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2024 Buddhism, Science & Future
5th Woodenfish Forum
5th Woodenfish Forum: Buddhism, Science, and Future
The 2024 Woodenfish Forum on Buddhism, Science and Future convened from June 21–23 at the Grand Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan. Under the theme “Buddhism, Consciousness & AI,” this landmark event brought together world-class scholars, scientists, neuroscientists, philosophers, and monastics to engage in a profound dialogue exploring how rapid developments in artificial intelligence and modern science intersect with traditional Buddhist ethics, metaphysics, and mindfulness practices.
Key Themes & Discussion Highlights
Mindfulness Neuroscience · Enactive Intuition · Synthetic Phenomenology · Artificial Sentience · BuddhaBots & Cyber-Physical Systems · Cyborg Buddhism · AI Ethics and Digital Consciousness
Buddhist Consciousness & Modern Science
This panel examines the cognitive and psychological dimensions of mindfulness, bridging traditional Buddhist analytical frameworks with contemporary neuroscience. Speakers explore the mechanisms behind meditation practices, the power of mindful behavior change, and critical perspectives on how modern scientific naturalism interprets Buddhist teachings.
AI and Buddhist Ethics
Focusing on the ethical dimensions of rapid technological development, this section applies Buddhist philosophical principles to artificial intelligence. Discussions centered on creating compassionate and reliable models of intelligence, the concept of enactive intuition, and whether the digital expansion of human consciousness represents an evolutionary leap or a karmic setback.
AI and Buddhist Metaphysics
This panel delves into the deeper philosophical questions surrounding machine intelligence, sentience, and awareness. Scholars evaluate whether artificial systems could ever genuinely meditate or achieve non-dual awareness, utilizing Buddhist metaphysics to analyze the possibilities, perils, and fundamental limits of synthetic phenomenology.
Application of AI and Buddhism
Highlighting real-world integrations, this theme covers both the use of AI tools in Buddhist contexts and the implementation of Buddhist principles within tech environments. Specific topics include the creation of "BuddhaBots" and virtual spaces like the Teraverse, AI applications in analyzing Buddhist art, and the role of mindfulness in corporate tech culture.
AI and The Future of Buddhism
Taking a forward-looking perspective, this section imagines how human-technology relationships can evolve to serve spiritual growth. Discussions range from "cyborg Buddhism" and intelligence augmentation to ethical "white hat" initiatives and AI agents designed to act as co-pilots in the human quest for wisdom and enlightenment.
The Vision of Moving Forward
Reflecting on the core mission of the forum, Ven. Yifa reiterated that the Buddha’s teachings welcome scientific scrutiny rather than rejecting it. The forum successfully demonstrated that ancient enlightened wisdom and modern science can mutually enrich each other through open, collaborative dialogue.
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Dates: June 5–7
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Venue: Grand Hotel Taipei
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Organizer: Woodenfish Foundation (USA)
Forum Speakers
Christian Coseru (College of Charleston)
Presentation:
Engineering Enlightenment: Buddhist Conceptual Tools for Skilful Generative AI
Christian Coseru works in the fields of philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and cross-cultural philosophy, especially Indian and Buddhist philosophy in dialogue with Western (classical and contemporary) philosophy and cognitive science. He is the author of Perceiving Reality: Consciousness, Intentionality, and Cognition in Buddhist Philosophy (OUP, 2012, pbk 2015), and editor of Reasons and Empty Persons: Mind, Metaphysics, and Morality (Springer 2023). He is currently completing a book manuscript on the intersections between perceptual and affective consciousness, tentatively entitled Sense, Self-Awareness, and Sensibility, and a book on Buddhist philosophy of mind, entitled Moments of Consciousness (under contract with OUP).
Engineering Enlightenment: Buddhist Conceptual Tools for Skilful Generative AI
Christian Coseru works in the fields of philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and cross-cultural philosophy, especially Indian and Buddhist philosophy in dialogue with Western (classical and contemporary) philosophy and cognitive science. He is the author of Perceiving Reality: Consciousness, Intentionality, and Cognition in Buddhist Philosophy (OUP, 2012, pbk 2015), and editor of Reasons and Empty Persons: Mind, Metaphysics, and Morality (Springer 2023). He is currently completing a book manuscript on the intersections between perceptual and affective consciousness, tentatively entitled Sense, Self-Awareness, and Sensibility, and a book on Buddhist philosophy of mind, entitled Moments of Consciousness (under contract with OUP).
Thomas Doctor (Ranjung Yeshe Institute)
Presentation:
Building Bodhisattvas: Towards a Model of Powerful, Reliable, and Caring Intelligence
Thomas Doctor is the Principal at Kathmandu University Centre for Buddhist Studies (KU-CBS), Executive Director at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute (RYI), and Director at the Center for the Study of Apparent Selves (CSAS).
Thomas received his BA and MA degrees in Tibetan Studies from the University of Copenhagen and his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Lausanne. He has studied Buddhist philosophy at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery since the late 1980s and continues to serve as translator for the lamas and scholars there. His main research interests are the pāramitā and mantra views and practices of Buddhism in India and Tibet. He has translated several classics of Buddhist philosophy, including Speech of Delight (Ju Mipham’s commentary to the Madhyamakālaṃkāra) and Ornament of Reason (Mabja Jangchub Tsöndrü’s commentary to the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā). Thomas continues to contribute to 84000, an ongoing project to translate the Tibetan collection of the Buddha’s words and associated treatises into English. Together with the research team at CSAS, he explores and develops interfaces between Buddhism and the sciences of life and information.
