Photos: Japanese 'Buddha phone' launches, plays Nirvana

By Nate Lanxon on 26 May 2009, 12:16pm

Photo 1 of 7

MP3 playback? Check. Two cameras? Check. Built-in mobile Buddhist altar? Che... Wait, WTF?!

You read correctly. The Odin 99 has landed on the streets of China, and a single tap of the phone's dedicated lotus-leaf button will load a private, customisable, animated altar.

The idea is to allow Buddhists to perform their dedications and rituals conveniently when away from home. You can simulate incense burning, purification rites and play music to help you meditate wherever you happen to be.

As far as our knowledge goes of inventions that seamlessly converge religion with phone calls, this takes the gold medal. Gold paint has been taken to the phone too, encrusting the otherwise conventional-looking device. Also interesting is that it comes with a metal Buddhist charm to be carried by the user, and two batteries -- the extra one considered 'a gift'.

At first we were amused. But then came objective inquisitiveness: would a Buddhist actually find this useful? CNET UK lacks a Buddhist writer to ask, and crowd-sourcing opinions on Twitter came up with nothing.

But, before now, we've seen iPhone apps like digitalBlend's Buddha Box (iTunes link) -- created by a Buddhist to aid on-the-go meditation -- and its reviews are favourable. But no UK networks carry a phone with such religious undertones, and we don't believe it's a hotly requested feature.

Or is it? If you're Buddhist and would find a device like this useful, please do let us know in the comments below. We're very keen to hear your opinions, as other readers will be too, no doubt.

More photos, courtesy of our colleague Yamane Yasuhiro of CNET Japan, are splattered over the next few pages.

Update: One of our buddies from CNET Japan has pointed out this phone is actually only available in China, not Japan, as we previously said. Sorry for any confusion.

Comments 24

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anonymous 26 May, 2009 12:57

A real Buddhist wouldn't "want" this phone at all - attachment is the source of unhappiness after all.

anonymous 26 May, 2009 15:25

Yeah well maybe but i want that one, in a non attatched kinda way of course

anonymous 27 May, 2009 00:11

Anytime one spends thinking about the Buddha, including making offerings (real or imagined), generate a great deal of positive force/merit. The Tibetans have a tradition of making offerings in the form of an envisioned mandala made of the seven treasures. Even the Buddha said in the Lotus Sutra that even in play, a child who made a stupa out of sand and made offerings plants beneficial roots towards full completed enlightenment.

anonymous 27 May, 2009 00:49

Um...the CNET Japan article clearly states that the phone is Chinese. All the writing on the phone and in the packaging is clearly Chinese, not Japanese. Doesn't CNET UK know the difference between China and Japan?

anonymous 27 May, 2009 01:47

hahahahhahaahahahhaahhahaha
oh wow !

anonymous 27 May, 2009 02:43

Chinese? So - the Chinese government is committing genocide of Tibetan Buddhists on one hand - and Chinese businessmen are selling Buddhist phones on the other hand?

Seriously though: realizing that all cravings ultimately create suffering - I WANT one! (in a non-attached sort of way, of course)

anonymous 27 May, 2009 03:25

Hey this is Chinese!! ok? thats chinese at bottom not japanese

anonymous 27 May, 2009 03:50

so this gadget should also code into it a 2d life format that allows you to select an avatar, like monk, or Jeta (as in Jeta's grove), or King Ajatasutta, or Sariputta-and then with that do your Buddhist rituals. That would make the virtual farce complete.

anonymous 27 May, 2009 04:10

this is so bazarre. rituals, rites, incense burning...all religious practices, acts of worship have to be 'acted' out, performed. this is just like having a robot dog, or a tamagochi pet...its so deluded...

anonymous 27 May, 2009 06:37

Mainland China isn't the only place folk speak chinese...

anonymous 27 May, 2009 12:48

I would love to have one - all negatives aside from the "want" aspect.

From what I have read about this so far it seems to me that whoever created this item is looking for a small percentage of people: Buddhists (of course) that are tech geeks. I find myself in that particular subset, despite the fact that I'm also into Linux.

anonymous 27 May, 2009 13:06

Yeah, as a buddhist: not a big fan of rituals. As such, this phone would be at best worth a laugh with friends.

anonymous 27 May, 2009 16:51

Making generalizations about "what Buddhists want" makes as much sense as making generalizations about what Christians want. Does an Orthodox Greek Catholic want the same things as a Southern Baptist?

