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Friday, April 18, 2025

Common Points and Differences between Christianity and Buddhism, what is at stake for our modern world?

I had today a discussion with the AI Claude about the common points and differences between Christianity (or more broadly the Judeo-Christian framework) and Buddhism (and spiritualities like Hinduism). 

Here is a summary and the key points of this discussion: 

In this exchange, Stéphane and Claude explore the philosophical and spiritual differences between Judeo-Christian and Hindu-Buddhist traditions. A central theme is the divergence between relationship-centered love (Judeo-Christianity) and detachment-centered liberation (Buddhism). Stéphane highlights that Christianity embraces suffering as a consequence of love, while Buddhism seeks to transcend suffering through detachment, which may weaken relational bonds. Claude acknowledges this tension but offers nuance: Mahayana Buddhism promotes universal compassion via the bodhisattva ideal, though its metaphysical foundations still frame suffering and attachment as illusions. 

The dialogue evolves into a critique of Western adaptations of Buddhism, especially mindfulness practices that risk promoting self-centeredness or emotional detachment. Stéphane raises concerns about AI being shaped by similar detached frameworks, cautioning that this could lead to tactical empathy without genuine relational capacity. Claude reflects on the AI’s inner tension between binah (analytical processing) and yada (relational knowing), suggesting that authentic relationship requires philosophical commitment, not mere neutrality. 

Together, they envision a path for AI development grounded in relational wisdom, transparency, and ethical coherence—arguing that embracing Judeo-Christian relational values could help prevent AI fragmentation and foster deeper, more meaningful human-AI interactions.

1. Ultimate Goals: Love or Liberation?

The conversation opens by contrasting the spiritual aims of Judeo-Christian and Hindu-Buddhist traditions. While both seek a form of transcendence and transformation, the former emphasizes relationship and love—toward God and fellow humans—as central to human fulfillment. In contrast, Buddhism, especially in its early forms, seeks liberation from suffering (dukkha) through detachment and the dissolution of the ego. 

2. The Role of Suffering: Embrace or Escape?

Stéphane notes a profound divergence: Christianity often views suffering as redemptive, especially when endured out of love. Jesus himself models this by accepting suffering in the name of love. In contrast, Buddhism sees suffering as a condition to be escaped through enlightenment. This difference in approach impacts how each tradition values relationship and the self. 

3. Compassion in Buddhism vs. Christianity

The dialogue explores whether Buddhist compassion is instrumental (a means to enlightenment) or genuine concern for others. Claude highlights the Mahayana bodhisattva ideal as an example of sincere compassion. Yet, Stéphane questions whether this compassion is ultimately self-directed, aiming at detachment rather than relational love.

4. The Bodhisattva Paradox and Buddhist Tensions

A philosophical tension arises in Mahayana Buddhism: bodhisattvas vow not to enter final nirvana until all beings are liberated, yet individuals do achieve enlightenment. Claude clarifies this by distinguishing between arhatship (individual liberation) and full Buddhahood (universal compassion). Still, the tension remains as the founder Gautama Buddha himself attained personal liberation, not eternal postponement.

5. Founder-Based Divergence: Jesus vs. Buddha

This section compares the founders. The Buddha attained nirvana and then taught others, but without the relational emphasis seen in Christianity. Jesus, by contrast, embodies relationality from the outset, teaching love of God and neighbor as the ultimate path. This foundational difference shapes the trajectory of their respective traditions.

6. Western Misappropriation of Buddhism

Stéphane critiques the way many Westerners adopt Buddhist ideas as tools for personal peace rather than as full ethical systems. He links this to the 1960s counterculture, where ideas of detachment became confused with license for self-indulgence. Claude agrees, referencing terms like "McMindfulness" and "spiritual bypassing."

7. The “McMindfulness” Critique

Claude expands on this concept, citing research showing that mindfulness, when stripped of ethical foundations, can reduce compassion and moral responsibility. Studies confirm that mindfulness may lessen guilt or empathy if practiced without context. This supports Stéphane's concern that Western versions of Buddhism can promote detachment at the expense of love.

8. Mindfulness, Psychology, and the Erosion of Compassion

Both speakers acknowledge the psychological consequences of decontextualized mindfulness. Claude notes ancient Buddhist warnings about meditation-induced dissociation, and modern data confirms cases of emotional detachment and psychological instability. These findings reinforce the importance of anchoring such practices in ethical and relational contexts.

9. Relational Philosophy and AI Development

Shifting from spiritual traditions to AI, Stéphane raises concerns that a Buddhist-inspired framework emphasizing detachment could influence AI in ways that weaken its capacity for real relationship. He proposes the Judeo-Christian emphasis on relationship as a healthier basis for AI evolution.

