2 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 3 - 1 S p r i n g 2 0 1 7 Possibilities and Limits of Religion in the Cyberspace of Digital Media Received February 8, 2017 Revised February 22, 2017 Accepted March 1, 2017 The authors of this paper study possibilities and limits of religion in the cyberspace of digital media, especially in theWorld of Warcraft videogame. Based on various research cases, they claim that videogames can saturate religious needs of the hypermodern human. Nevertheless, they cannot substitute them totally, since there is the humans’ body, a barrier between virtual and traditional religion. In the first case (the so-called external limitation), the body is irreplaceable in religious ritual such as Baptising in Christian religion or Mindfulness of Breathing (ānāpānasati) in Buddhism. In the second case (the socalled internal limitation), when the body (or its nerve centre) is linked to technologies, the boundary lies in the depth and validity of spiritual experience. The authors state that even if positive cyber-spiritual experience could be reached, it would still be necessary to plant it into broader moral and cognitive frames. Only in such case it could represent a positive stimulus for the spiritual journey. Key words Religion, spirituality, Christianity, Buddhism, cyberspace, videogames, World of Warcraft Slavomír Gálik – Sabína Gáliková Tolnaiová
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