CHAPTER 12 Buddhist Uploads Beverley F. McGuire Associate Professor of East Asian Religions, Philosophy and Religion Department University of North Carolina Wilmington Buddhists regard human life as precious. In a text from the Pali canon, an early collection of Buddhist teachings, the Buddha asks a group of monks to imagine that the earth was covered with water, and a man was to toss a yoke with a single hole into the water. Winds would push it in every direction. He then says, ‘‘Suppose a blind sea turtle was there, which would come to the surface only once every hundred years. Now what do you suppose the chances would be that a blind turtle, coming to the surface once every hundred years, would stick its neck into the yoke with a single hole?’’ When the monks respond that it would be quite unusual, the Buddha responds, ‘‘And just so, it is very, very rare that one attains the human state’’ (Sam . yutta Nik¯ aya 56.48). Human life represents one of six types of rebirth in Buddhism, alongside gods, demi- gods, hungry ghosts, animals, and hell dwellers. While living beings dwell in the realm of desire (in Sanskrit [Skt.] k¯ ama-dh¯ atu), gods may inhabit realms of form (Skt. r¯ upa-dh¯ atu) and formlessness (Skt. ¯ ar¯ upa-dh¯ atu). The three realms of desire, form, and formlessness constitute the whole universe. Karma—bodily, verbal, and mental actions—determines one’s rebirth. Buddhist sutras (teachings attributed to the Buddha) vividly describe the suffering endured in the various types of hell: hot hells, where beings must walk on hot ash or razors; cold hells, where their skin splits open from extreme frostbite; and Av¯ ıci hell, which gives no respite from suffering. Hungry ghosts have distended stomachs and needle-thin necks that render them unable to eat, although they sometimes ingest excrement, pus, or scum. Demigods possess incredible strength, but they engage in constant warfare. Although some gods dwell in the realm of desire, possessing greater powers than humans but still held captive by their cravings, gods who inhabit the higher realms fulfill their passions by hugging, holding hands, smiling, or even looking at other gods (Sadakata 1997). Buddhists with this worldview would likely devalue posthumanism because they con- sider human life a rare opportunity to experience suffering, which can serve to motivate people to seek liberation in order to escape the cycle of birth and death (Skt. sam . s¯ ara). They might view posthumans with their enhanced cognitive and bodily structures as analogous to gods or demigods. Like gods, posthumans might have more power, longer lives, and greater happiness than humans, but being content to enjoy their bliss-filled lives, they would probably not seek to escape the cycle of birth and death by attaining enlightenment. The Buddha is said to have generated this aspiration after seeing four sights—an ill person, an old person, a corpse, and an ascetic wanderer who appeared serene in the face of suffering. 143 COPYRIGHT 2018 Macmillan Reference USA, a part of Gale, a Cengage Company WCN 02-200-210