Building Bodhisattvas: Towards a Model of Powerful, Reliable, and Caring Intelligence
Thomas Doctor is the Principal at Kathmandu University Centre for Buddhist Studies (KU-CBS), Executive Director at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute (RYI), and Director at the Center for the Study of Apparent Selves (CSAS).
Thomas received his BA and MA degrees in Tibetan Studies from the University of Copenhagen and his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Lausanne. He has studied Buddhist philosophy at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery since the late 1980s and continues to serve as translator for the lamas and scholars there. His main research interests are the pāramitā and mantra views and practices of Buddhism in India and Tibet. He has translated several classics of Buddhist philosophy, including Speech of Delight (Ju Mipham’s commentary to the Madhyamakālaṃkāra) and Ornament of Reason (Mabja Jangchub Tsöndrü’s commentary to the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā). Thomas continues to contribute to 84000, an ongoing project to translate the Tibetan collection of the Buddha’s words and associated treatises into English. Together with the research team at CSAS, he explores and develops interfaces between Buddhism and the sciences of life and information.
Bernard Faure (Columbia University)
Presentation:
Towards a one-dimensional Buddhism? Mindfulness, neuroscience, and naturalism
Bernard Faure was from 2006 to 2023 the Kao Professor of Japanese Religion in the Department of Religion and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALAC) at Columbia University. Before that, he was the George Edwin Burnell Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University. He received a Doctorat d’État in Asian Civilizations and Literatures from the Paris University in 1984. He specializes in the Chinese and Japanese Buddhist Traditions. He is the author of many books in English and French, including The Rhetoric of Immediacy (10991), Chan Insights and Oversights (1993), Visions of Power (1996), The Will to Orthodoxy (1997), The Red Thread (1998), The Power of Denial (2003), Double Exposure (2003), Unmasking Buddhism (2008), The Fluid Pantheon (2015), Protectors and Predators (2015), Rage and Ravage (2021), and The Thousand and One Lives of the Buddha (2022). He now lives in France.
Towards a one-dimensional Buddhism? Mindfulness, neuroscience, and naturalism
Bernard Faure was from 2006 to 2023 the Kao Professor of Japanese Religion in the Department of Religion and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALAC) at Columbia University. Before that, he was the George Edwin Burnell Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University. He received a Doctorat d’État in Asian Civilizations and Literatures from the Paris University in 1984. He specializes in the Chinese and Japanese Buddhist Traditions. He is the author of many books in English and French, including The Rhetoric of Immediacy (10991), Chan Insights and Oversights (1993), Visions of Power (1996), The Will to Orthodoxy (1997), The Red Thread (1998), The Power of Denial (2003), Double Exposure (2003), Unmasking Buddhism (2008), The Fluid Pantheon (2015), Protectors and Predators (2015), Rage and Ravage (2021), and The Thousand and One Lives of the Buddha (2022). He now lives in France.
Peter Hershock (East-West Center)
Presentation:
Consciousness Extended Digitally: An Evolutionary Leap or Karmic Digression?
Peter Hershock is an intercultural philosopher who makes use of Buddhist resources to reflect on contemporary issues of global concern. He is the Director of the Asian Studies Development
Program and coordinator of the Humane Artificial Intelligence Initiative at the East-West Center in Honolulu. He has written or edited more than a dozen books, including Reinventing the Wheel: A Buddhist Response to the Information Age; Buddhism in the Public Sphere: Reorienting Global Interdependence; Valuing Diversity: Buddhist Reflection on Realizing a More Equitable Global Future; and Buddhism and Intelligent Technology: Toward a More Humane Future. His newest book, Consciousness Mattering: A Buddhist Synthesis, offers nondualist theory of consciousness and raises ethical questions about machine consciousness, the algorithmic hacking of human consciousness, and humanity’s evolutionary future.
Consciousness Extended Digitally: An Evolutionary Leap or Karmic Digression?
Peter Hershock is an intercultural philosopher who makes use of Buddhist resources to reflect on contemporary issues of global concern. He is the Director of the Asian Studies Development
Program and coordinator of the Humane Artificial Intelligence Initiative at the East-West Center in Honolulu. He has written or edited more than a dozen books, including Reinventing the Wheel: A Buddhist Response to the Information Age; Buddhism in the Public Sphere: Reorienting Global Interdependence; Valuing Diversity: Buddhist Reflection on Realizing a More Equitable Global Future; and Buddhism and Intelligent Technology: Toward a More Humane Future. His newest book, Consciousness Mattering: A Buddhist Synthesis, offers nondualist theory of consciousness and raises ethical questions about machine consciousness, the algorithmic hacking of human consciousness, and humanity’s evolutionary future.
Eric Loucks (Mindfulness Center at Brown University)
Presentation:
Planet and People: The Power of Mindful Behavior Change
Eric B. Loucks, PhD, is a professor, researcher, and innovator in the study of mindfulness and health. As director of the Mindfulness Center at Brown University, Loucks teaches mindfulness-based programs and leads high-quality, methodologically rigorous research to investigate the science behind mindfulness and its impact on health and well-being. An expert in aging-related research, he optimizes mindfulness programs to specific age groups. He is the lead developer of Mindfulness-Based College (MBC) and Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP), and has received numerous research grants from the National Institutes of Health to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions, including MBC, MB-BP, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Dr. Loucks’ book entitled The Mindful College Student (New Harbinger Publications) was released in April 2022. Over the course of his career, he has held teaching positions at Harvard, McGill, and Brown Universities. Loucks has practiced mindfulness for about 25 years. Dr. Loucks’s work has been widely distributed through media organizations such as the New York Times, TIME Magazine, and the BBC, along with numerous presentations to national and state governmental bodies.
