Customer Reviews

The Buddha in the Robot

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dr. Mori explores Buddhism through his perspective as a robot engineer. He even postulates that robots have the buddha-nature. He confronts Buddhist themes such as the notion of ego as if they were engineering problems and comes to surprisingly clear resolutions.

Along the way, he poses many interesting questions that perhaps only a robot engineer would think of. Why do we have two nostrils -- not just one? Why don't we have "earlids" similar to eyelids? His inquiries are highly engaging.

Masahiro Mori offers such a unique exploration of Buddhist philosophy. It's definitely worthwhile for anyone who is a serious student of Buddhism and comfortable with a scientific perspective.

The Buddha in the Robot is one of the most beautifully written, engaging books ever published. Spirituality is mechanicalized but fecund with meaning. Highly recommended for "searchers".

This was a really wonderful book. I was a bit intimidated after buying it, so it took me a little while to get started but was soon relieved to find that it is not only beautiful written, but also easy to understand. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in "universal truths" (ie the facts that are revealed through both religion and science.)

After reading the glowing reviews and the intriguing synopsis, I was really looking forward to this book. I was expecting something with new ideas about where science and religion meet - something thought-provoking that would push the reader to expand their old, preconceived notions about conscious, etc. What the author does is look back on his career as a robot engineer and explain the unlikely ways that creating robots helped him realize anew the Buddhist principles he grew up with. Interesting, yes, but certainly nothing new, which left me disappointed.

The different sections of the book (which you could read independently if you wanted) read to me a lot like the sermons I grew up with at Catholic mass as a kid, when the priest talked about all the old Biblical stories, but related them to modern life. In a nutshell, this book does the exact same thing, only with Buddhism.
Granted, I only ended up skimming through it because it lost my interest, so it's possible there's a chapter here or there that offers something more than a modern Buddhist sermon, but it wouldn't be enough to salvage the book as a whole for me.