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Canadian Buddhists on the web Push, Pull & Practice John Negru Karma Yönten Gyatso

Canadian Buddhists on the web Push, Pull & Practice John Negru Karma Yönten Gyatso. Buddhism in Canada: Global Causes, Local Conditions. October 15-17, 2010. Buddhists on the web. Any area of study of the internet can and should be applied to Buddhists AS Buddhists .

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Canadian Buddhists on the web Push, Pull & Practice John Negru Karma Yönten Gyatso

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  1. Canadian Buddhists on the webPush, Pull & PracticeJohn NegruKarma Yönten Gyatso Buddhism in Canada: Global Causes, Local Conditions October 15-17, 2010

  2. Buddhists on the web • Any area of study of the internet can and should be applied to Buddhists AS Buddhists. • To understand Canadian Buddhists on with the web, we must look at issues affecting Canadian web use in general… • …and then apply those assessment criteria to Canadian Buddhists as a sub-set of demographic groups.

  3. What is the internet? A medium not a thing Multi-modal Continually evolving Generational Ethnic Regional Consequential • Portal • Aggregator • Electronic brochure • Soapbox • Disruptor • Collaborative work space • Archeological site • Icon • Marketplace • Espionage target • Alternate reality • Social network • Knowledge base • Crime • De facto standard • Celebrity-maker • Entertainer • Trickster

  4. Push and pull media • Push media is mass marketing. • It’s about creating a strong brand and making it well-known through advertising and public relations. • Pull media is one-to-one custom marketing. • It’s about meeting the needs of individual customers and building strong relationships through that process.

  5. Push • The web as a channel for Buddhist centres to DELIVER information. • Organization websites • Buddhist portals + aggregators • Buddhist news in mainstream media

  6. Pull • The web as a place individual Buddhists and others go to FIND information about Buddhism and Buddhist community. • Centre website contact information • Centre event news • Social network dimension • Hacker subversion dimension

  7. Practice • The web AS practice. • Time on the web in a Buddhist frame of mind • An expression of one’s faith • A place to learn • Worldly action in service of Dharma • Blogosphere • E-commerce

  8. Questions Education isn’t about finding the right answers. It’s about learning how to ask the right questions.

  9. How are Canadian Buddhists using the internet? • The same as any other Canadian, on a daily basis. • Look to analytics for traffic data. • Look to “the Way-back Machine” for evolution data.

  10. Who are the people making best use of web technology to get their Dharma message out, and what can we learn from them? • Buddhist centre sites, portals and blogs • Groups with/without websites • Language, ethnicity, settlement and other demographic issues • Ways of assembly and Sangha issues • The evolution of Dharma in Canada before 1996

  11. How is the internet changing the way people seek out Buddhist teachings and Sangha connections? • Lineage affiliations • Contact modes • Direct contact • Phone but not fax • E-mail • Social network • Geo-tagged • Real-time

  12. Where are the fault lines between digital immigrants and digital natives within the Canadian Buddhist community? • Ethnicity? • Ordination? • Age? • Livelihood? • Lineage? • Location?

  13. Shadows in the Cloud • Nobel Peace Prize • Dalai Lama • Panchen Lama • Dossier Tibet • Aung San Suu Kyi • Burmese Democracy • Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia • Afghanistan, Pakistan • Insurgencies, Refugees, Disasters • Buddhist scandals • Sex, booze and cash • Cults • Hijacked lineages • Interfaith dialogue • Canadian bloggers in jail Where is the boundary between practice and politics on the web?

  14. Is the web a substitute for practice, a new way of practice, or nothing to do with practice? PUSH – Buddhist Organizations Pull – Buddhist Practitioners • Embracing the web • Rejecting the web • Ambivalent about the web • Academic remove • Meets personal need • Authentic experience • Misguided and/or shallow • Slack-tivism

  15. What are the new opportunities and threats presented by social media, collaborative open-source computing, e-books and mobile computing? • Universal global access • Teacher/student relationship • New Sangha relationship • E-Commerce, Second Life, Wiki • What is real? • Would Buddha tweet?

