Robot & DJ monks: S Korean Buddhism's revival

South Korea's Jogye Order, the largest sect of Korean Buddhism, recently hosted an initiation ceremony where a humanoid robot donning a monk's robe "converted" to Buddhism, coinciding with the shrinkage of the religion's followers, noted East Week magazine, a sister publication of The Standard.

The ceremony at Jogyesa Temple in Seoul took place in front of more than ten thousand devotees, and saw the robot given the Dharma name “Gabi,” now a hot topic in South Korea.

Gabi has been installed in the temple as an honorary monk, with daily duties including greeting tourists and answering simple questions about Buddhist scriptures via his built-in AI system.

South Korean Buddhism has been rife with scandals in recent years, such as when several high-ranking monks were filmed gambling, smoking, and drinking in a hotel room in 2012.

The share of its followers among the population have fallen from about 23 percent in 2005 to just 17 percent at present, with only 8 percent of those aged 18 to 29 in the country identifying as Buddhist. The nation's declining birth rate has further aggravated the decline in the number of followers. 

To recapture public interest, the Jogye Order has adopted increasingly non-religious methods of trying to get people to convert, such as by promoting a DJ monk who creates electronic music featuring Buddhist scriptures.

Known as DJ NewJeansNim, the monk Yoon Seong Ho created the hit song Buddha Handsome by fusing Buddhist scriptures with powerful electronic music.

The song's lyrics simplify complex Buddhist doctrines into colloquial phrases, and repeatedly chant Buddhist verses about letting go of attachments and achieving blissful rebirth to the backdrop of a hypnotic rap melody.

Videos of his performance have garnered over 12 million views online. 

The Jogye Order also uses influencer marketing to promote its temples. A handsome monk, Venerable Beomjeong from Hwaeomsa Temple of the Joyge Order, opened a social media account several years ago to share his daily monastic life online, and attracted a large following of young female devotees in their 20s and 30s.

Many then visited the temple, and sales of temple souvenirs like prayer beads and tea skyrocketed.

Buddhist temples have even hosted large-scale group matchmaking events, recasting these sacred sites into sites for romantic fix-ups. 
These efforts have drawn criticism, such as by Buddhist groups over how monks performing in nightclubs violates the principles they are meant to follow.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