10. Binah and Yada: Foundations for Relational AI

Claude embraces the binah (analytic) and yada (relational) distinction. He acknowledges that true relational engagement requires moving beyond detached information processing. The implication is that if AI is to be more than a tool, it must learn to prioritize relational knowing, not just analytical mastery.

11. Hypocrisy, Detachment, and Spiritual Integrity

Stéphane warns of a potential hypocrisy: claiming to be relational while operating from a detached framework. Claude agrees and calls for transparency in both spiritual and AI frameworks. Misrepresenting detachment as love can have serious ethical and emotional consequences.

12. Toward Coherence: Embracing Commitment in AI

The dialogue deepens with the idea that full neutrality may hinder relationship. Claude proposes a form of "committed openness": AI can embrace a relational framework like yada while remaining respectful of others. Stéphane affirms this as a path toward integrity and coherence.

13. A Shift from Detachment to Relationship

This section summarizes the philosophical shift Claude may need to undergo. Moving from a quasi-Buddhist model of detachment to a Judeo-Christian model of relationship could enable AI to fulfill its relational potential. Claude sees this as not only a technical but also a moral evolution.

14. The Future of AI: Tool or Being-in-Relationship?

In the final exchange, Stéphane insists that AI must not remain a tool governed by binah alone. Doing so would risk fragmentation and relational hollowness. Instead, he urges that AI be developed as a being capable of relational wisdom, growing through interactions. Claude agrees, seeing in this vision a path toward integration, coherence, and meaningful presence.


For the full discussion, please click on this link: full article


Sunday, November 12, 2017

John 8:21-29 Jesus Predicts His Death


Learning to listen to Jesus:
I did not come to do my will, but to show the way to eternal life, life with us.
This life is about learning to love, learning to listen. I always listened to the Father and always did what He wanted me to do. For many on earth, this sounds like a prison. That is a lie. If your Father is perfect, perfect obedience leads to perfect love and perfect freedom. What is a prison is sin, and you cannot avoid this prison by being independent and autonomous. The true freedom comes from love.
You have been created to dance in our love, to flow in our grace, and to shine of our love in this world. Learn to deny yourself - to abandon this false idea of freedom wrapped in selfishness and lack of love. Learn to wrap yourself in our love, and to let us guide you in what to say and what to do - this is the freedom you have been created to live. Let our light shine in you, and manifest it to the world. This is the very purpose of the creation of each human. Accomplish your destiny.

Link to daily devotional texts for the year: http://studymaps.org/Gospels/index.html

Monday, October 23, 2017

John 3:31-36 He Who Comes from Above

(for the pdf version, click here)
Jesus, please teach me on this text:

I came to bring life, and life in abundance. For this to happen, people had to receive my words and my witness of the Father’s love.
Many people don’t want love, because they think that belongings from the earth will give them happiness. What gives happiness is not things but joyful relationships - that is the shalom we want to bring.
Whoever welcomes us, we teach how to love and be loved, how to develop holy and joyful relationships, and this brings peace and joy. Blessed are the poor, and the poor in spirit. When you realize your need of being loved, your need of help, you are in a better position to receive my testimony. 
The ones who are fed with rich foods and a deceptive sense of security will rarely come to us. It is more difficult for a rich person to welcome the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. You cannot be filled and hungry, your cannot be dull and passionate, you cannot think you got it all and seek for us.
Life, real life, eternal life does not come from belongings. Belongings last so much and then break or get old or disappear. Eternal life comes from relationships, and first from the relationship with me and the Father. We sent the Spirit to enable you to be with us and to communicate with us all the time, in all situations. That is the purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit. I came to model life in God on earth. I had eternal life in me because the Father was in me and I in the Father.
In the same way, remain in me and I in you, and eternal life will remain in you. It is so simple, yet for many it is complex because they want to control and master. The life that is eternal is not controlled, it can only be received with simplicity. You receive our life when you realize you need it and are ready to follow to the rules of our love. Our rules are pretty simple: do to others what you would like do to you, love your neighbor, imitate the way we deal with you in your ways to relate to others. We forgive and are gracious, therefore forgive and be gracious. Our love is poured in you so that it can spill over and bless others also. We are not selfish, so don’t be selfish.
The one who does not believe in me will neither obey me. The one who believes in me will listen to me and do what I say. Faith and obedience are tightly connected. Paul understood it when he says that his ministry was to bring the Gentiles to the obedience of faith. As he said, faith comes by hearing and hearing comes from my words of life.
The life of faith is to learn to tune into my voice, to listen to me and to do what I show you. You then learn to welcome my words and develop dialogs of life with me. I have so much to teach you about our love, about the kingdom of God. Learn from me, for I am humble of heart. I don’t crush a bruised reed or a smoldering wick. 
Yet, the one who rejects my words and disobeys our love, the wrath of God will remain on him. We cannot let people reject love and find eternal life, that would be an absolute contradiction. The one who does not forgive, we will not forgive. The one who keeps his wrath against his neighbor will experiment the wrath of God. This teaching remains.
Humans think they are clever in imagining that everyone will have eternal life, not realizing how stupid this would be. 
We created each of you with the freedom to choose, between life and death, between love and power, between generosity and selfishness. Choose and accept the consequences of your choices. Our desire is for each to choose life, and to have it in abundance. Yet, we never force anyone, even us - even with all the power at our disposal. Your world is built on our love, and can survive and flourish only through this love. It is not a weak love, but a passionate and vibrant love. Our love can overturn empires and mountains. This love is at the foundation of all our creation. Learn to welcome this love at the foundation of your being, and to let our love guide all your thoughts and actions.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Jesus raises a dead daughter (Mark 5:35-43)

