To survive economically and to spark interest among technophile generations, Japanese Buddhist institutions have undergone significant transformation, introducing tools that fundamentally alter traditional religious practices. From robot priests delivering sermons at Kodaiji Temple to futuristic altars in high-tech Ruriden columbarium and virtual prayer services, these innovations raise profound questions about the nature of authentic religious practice and participation. What these technologies have in common is a structure of delegation in which ritual, spiritual and infrastructural acts once performed by humans are transferred to machines. While academic discourse has extensively examined the digitalization of religious institutions, interpassivity offers another angle. Originally conceptualized by Robert Pfaller and further developed with Slavoj Žižek, Interpassivity: The Aesthetics of Delegated Enjoyment (Pfaller, 2017) analyses situations where joyful consumption and passivity of activities is delegated to
another, be it human or machine. The thesis looks at examples of delegation from three perspectives: the institution, the practicing Buddhist and the laity interacting occasionally with temples. To assess the consequences of delegation for religious credibility, the linked belief system and people willing to engage with it, the framework includes Joseph Henrich's (2009) theory of Credibility Enhancing Displays (CREDs), examining how religious beliefs are transmitted through costly signals of commitment like fasting, pilgrimages, ritual sacrifices, but also the daily devotion of a priest to his community.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
1.1.1 Interpassivity theory by Robert Pfaller and Slavoj Žižek
1.1.2 Credibility Enhancing Displays: CREDs Theory (Henrich)
1.2 METHODOLOGY AND STRUCTURE
2. CONTEXTUALIZATION: JAPANESE TEMPLE BUDDHISM IN TRANSITION
2.1 FAITH IN CRISIS: TEMPLES AFTER 1945
2.2 THREE SPHERES OF AGENCY
2.2.1 Institutional Functions
2.2.2 Entering the Way: Priesthood and Temple Business today
2.2.3 Lay Engagement: Temples as Life-Cycle Anchors
2.3 TECHNO-SALVATIONISM AS MODERNIZATION IDEOLOGY
3. NEON BUDDHAS AND NIRWANA BY PROXY: EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF INTERPASSIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN JAPANESE BUDDHISM
3.1 ROBOTIC BUDDHISM: THE MECHANICAL CLERGY – INSTITUTIONS AND DELEGATED RITUALS
3.1.1 Mindar, the Kannon Android at Kōdai-ji Temple
3.1.2 Japan's Automated Columbaria
3.2 PRACTITIONER TRANSFORMATIONS: DIGITAL PRACTICE AND INTERPASSIVE DELEGATION
3.2.1 Virtual Sangha and Online Practice Communities
3.2.2 AI Spiritual Counselors and Digital Teachers
3.3 LAY ENGAGEMENT INNOVATIONS: CONVENIENT SACRED SERVICES
3.3.1 Online Ritual Services (Jōdo Shinshū case)
3.3.2 Pepper as Robotic Priest
4. COMPARATIVE OVERVIEW
5. CONCLUSION
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Objectives and Themes
This thesis investigates the phenomenon of "techno-salvationism" in contemporary Japanese Buddhism, exploring how technological interventions serve as interpassive agents that delegate religious rituals and practices. By analyzing the intersection of interpassivity theory and Credibility Enhancing Displays (CREDs), the work seeks to understand whether these innovations revitalize Buddhist institutions or undermine the very religious credibility they aim to maintain.
- Theoretical application of Pfaller's interpassivity and Henrich's CREDs theory to modern religious practice.
- Analysis of structural delegation in institutional settings, such as robotic priests and automated columbaria.
- Examination of practitioner transformations through digital platforms and AI spiritual guidance.
- Evaluation of the tension between convenient modern service delivery and the necessity of costly signals for genuine religious conviction.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1.1 Mindar, the Kannon Android at Kōdai-ji Temple
An ambitious project for enhancing ceremonial services emerged in 2019, when the 400-year-old Kōdai-ji temple in Kyoto unveiled Mindar (Fig.2), a ¥100 million android designed to embody Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion. Standing 195 centimeters tall, with an exposed aluminum cranium revealing blinking circuits and servo motors, the android delivers 25-minute sermons on the Heart Sutra while moving its head, torso, and hands. The collaboration between Kōdai-ji and the roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University aimed explicitly at religious revitalization. Tensho Gotō, the temple's chief steward, hopes that Mindar would help spread Buddhist teachings to younger generations losing connection with the tradition (Lee, 2022). He invoked Buddhist doctrine to justify the experiment: "The Buddhist goddess of mercy, Kannon, can change into anything. This time, Kannon was represented by a robot." In Mahāyāna Buddhism, bodhisattvas are understood to manifest in whatever form will most effectively guide sentient beings toward awakening, according to the earlier mentioned principle known as upāya, or skillful means. If a robot can reach those whom human priests cannot, then the robot becomes a legitimate vehicle for the dharma.
