Dear Class, The readings for this week (see below) are meant to explore the potential actual identity -- not conceptual, not analogical, not literary -- between transhumanist technology and religion. For a taste of appreciation for Buddhist transhumanist technology read Prof. Thurmans Introduction to The Tibetan Book of the Dead, particularly pp. 51-81. Look at this again in light of Moravec, and ask yourself whether Tantric practitioners are emulating, or are, Moravecs Cellticks (Mind Children 152 et seq.). The geek Transhumanist movement is in its infancy, particularly when compared to ancient religious traditions. Why is ethics, closely related to karma in the Buddhist system, so important in religion? Will Transhumanism develop an ethical side? How might this happen? Who will do it? PK Moravec, Mind Children, Chs. 4, 6, (pp. 100-124, 147-59) Moravec, “Pigs in Cyberspace” Prisco, “Transcendent Engineering,” in More, ed., The Transhumanist Reader, 234-240 Clarke, A. C., The Nine Billion Names of God, 7-13 Dhargyey, Geshe Ngawang, “The Thirty-two Excellent Signs of a Buddha’s Enlightening Body,” in An Anthology of Well Spoken Advice, Vol. I, in Berzin Archives, berzinarchives/web/en/archives/sutra/level2_lamrim/initial_scope/safe_direction/thirty_excellent_signs_major_marks_.html?query=thirty-two Lama Yeshe, Transference of Consciousness At Death, Parts 1 and 2 lamayeshe/index.php?sect=article&id=701&chid=1806 Gethin, Rupert, The Foundations of Buddhism, 112-132 Wright, J., The Golden Age, Dramatis Personae, Prologue and Chs. 1 and 2 (pp. 11-38) Berzin, A., “Examining Karma Immediately after 9/11,”berzinarchives/web/en/archives/sutra/level2_lamrim/initial_scope/karma/examining_karma_after_sep_11/session_3.html(11 pp.) And, for a deeper, traditional teaching on karma, read Pabongka, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, 429-470. Think about : Whether this (I mean you reading this sentence, and everything else you experience) is a simulation; whether consciousness could be uploaded into a substrate other than a carbon-based organic one and what that implies about embodiment and the role of the body; whether virtual reality could effectuate Buddhist Tantra; and whether Transhuman immortality is consistent with Buddhist thought. What is the role of karma for a Transhuman being?
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 15:07:05 +0000
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