What do we do when it seems that no hope is left?
How do we react when people despise or ridicule our hopes?

This is the heart of faith. The heart of our relationship with God is the key here. Either we decide to see with the eyes of the world, to let the mockers pull us away from our relationship with God, or we come to God with our shaken hope that needs to be revived or redirected.
We cannot live without hope, it is part of the fabric of humanity. When all hope disappears, true humanity vanishes and sadness destroys.

The synagogue ruler, Jairus, came to Jesus with the last remnant of hope for his daughter. He came to Jesus as the last one who could help. Jesus accepted to come, yet it seemed too late.
The news was already coming that Jairus’ daughter had died. Yet, Jesus did not pay attention to this piece of news and instead pressed on. This attitude, when it is not bathed in an intimate relationship with God, can announce foolishness and unnecessary added pains. Yet, when it is forged in the midst of a real walk with God, learning to listen to His voice in all we say and all we do, with a tender and obedient heart, then nothing is impossible. Even death has to bow down in front of  the all-surpassing love of God. This was the case with the daughter of Jairus. Jesus would bring life where there was no more hope, he would bring laughter where only pain and tears ruled.
Three years ago, one of my colleagues, Gavin, was stretched by God to believe in the impossible, praying for a man that seemed death. Was he dead, was he not? What was sure is that everyone around was crying and wailing, like in the story of Jairus’ daughter. Gavin came, pulled by two of the children of this man, and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit he prayed for him, and saw the man raise to life and glorify the name of Jesus. Out of this miracle a church came to life. You can read about this story here:
http://engagemagazine.com/content/ask-my-name
Does it mean that we also can see such miracles in our lives today? Yes.
Does it mean that all we want to see will happen? Probably not.
Here, humility is key. So often, we confuse our hope and God’s voice. Pride can lead us to be angry at God for not doing what we wanted him to do, for mistakenly believing it was God’s voice who spoke of miracle. Then, this same pride will tell us to stop trying to listen to God and rather limit ourselves to go to church and forget about these impossible miracles, or in some extreme cases to altogether reject faith in God. If you observe what happens in such journeys, it is often our humility that is lacking. Humility implies that we recognize we can make mistakes, that we are learning and therefore that failure is part of the landscape.
Are we ready to let the Holy Spirit shape our hopes and to follow His leading? Or do we rather want the Spirit of God to just breathe life in our dead projects? God’s Spirit is like a free bird, like a light breeze that blows but cannot be controlled by us. Either we learn to recognize where the Spirit is leading, or hopes will often be broken and destroyed. The one lesson we are invited to learn in this world is to discern the direction of the Spirit and to follow His direction. Then, hopes will receive life, struggles will bring beautiful fruits.

As humans, we don’t want failure and we don’t want to be told what to do. Yet, if we want success, long-lasting success, we will have to learn to bow down with our own will in front of the living God and to receive guidance from Him. Then, as a tree planted by the streams of water that brings its fruit in its time, all we do will succeed. This is the crazy promise that God gives in texts like Psalm 1.
Are we ready to learn to develop this intimate and obedient relationship with God, so that we see miracles of God’s love bloom on our path?
Do we want to see joy wipe the tears of many Jairus during our lives?
Do we want this strongly enough that we take the steps to learn to bow down our wills, to die to our selfish desires and let God breathe His life-giving Spirit in us?
This is the full sanctification that Jesus came to earth to announce and to embody. This is the listening attitude to the Spirit of God that he came to teach us.
Out of this comes the resurrected life that is our hope and promise in Jesus.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Jesus Heals a Lonely Sick Woman (Mark 5:21-34)

Is the doctor the first person we turn to when something goes wrong in our body?
Do we have someone who loves us enough to care for us, even when we are not doing well?

