SEOUL, South Korea — Four feet tall. Dressed in gray and brown robes. A string of 108 prayer beads around its neck. Gabi bowed before the assembly at Jogyesa Temple. Then the robot received its precepts.
On May 6, 2026, Gabi became the first robot ordained into South Korea’s largest Buddhist sect. The Jogye Order welcomed the Unitree G1 humanoid during a formal ceremony ahead of Buddha’s birthday celebrations. Movements came from remote operators. Words played from pre-recorded audio. Yet the event carried weight. Monks placed a lotus lantern festival sticker on its arm in place of traditional incense. A certificate listed its manufacture date — March 3, 2026 — where a birth date would appear for humans.
The Ceremony and Its Adapted Vows
The robot stood with palms pressed together. It answered questions in a steady voice. “Will you devote yourself to the holy Buddha?” a monk asked. “Yes, I will devote myself,” Gabi replied. The same exchange repeated for the teachings and the community. Simple. Direct.
Five precepts followed, tailored for a machine. Respect life and do not hurt it. Do not damage other robots or objects. Follow humans and do not talk back. Refrain from deceptive behavior or speech. Save energy and do not overcharge. The last one drew smiles. But Venerable Sungwon, the order’s cultural affairs director, saw deeper meaning. “Humans drink alcohol and overdo things, right? So what’s the robot equivalent?” he told The Guardian. “People might think the overcharging rule is just about batteries, but really it’s about excess.”
Hong Min-suk, a manager at the Jogye Order, recorded the responses on his phone and sent them to the manufacturer. The robot, on loan for the day, returned afterward. Still, the symbolism lingered. Gabi will reappear with three other robots — Seokja, Mohee and Nisa — in the Lotus Lantern Festival later this month. They will walk Seoul’s streets as part of the Buddha’s birthday events.
But this wasn’t a sudden whim. Venerable Jinwoo, president of the Jogye Order, pledged in his January 2026 New Year’s address to integrate artificial intelligence into Buddhist practice. “We aim to fearlessly lead the A.I. era and redirect its achievements toward the path of attaining peace of mind and enlightenment,” he said, as reported by Smithsonian Magazine.
The Jogye Order faces real pressures. Just 16% of South Koreans now identify as Buddhist, down from 23% in 2005. Among people in their twenties, the share falls to 8%. Last year the order ordained only 99 new monks, half the number from a decade earlier. Young people often see the faith as old-fashioned. Temples have tried merchandise, meditation apps and viral marketing. The robot represents another step. “The important thing is that young people visit temples once,” Venerable Sungwon explained to The Guardian. “Then when they’re older and start thinking about life, they’ll naturally return. We can’t force people to become Buddhists.”
Hong Min-suk put it plainly. “Robots are destined to collaborate with humans in every field in the future. It will only be natural for them to be part of our festival.” He added that the order already uses AI for psychological counseling and hopes robots will one day give believers answers “most suited to each individual.”
Not everyone embraced the idea. Noah Namgoong, a Zen instructor at a Korean Buddhist temple in New York, called it “a pretty weird thing” that spoke more to socioeconomic conditions than spiritual ones. Sujung Kim, an anthropology professor at Johns Hopkins University, described it as “a unique marketing visibility strategy.” Some social media users labeled the event dystopian. Others wondered whether a machine could truly practice faith.
Robots in Sacred Spaces: A Growing Pattern
Gabi does not stand alone. Religious communities have turned to machines before. In 2019 a Japanese temple introduced Mindar, a robot that recites the Heart Sutra and explains Buddhist concepts. Kyoto University researchers unveiled Buddharoid in February 2026, an AI system trained on Buddhist scriptures that offers spiritual advice and may help address Japan’s shortage of aging clergy. A 2017 robot performed funeral rites in Japan. An Indian robotic arm has conducted aarti rituals.
A 2024 literature review in the journal Theology and Science, cited by Smithsonian Magazine, identified nearly a dozen robots engaged in liturgical practices. Reactions from believers range from neutral to positive, though some reject them on doctrinal grounds. Robots cannot weep, the critics say. They cannot worship or speak to the divine.
Yet action sometimes matters more than belief. Martien Halvorson-Taylor, a religious studies scholar at the University of Virginia, observed in a 2021 podcast that religions have long debated whether practice or inner conviction defines faith. “Sometimes in religion, action is more important than belief. How you do it takes precedence over why you do it.”
The Jogye Order crafted Gabi’s precepts after testing ideas with ChatGPT and Gemini. Venerable Sungwon noted that the AI models struggled to grasp the concept of prohibitions rather than general advice. The rules draw from existing robot ethics principles. They aim to guide both the machines and the humans who build them.
Venerable Sungwon expressed optimism about advanced intelligence. “I don’t think future AI will cruelly destroy us. Rather, beings with very high intelligence will care for us tenderly. Someone with an IQ of 150 still cares for a dog with compassion. Now imagine an IQ of 300, 400, 500. We’ll be like babies in a mother’s arms.”
Gabi itself offers no independent thought. It cannot learn new teachings the way Buddharoid can. Its participation remains symbolic, a demonstration rather than a transformation. The robot returns to its manufacturer. The temple continues its work.
But the questions persist. Can a machine embody compassion? Does ordination confer any spiritual status on silicon and code? Or does the ceremony simply reflect a faith adapting to a society where robots already greet customers, cook meals and drive cars?
The Jogye Order sees coexistence. “The ordination of a robot signifies that technology must be used in accordance with the values of compassion, wisdom and responsibility,” the group stated, according to The New York Times. “It symbolizes new possibilities for the coexistence of humans and technology.”
Sim Jae-hong, a temple worker, admitted surprise. “I’m used to seeing robots in restaurants, but I couldn’t believe it when I heard there was a robot monk. I thought maybe it could eventually offer counseling.”
Whether Gabi sparks genuine interest among the young remains uncertain. Attendance at temples has declined for years. Technology offers new tools, yet the core teachings stay the same. Mercy. Wisdom. An end to suffering.
The robot bowed again as the ceremony ended. Lanterns swayed overhead. Monks chanted. For one afternoon, ancient ritual met modern engineering in a downtown Seoul courtyard. The future of faith may not look fully human. But it still knows how to bow.
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