So we never again lament the loss of past wisdom
From papyrus to the permaweb
The challenge of preserving any ancient teachings has always necessarily been linked to the medium through which information is stored.
Around 3200 BC people first started writing using a reed stylus and clay tablets. Later, papyrus was used as the first paper-like material to write on. Near 100 BC the invention of paper was another improvement in publishing. Gutenberg’s printing press, invented in the 1450s, and the mass adoption of the internet starting in the 1990s, both radically changed how we store, publish and distribute information.
While the evolution of writing materials from clay tablets to the internet became progressively more durable, publishing and storing information has always been highly centralised, undermining data integrity and lacking inherent permanence.
The Permaweb – a permanent layer of the internet, using the Arweave network to store data – solves the age-old problem of how to easily and safely store, publish and share past information with the people of today, as well as for all future generations.
The radical transparency and immutability of blockchain technology also enables a perfect recording of current teachings, as well as its ongoing preservation, with no margin or possibility for confusion or error in the process of storing and distributing the data in the future.
For organisations like the Mahamati Foundation, Akord can deliver the final stop in their mission to preserve and pass on teachings to the whole of humanity. The integrity of their values will be mirrored in complete data integrity and perpetual preservation, ensuring future generations will only ever build on what we have now, and never again lose precious teachings.
Mahamati Foundation
The Mahamati Foundation was founded by Karma Trinlay Rinpoche – a highly accomplished Buddhist teacher and meditation master. He is the first reincarnated Westerner of French and American origin to be recognised in the Karma Kagyu tradition of Vajrayāna Buddhism.
Rinpoche holds many transmissions from the most realized Vajrayāna Buddhist masters of our time: H.H. the 16th Karmapa, the 14th Shamarpa, Kalu Rinpoche, Chogye Trichen Rinpoche, Lundin Khempo Rinpoche, and Pewar Rinpoche.
The Foundation was created with the primary goal of preserving and sharing Buddhist teachings, teachings from Rinpoche himself as well as others he received from previous masters.
x Akord
Mahamati Foundation are leveraging Akord’s public and private vaults to store teachings. Certain teachings are only delivered when a student has progressed to a specific point in their development. Akord’s decentralised app architecture and end-to-end encryption delivers complete privacy and security to the Mahamati Foundation if needed.
The Foundation is also interested in token gated access as another means to ensure that certain materials are made available under the right context.
We are currently in the process of helping the foundation transfer old audio recordings on disk to digital formats and stored in Akord vaults.
Rebirth: the Tibetan Game of Liberation
The Foundation’s foray into web3 is not stopping at decentralised storage – they plan to release an NFT collection that will tie to a digital version of an ancient Buddhist game.
Rebirth: the Tibetan Game of Liberation, was devised in the 13th century by the Tibetan Buddhist theologian Sakya Pandita as a way to amuse his ailing mother. The game has been used as a way to teach the stages of enlightenment.
The Foundation will be launching NFTs – digital yogis – that will be used to play an online version of the game. To mint, a charitable donation will be required and there are plans for a 'Gratitude token'. This will be a very different kind of NFT project – a non-profit venture that will be pulling on a rich visual and spiritual history.
The tokens, data and the application running the game will be deployed on Arweave using Akord as the publishing tool. The creative and technological possibilities are very exciting and we’ll be using this project to develop new features that will bring this all to life.
An initial set of NFTs will be minted in early 2023. If you're interested in being kept up-to-date with the project, please reach out to us on Discord.