  16. Analytics Online tools for research into, and assessment of, Buddhist organizations in Canada

  17. www.canadianbuddhism.info • canadianbuddhism.infois the definitive directory of Canadian Buddhist organizations • 400+ organizations currently listed • 2010 edition • Created and maintained by The Sumeru Press Inc. • Replaces www.buddhismcanada.com, which is now closed

  18. www.sumeru.ca • Sumeru is a Canadian Buddhist news blog • 800-1000 visitors/month • The Sumeru Press is a Canadian publisher • Publisher of Buddhist books and art • By, for and about Canadian Buddhists • Books, e-books & ephemera

  19. Analytical Tools The first four online tools allow you to monitor and assess web traffic. Web.Archive is also known as the Way-Back Machine, and allows you to view websites as they existed in the past. • 7zoom • Alexa • Compete • Google Analytics • Web.Archive

  20. Dialectics Fault lines in the Buddhist firmament

  21. Traditionalism vs Modernism • Fear that technology will erode values • Emphasis on physical experience • Ear-whispered lineages • Guru-disciple relationship • The cult of the new • The myth of progress • Social validation • It’s all about me • Spiritual materialism

  22. Digitally disadvantaged communities Vibrant web presence Poor web presence • Tibetan • Chinese • Japanese • Vipassana • Vietnamese Zen • Vietnamese Pure Land • Lao • Khmer • Sri Lankan • Thai

  23. Empowered but uninterested youth • Religion, ritual + relevance • Generation gap • Secularized society • Linguistic tar pits • Here vs “back home” • Not your parents’ immigrant experience • Welcome to the “Daily Show” generation • Dharma Punx • DIY Dharma • Martha Grey Buffalo • Tzu Chi • Girls vs boys • Activist focus

  24. Cultural mis-appropriation? • “Buddhist” celebrities (Steven Seagal, Tiger Woods) • “Buddhist” interior design ( Visvavajra backdrop on Jay Leno show) • Martha Wetaskiwin Grey Buffalo (Facebook) • Personal empowerment (Allan Knight) • Health + Wellness (Dr. Deepak Chopra) • Ghost stories (Ghost Whisperer) • Quest movies (Matrix, Batman Begins) • Dragon tattoos

  25. Fluid group identification • We exist in multiple dimensions simultaneously • Relativistic value sets • Shopping around and the loyalty problem • No commitment messages (cell phone ads) • Bounce rate, click-throughs + unique visits • Understanding a mile wide and an inch deep

  26. Authority vs the Wiki model Established institutions Flat, open, democratic institutions • Ordained teacher • Vertical hierarchy • Charismatic leadership • Succession issues • Gender segregation • Buddha Dharma focus • Formal web presence • Resilient • Orthodoxy • Lay teachers • Horizontal management • DIY focus • Succession issues • Gender neutrality • Sangha focus • Ad hoc web presence • Chaotic, ephemeral • Innovation

  27. No-Self vs Celebrity Branding • Can you brand “no-self”? • Identity as branding (eg. teens on Facebook) • Intimate strangers • Second Life avatars • Is the web sambhogakaya? • I the Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Leonard Cohen, the Panchen Lama, Richard Gere, Tina Turner, Alanis Morissette, Adam Yauch… • Following celebrities is easier than actual practice

  28. Giving freely vs Commercialism • How can we reconcile Dharma with commerce? • Dharma websites hobbled if they try to “sell” something • Practitioner supplies stores • E-Bay vs the Snow Lion model • What is a “fair” price? • Proceeds to charitable causes • Fund-raising (and lack thereof) in various communities

  29. Retreat versus Engaged Practice • Does practice require withdrawal from society? • Can the forest model work in Canada? • Since most of us MUST work, can’t we find some way to practice engaged Buddhism? • Practice and daily life as “not-two” • Trending toward egalitarian, lay Sangha • Canadian immigration laws and ordained Sangha

  30. Local Activism vs Global Citizenship • Support Tibet, but ignore native Canadians? • Disaster activism instead of constant attention • Little activist focus on most Canadian Buddhist websites • Little linkage with contemporary issues in society • Fund-raising, vegetarianism, environmentalism, health + wellness, political action, pro-peace, gender equality, universal access, etc.

  31. Inter-community Alliances • Growth of lineage and ethnic associations • Weak local associations across lineage/ethnic divide • Associations have no web presence

  32. Exclusions and Norms • New Kadampa • Novayana • Non-English websites • Centres that no longer exist, and their web shadows • Do you exist if you are not on the web? • Practice vs academe

  33. Thanks for being here! Buddhism in Canada: Global Causes, Local Conditions

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