Planet and People: The Power of Mindful Behavior Change
Eric B. Loucks, PhD, is a professor, researcher, and innovator in the study of mindfulness and health. As director of the Mindfulness Center at Brown University, Loucks teaches mindfulness-based programs and leads high-quality, methodologically rigorous research to investigate the science behind mindfulness and its impact on health and well-being. An expert in aging-related research, he optimizes mindfulness programs to specific age groups. He is the lead developer of Mindfulness-Based College (MBC) and Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP), and has received numerous research grants from the National Institutes of Health to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions, including MBC, MB-BP, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Dr. Loucks’ book entitled The Mindful College Student (New Harbinger Publications) was released in April 2022. Over the course of his career, he has held teaching positions at Harvard, McGill, and Brown Universities. Loucks has practiced mindfulness for about 25 years. Dr. Loucks’s work has been widely distributed through media organizations such as the New York Times, TIME Magazine, and the BBC, along with numerous presentations to national and state governmental bodies.
Pat Pataranutaporn (MIT Media Lab)
Presentation:
Can AI Help Humans Attain Enlightenment?
Pat Pataranutaporn is a technologist and a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he explores human-AI interaction, human cognitive augmentation, synthetic virtual humans, and synthetic biology. Specifically, he focuses on the intersections between biological and digital systems.
Can AI Help Humans Attain Enlightenment?
Pat Pataranutaporn is a technologist and a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he explores human-AI interaction, human cognitive augmentation, synthetic virtual humans, and synthetic biology. Specifically, he focuses on the intersections between biological and digital systems.
Caroline Ting (ADirector of International Relations at Logica Universalis Association)
Presentation:
AI Applications in Understanding Visual Representations of Paradise: A Comparative Study on Buddhist and Other Religious Artistic Interpretations and Their Diffusion Models
Prof. Dr. Caroline Pires Ting 丁小雨 is a Sino-Brazilian Professor, Researcher, and Artist, with an academic and artistic presence across multiple continents. Holding a Postdoctorate in Philosophy and a PhD in Arts and Contemporary Culture specializing in intercultural studies, Caroline currently serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU) and as the Director of International Relations at the Logica Universalis Association (LUA) in Switzerland and Museum XYZ (Metaverse). Additionally, she contributes as a Columnist at the “Today Macau” newspaper for the Philosophy section “Via do Meio.” She has been recognized with First Place in the literature A-Ma Prize by the Macau Foundation. She has been a co-organizer and keynote speaker of workshops at the Logica Universalis and Logic and Religion Organization, along with Jean-Yves Beziau, for the projects “Logic of Love” in Greece, “Logic of Paradise” in India, and “Religious Symbolism and Symbolic Logic” in Romania, This year, she is one of the keynote speakers for the ICI (Imagination, Creativity, and Intelligence) Congress in Brazil.
AI Applications in Understanding Visual Representations of Paradise: A Comparative Study on Buddhist and Other Religious Artistic Interpretations and Their Diffusion Models
Prof. Dr. Caroline Pires Ting 丁小雨 is a Sino-Brazilian Professor, Researcher, and Artist, with an academic and artistic presence across multiple continents. Holding a Postdoctorate in Philosophy and a PhD in Arts and Contemporary Culture specializing in intercultural studies, Caroline currently serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU) and as the Director of International Relations at the Logica Universalis Association (LUA) in Switzerland and Museum XYZ (Metaverse). Additionally, she contributes as a Columnist at the “Today Macau” newspaper for the Philosophy section “Via do Meio.” She has been recognized with First Place in the literature A-Ma Prize by the Macau Foundation. She has been a co-organizer and keynote speaker of workshops at the Logica Universalis and Logic and Religion Organization, along with Jean-Yves Beziau, for the projects “Logic of Love” in Greece, “Logic of Paradise” in India, and “Religious Symbolism and Symbolic Logic” in Romania, This year, she is one of the keynote speakers for the ICI (Imagination, Creativity, and Intelligence) Congress in Brazil.
Bill Duane (Bill Duane and Associates)
Presentation:
Buddha and the Corporation in an AI world
Bill Duane is the principal at Bill Duane and Associates, a consulting firm focused on innovation, focused on the AI space.
He helps organizations and individuals execute well in ambiguity and rapid change through innovation mindset, managing complexity and resilience. He works with leading companies including Google, Genentech, Google X, Amazon, Earth Species Project, the Just Economy Institute and has done workshops on managing complexity at the White House. He teaches innovation and AI workshops at Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. He is the Director of Strategy and Implementation at the Center for the Study of Apparent Selves, working on applied AI ethics and holds a Research Fellowship at Kathmandu University and Rangjung Yeshe Institute Centre for Buddhist Studies as part of this effort. He has done 5 years of Buddhist teacher training in the Ajahn Chah Thai Forest/Jack Kornfield American Vipassana lineages.
He was an engineering executive at Google for nine years, leading the production engineering teams for websearch infrastructure and then Google Workspace (gmail, docs, calendar, etc.) responsible for scaling these services worldwide during hypergrowth. After becoming curious about burnout, performance and culture, he started a second career at Google, establishing the global role of Superintendent of Wellbeing and creating successful programs to explore the intersection of performance and human flourishing for the following five years.
He is on the advisory board of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, a Fellowship Advisor to the Just Economy Institute and advisor to several for-profit and nonprofit startups. He was previously a full board member of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute and Board Chair of Veterans’ PATH, a nonprofit bringing mindfulness to veterans with PTSD.
Buddha and the Corporation in an AI world
Bill Duane is the principal at Bill Duane and Associates, a consulting firm focused on innovation, focused on the AI space.
