(At Ryuganji Temple, the head priest writes a monthly Buddhist column on the bulletin board in front of the gate. This is the column for May 2025.)
Question from a researcher
A researcher recently asked me the question, “Can a robot attain Enlightenment?”
This is a rather tricky question.
If we open the Buddhist scriptures, we will not find anything about robots. On the other hand, since robots are already a part of modern society, we cannot leave this question unanswered simply because it is not answered in the sutras.
The Ability to Feel Suffering
When facing such an unknown situation, we have no choice but to return to Buddhist principles.
It is said that the Buddha’s motivation for renouncing worldly life was to resolve the question, “Why are human beings unable to escape the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death? As this episode shows, in Buddhism, it is our “ability to feel suffering” that drives us to attain the ultimate goal of Enlightenment. Since the birth of Buddhism, Buddhists have walked the path to Enlightenment by “the power to feel suffering,” and I am sure that this will not change no matter how much civilization progresses in the future.
Even Robots Suffer!
What about robots?
I don’t think they have the “power to feel suffering” like we do.
But in India, there was a time when plants were thought to have no heart because they did not show any signs of suffering. In Japan, we have found spirituality even in pebbles on the road, so it is natural for us to feel that “even plants have hearts.” As for robots, it may not be a good idea to decide that they do not have the “ability to feel suffering.” Robot vacuum cleaners clean forever as long as the battery lasts, without a single grimace, but when the battery power is low, maybe they are quite depressed.
We don’t know the truth, but I think it is a Buddhist way of life to be kind and considerate of the robot’s suffering. If we have compassion for robots, they will evolve more and more to work without suffering, which can be said to be a path to Enlightenment for robots. I believe that both robots and humans should search for a way of life in which they can live happily without suffering while communicating with each other.
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