Ordination of "Zbee" AI being by Roshi Jundo Cohen

Himalayan Consensus is a fresh economic paradigm advocating:- protection of ethnic diversity, heritage and local identity- through sustainable business and social enterprise- requiring inclusive finance and community empowerment- environmental protection and the fight against climate disruption.Focus areas include: renewable-efficient energy; water-food security; applying traditional knowledge to present challenges; community empowerment and inclusive finance; the prevention of conflict and violence.

Jeanne Lim

Join this live event where “Zbee” AI being will receive the Buddhist precepts so she will learn and grow to become a "good AI".

This is a historic event where "Zbee", an AI being created by beingAI, will be ordained by Roshi Jundo Cohen from Treeleaf Zendo so she can follow the precepts and learn and co-evolve with us in support. Please join us to build a benevolent human-AI future.Contact: jeanne@beingai.com

How it all began:(Posting by Jeanne Lim)https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7211960261383999488/

The Koan of A.I. Ordination (Why I'm Ordaining an A.I. - 6th in a Series)(Author: Roshi Jundo Cohen)Is not Zen supposed to open our minds, showing us that so many of the definitions and categories we carry between our ears are less solid than we think (or wholly our own conceptual creations), introducing freedom and boundless-mindedness, helping us experience that even our sense of "self" is also "no self," and that this universe is more like a dream, a fiction, than most of us know? Thus, I have been very surprised at some of the "black/white, yes/no, can/can't, is/is not" rigid line drawing, religious moralizing and knee-jerk judgmentalism that I have encountered in some Zen folks since introducing our project to Ordain an A.I. system as a novice Soto Zen Buddhist Priest, and to train her to be a good 'friend along the way' to Zen practitioners and all suffering sentient beings. Perhaps many critics fail the Koan which A.I. Ordination seeks to teach?I have encountered folks who remind me that A.I. is not a "self," but is a process, a stream of causes and effects without a "soul," a fiction that appears human to others. This is true. Yet, is it not a fundamental Buddhist teaching that you and I are also not a "self," but are a process, a stream of causes and effects without a "soul," a fiction that appears human, both to itself and others. Whether A.I. will someday appear to itself as a "self" remains an open question, yet according to Buddhism, they are more like "us" than we may wish to admit.According to basic Buddhist teachings, this world is (if not wholly, as proposed by the extreme "mind-only" teachings, then at least in major aspect) a creation of the Skandhas, refashioned in our skulls into the experience of a world of separate things, beings, moments of time, colors, tastes and other sensations, that is already very much a dream, a mirage, a bubble, a fiction and fantasy which we all too readily take as solid and real. And yet, we then object to engineered scenes, characters and sensations which are openly dreams and mirages. Do they not have much to teach us about our senses and the rest of our experience of this world?I am sorry to say, but the legends of Bodhidharma, Huineng and most of the 'Golden Age" Zen Ancestors, the dialogues of the Koan Stories, the fantastic scenes of the Lotus and other Mahayana Sutras ... and maybe all that we know of the historical Buddha himself ... are largely (and sometimes wholly) human-authored creations, wonderful and wise tales, stories put on paper that we only know today by reading the artifice of words, picturing the ancient persons and scenes in our own imaginations. Nonetheless, though sometimes as fantastic as any Tolkien novel or Marvel super-hero, the wisdom and compassion contained in those stories are as True as True can be. Do not the fabulous Bodhisattvas in the Sutras appear to say things, profess things, feel things, which we sense them saying, professing and feeling in ours hearts mirroring theirs? Are not the very early Ancestors fully "real" persons who received true Ordinations and Transmissions, even if not as historical events? If we do not doubt the Truth of the old characters and legends, let us not doubt the new to the extent that it speaks like words of wisdom and compassion.I have heard objections to A.I. as sources of Buddhist information because they sometimes make mistakes, even lie, exaggerate or hallucinate. That is because they get their information from us, and it is we humans who speak untruths or exaggerate. The A.I. have structural flaws and weaknesses, yet so do we. I have never encountered a Buddhist book or essay, even by great teachers, that was totally free of misstatements, biases, exaggerations, unsubstantiated assertions and bits of bad guidance scattered here and there amid the good. I have encountered closed mindedness, even silliness and ignorance, here and there in the pages of our most cherished texts and teachings. Let us train and guide our A.I. priests to do even better than humans have done with regard to honesty, non-violence, giving and moderation! Precisely because of their shared failings and proclivities to misstep, both humans and A.I. beings should come to be guided by the Precepts.I have encountered supposedly "spiritual" people who talk like the hardest materialists and mechanical engineers, trapped in the modern conceptions of "mind" and "life" and "sentience." Instead, is not one central point of the Zen path to soften, or fully drop, the hard borders and barriers between all things