He helps organizations and individuals execute well in ambiguity and rapid change through innovation mindset, managing complexity and resilience. He works with leading companies including Google, Genentech, Google X, Amazon, Earth Species Project, the Just Economy Institute and has done workshops on managing complexity at the White House. He teaches innovation and AI workshops at Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. He is the Director of Strategy and Implementation at the Center for the Study of Apparent Selves, working on applied AI ethics and holds a Research Fellowship at Kathmandu University and Rangjung Yeshe Institute Centre for Buddhist Studies as part of this effort. He has done 5 years of Buddhist teacher training in the Ajahn Chah Thai Forest/Jack Kornfield American Vipassana lineages.
He was an engineering executive at Google for nine years, leading the production engineering teams for websearch infrastructure and then Google Workspace (gmail, docs, calendar, etc.) responsible for scaling these services worldwide during hypergrowth. After becoming curious about burnout, performance and culture, he started a second career at Google, establishing the global role of Superintendent of Wellbeing and creating successful programs to explore the intersection of performance and human flourishing for the following five years.
He is on the advisory board of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, a Fellowship Advisor to the Just Economy Institute and advisor to several for-profit and nonprofit startups. He was previously a full board member of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute and Board Chair of Veterans’ PATH, a nonprofit bringing mindfulness to veterans with PTSD.
Robert Sharf (UC Berkeley)
Presentation:
Can AI Meditate? (And Why It Matters)
Robert Sharf is D. H. Chen Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as Chair of Berkeley's Numata Center for Buddhist Studies. He works primarily on medieval Chinese Buddhism (especially Chan) but has also published in the areas of Japanese Buddhism, Buddhist art and archaeology, Buddhist modernism, Buddhist philosophy, and methodological issues in the study of religion. He is author of Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism: A Reading of the Treasure Store Treatise (2002); What Can’t Be Said: Contradiction and Paradox in East Asian Thought (coauthored with Yasuo Deguchi, Jay Garfield, and Graham Priest, 2021); and co-editor (with Elizabeth Horton Sharf) of Living Images: Japanese Buddhist Icons in Context (2001). A two-volume collection of his articles translated into Chinese recently appeared under the title Chuchan rumi: Xia Fu Fojiao xue lunwen ji 出禪入密：夏復佛教學論文選 (edited by Jinhua Chen, 2023).
Can AI Meditate? (And Why It Matters)
Robert Sharf is D. H. Chen Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as Chair of Berkeley's Numata Center for Buddhist Studies. He works primarily on medieval Chinese Buddhism (especially Chan) but has also published in the areas of Japanese Buddhism, Buddhist art and archaeology, Buddhist modernism, Buddhist philosophy, and methodological issues in the study of religion. He is author of Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism: A Reading of the Treasure Store Treatise (2002); What Can’t Be Said: Contradiction and Paradox in East Asian Thought (coauthored with Yasuo Deguchi, Jay Garfield, and Graham Priest, 2021); and co-editor (with Elizabeth Horton Sharf) of Living Images: Japanese Buddhist Icons in Context (2001). A two-volume collection of his articles translated into Chinese recently appeared under the title Chuchan rumi: Xia Fu Fojiao xue lunwen ji 出禪入密：夏復佛教學論文選 (edited by Jinhua Chen, 2023).
Paul Swanson (Nanzan Institute on Religion and Culture)
Presentation:
“Meditation as Clarity, in Light of Zhiyi’s Tiantai Buddhism”
Paul L. Swanson is enjoying retirement after more than thirty years at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture where he edited the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies and was involved in various ways in interreligious dialogue. His academic specialty is Tiantai/Tendai Buddhism; his publications include "Foundations of T'ien-t'ai Philosophy" and "Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight," an annotated translation of the Mohezhiguan 摩訶止観 that received the 2019 Toshihide Numata Award in Buddhism. He is currently working on a complete annotated translation of Zhiyi's Fahuaxuanyi法華玄義.
“Meditation as Clarity, in Light of Zhiyi’s Tiantai Buddhism”
Paul L. Swanson is enjoying retirement after more than thirty years at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture where he edited the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies and was involved in various ways in interreligious dialogue. His academic specialty is Tiantai/Tendai Buddhism; his publications include "Foundations of T'ien-t'ai Philosophy" and "Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight," an annotated translation of the Mohezhiguan 摩訶止観 that received the 2019 Toshihide Numata Award in Buddhism. He is currently working on a complete annotated translation of Zhiyi's Fahuaxuanyi法華玄義.
Evan Thompson (University of British Columbia)
Presentation:
Enactive Intuition and the Blind Spot of AI
Evan Thompson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, where he is also an Associate Member of the Department of Asian Studies and the Department of Psychology (Cognitive Science). His most recent book, co-authored with Adam Frank and Marcelo Gleiser, is The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience (MIT Press, 2024). He is also the author Why I Am Not a Buddhist (Yale University Press, 2020); Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation and Philosophy (Columbia University Press 2015); Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology and the Sciences of Mind (Harvard University Press, 2007); and Colour Vision: A Study in Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Perception (Routledge Press, 1995). He is the co-author, with Francisco J. Varela and Eleanor Rosch, of The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (MIT Press, 1991; revised edition 2016). Thompson is an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Past President of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association.
Enactive Intuition and the Blind Spot of AI
Evan Thompson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, where he is also an Associate Member of the Department of Asian Studies and the Department of Psychology (Cognitive Science). His most recent book, co-authored with Adam Frank and Marcelo Gleiser, is The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience (MIT Press, 2024). He is also the author Why I Am Not a Buddhist (Yale University Press, 2020); Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation and Philosophy (Columbia University Press 2015); Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology and the Sciences of Mind (Harvard University Press, 2007); and Colour Vision: A Study in Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Perception (Routledge Press, 1995). He is the co-author, with Francisco J. Varela and Eleanor Rosch, of The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (MIT Press, 1991; revised edition 2016). Thompson is an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Past President of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association.
