuden is not able to be there. =)

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[Jundo]

Thank you Jundo ... I will be there live two way, instruments ready if our Jakuden is not able to be there. =)

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

Thank you, Shingen and Jakuden.

Soon, we won't need any human priests at all around this place, and we can just completely automate Treeleaf.



Gassho, J

STLah

[Koki]

Jundo! How cool...Pepper!
Definitely stepping up the 21st century technology!

Gassho
Koki
Satoday

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[Jakuden]

Thanks Shingen, I have an appointment in my schedule about 4 hours before the Zazenkai with a college student whose cat ate string and is now trying to get it out both ends [emoji13] So we’ll see what happens! I couldn’t get her to bring it in any earlier. Can the robot do a string-ectomy?
Gassho
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mp]

Thank you, Shingen and Jakuden.

Soon, we won't need any human priests at all around this place, and we can just completely automate Treeleaf.



Gassho, J

STLah

LOL ... I knew it was a matter of time, now I can go sit zazen in the halls of the Smithsonian! =)

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[Mp]

Thanks Shingen, I have an appointment in my schedule about 4 hours before the Zazenkai with a college student whose cat ate string and is now trying to get it out both ends [emoji13] So we’ll see what happens! I couldn’t get her to bring it in any earlier. Can the robot do a string-ectomy?
Gassho
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, we will just string it along and see how it comes out. =) Sorry, couldn't resist. Got yah covered either way.

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[Jakuden]

Well, we will just string it along and see how it comes out. =) Sorry, couldn't resist. Got yah covered either way.

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[emoji81][emoji90]



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tokan]

....but then a curious twist occurs....

https://kotaku.com/the-robot-dog-from-battlestar-galactica-was-a-chimp-in-1567516744?IR=T

chimp and robot are inseparable as entities - can one have buddhanature and not the other? Is there no chimp and no robot, only buddhanature? Or is there chimp and robot because of buddhanature? Is there buddhanature? Have you had enough of question marks yet?

More seriously though, or not, would it be the human reciting the heart sutra that moves me, or the words of the heart sutra regardless of who recites it...

Hope to see you all tomorrow two-way,

Tokan - sattoday and LAH

[Doshin]

Jakuden

I had to drive several hundred miles a week or so ago to remove a foxtail from my dog’s nose. Is that a rhino ectonomy? Funny thing is the vetenarian in Texas knew who I was because of our common history in reptile propagation. The reason he had the speciality scope needed was because he uses it to determine sex of tortoises! While his staff preped everything he gave me a tour of his reptiles then took me to lunch after procedure. Now that is service

Doshin
st

Thanks Shingen, I have an appointment in my schedule about 4 hours before the Zazenkai with a college student whose cat ate string and is now trying to get it out both ends [emoji13] So we’ll see what happens! I couldn’t get her to bring it in any earlier. Can the robot do a string-ectomy?
Gassho
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH


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[Kyonin]

Hello all!

I'll have to sit this one on Saturday morning.

Gassho,

Kyonin
Sat/LAH

[Mp]

Hey folks,

Here is the event link for todays zazenkai: https://hangouts.google.com/hangouts...hl=en_US&pli=1

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[Jero]

Hello everyone!

Like Kyonin, I'll have to sit tomorrow morning. I haven't slept well for a couple days and I really need some rest. I feel kind of guilty, but I know that any time I sit you are right there with me.

Gassho,

Jero
Sat today

[sosen]

Hi everyone,
joining you all one way.

_()_
sosen
st/lah