In Korea, an android is on a spiritual quest.
While technology is usually thought of as the polar opposite of ancient religious practices and beliefs, in Korea, these two worlds seem to be colliding.
In the Jogye Temple in Seoul, a group of monks from Korea’s largest Buddhist sect sat across from a cyborg postulant awaiting the ceremony that would make him a monk.
The Korea Times reported:
“Clad in humble black shoes and the Buddhist order’s ceremonial gray and brown robe, the 1.3-meter-tall robot stood in front of Buddhist monks and nuns as it pledged to commit itself to Buddhism in the ceremony held Wednesday, ahead of Buddha’s Birthday later this month.
The robot folded its hands together and bowed to the monks officiating the ceremony, as one of the monks carefully hung a 108-bead rosary and attached a sticker instead of the original ritual where one has to slightly burn his arms near an incense stick.”
Hellbound and Down 