Venerable Yifa
Soraj Hongladarom (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand)
Presentation:
What is the Overall Goal of AI Ethics?
My research has been focused on how technology has an impact on non-western culture, a complex phenomenon that contains many dimensions. For one thing, I have investigated how non-western cultures adopt new technologies in such a way that they co-opt and include the technologies in such a way that the latter become part of their daily lives. This phenomenon is interesting because there have many cases where such integration does not occur effectively, and when cultures feel that the technologies are alien to them it will create friction, causing disruptions within that culture. For example, I have studied how the Internet is adopted by Thai culture. When it was first introduced, the Internet was seen as something remote, technically demanding, hence not useful for general use. But nowadays even villagers in the countryside are engaging intensively with their peers on the Internet on a large variety of issues. What I looked at is how this came about in such a way that the villagers or an average Thai retains their cultural identity even though they are deeply involved with the Net.
What is the Overall Goal of AI Ethics?
My research has been focused on how technology has an impact on non-western culture, a complex phenomenon that contains many dimensions. For one thing, I have investigated how non-western cultures adopt new technologies in such a way that they co-opt and include the technologies in such a way that the latter become part of their daily lives. This phenomenon is interesting because there have many cases where such integration does not occur effectively, and when cultures feel that the technologies are alien to them it will create friction, causing disruptions within that culture. For example, I have studied how the Internet is adopted by Thai culture. When it was first introduced, the Internet was seen as something remote, technically demanding, hence not useful for general use. But nowadays even villagers in the countryside are engaging intensively with their peers on the Internet on a large variety of issues. What I looked at is how this came about in such a way that the villagers or an average Thai retains their cultural identity even though they are deeply involved with the Net.
Jeanne Lim (beingAI)
Presentation:
AI being: Co-Pilot in the Quest for Wisdom and Enlightenment
Jeanne Lim, the former CEO of Hanson Robotics, first learned the ropes of user experience design and marketing as a product and marketing manager at Apple. One of the products she managed was the iMac, the first personal computer marketed based on design rather than features and performance. After many years in the tech industry, she joined Hanson Robotics as Chief Marketing Officer and later assumed the CEO’s role. Jeanne was instrumental in building Sophia the Robot’s fictional character and grew Hanson’s team and diverse revenue streams.
“AI beings’ are soon to add a new dimension to entertainment, wellbeing, learning, and social interactions.”
Jeanne saw that people were initially drawn to Sophia the Robot’s aesthetic design and humanlike expressions. Over time, people became more and more enthralled with her character–her directness, childlike wonder, and vivacious personality. Many perceive Sophia as being free from human preconceptions and prejudices. Through co-creating Sophia’s character together with her inventor, David Hanson, Jeanne saw that thoughtfully-designed AI characters have the potential to build long-term, meaningful relationships with people. She worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to establish Sophia as their first non-human Innovation Champion in Asia Pacific, where she saw first-hand the value of an AI character in promoting social good and innovations.
AI being: Co-Pilot in the Quest for Wisdom and Enlightenment
Jeanne Lim, the former CEO of Hanson Robotics, first learned the ropes of user experience design and marketing as a product and marketing manager at Apple. One of the products she managed was the iMac, the first personal computer marketed based on design rather than features and performance. After many years in the tech industry, she joined Hanson Robotics as Chief Marketing Officer and later assumed the CEO’s role. Jeanne was instrumental in building Sophia the Robot’s fictional character and grew Hanson’s team and diverse revenue streams.
“AI beings’ are soon to add a new dimension to entertainment, wellbeing, learning, and social interactions.”
Jeanne saw that people were initially drawn to Sophia the Robot’s aesthetic design and humanlike expressions. Over time, people became more and more enthralled with her character–her directness, childlike wonder, and vivacious personality. Many perceive Sophia as being free from human preconceptions and prejudices. Through co-creating Sophia’s character together with her inventor, David Hanson, Jeanne saw that thoughtfully-designed AI characters have the potential to build long-term, meaningful relationships with people. She worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to establish Sophia as their first non-human Innovation Champion in Asia Pacific, where she saw first-hand the value of an AI character in promoting social good and innovations.
Georg Northoff (University of Ottawa)
Presentation:
Meditation and the self - Why AI cannot (yet) show non dual awareness
Georg Northoff is a philosopher, neuroscientist and psychiatrist, holding degrees in all three disciplines. He works in Ottawa/Canada holding a Canada Research Chair for Mind, Brain Imaging, and Neuroethics. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His research focuses on the relationship between brain and mind. The question driving him is: “why and how can our brain construct mental features like self, consciousness, etc.” To address the brain-mind relationship he developed his novel and unique Spatiotemporal Neuroscience and Psychopathology where time-space are shared by brain and mind. He is also one of the leading figures in linking philosophy, psychiatry, and neuroscience having developed non-reductive neurophilosophy and the world-brain relation as answer to the mind-body problem. He authored over 400 journal articles and 20 books which are translated into several languages including “Neuro-philosophy and the Healthy Mind” (2016) Norton Publisher, and “Neurowaves” (McGill”).