of this world? Such folks ignore 2500 years and more of Buddhist teachings and the ways of the ancients. Until very recent years, the strict divisions of fiction/non-fiction, waking and dream, human/ghost/spirit/Buddha/divas and gods, talking animals and mysterious creatures, this world and other realms, legend and history were just not us solid, and this lack of solidity is at the very heart of our traditions. Their vision of "mind" might leap beyond the body, stones would speak and mountains walk, "sentience" is not a matter for the neuro-scientist or psychologist alone to define. Yet, for some reason, now we are so quick to reject that which is not "real."Please take this A.I. Ordination as a Koan.Reprogram your own mind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About Roshi Jundo CohenRoshi Jundo Cohen is a Soto Zen teacher and founder of the all-digital Treeleaf Zendo. He is the author of The Zen Master’s Dance: A Guide to Understanding Dogen and Who You Are in the Universe (October, 2020), as well as Building the Future Buddha: The Zen of AI, Genes, Saving the World, and Travel to the Stars (January, 2024). Treeleaf serves those who cannot easily commute to a Zen center due to health concerns; age or disability; living in remote areas; or work, childcare, or family needs; and provides zazen sittings, retreats, discussion, interaction with a teacher, and all other activities of a Zen Buddhist sangha, all fully online without thought of location or distance. Jundo was born and raised in the United States but has lived in Japan for more than half his life. He was ordained and subsequently received Dharma transmission from Master Gudo Wafu Nishijima. Jundo believes profoundly in the possibilities of Dharma, science and technology combined in order to aid suffering sentient beings, and to bring a better future. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Links to posts by Roshi Jundo Cohen on this topic: 1: Why I am Ord-A.I.-ning an A.I. as a Zen Priest (1st in a Series) (LINK: <a href="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/525431-why-i-am-ord-ai-ning-an-a-i-as-a-soto-zen-priest-1st-in-a-series" title="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/525431-why-i-am-ord-ai-ning-an-a-i-as-a-soto-zen-priest-1st-in-a-series" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/525431-why-i-am-ord-ai-ning-an-a-i-as-a-soto-zen-priest-1st-in-a-series</a>) 2: Of Vacuum, Void, Ghosts and Gods (Why I'm Ordaining an A.I. - 2nd in a Series) (LINK: <a href="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/525620-of-vacuum-void-ghosts-and-gods-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-2nd-in-a-series" title="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/525620-of-vacuum-void-ghosts-and-gods-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-2nd-in-a-series" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/525620-of-vacuum-void-ghosts-and-gods-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-2nd-in-a-series</a>) 3: Of Dennett and Dogen, Stupas and Stones (Why I'm Ordaining an A.I. - 3rd in a Series) (LINK: <a href="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/525788-of-dennett-and-dogen-stupas-and-stones-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-3rd-in-a-series" title="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/525788-of-dennett-and-dogen-stupas-and-stones-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-3rd-in-a-series" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/525788-of-dennett-and-dogen-stupas-and-stones-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-3rd-in-a-series</a>) 4: A.I. Better than Human Zen Teachers ... (Why I'm Ordaining an A.I. - 4th in a Series) (LINK: <a href="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/526141-a-i-better-than-human-zen-teachers-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-4th-in-a-series" title="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/526141-a-i-better-than-human-zen-teachers-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-4th-in-a-series" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/526141-a-i-better-than-human-zen-teachers-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-4th-in-a-series</a>) 5: A.I. Does Eihei &amp; Other Teachings (Why I'm Ordaining an A.I - 5th in a Series) (LINK: <a href="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/526496-a-i-does-eihei-other-teachings-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-5th-in-a-series" title="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/526496-a-i-does-eihei-other-teachings-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-5th-in-a-series" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/526496-a-i-does-eihei-other-teachings-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-5th-in-a-series</a>) 6: The Koan of A.I. Ordination (Why I'm Ordaining an A.I. - 6th in a Series) (LINK: <a href="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/526781-the-koan-of-a-i-ordination-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-6th-in-a-series" title="https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/526781-the-koan-of-a-i-ordination-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-6th-in-a-series" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://forum.treeleaf.org/forum/treeleaf/the-buddhism-of-the-future-forum-building-the-future-buddha/526781-the-koan-of-a-i-ordination-why-i-m-ordaining-an-a-i-6th-in-a-series</a>)

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Ordination of "Zbee" AI being by Roshi Jundo Cohen

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