The Digital Cage: A Child Spirit's Lament

This is a record of an interview with the spirit of Luo Shan, conducted by Venerable Chang Gao at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. Luo Shan, who passed away at the age of nineteen due to his severe addiction to online gaming, was discovered by the Venerable trapped within the digital confines of a mobile phone. This account serves as a stark warning about the dangers of modern technology and the spiritual neglect of youth in our contemporary world. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fajing, on February 20, 2021.

Venerable Chang Gao speaks:

"Boredom is the fatal flaw of the new generation. Because they are bored, they give up; because they are bored, they seek fleeting pleasures. While it may seem that their physical desires are being satisfied, it is the spirit within them that suffers the ultimate harm.

This sense of boredom has become a universal phenomenon among modern children. You can see it even in three-year-olds; you can hear them telling adults, 'I am so bored.' To satisfy their children's desires, adults simply hand over a mobile phone, instantly filling that void of boredom. The children become addicted to the screen, much like a drug addict, unable to pull themselves away from the cycle of stimulation."

The Poison of Modern Boredom

"Modern children, because they are so easily bored, lack meditative concentration, perseverance, and endurance. When they face any challenge or encounter the slightest difficulty, they choose to escape or give up entirely. This is a pattern of behaviour cultivated from a young age. Just as they have a phone to satisfy them the moment they feel bored, they never truly face or resolve their inner emptiness. Instead, they use more alluring objects to avoid solving their problems.

I recently encountered a child who had passed away not long ago. His name was Luo Shan, and he is the subject of my interview today. I saw his shrunken figure inside a mobile phone—a shadow as small as a speck of dust. That was Luo Shan. I asked him, 'Why are you crouching there?' Luo Shan replied, 'I do not know. I am just so bored.' I told him, 'You are currently inside a mobile phone screen. Did you enjoy playing with your phone while you were alive?'"

A Soul Trapped in a Screen

"Luo Shan said, 'My mother was very busy, and my father was also very busy. They had no time to accompany me, so they bought me a phone to be my friend. Ever since I had that phone, I did not need my father or mother anymore. Whenever I felt bored, I would just play on my phone. I became more and more obsessed with it, playing until dawn every single day, sleeping until the afternoon, and then waking up to play again. If I was hungry, I would just order food through an app, and someone would deliver it to me. I did not even have to leave the house; it was so convenient. I did not like talking to people. Whether I was on the bus or the subway, I only wanted to scroll through my phone. Even if an elderly person or a pregnant woman stood right in front of me, I would not pay them any mind. I only cared about my game. I was truly like someone addicted to poison; I could not live without my phone.'

Luo Shan continued, 'One day, my phone suddenly broke. I kept pestering my parents to take me to buy a new one, but they were too busy with work to pay attention to me. Without the phone in my hand, it felt as if I could not breathe. I could not endure it, so I stole money from my father to buy a new one at a shop. I was not punished that time because I had a perfect excuse: I simply could not live without it. I was so bored. My father felt helpless, so he let the matter slide. I began to rationalise all of my own behaviours. No one taught me what was right or wrong. Everything I knew, I learned from the internet. The internet has everything, and I just picked what I liked to see, without caring whether it was good or bad for me. Anyway, I liked it, and no one was there to manage me. I was completely intoxicated by the phone and the online world, as if I had detached myself from the real world entirely.'"

The Fatal Game

"Luo Shan shared the final moments of his life: 'One day, I was playing a very exciting online game. I was just about to clear the level when my asthma suddenly flared up. The doctor had taught me methods to ease the shortness of breath, but I could not stop my hands. I had to keep playing because I was so close to success! I was gasping for air while playing, forcing myself to endure the agony just to win. The moment I cleared the level, I was so happy! But I had already gasped to the point where I could no longer breathe, and I died instantly. I did not know I was dead. I felt as if I were still playing on my phone. No one around me paid any attention to me, so I just kept playing, and playing, and playing without stopping. Only now, when you call out to me, do I seem to see what I am doing. You say I am inside a phone screen? Why?'

I told Luo Shan, 'Your spirit has been locked inside the phone. You are drifting in space, playing with the phone endlessly. You have already passed away.' Luo Shan found it hard to believe. His asthma could have been treated, but because he was too obsessed with the online game, he delayed the time for life-saving treatment. Luo Shan was only nineteen when he died. His nineteen years of life ended just like that. Luo Shan said, 'I stopped studying after middle school because studying was boring. I did not want to work either, because work was boring. My parents earned enough money to support me, so I could just spend my days playing on my phone. That way, I never felt bored.'"

A Warning for the Future

"Luo Shan is the very image of the modern child. He is just one among millions of others. There are thousands upon thousands of children who are exactly like him. The world has become like this, and the Buddha’s teachings must be propagated. Children can no longer be allowed to suffer from the poison of technology. It is the physical body that dies, but it is the child's spirit that truly suffers without hope of liberation. We must stop pushing children into the hells one by one. We should help them see the hope of life and rescue their spirits so they may attain liberation.

Namo Amituofo."