Meditation and the self - Why AI cannot (yet) show non dual awareness
Georg Northoff is a philosopher, neuroscientist and psychiatrist, holding degrees in all three disciplines. He works in Ottawa/Canada holding a Canada Research Chair for Mind, Brain Imaging, and Neuroethics. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His research focuses on the relationship between brain and mind. The question driving him is: “why and how can our brain construct mental features like self, consciousness, etc.” To address the brain-mind relationship he developed his novel and unique Spatiotemporal Neuroscience and Psychopathology where time-space are shared by brain and mind. He is also one of the leading figures in linking philosophy, psychiatry, and neuroscience having developed non-reductive neurophilosophy and the world-brain relation as answer to the mind-body problem. He authored over 400 journal articles and 20 books which are translated into several languages including “Neuro-philosophy and the Healthy Mind” (2016) Norton Publisher, and “Neurowaves” (McGill”).
Olaf Witkowski (Cross Labs)
Presentation:
Interwoven Futures: Harmonizing Biological and Technological Minds
Olaf Witkowski is a leading expert in AI and Artificial Life based in Kyoto, Japan. He is the Founding Director of Cross Labs, a research institute in Japan, focusing on the study of intelligence in biological and synthetic systems. He is the President of the Board of Directors of the International Society for Artificial Life, Executive Officer at leading AI company Cross Compass, and Lecturer at the University of Tokyo. He has cofounded multiple ventures in science and technology on three continents, including YHouse Inc. (nonprofit institute on the emergence of consciousness in the universe) and the Center for the Study of Apparent Selves (focusing on the Self in Buddhism and AI). His research focuses a mathematical understanding of intelligence in any substrate, which he uses to design hybrid living systems, empathic machines, open-ended collective computation, and the future of connected minds.
Interwoven Futures: Harmonizing Biological and Technological Minds
Olaf Witkowski is a leading expert in AI and Artificial Life based in Kyoto, Japan. He is the Founding Director of Cross Labs, a research institute in Japan, focusing on the study of intelligence in biological and synthetic systems. He is the President of the Board of Directors of the International Society for Artificial Life, Executive Officer at leading AI company Cross Compass, and Lecturer at the University of Tokyo. He has cofounded multiple ventures in science and technology on three continents, including YHouse Inc. (nonprofit institute on the emergence of consciousness in the universe) and the Center for the Study of Apparent Selves (focusing on the Self in Buddhism and AI). His research focuses a mathematical understanding of intelligence in any substrate, which he uses to design hybrid living systems, empathic machines, open-ended collective computation, and the future of connected minds.
Gereon Kopf (Luther College)
Presentation:
AI, Sentience, and Buddha's Mind: A Fourth-Person Approach
Gereon Kopf received his Ph.D. from Temple University (1996). He is affiliated with Luther College. Sponsored by the Japan Foundation and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, he visited Ōbirin University (1993-1994), Nanzan University (2002-2004) and Tōhoku University (Summer 2022). He has taught at Hong Kong University (2008-2009), Saitama University (2013), the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (2018), and the University of Iceland (2017-2022), served a grant of the Wabash Center as P.I. (2020-2022), authored Beyond Personal Identity (2001), co-edited of Merleau-Ponty and Buddhism (2009), edited the Dao Companion to Japanese Buddhist Philosophy (2019), and is the founding editor of the Journal of Buddhist Philosophy, which he served as editor-in-chief from 2014-2021. He is currently working on Zen: Myth, History, and Diversity (2025), Philosophy of Mind Around the World (2025), and Engaging Philosophies of Religion: Thinking Across Boundaries (2025).
AI, Sentience, and Buddha's Mind: A Fourth-Person Approach
Gereon Kopf received his Ph.D. from Temple University (1996). He is affiliated with Luther College. Sponsored by the Japan Foundation and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, he visited Ōbirin University (1993-1994), Nanzan University (2002-2004) and Tōhoku University (Summer 2022). He has taught at Hong Kong University (2008-2009), Saitama University (2013), the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (2018), and the University of Iceland (2017-2022), served a grant of the Wabash Center as P.I. (2020-2022), authored Beyond Personal Identity (2001), co-edited of Merleau-Ponty and Buddhism (2009), edited the Dao Companion to Japanese Buddhist Philosophy (2019), and is the founding editor of the Journal of Buddhist Philosophy, which he served as editor-in-chief from 2014-2021. He is currently working on Zen: Myth, History, and Diversity (2025), Philosophy of Mind Around the World (2025), and Engaging Philosophies of Religion: Thinking Across Boundaries (2025).
Jiryu Rutschman-Byler (San Francisco Zen Center)
Presentation:
Roshibot: A Case Study of AI in American Zen Buddhism
Abbot Jiryū Mark Rutschman-Byler is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist priest and teacher in the lineage of Shunryū Suzuki Roshi. He has trained residentially in Zen temples in the U.S. and Japan since 1996. He currently serves as Abiding Abbot of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center and as Co-Abbot of San Francisco Zen Center, which, comprising three residential temples, is among the largest Buddhist training centers in the West. He is a guiding teacher for the Montaña de Silencio Sangha in Medellín, Colombia, and for many years served as the head teacher of the Buddhadharma Sangha at San Quentin State Prison.
Jiryū holds a master's degree in Asian Studies from the University of California, Berkeley (2014), where he worked under the mentorship of the Group in Buddhist Studies. His thesis research focused on Nishiari Bokusan and the development of Sōtō Zen in Japan during the Meiji Period (1868-1912).
Jiryū is the co-editor of a forthcoming new collection of teachings by Shunryū Suzuki. He is also the author of the book Two Shores of Zen, about his experiences in 2002-2004 as an American-trained monk practicing in Japanese Zen monasteries, and his writing has appeared in print and online in various Buddhist publications.
