ABSTRACT
To understand what enables convert Zen adherents to dwell online, this chapter investigates how to build an authentic spiritual place on Second Life. “Dwelling” indicates more than mere immersion, the perception that you are in a place, but that the space has a deep lasting meaning that emerges from social interaction and embodied practices that make a world livable. On Wednesday evening, January 21, 2009, I sat in Hoben Mountain Zen Retreat’s empty zendo , or meditation hall. Because it provided a location for events , functioned as a meeting point for casual conversations and Dharma talks , and also operated as a symbol of the community, the zendo was the hub for most Second Life convert Buddhist practice. In the meditation hall, zafus (meditation cushions) were laid out in semicircular lines, so that when people sat on them they faced the central altar on which sat fl owers, burning incense, and a statue of Siddhārtha Gautama Shakyamuni Buddha ( Figure 5.1 ). There were two cushions facing away from the altar, and between them a meditation gong ( kesu ), which was referred to as the bell. I sat on a cushion facing away from the altar so that I could act as the meditation leader or timekeeper, who – and I quote from information given to me when I trained for this job – “is the person who holds the meditative space for the sitting practice of others. It is a practice of great generosity and deepening of mindfulness.”
