Zen and Technology, Part Two

With Palms Together,


Good Morning Everyone,

Zen and Technology, Part Two

Written over the last couple of days:

This morning the weather report on my computer said it would be overcast and possibly stormy. I understood from one of my students, (who called last night on her cell) that it was supposed to rain on us in the morning. So, I decided not to go to the park for Zen in the Park this morning and instead sent an email to those who often sit with me informing them that I would be sitting in the Condo Zendo. After that, I checked the Order’s bank account online, made some modifications to a blog site, and then began composing this post.

July 2, Afternoon

This afternoon, I had two occasions to use Skype video conferencing. The first with Student John from California. And later, our Zen discussion group included a member via Skype. Student Dai Shugyo had come down with strep throat and needed to stay home, but he wanted to be a part of the discussion. We set up the Notebook with camera facing the group as we then pursued a rich discussion of the early part of the Platform Sutra.

July 2, Evening

Such technological innovations as cell phones, telephones, computers, and the Internet have brought us close together and in so many ways shrunk the world. On our Zen Living list, for example, we have over three hundred and fifty members, many from very distant parts of the planet including Australia, China, an, Iraq and Iran. On Face Book, I am connected with over four hundred people. My friends at Tricycle and Blogger bring me to nearly a thousand…and this does not count the smaller, more personal, email directory I post. Not only are words posted, but pictures, video, and audio files as well.





At no time in the history of our species have we been so easily able to instantly connect to, speak to, and listen to the myriad voices of the human race. As with any tool, however, changes inevitably occur as we adapt to the new technologies. We not only make our tools, but are, in turn, made by them. This is a very important point and cannot be overstated. Children, for example, who routinely use computers, grow different brains than those who don’t. We now have a term for this, “digital brains” in “digital children,” or “Digital Natives.” See this article for a fascinating introduction.


The absence of a tool in one’s life changes one’s life…and now we know, even one’s actual brain.

Human beings are a social species. We gain our humanity through social relationships. So, one of our basic human drives as beings in the world is the drive to connect and through that connection define our reality.



What is this reality?





July 3, Morning.

Suki is better. She has not coughed for two days. I am pleased and grateful to all who offered their thoughts on behalf of her well-being.



Reality is what we make it to be. Things in themselves mean nothing in themselves, but add a human being to the mix and we get meaning. Human beings assign meaning to everything, then rank order those meanings and this rank order gives rise to an axiological scheme: what we value.



Yet, this is a case where the interaction between the thing and the being changes both. A cup once offered the meaning of ceremonial teacup becomes something other than a cup and that something other alters our brain as we interact with it. Form and function inter-are…intimately.



Technologies are nothing in themselves. What is a Blue Tooth without a human being calling it a Blue Tooth? Assigning meaning to it (a useful, hands-free tool or a sign that the Borg are already with us), is what we humans do. Our Zen is to notice.



Next: Notice what?