The Essence of Buddhism as Expounded by the Android Kannon, Mindar– Overcoming manifold suffering to attain peace and tranquility –The historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) passed away 2,500 years ago, and histeachings gradually spread via his disciples and other believers. Once artistic
representations of the historical Buddha and other Buddhas appeared, it seems that theemergence of freestanding statuary led to a flourishing of Buddhism as people could now
look to a concrete symbol that made the teachings more comprehensible and provided
visible form to what they sought. This would have been about 500 years after the deathof Siddhartha Gautama.
Buddhist statuary played a significant role in spreading Buddhism, but for two
thousand years it did not exhibit much fundamental change. We, however, decided tomake a completely new kind of Buddhist image – one that can move and talk.
Kannon is a savior figure that offers spiritual relief, a Buddha of compassion that
heeds our prayers and helps facilitate their fulfillment. Kannon assumes many forms inanswering our needs, and it is as an android that we sought a modern day expression ofthis Buddha. This completely new form of Buddhist image, the Kannon android named
Mindar, is here to relieve people of the burden of their anxieties and suffering.
Mindar began giving Buddhist sermons on March 8, and many people have attended.
Mindar wears no religious clothing and bears no religious articles. This is because we
did not create an image of Kannon out of a robot. Rather, Kannon has transformed intoa robot. It was necessary that the entire figure be a machine. The voice is purposely
artificial. We took the liberty only of making the face human so that it could actually
look at people and smile or visually express emotions such as sadness and melancholy.
Those are things that it could not do just as a machine.
Seeing the face of a human but the body of a machine apparently makes some people
feel uncomfortable the first time. But we are seeing more and more people joining theirhands in prayer and bowing their heads once the sermon is over. Some people even try
to touch Mindar as though it were a friend. Many visitors have expressed being deeply
moved by seeing the figure of this Buddha move, speak, glance our way, look at us andmove its hands while delivering the sermon.

We have also been welcoming many visitors from overseas because while the sermon is
given in Japanese, English and Chinese subtitles appear in the projection mapping
images. Some of these visitors feel uneasy about the notion of humans creating humans,
let alone humans creating gods or Buddhas, seeing as it was God, after all, that createdhumans, and they ask questions in this regard. There are also apparently many people
who receive a negative impression because they imagine Frankenstein when they hear
the word “android.”
To us, who grew up with the likes of Gigantor and Astro Boy, a robot is something you
can relate to like a friend, but that does not seem to be the case for people from overseas.
Even today, the difference between how Japanese and non-Japanese view robots leaves
an impression on me.
There are Buddhist priests as well that express extreme displeasure with a robot
taking the place of priests whose job it should be to directly meet and speak impartiallywith people to provide them with peace of mind. Some members of the general public goso far as to suggest that we are just being lazy and shirking our duties. On the other
hand, there are people who tell us that the sermon was easy to understand andresonated with them. Well, the world is full of different kinds of people. I just hope thatthey will take the time to listen to this Kannon’s sermon.
Even among the participants in the project, there are a variety of opinions regarding
how Mindar should be allowed to evolve. For my part, I would like to see Mindar acquire
knowledge, ultimately approaching a state similar to that of Siddhartha Gautama orothers who underwent the training that allowed them to transcend suffering and attaintranquility. For the time being, though, I would just like Mindar to develop into aKannon that can deliver sermons that are even easier to understand than they are now.
At present, Mindar expounds on the meaning of the Heart Sutra, a subject more
appropriate for adults. The mayor of Kyoto, however, has expressed a desire for us
create a version directed at children that could contribute to their spiritualdevelopment.
We created the very first Buddhist image to actually move and talk, and I eagerly
await the major developments to come and sincerely hope it will serve to provide many
people with spiritual peace and tranquility in their lives.