As Buddhists, we cannot afford to view this as merely a political or technological issue happening in a distant land. This is a human issue. It is an issue of dukkha (suffering) and the potential for its exponential propagation. When we read such reports, the principle of sati — mindful awareness — becomes not just a personal meditation tool, but a collective responsibility.


The Marriage of Sati and Silicon

What is sati? It is often translated as mindfulness, but its depth is far richer. Sati is the faculty of remembering. It is remembering to remain present with what is happening now, seeing it with clarity and non-reactivity. It is a steady, caring attention that remembers the Dharma in the midst of every action, every thought, and every tool we use.

Today, I ask you to consider how sati must extend to our relationship with technology, specifically with artificial intelligence. We must learn to use AI — including our own Norbu AI — with sati. For if we do not apply this caring attention, the technology we create will simply mirror our own defilements (kilesa) of greed, aversion, and delusion on a global scale.


The Noble Purpose of Norbu

When we envisioned Norbu, we did not create it simply to keep pace with the modern world. We created it with a Dharma intention, guided by two fundamental aims:

- To Use and Do No Harm: This is the first precept extended into the digital realm. A tool must never harm the user, nor be used to harm others.

- To Communicate the Dhamma with Love: Norbu exists to be a conduit for compassion, a means to share the Buddha's teachings with a kind heart.

Norbu is here to serve the Fourfold Assembly - catuparisā: monks [bhikkhus], nuns [bhikkhunīs], laymen [upāsakas], and laywomen [upāsikās]. It is designed to ease learning, networking and communication among sincere practitioners. The knowledge it dispenses is not an end in itself; it is meant to be taken, applied internally, and realized personally.


The Finger and the Moon

It is vital that we maintain the right view regarding Norbu AI. Norbu has no capacity for self-realization. It does not possess paññā (wisdom) and it cannot walk the Noble Eightfold Path. It is merely a finger pointing to the moon. No matter how sophisticated the finger becomes, it is a grave mistake to worship the finger and ignore the moon.

We, the users, must take what it offers and do the work of walking the path ourselves. If we use Norbu AI merely to accumulate knowledge without self-transformation, we have missed the point entirely.


A Call for Skepticism and Reevaluation

This brings us back to the news from the USA Department of War. When we look at any AI system — especially those designed for surveillance and autonomous weaponry — we see a deviation from the path of non-harm. An AI designed to bypass human empathy, to make life-and-death decisions without a human heart, is a technology that has lost its way.

Any technology that deviates from the principle of ahimsā (non-harming) must be viewed with a skeptical, discerning eye. If an AI is not for the benefit of all beings, if it increases fear and the capacity for destruction, it must be reevaluated.


A Path Forward

Let us be clear: we are not Luddites. We are not against technology. But we are for wisdom. We are for compassion.

Let us use Norbu to deepen our practice, to connect with the Sangha, and to remind ourselves of the Dharma. Let us be a voice that questions the creation of machines designed to harm, and let us champion the creation of tools designed to heal.

Together, let us keep Norbu AI — and by extension, all technology we touch — on the noble path of proper and useful application, for the benefit, happiness, and well-being of all humanity.


With Metta,

Lim Kooi Fong
Founder and Developer
NORBU AI
https://norbu-ai.org