There are as many ideas about the usefulness of technology or attachment in the Buddhist world as there are methods and purposes to meditation practices.

It's foolish to make a comment like, "A real Buddhist wouldn't "want" this phone at all - attachment is the source of unhappiness after all." Wanting a phone like this because it would be useful does not imply attachment at all. Grasping at the device because it may accelerate one's path to enlightenment is a different situation.

anonymous 27 May, 2009 17:16

I actually end up preparing laptops for Tibetan lamas pretty regularly, and they're very happy to have Buddhist desktops, screen savers, etc. For example, if you load text of mantras onto a spinning hard drive, it becomes functionally the same as a prayer wheel, except you can put several billion mantras on something spinning at 7,200 RPM, which is considerably more/faster than the old-style prayer wheels.

Most Tibetan monks have cell phones at this point. After all, it's quite useful to be able to communicate with the outside world and with your students whenever you need to. Of course, it can be a distraction for some, but the world is full of technology and if you can find a skillful way to use it for traversing the path to enlightenment, then that's great.

anonymous 27 May, 2009 19:11

I think it depends on the kind of Buddhist, doesn't it? I would imagine that Zen (or Ch'an, in China) monks wouldn't want phones at all, or at least, wouldn't be very picky about the kinds of phones they got. Something like this could be pretty popular with the Pure Land crowd, though. For most Buddhists in the Western world, I imagine it's a piece of ticky-tack that would be desirable entirely for kitsch value. For some specific sects, of course, it could be really genuinely useful. But if one was to spend money to attract the Buddhist market (a dicey proposition, but probably not impossible if handled deftly), one would be well served to come out with a variety of styles of product, to suit varying habits of practice.

anonymous 28 May, 2009 03:30

buddhist response - I could take it or leave it

anonymous 28 May, 2009 07:09

That's great!i think ,.
it's interesting.
Chinese are full of new ideas!

anonymous 28 May, 2009 19:06

OK, Buddhism is not necessarily a religion it is to many a philosophy of life. Attachment is in the mind and has nothing to do with material things as such, but how one thinks about those things. Ownership is not necessarily attachment, and one can be attached to something they do not have in their possession. I know an Zen Buddhist Abbot who uses all forms of technology to cultivate and communicate the dharma.

anonymous 28 May, 2009 22:12

I think the phone is beautiful, and makes it easy to keep right thoughts at the front of your mind. If I was in the market for a new phone, and this one didnt cost extra, I would be happy to chose it.

anonymous 28 May, 2009 23:25

Well, some one might find it a call to mindfulness, compassion, and an aid to everyday moment by moment practice. I practice Buddhism, but won't dare speak for all Buddhists, but personally I don't need it because if I want I can take a picture of my actual altar and use that.

anonymous 29 May, 2009 12:49

well, i have to say except the golden face, i feel it's alright - if someone really wants it, then why not.

anonymous 30 May, 2009 08:19

I am a buddhist and wouldn't buy it because it's made in China and the Chinese are committing genocide on Buddhist monks. I try to not buy anything made in China, with all the questionable products and recall items. Looks like the "gold" will peel off and the pictures aren't appealing either.

okay ,you got it.

Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, formation, and consciousness.

i believe you are not ZEN! so you are religon

anonymous 3 July, 2009 20:36

Zen does not differ from religion; religion does not differ from Zen; Zen itself is religion; religion itself is Zen.

anonymous 4 July, 2009 14:33

zen makes you say inane stuff like ^ just said. it also keeps you chained to the wheel of continual existance. theravada however, can save you, and pretty fast too. contrary to popular myth, nirvana(actually it's called nibbana in Buddha's spoken language pali), is not something that suddenly hit's you. it's part of a process and in and on that process & path you get more and more free - i know this because it has happened to me - until the final Unbinding. Whether or not you get there is not THAT important as you will already have become much less neurotic than you were.

Buddhism not backed by scientific methodological inquiry isn't the buddhism The Buddha would have gone good for.