Kannonji Zen Retreat is a Buddhist sangha in the virtual world of Second Life®, a side project of the Sweeping Zen website (the leading online encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism in the West). We started the project in 2008 as a small place for tech-savvy individuals to gather together and meditate. Located in a virtual region inspired by fond childhood memories of places like the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee, our region offers visitors realistic “natural” surroundings and conveys a sense of warmth and intimacy upon one’s first visit. One thing that sets us apart from the other Buddhist simulations in Second Life® is that we are very “big tent” in our approach—we appeal to a large swath of the Second Life® community that reaches well beyond those who identify themselves as Buddhist. We even have a Christian church located on the sim inspired by the Christian contemplative and monastic traditions, traditions which have meditation exercises similar to those found in Buddhism. We are open to persons of all faiths, agnostics and atheists alike.
Zen is not a belief system as we might understand it. One needn’t reject professed religious leanings in order to benefit from the practice of meditation at all. Sitting quietly in reflection is something anyone can do, allowing the one meditating to see the nature of their own thoughts and desires without feeling a need to identify with them or follow them blindly. Zen meditation, also known as zazen, is a simple body practice that allows us to see the world more clearly, without the DVD commentary imposed on us by our monkey mind.
What does any of this have to do with Buddhism in virtual reality? I’m sure some of you might be wondering about that. If, as has been argued, meditation is above all else a body practice, how then can having a pixelated version of ourselves sitting down on a meditation cushion that exists only on a computer monitor be of any real benefit to people? It’s an important question. The short answer is community. We invite people from all over the world to come take a moment out of their day to sit with others, all in an atmosphere that helps symbolize what we’re all doing at that moment in our homes.
A fully self-sustaining sim, Kannonji relies exclusively on contributions from visitors and sangha members to stay open. We host daily meditation times every morning, afternoon and night and have live music events every weekend headlined by some of the best musicians Second Life® has to offer. So come and have a visit. We’d love to meet you and welcome you in to our sangha.
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