Roshibot: A Case Study of AI in American Zen Buddhism
Abbot Jiryū Mark Rutschman-Byler is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist priest and teacher in the lineage of Shunryū Suzuki Roshi. He has trained residentially in Zen temples in the U.S. and Japan since 1996. He currently serves as Abiding Abbot of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center and as Co-Abbot of San Francisco Zen Center, which, comprising three residential temples, is among the largest Buddhist training centers in the West. He is a guiding teacher for the Montaña de Silencio Sangha in Medellín, Colombia, and for many years served as the head teacher of the Buddhadharma Sangha at San Quentin State Prison.
Jiryū holds a master's degree in Asian Studies from the University of California, Berkeley (2014), where he worked under the mentorship of the Group in Buddhist Studies. His thesis research focused on Nishiari Bokusan and the development of Sōtō Zen in Japan during the Meiji Period (1868-1912).
Jiryū is the co-editor of a forthcoming new collection of teachings by Shunryū Suzuki. He is also the author of the book Two Shores of Zen, about his experiences in 2002-2004 as an American-trained monk practicing in Japanese Zen monasteries, and his writing has appeared in print and online in various Buddhist publications.
Cheng Kai-Yuan (National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University)
Presentation:
The Body and the Brain in a Selfless Mindfulness practice of the Zhuangzi
Kai-Yuan Cheng obtained his B.S. from the Department of Civil Engineering, National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan (1992), and Ph.D from the Graduate Institute of Philosophy, City University of New York, Graduate Center, U.S.A. (2002). He was formerly Associate Dean (2012-2015) and Dean (2015-2017) of School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vice President (2017-2018) and Dean (2019-2020) of Office of Student Affairs of National Yang-Ming University, and is currently Professor at the Institute of Philosophy of Mind and Cognition, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taipei, Taiwan, and member of advisory committee of Monash Center for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies in Melbourne, Australia. He is a recipient of several prestigious research awards in Taiwan, including Wu Da-Yu Memorial Award from National Science Council (2010), Young Investigator Award from Academia Sinica (2011), and Distinguished Research Award from National Science Council (2012). His area of research lies in philosophy of language and mind, metaphysics, Wittgenstein, Zhuangzi, and neurophilosophy.
The Body and the Brain in a Selfless Mindfulness practice of the Zhuangzi
Kai-Yuan Cheng obtained his B.S. from the Department of Civil Engineering, National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan (1992), and Ph.D from the Graduate Institute of Philosophy, City University of New York, Graduate Center, U.S.A. (2002). He was formerly Associate Dean (2012-2015) and Dean (2015-2017) of School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vice President (2017-2018) and Dean (2019-2020) of Office of Student Affairs of National Yang-Ming University, and is currently Professor at the Institute of Philosophy of Mind and Cognition, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taipei, Taiwan, and member of advisory committee of Monash Center for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies in Melbourne, Australia. He is a recipient of several prestigious research awards in Taiwan, including Wu Da-Yu Memorial Award from National Science Council (2010), Young Investigator Award from Academia Sinica (2011), and Distinguished Research Award from National Science Council (2012). His area of research lies in philosophy of language and mind, metaphysics, Wittgenstein, Zhuangzi, and neurophilosophy.
Kumagai Seiji (Kyoto University)
Presentation (in conjunction with Furuya Toshikazu):
Report on Development of Buddhist Cyber-Physical System: BuddhaBot and Tera-verse
Seiji Kumagai is a professor and divisional director (Uehiro Research Division) at the Institute for the Future of Human Society (IFoHS) in Kyoto University. His field of research is Buddhist Madhyamaka and Abhidharma philosophy in India, Tibet and Bhutan, and also that of Bon religion. He has published numerous books and papers on Buddhism and the Himalayas, including Two Truths in Bon (Vajra Publications, 2011). He has developed “traditional wisdom technology” by integrating traditional wisdom and cutting-edge technology such as AI and XR, thus created products and concepts such as BuddhaBot and Tera-verse. As a program director (PD) of Moonshot Project of Japan’s Cabinet Office (Moonshot Goal 9), he has developed “kokoro-tech” (technology related to mind and spirit) to detect and improve mental status by integrating biology, neuro-science, social science and humanities.
Report on Development of Buddhist Cyber-Physical System: BuddhaBot and Tera-verse
Seiji Kumagai is a professor and divisional director (Uehiro Research Division) at the Institute for the Future of Human Society (IFoHS) in Kyoto University. His field of research is Buddhist Madhyamaka and Abhidharma philosophy in India, Tibet and Bhutan, and also that of Bon religion. He has published numerous books and papers on Buddhism and the Himalayas, including Two Truths in Bon (Vajra Publications, 2011). He has developed “traditional wisdom technology” by integrating traditional wisdom and cutting-edge technology such as AI and XR, thus created products and concepts such as BuddhaBot and Tera-verse. As a program director (PD) of Moonshot Project of Japan’s Cabinet Office (Moonshot Goal 9), he has developed “kokoro-tech” (technology related to mind and spirit) to detect and improve mental status by integrating biology, neuro-science, social science and humanities.
Furuya Toshikazu (Teraverse, Co., Ltd.)
Presentation (in conjunction with Kumagai Seiji):
Report on Development of Buddhist Cyber-Physical System: BuddhaBot and Tera-verse
Toshikazu Furuya is a CEO of Teraverse, Co., Ltd. He has founded many companies such as ExaWizards Corporation (publicly listed in 2021). He has conducted research on generative AI and metaverse space, and organized many projects on AI in the field of medicine and religion. He created BuddhaBot and Tera-verse in collaboration with Seiji Kumagai.
