Online trolls and flamers are now history


An innovative app has been developed in Japan to curb online hatred. Priests at the Kokujo-ji Buddhist temple in the Niigata Prefecture have set up the page seen above on the temple’s website where followers can upload up their own bad experiences with online trolls and flamers. All submissions are transcribed onto thin wooden strips which are fed to a sacred purifying fire by Buddhist priests at the temple. It is believed this immolation will prevent the bad karma of negative energy and hatred stirred up during these online interactions from spreading.

The sacred cleansing fire ritual was initiated as part of Kokujo-ji’s traditional Goma fire ceremony on 7th October. This ritual is conducted annually to neutralize the harmful negative energies of human desires and emotions. The Goma ceremony seen below is believed to have evolved from the Vedic Agnicayana ritual and can be performed for the benefit of individuals, a specific group or community, or for all sentient beings. The consecrated fire is viewed as having a powerful spiritual and psychological cleansing effect that destroys negative energies, thoughts, and desires, and it is legitimate to use the Goma ceremony for dealing with secular matters. Rumours of a new dead bird emoji on Twitter to indicate that an inflammatory tweet has been uploaded to the sacrificial fire have not been confirmed.


Story and photos via Buddhistdoor Global. My social media accounts were deleted before they could be fed to the sacred fire. But new Overgrown Path posts are available via RSS/email by entering your email address in the right-hand sidebar. Any copyrighted material is included for critical analysis, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s).

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