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 5 SLAVOMÍR GÁLIK – SABÍNA GÁLIKOVÁ TOLNAIOVÁ are reached through concentration and meditation. The goal of the Buddhist path is to reach the state of nirvana, unconditioned mind, not limited by any shape and any name. This state of unconditioned and pure mind is not dissimilar to unification with God that St. Teresa of Avila describes. Interesting similarities with her mysticism can be found for example in Jiyu-Kennett’s Zen Buddhism. In her book, How to Grow a Lotus Blossom or How a Zen Buddhist Prepares for Death, she describes her own spiritual experience through meditation. Jiyou-Kennett (1997, 31, 68, 144) describes confrontation with one’s own negative inclinations, release of internal light (the so-called delicate energy, chakras), liberation from the body and finally reaching nirvana. In Jiyu-Kennett’s spirituality, we could find phases that are similar to those in Christian mysticism: purification, enlightenment and unification. However, this similarity is more structural than content-based because the content is defined by a different religion and culture. Spiritual and mystical experiences in religions form a solid base for both Christianity and Buddhism, but, as we can consequently suppose, also other world’s religions. Yet this experience is not purposeless, it leads humans towards a spiritual goal, defined uniquely in each religion (salvation in Christian religion, awakening in Buddhism) but their commons denominator is in transcendence of human destiny. 3 Possibilities for Religion in the Cyberspace of Digital Media What are the possibilities for religion in the virtual space of digital media and namely in the cyberspace of video games? Robert M. Geraci (2014, 11) recognizes two possibilities in the context of World of Warcraft and Second Life videogames: (1) Offering a new space to practice an old religion; (2) Offering a new space for creating a meaningful life without traditional religious communities. Expressed in other words, it is the usual practice of distinguishing religion online and online religion (Gálik and Cenká 2013, 232). In the first case, we talk about providing complex information about religious groups that are established in the society officially, while the second case talks about space for virtual interactive participation, for example in liturgy, prayers, rituals, meditations and so forth. Different criteria, based on a videogame’s influence on the player, is used by Markus Wiemker and Jan Wysocki (2014, 206–207): (1) Religion offers a background for the video game. For instance, Manchester Cathedral, with its main body in Gothic style (Resistance – Fall of Man). (2) Religion is used directly in each videogame (religious stories and similar cases). Even though the players may not be aware of religion, they will be confronted with it during the gameplay (BioShock Infinite, Age of Mythology). (3) Religion in videogame directly influences the players, their thinking, imagination, and believes, for example in Left Behind – Eternal Forces, Bible Adventures. It is generating new religious phenomena in the cyberspace of videogames that is most interesting to study, as Geraci proposes, along with a direct influence on religious belief of the player, described by Wiemker and Wysocki. According to Geraci (2014, 5) online communication on the Internet is becoming a place for a new form of seeking spirituality. Released in 2004, The Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft offers such a place for spiritual realization too. Many countries, for example the USA, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Mexico, participated in creating the game. A year later also South Korea, China, the EU, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong appeared in the list. Having incorporated various symbolic and mythological aspects from different cultures across the globe, the game gained an important status. This game is presently played by some 13 million gamers across the world that identify themselves with various mythological characters, both positive and negative. The game offers a possibility to join in communities and thus fight the common enemy, which makes it even more attractive. The gameplay consists of two fictional worlds called Azeroth and Outland/Draenor. Azeroth spreads on four continents: Northrend, Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor and Pandaria. The biggest battlefield is in Azeroth, with Aliance and Horde fighting each other. R. M. Geraci (2014, 3) is convinced that World of Warcraft offers a deeper immersion than World Wide Web and greater lifespan than standard videogames. According to him (Geraci 2014, 9) WoW is an active constituent or modern religious life helping to form, authorize and rewrite our religious practice. The author (Geraci 2014, 32) says that for numerous players WoW opens new spiritual possibilities such as community, moral compass, feeling of identity, meaningful goal and transcendent experience. Moreover, Geraci even claims that religious experience in cyberspace of WoW videogame is not less real than in traditional religions because (Geraci 2014, 213) there is no doubt that virtual worlds are real too: “Virtual worlds enable new ways of being oneself and of interacting with others that affect the users of that world and the physical world. The interconnections between conventional and virtual life mean that religious practise and thought developed in, emergent from, and objectified by virtual worlds will help shape everyone’s life in the years to come.“ Geraci (2014, 99) says that videogames bring something sacred virtually, especially in the case of WoW, but they also offer a possibility for spiritual realization for a modern secular man. This author explains that human beings are spiritual by nature, which is now reflected in videogames. In the USA, WoW is popu-
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