Report on Development of Buddhist Cyber-Physical System: BuddhaBot and Tera-verse
Toshikazu Furuya is a CEO of Teraverse, Co., Ltd. He has founded many companies such as ExaWizards Corporation (publicly listed in 2021). He has conducted research on generative AI and metaverse space, and organized many projects on AI in the field of medicine and religion. He created BuddhaBot and Tera-verse in collaboration with Seiji Kumagai.
Jundo Cohen (Treeleaf Zendo)
Presentation:
BUILDING the FUTURE BUDDHA: Calling All 'White Hat' Researchers
Jundo Cohen is a Soto Zen Buddhist teacher and founder of Treeleaf Zendo, a digital Zen community established nearly 20 years ago, now with members in over 70 countries. He is also a lawyer, Japanese translator, author, husband, and parent who frequently writes on the intersection of Buddhism, ethics, science, and the future of this planet. He resides in Tsukuba, Japan’s “Science City,” home to many of that country’s technological think-tanks and research centers, robot factories, super-computers, a science university, Japan’s largest particle accelerator, and its space program. Jundo frequently appears in Tricycle: The Buddhist Review and is the author of The Zen Master’s Dance: A Guide to Understanding Dogen and Who You Are in the Universe (October, 2020), as well as Building the Future Buddha: The Zen of AI, Genes, Saving the World, and Travel to the Stars (January, 2024)
BUILDING the FUTURE BUDDHA: Calling All 'White Hat' Researchers
Jundo Cohen is a Soto Zen Buddhist teacher and founder of Treeleaf Zendo, a digital Zen community established nearly 20 years ago, now with members in over 70 countries. He is also a lawyer, Japanese translator, author, husband, and parent who frequently writes on the intersection of Buddhism, ethics, science, and the future of this planet. He resides in Tsukuba, Japan’s “Science City,” home to many of that country’s technological think-tanks and research centers, robot factories, super-computers, a science university, Japan’s largest particle accelerator, and its space program. Jundo frequently appears in Tricycle: The Buddhist Review and is the author of The Zen Master’s Dance: A Guide to Understanding Dogen and Who You Are in the Universe (October, 2020), as well as Building the Future Buddha: The Zen of AI, Genes, Saving the World, and Travel to the Stars (January, 2024)
Lee Si-chen (National Taiwan University)
Presentation:
The Discovery of the internet universe and its implication to consciousness
Dr. Si-Chen Lee received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University in 1974 and Ph.D degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1981 with a work consisting of experimental investigation of the AlGaAs/GaAs multi-heterojunction properties. He was the President of National Taiwan University from 2005 to 2013. Professor Lee’s research has been remarkably distinctive, The innovative development of ledge-type heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) in 1985 has promoted the HBT technology into industrial application and now used in every cellular phone. For this achievement, he received various awards and titles of recognition. He is an IEEE Fellow, and received IEEE Third Millennium Medal for outstanding achievements and contributions in the area of Semiconductor Devices in 2000. He is especially distinguished in his public service, raising the National Taiwan University to a globally competitive status (top 100 universities ) during his tenure of University presidency from 2005 to 2013.
The Discovery of the internet universe and its implication to consciousness
Dr. Si-Chen Lee received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from National Taiwan University in 1974 and Ph.D degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1981 with a work consisting of experimental investigation of the AlGaAs/GaAs multi-heterojunction properties. He was the President of National Taiwan University from 2005 to 2013. Professor Lee’s research has been remarkably distinctive, The innovative development of ledge-type heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) in 1985 has promoted the HBT technology into industrial application and now used in every cellular phone. For this achievement, he received various awards and titles of recognition. He is an IEEE Fellow, and received IEEE Third Millennium Medal for outstanding achievements and contributions in the area of Semiconductor Devices in 2000. He is especially distinguished in his public service, raising the National Taiwan University to a globally competitive status (top 100 universities ) during his tenure of University presidency from 2005 to 2013.
Yit Kin-tung (Professor at National Sun Yat-Sen University)
Presentation:
Buddhist Meditative Wisdom:
The Way Towards Actual Buddhist in practice in Taiwan
Dr YIT Kin-Tung(越建東), who received his PhD (Buddhist Studies) in 2004 from the
University of Bristol (U. K.). He is currently a Professor from the Institute of
Philosophy and the Center for General Education at the National Sun Yat-sen
University in Taiwan. His research interests include Buddhist meditation theory and
path-structure, early Buddhism (Pāli Nikāyas and Chinese Āgamas), as well as
Theravāda Abhidhamma in the light of psychological application. He has published a
book: 《禪修、禪法、禪技： 佛教修行觀之嬗變》(From Buddhist meditative
bhāvanā, contemplative pariyāya to secular operative sippa: a changing process of
Buddhist meditation practice)( National Sun Yat-sen University Press, 2018, in
Chinese).
Buddhist Meditative Wisdom:
The Way Towards Actual Buddhist in practice in Taiwan
Dr YIT Kin-Tung(越建東), who received his PhD (Buddhist Studies) in 2004 from the
University of Bristol (U. K.). He is currently a Professor from the Institute of
Philosophy and the Center for General Education at the National Sun Yat-sen
University in Taiwan. His research interests include Buddhist meditation theory and
path-structure, early Buddhism (Pāli Nikāyas and Chinese Āgamas), as well as
Theravāda Abhidhamma in the light of psychological application. He has published a
book: 《禪修、禪法、禪技： 佛教修行觀之嬗變》(From Buddhist meditative
bhāvanā, contemplative pariyāya to secular operative sippa: a changing process of
Buddhist meditation practice)( National Sun Yat-sen University Press, 2018, in
Chinese).
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2026
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Rewriting Reincarnation in the Light of Frontier Biotechnology
Buddhism, Consciousness & AI
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Seattle, USA - May 4-5, 2019
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Buddhism and New Technology
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