Engage Dharma

https://engagedharma.net/2023/02/25/ghost-in-the-shell-dharma-dilemma-2/

Last week, I released the first episode and discussion of my favourite cyber punk film, Ghost in the Shell. In the first episode, I outlined the questions and existential dilemmas posed by the film, especially regarding the identity of its protagonist, the cyborg Motoko Kusanagi.

In this second episode, I begin to address those issues and propose some possible answers. However, the arguments I present are not based on answering any of the questions pondred in episode 1. The main reason is that I don't think any of the questions posed in the first episode, which are those posed by the film, will ever have definitive answers. I believe that every one of those questions and possible answers will always be in dispute. I don't believe that science, philosophy, culture or religion can or will provide any definitive answers to these existential conundrums. There will always be a range of possible answers and ongoing disagreement and debate. Some of those questions will always be undecidable.

So my arguments for the answers I propose are not based on deciding whether cyborgs like Kusanagi are human, partly human, or merely machines; whether cyborgs have consciousness, or selves, or souls. Rather, I am concerned with how cyborgs are understood and treated as 'beings', from a Buddhist perspective, whether truly human, cyborg or otherwise.

Music featured in this episode is from my album, ‘Deep Dive’ https://shaunyata.bandcamp.com/album/deep-dive

Tracks, in order as they appear in the podcast:

Ghost 03:03

Deep Dive 04:43

Cyborg Awakening 04:20

On The Edge of Night  02:35

A complete transcript of this show is available at https://engagedharma.net/2023/02/22/ghost-in-the-shell-dharma-dilemma/

My apologies for speaking too slowly. I was struggling with audio latency, which happens when the voice that I hear through my headphones is a few milliseconds slower than the speech I am recording. It tends to slow down my speech. I corrected the latency as much as possible. If the recording is too slow for you, please speed up the replay of the podcast.

Sources:
The Philosophy of Ghost in the Shell, Wisecrack edition
The Philosophy of Ghost in the Shell Explained, by Film Comics Explained The Philosophy of Ghost in the Shell, by Anime Philosopher
Ghost in the Shell—Story Explanation and Analysis, by Max Derat
Ghost in the Shell—Film Analysis, Motoko’s Dilemma by Anime Everyday

Music featured in this episode is from my album, ‘Deep Dive’ https://shaunyata.bandcamp.com/album/deep-dive

Tracks, in order as they appear in the podcast:

Ghost 03:03

Deep Dive 04:43

Cyborg Awakening 04:20

Dance of the Nagas 05:06

Ghost 03:03

I create the music for every episode. You can hear more of my music at https://shaunyata.bandcamp.com

I'm creating cutting-edge dharma culture every day. Please support this podcast, blog , music and YouTube channel at Patreon: patreon.com/user?u=80736941

For a written transcript of this show, please visit: https://engagedharma.net/2019/08/18/buddhist-futures-cyborg-buddhism/?preview_id=16035&preview_nonce=4e7362a653&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=2152

I want to create a science-fiction form of Buddhism. Call it Cyborg Buddhism. I'm not talking about Cyborg Buddhism in the sense of Transhumanist James Hughes, who is interested in technological enhancement of the human being to create a state of 'enlightenment.' I'm using Cyborg as Donna Haraway defined it in The Cyborg Manifesto.

We are already more-than-human beings: we are mineral-plant-animal-human-culture beings, so I want to practice a Cyborg Buddhism that works with mineral-plant-animal-human-culture as the site of practice. I want to mindfully experience the ordinary, the mundane, the immanent reality, and yet I also want to experience the fantastic, transcendent, mythical and science-fictional layers of reality. 

—Shaun

Read Donna Haraway's The Cyborg Manifesto in its entirety, free pdf: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/undergraduate/modules/fictionnownarrativemediaandtheoryinthe21stcentury/manifestly_haraway_----_a_cyborg_manifesto_science_technology_and_socialist-feminism_in_the_....pdf

I create the music for every episode. You can hear more of my music at https://shaunyata.bandcamp.com

I'm creating cutting-edge dharma culture every day. Please support this podcast, blog, music and YouTube channel at Patreon: patreon.com/user?u=80736941

We're kicking off a series on Anarchism and Buddhism with "Waiting for Gudo", an interview with Reed Ingalls, editor of the blog No Selves No Masters, about his research and writing on anarchism and Buddhism, where they connect and where they diverge, and about the possibilities of Anarchist Buddhism. The title of the podcast comes from Reed's recent article, "Uchiyama Gudo: Buddhist Anarchist and Martyr. Gudo was a Zen priest who wrote about and advocated for anarchist communities and social movements in Japan at the turn of the twentieth century.

What follows are the show notes and resources provided by Reed that you can check out.

In the podcast, we start off with our mutual connection to Reed's hometown in Olympia, Washington; then we go into his research on anarchism and Buddhism, various authors that have influenced his thinking; Reed's and my own takes on what anarchist Buddhism would look like in practice; the introduction of Buddhism to America during a period of social upheaval; the current horizontalist trend in American Buddhism, bypassing hierarchical structures in Buddhist organizations; the lack of Buddhist social and political thought and its opportunities for anarchist praxis; the ongoing uprising in Southeast Asia in the form of the #MilkTeaAlliance and the revolution in Burma, anarchist tactics and organizations, and finish off with plans for future projects.

Reed's Resources:

Essay by me on the connections between no-self and anarchy: https://noselvesnomasters.wordpress.com/2021/05/28/on-selves-and-masters/
Elisee Reclus: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/elisee-reclus-anarchy-geography-modernity
For an explanation of Ichikawa Hakugen's thought: Christopher Ives, "Imperial Way Zen" https://terebess.hu/zen/Imperial-Way%20Zen.pdf
Uchiyama Gudo's biography: Zen Anarchism: The Egalitarian Dharma of Uchiyama Gudo by Fabio Rambelli
Especifismo Anarchism: Social Anarchism and Organization by Anarchist Federation of Rio De Janeiro: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/anarchist-federation-of-rio-de-janeiro-social-anarchism-and-organisation
On the American indigenous roots of enlightenment thought: https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/democracy/hiding-plain-sightOn everyday anarchism: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/david-graeber-are-you-an-anarchist-the-answer-may-surprise-you

Letter by Bookchin which contains some of his better critiques of John Clarke's interpretations of Buddhist philosophy, specifically Nagarjuna's thought. http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/murray-bookchin-turning-up-the-stones

My blog bibliography which I update pretty often.: https://noselvesnomasters.wordpress.com/resources/