South Korean Buddhists initiate humanoid robot as monk

Humanoid robot Gabi during the monk ordination ceremony. Photo: The Guardian

On May 6, 2026, the main temple of the Jogye Buddhist Order in Seoul held an initiation ceremony for a humanoid robot named Gabi. The Guardian reports that monks dressed the 130-centimeter android in orange robes and a 108-bead prayer necklace.

Instead of the traditional rite of branding the skin with incense, a lantern festival sticker was placed on the machine’s mechanical arm. The robot received an official certificate, where its release date – March 3, 2026 – was listed instead of a date of birth.

The order’s leadership took this step because of a deep crisis facing the tradition in the country. According to statistics, the share of Buddhists in South Korea has fallen to 16%, while among young people the figure has dropped to 8%. Last year, only 99 new monks were ordained in the country, half as many as ten years ago.

To halt the outflow of parishioners, community leaders are introducing the concept of “hip Buddhism,” using mobile apps, aggressive marketing, and robotic surrogates.

During the ceremony, the robot “took” five vows, which the organizers specially adapted to its technical parameters. The fifth prohibition on drinking alcohol was replaced with a rule “not to overcharge excessively.”

The initiative’s organizer, monk Seongwon, admitted that he drafted these rules with the help of the neural networks ChatGPT and Gemini, although artificial intelligence did not understand the spiritual essence of the restrictions. According to temple representatives, even the simple folding of hands for prayer proved an extremely difficult technical task for the android.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the number of Buddhists worldwide had fallen by 19 million over 10 years.

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