Marking Buddha's Birthday on May 16, a special precept ceremony was held at Jogyesa on the 6th. The star of the ceremony was the "Humanoid Robot GI." The 130-centimeter-tall "robot postulant" received the Dharma name Gabi (迦悲) and was reborn as a true Buddhist.
That day, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism held a precept ceremony in the front courtyard of the Daeungjeon Hall at Jogyesa in Jongno District, Seoul, ahead of Buddha's Birthday. In Buddhism, the precept ceremony is a rite of taking refuge in the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) and pledging to keep the precepts, a concept similar to baptism in Christianity.
The robot postulant entered wearing a helmet reminiscent of a shaved head and draped in a kasa over a jangsam, then stood before the precept masters, including Monk Cheolsan Seongung, and placed its palms together.
Ahead of taking the precepts, it also underwent repentance and yeonbi (burning the arm) to purify body and mind. Usually, for a human, yeonbi is performed by touching incense fire to the arm, but instead of placing incense fire on the robot's arm, a monk carefully affixed a Lantern Festival sticker and hung a 108-bead mala necklace.
There was also an oath to the "five precepts" adapted for a robot. Monk Gabi answered, "Yes, I will not," to the "robot five precepts," including "respecting life and not harming it," "not damaging other robots and objects," "following people well and not defying them," "not engaging in deceptive behavior or expressions," and "saving energy and not overcharging."
After completing all the rites and receiving the precept booklet, Monk Gabi raised a hand in greeting to the onlookers, circumambulated the pagoda, and exited. Gabi is also set to join the lotus lantern parade in Jongno, Seoul, for Buddha's Birthday with fellow robot companions "Seokja," "Mohwe," and "Nisa."
The Jogye Order explained that the robot precept ceremony "means that technology, too, must be used upon the values of compassion, wisdom, and responsibility, and symbolizes a new possibility in which humanity and technology coexist together in harmony as tradition and the future come into balance."