I have to say sorry to our audience, it has been quite a while that I didn't post much...as many of you know that Hong Kong is going through a tough time. We hope this will be over soon and our city could be restored in order, peace and love.
After two and half quiet months, the first post is about the world's first robotic Buddhist that was brought to preach at a 400-year-old temple, Kodaiji temple in Kyoto, Japan. "Her" name is Mindar, who is inspired by the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy Kannon Bodhisattva.
Created by Tokyo based A-Lab Co, Mindar stands a bit over six feet tall and weighs 130 pounds. Her body is made of aluminum while silicone is used for the face and hands which costed almost US$1 million for its development. Although some critics have compared it to "Frankenstein's monster," Mindar has gone down well with colleagues, who say it's doing wonders for the spiritual tradition founded by Siddhartha Gautama over 2,500 years ago.
Early this year, Mindar gave a speech on the Heart Sutra which is one of Buddhism’s key scriptures. She spoke in Japanese while English and Chinese subtitles were projected on the wall. The temple hopes the robot will help spark interest in Buddhism with the younger generations as well as those who may previously had little connection. Would you be more interested in Buddhism now?