Yes, but it would not just be a pithy quote of the type so many tweeters enjoy sending out. The Buddha lived before the age of the written word and his talks were not recorded until after he passed away. Even then, they were recorded on palm leaves because paper had not yet been invented.
But if the Buddha had written down his words, and of course if Twitter had existed back then, I think the Buddha would have used Twitter to announce that he had just delivered a new talk/sermon. His tweet would include the title of the new talk, and it would include a link to his blog where the new talk appeared.
He would not have tweeted The Dhammapada verse by verse. His tweet would just say. New post. The Dhammapada, followed by a link to the blog where the Dhammapada would appear. He would have done the same for all of his talks.
But many people like to tweet a single sentence of the Buddha. I would prefer that they write a blog on their interpretation of that single sentence and how it relates to the modern world. For example, how do we react today to the Buddha’s injunction to his monks to avoid sleeping in high beds? To eat one meal per day? To avoid music? To not handle money? Do we simply dismiss these instructions as intended for the ears of monks only? Can we wake up if we are not monks or nuns?
Such issues could be discussed in a blog that is publicized by a tweet, but not in a tweet.
I am hoping this little blog will be re-tweeted enough among Buddhists so that we can change the Buddhist experience on Twitter. A blog need not be lengthy. An important issue can be discussed in 400 to 500 words, but not in 140 characters.
Please start a blog if you haven’t done so already. Help us all understand the Buddha Dharma a little better by letting us have the benefit of your thoughts, not just the benefit of a tweet.
Let the celebrities who tweet stuff that no one needs to know continue to use Twitter for their publicity purposes. We Buddhists can carry Twitter to a much higher level for the benefit of all sentient beings.
