With its constant elasticity and ever-changing nature, technology has been associated with popular culture and modernity, diametrically opposed to the strict guidelines of religious belief and spirituality. Throughout my semester in Shangahi and my travels throughout China and Tibet, however, I’ve witnessed the monks’ incorporation of these two seeming opposites, in ways that matched no previous conception I had of monks, technology or the Buddhist way of life. It’s pretty hard to get bored in a city as metropolitan as Shanghai, but every few weeks I would feel encouraged by the incessant smog polluting my lungs and my slacker-four-day-weekends to travel. The opportunities were limitless in the country of 1.3 billion people, 34 provinces and a 1,000-page Lonely Planet guidebook. After travelling through the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, both bordering Tibet, I have seen my fair share of Buddhist monasteries. When I first discovered visiting a monastery was a must-see attraction of any small town or village in rural China, I had serious doubts as to whether it would be interesting—especially considering my severe boredom while touring mid-17th century churches across Europe: all cold, dank and annoyingly similar. To me, Buddhist and Tibetan monasteries were a lot more of a cultural experience than a gaudy church. Buddhism is one of China’s five government-sanctioned religions and there are an estimated 105 million Buddhists in China. Depending on the size, the monastery complex might house anywhere between 100 and 1,000 monks and all monasteries have prayer buildings with 35 foot Buddha statues honoured at all hours of the day. Red-robed men of all ages bustle through the cobble-stoned alleyways and park themselves in candlelit dens of spiritual practice, somehow maintaining a perfectly tranquil environment. Monks’ way of life has been nearly static for centuries, living in enclosed communities and always moving towards the goal of spiritual development in hopes of achieving enlightenment, or Buddhahood. To attain Buddhahood means reaching a state of freedom from obstructions to liberation, as well as obscuration to omniscience. Achieving Buddhahood—a process that might take a lifetime—can only be done with the guidance of a guru or lama, a monk’s spiritual teacher. Similar to the incessantly obsessive texting habits and the attachment to one’s cell phone, Blackberry or iPhone that’s so common in Western society, I was surprised to find out that monks don’t differ in that aspect from university students. Not only did every young monk I encountered in China have a little flip-phone that surfaced out of the depths of their pockets every five minutes, but many were wearing globally recognizable fashion designs under their robes—Armani Exchange, Puma and Adidas, to name a few. I also learned that although monks don’t receive salaries—they are financially ed by donations and surrounding community —they have the option of selling traditional oil “thankga” paintings on the side. Some of the more Picasso-bound monks cash in 10,000 Yuan for their work, equivalent to about $1,400 Canadian. Not surprisingly, with their money and paintings going for $1,400 a piece, 10 per cent of Buddhist monks own cars. The result of easy access to modern transportation means more traveling outside the monastery and more exposure to big city life. “Tibetan monks used to bathe in a shower only once every year or two. But after visiting cities, I found that showering more frequently is a clean living habit,” Gasang, a 23-year-old monk from Shangri-La, said. “Now I take a shower every four or five days and I often persuade other monks to do so. The Buddha will be happy if we open the sutra with clean hands.” While in Kangding, a small town in between Sichuan’s largest city Chengdu and the villages bordering northern mountainous regions, I was invited to a workshop above the prayer hall. Two monks were assigned the job of painting the Bodhisattva statues with gold paint and summoned us through the distinctly colourful hallways and up to their workshop. Although they didn’t speak much English and I didn’t know a word of Tibetan, we somehow ended up sitting on cushions, painting Buddhas gold and exchanging e-mails. Ahangama Rathanasiri Mahathera, Chief Monk at Toronto’s MahaVihara monastery, said technology was previously frowned upon in Buddhist monasteries, but that has shifted to accommodate changing needs. “A monk’s life depends on the followers of Buddhism—and according to the situation of the people in this modern world, people don’t have that much time to the monks, and the monks also have to enroll in modern life,” he said. “If the temples have enough financial capabilities, they hire workers to do the daily temple activities. But if the temple doesn’t have enough financial assets to spend on workers, the monks have to do those things themselves. When the monks have to start working and doing labour, they don’t have enough time to do meditation.” Tenzin Ananda, a monk practicing at MahaVihira visiting from Lhasa, Tibet, said the rules for technology use amongst monks aren’t clearly defined. “There are no restrictions for the monks to use cell phones, but in the Buddha sanctuary there was no modern technology,” he said. “When the world develops, monks also have to adapt to society and modern world. But the thing is, when they adapt to the changing world, they should not change their main principles. They still have to follow disciplinary rules.” Mahathera said he’s caught in the middle of the moral dilemma of spirituality and technology. “I have a computer and I use the computer to send and receive e-mails,” he said. “More importantly, I use it for developing the knowledge for myself and my ers. Whenever I need to know something, I go to the computer and check Google. I must accept it because although there are so many bad things on the Internet, I know that if the monks use the computers, it is solely for the good purpose and there is nothing wrong in that.” Mahathera said if he needs to communicate with his students, ers or the outside community, e-mail is often the most effective way, adding that he would never dismiss technology if it helps the Buddhist community and increases his students’ knowledge. “Dhamma, the doctrine of Buddha, is very beneficial for the people when monks use computers,” he said. “Through computers they can send the message of the Buddha to the people.” Mahathera also said although technology can be a great tool, it can also distract monks from their daily duties and responsibilities. “The thing is, when you start using computers, you have to spend your time mostly on the computers rather than meditating,” he said. “This detracts from the purpose of meditation.”
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