You might think that a religion as ancient as Tibetan Buddhism only lives in books and scrolls and faraway lands. But one AV俱乐部 professor says that that's not the case.
鈥淥ur lives are online now,鈥� Christopher Helland explains. 鈥淎nd in an online world, how do you present the sacred?鈥�
Dr. Helland, associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, is trying to answer this question by looking at how the Internet is used by different religious organizations to maintain community, identity and beliefs. He has been focusing on the Tibetan community and diaspora over the last couple years.
鈥淚鈥檓 interested in the Tibetan community and how it鈥檚 keeping them connected in diaspora, because they are scattered far and wide across the globe,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd how they鈥檙e using the Internet to stay connected and transfer their beliefs online so that people who are in North America, Europe or wherever can somehow connect with these very important Lamas and very important rituals.鈥�
A virtual Tibet?
One of the greatest problems faced by followers of Tibetan Buddhism is getting access to traditional and central rituals, such as initiation ceremonies. These rituals often take place in remote and difficult places, such as mountainous regions of India and Tibet. For many of the religious diaspora, getting to these sacred rituals is simply not possible, due to health concerns or the high costs of taking the trip. For these people, the Internet is the next best thing.
鈥淲e found they鈥檙e very sophisticated in how they promote and use the Internet, and present rituals,鈥� says Dr. Helland. 鈥淏ut when you have someone like the Dalai Lama, who鈥檚 very sacred to his community, how do they transfer that online? How do they preserve the charisma so that when people go online and experience the ritual, they feel like they are there?鈥�
A journey to the mountains
In order to answer this question, Dr. Helland traveled to the Himalayan mountains this summer, to attend the 33rd Kalachakra Initiation ceremony in Ladakh.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a high level tantric initiation,鈥� Dr. Helland explains. 鈥淭here were 160,000 people that came, mostly from India, but Tibetans from all over. There were about 4,000 westerners there.鈥�
One of they key questions for Dr. Helland, who teaches two courses on religion at Dal, was finding who decided what eventually got to go online. 鈥淚n the end, it鈥檚 actually the Dalai Lama that decides what parts of the ritual get online or not,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat was surprisingly hard to find out.鈥�
Another important question was determining if the religion鈥檚 online presence was exerting a positive or negative influence on its followers. 鈥淎 lot of people feel that the Internet creates a different, undesirable sort of identity,鈥� Dr. Helland explains. 鈥淚n the case of Tibetans, the Internet is a very strong tool in keeping them connected.
鈥淩eligion has to stay in sync with a contemporary online society. If religion doesn鈥檛 keep up with that, then they鈥檙e out of touch with their followers.鈥