Digital Buddhism: meditation in virtual worlds and via mobile apps

Description

As technology advances and the internet becomes cheaper and more easily accessible, we observe a shift from the traditional forms of religious practice to new, often redefined, and perhaps contentious forms of engagement that can challenge notions of religious authenticity, authority, community, identity, and practice.

This presentation will commence with a brief overview of the four waves of digital religion research in order to understand the scholarly field. Thereafter, a more detailed examination of digital Buddhism will focus on how Buddhism is being practiced online, with specific attention given to meditation online, in virtual worlds, such as Second Life, or via smartphone apps. In doing so, we can deepen our understanding of what Buddhist internet-based practice might look like, who is practicing online, why they are practicing online, the efficacy of the practice, and what implications there might be (if any) for traditional Buddhism.

Period	8 Apr 2019
Held at	Florida International University , United States, Florida
Degree of Recognition	International