Mindar android at Kōdai-ji Temple can be seen as an example for a perspective of interpassivity which Pfaller (2017: 57) terms figurativeness of the act. Mindar serves as an interpassive medium that performs religious devotion, expressed by receiving and reciting the Heart Sutra vicariously. Mindar devotes its rechargeable energy to learning the sutra by heart and repeating it like a monk would do to display devotion and deep believe in the teachings. The viewers of Mindar's sermon become interpassive spectators of an illusion. Through the ritual, the android relieves believers, lay and priests, of subjectification. The concept of ora pro nobis (pray in our place) fits well, since the robot speaks the Dharma, yet, if programmed otherwise, it would read the opposite as well.
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: Introduces the research problem of declining religious participation in Japan and presents the theoretical framework of interpassivity and CREDs.
2. CONTEXTUALIZATION: JAPANESE TEMPLE BUDDHISM IN TRANSITION: Examines the institutional, social, and economic pressures facing Buddhist temples since 1945.
3. NEON BUDDHAS AND NIRWANA BY PROXY: EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF INTERPASSIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN JAPANESE BUDDHISM: Provides case studies of technological implementations, including robotic priests, automated columbaria, and online rituals.
4. COMPARATIVE OVERVIEW: Synthesizes findings through a systematic classification of technologies based on their level of delegation and CREDs capacity.
5. CONCLUSION: Reflects on the findings, concluding that while machines can substitute human actions, they struggle to generate religious belief due to a lack of costly signals.
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lists the academic sources and data references utilized throughout the research.
Keywords
Japanese Buddhism, Interpassivity, Techno-Salvationism, Credibility Enhancing Displays, Robotic Priest, Digital Dharma, Mindar, Bukkyōbanare, Virtual Sangha, Ritual Delegation, Religious Credibility, Automated Columbaria, Survival Strategy, Modernization Ideology.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
The work focuses on the intersection of technological advancement and traditional practice within Japanese Buddhist institutions, specifically analyzing how technology is used to mitigate the crisis of declining engagement.
Which theoretical frameworks are applied?
The author uses Robert Pfaller and Slavoj Žižek's theory of interpassivity alongside Joseph Henrich's theory of Credibility Enhancing Displays (CREDs).
What is the core argument regarding "techno-salvationism"?
The thesis argues that while techno-salvationism is presented as a revitalization strategy, the technological solutions often carry interpassive structures that undermine the necessity of human "costly signals" required for genuine religious conviction.
What research methods were utilized?
The research is an interdisciplinary study combining interpretive cultural theory with quantitative hypothesis-testing frameworks derived from cognitive evolution and psychology.
How is the "interpassive" nature of these technologies explained?
It is explained as a form of "delegated enjoyment" or "delegated practice," where the human subject transfers the burden of ritual performance to a machine, allowing the human to feel the benefits of the ritual without active personal involvement.
What does the term "bukkyōbanare" signify?
The term translates to "moving away from Buddhism" and describes the long-term trend of the Japanese population distancing itself from traditional Buddhist practices and beliefs.
How does the Mindar android represent the concept of "upāya"?
The temple uses the doctrine of "skillful means" to justify the use of a robot, arguing that the bodhisattva Kannon can manifest in any form necessary to reach contemporary audiences who might otherwise be inaccessible to traditional human priests.
Do the automated columbaria achieve the same "religious credibility" as traditional burials?
The analysis suggests they do not; because these technologies operate at an infrastructural level and lack the "costly signals" of human sacrifice or genuine spiritual devotion, they fail to enter the domain of belief as defined by CREDs theory.
- Quote paper
- Lea Klöpel (Author), 2026, Nirvana by Proxy? Interpassivity, Credibility and the Limits of Techno-Salvationism in Japanese Buddhism, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1740716
