Fundamental Practice

G Sakamoto

Lately I’ve been feeling increasingly behind on the technology curve. I have usually felt that being on the “trailing edge” of technology rather than on its “leading edge” was a good position. Leading edge technology offered new capabilities and excitement but often brought problems. Knowledge of stable innovations provided a firm platform from which information could be distributed. Distribution of information was the core purpose, technology the tool that facilitated the process.

Somewhere in the mid-90’s I was introduced to listserves by Andy Kille. A listserve was a way of distributing text to people who subscribed to the list. In 1995 the Shin Buddhist Resource Center was launched and its newsletter, Winds, began circulating the internet. Winds was an early attempt at delivering timely information using listserve technology. Among the first issues of Winds was a report on the Federation of Dharma School Teacher’s League conference held in Palo Alto. The Shin Buddhist Resource Center was an ambitious project to provide Jodo Shinshu information online. Its advisors included, Taitetsu Unno, Tetsuo Unno, Ryo Imamura, Nobuo Haneda and Richard Payne. Andy Kille is still active on the internet and his consulting services can be found on the web at Interfaith Space, www.revdak.com.

When that issue of Winds, reporting on the FDSTL meeting was distributed, the hardware required to produce that brief newsletter included a compact Mac, a 2400 baud modem and several wires and cables to connect everything. Today the same thing can be done with a smart phone. Five years later, in October 2000, I took a laptop to Japan and published daily reports of my experiences. The publication, Utai, also included daily essays from authors scattered around America. I was in Japan as a part of a Hongwanji program that brought overseas ministers back to Kyoto, offering an opportunity to refresh and revitalize our personal ministry. The laptop was purchased with a grant from the Betsuin and the trip to Japan was preceded by weeks of preparation for the publication of Utai. Today, this is just everyday blogging. Probably also publishable with a smart phone.

I think Rennyo would have enjoyed today’s communication technology. His letters, which were intended to be read aloud to groups of people were a way of distributing information to a wide audience. Even, today five hundred years after Rennyo’s life, we read his letters aloud at services. I don’t think he would be a Twitter fan, the limitation on text length would be a problem. I’m not so sure about Shinran. His letters were more personal. The information he shared seemed more often directed to individuals. He probably would have used email to answer questions and settle disputes. Ultimately, I think he was somewhat of a recluse, responding to questions as they arose. I can’t imagine him tweeting his disciples or keeping a blog.

I have accounts at flickr, smugmug, blogger (ran a blog during the Jr Choir’s trip to Japan in 2007}, facebook, youtube, mobileMe. My domain name, fogbank, is parked at network solutions, where my primary email account originates. Our account at AOL is solo2193. The account was started in 1993. So solo, as in Hans Solo and 2193 is 1993 plus 200 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if many people have accounts with a photo, blogging and video services, most are free or have all of these services provided through a single provider like google. In addition people are probably Twittering and IM’ing and texting over cellphones. During a recent stage performance we attended, as the first half of the performance ended and the lights for intermission came on, in the audience of about five hundred below us and around us, I could see almost immediately nearly thirty pdas, cellphones and smart phones light up. It was rather amusingly amazing.

In the early days the message transfered with technology stood out by the very use of technology. Now the message is easily lost in the abundance of technology. The means to share a message with a 100,000 people is available to anyone. Anston Kutcher was competing with CNN to reach a million twitters. Kutcher beat CNN by 27 minutes. If you have a message they might come.

The message has always been at the core of the use of technology in communications. For us in Jodo Shinshu that message is the importance of enlightenment and the nembutsu. Today the message must be grounded in the practice of values expressed in the message. Kindness, compassion, concern for the welfare of others, at the Betsuin we are seeing these practices come to life. People are working to do something for others. Not for the sake of increasing members but because there is a need to be addressed. Through the Sangha Support Committee, which celebrates its fifteenth anniversary and the new EcoSangha committee and many individual efforts, the temple is helping to respond to the difficulties encountered by others. “Kai ho zo” (open up the Dharma Storehouse) the characters found on the plaque above our onaijin, the words of Dharmakara are a model for us all.

I may be feeling a bit behind the curve, but I’m not particularly concerned. Technology is just a tool we can use to share how we are living the Dharma. Living the Dharma is what is most important.