Senior Shambhala teacher David Nichtern joins us to geek out about some of the potential consequences of our rapidly developing technologies on the Vajrayana tradition. We speak extensively about the ramifications of greater degrees of virtual reality, how our sense experiences (what in Buddhism are referred to as the ayatanas) are already virtual, and how visualization practice, in particular, could be impacted by these developments. We also speak about the importance of “authentic presence”, or what David’s son Ethan calls “Keepin’ it Real”, as Buddhism moves forward into future generations.

Episode Links:

• www.DavidNichtern.com
• Karma Choling ( http://www.karmecholing.org )
• The Singularity is Near ( http://amzn.to/hj60E7 )
• Tibetan Buddhism’s Insights Into Virtual Reality ( http://www.davidnichtern.com/?p=686 )

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