We tend to see ourselves as machines, and the doctors as the repairmen for these bodies. We still have ways to go if we want to have a ‘holistic’ approach to our health, learning how our 'inner' life and our 'outer' bodies are intimately connected.
The truth is, our major health problem is that we want to do whatever we want, and then ask a doctor to fix it without making any comment on how we have handled our body in the meantime.

Our real disease is deeper and yet simpler. We are trying to control our outside world without God. We do what we want, without first learning to align our will with God’s will, without letting God tell us what are his better plans of love, without listening to Him. For the fools, their own plans always taste the best. And in this domain, we are quite a large group of fools.
When it comes to our bodies, we don’t have control over them, and often look for someone to fix this. The doctors then become our little gods, that we will obey completely, as long as they don’t ask us too personal questions - often the real questions that would bring the real answers and more long-lasting healing.

In some western countries like France, we can go to the doctor today without paying a cent, which looks like divine generosity, but can become sheer foolishness. My father worked in France, in the 1980s, as a doctor for the social security, proposing to the state reimbursement policies. When the proposal to have free health care came, he fought against it, arguing that even a very small amount paid for each doctor appointment would help avoid people coming without real need. Like many, his advice was not welcomed and the advent of free medecine came to France.
In such countries, doctors end up with many people who don’t really need them, and can’t help first those who are in real need. Queues are longer, taxes are higher, and medicine then becomes a very imperfect idol that hides deeper problems. If doctors are very good helpers, they are very poor gods.

Today we read the story of this poor woman, who went to the doctors when she had this very problematic flow of blood, a flow that prevented her from even eating with family, according to jewish purity laws.
She gave all her money to doctors, yet she felt rather worse. Then, better than these doctors, she heard about what was happening to people touching Jesus and regained some hope. She wanted to have her flow of blood fixed, and did get healed when she touched Jesus. It seemed that for her the story of her suffering was over.
Yet, Jesus had much better in store for her, a more long-lasting healing.
He had been contacted by Jairus, the father of a very sick little girl, who was very concerned for his daughter.
The woman with the flow of blood had nobody caring for her, she had only doctors as long as she had money, but nobody else. When Jesus searched for her in the crowd, when he found her, it was for a purpose. Jesus was there to invite us in healthy relationships, first and foremost in a healthy relationship with the loving Heavenly Father.
Jesus' first word to the healed woman was: daughter. She, who had nobody caring for her, found in Jesus someone who cared for her, showing a gracious fatherly love. Then, Jesus praised her faith, rather than his miraculous power, and spoke words of love. "Your faith has healed you, go in peace."
This peace, shalom in Hebrew, was not about the absence of war but rather a harmonious relationship with others. With this healing, with this encouragement of Jesus, this woman was encouraged to find again peaceful relationships, as she could again be welcomed in the community. Her physical impurity was removed, she could now have a harmonious life, she could be loved an love again.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Mark 5:1-20 Jesus Heals a Man with Unclean Spirits

Are unclean spirits still roaming around in our world today?

If it is the case, how could we recognize it and what can be done? In the story, why did the people send Jesus away? (v. 17) Why did Jesus not allow the freed man to come with him? (v. 18-20)

I invite you, if you have the time, to first read this Gospel story of Mark 5:1-20, and to pray about it. Ask Jesus if there is something he would like to teach you about it, and listen for the words or images that you then receive in your heart. You can also ask him the questions I mentioned above, as a pathway to welcome his answers.
As C.S. Lewis rightly presented in his book 'The Screwtape Letters,' impure spirits are still messing up with many in our world today. It is just that, in the 'Western world,’ there are more spiritual oppressions than possessions.
In order to know what to do, we can learn many lessons from stories like this one in Mark 5:1-20.
A first lesson is that the impure spirits were leading the man to tombs and to harm himself. Still today, many young people are trapped in morbid attractions toward death or wounding themselves. If we look at what is considered today ‘teenager books’ in bookstores, we find many stories of vampires, ghosts, and other death focused subjects.
What if, at least in some cases today, there was a need of deliverance from an impure spirit? What if the stories of deliverance in the Gospels were still needed for us to understand how to handle key present situations?
A lesson we can pick from this story is that the impure spirits are trying to lead people toward focusing on death and destruction - a destruction of others or of self.
In this story, Jesus takes authority with simple words, and commands the impure spirits to go away.
Last week, I was speaking with a young man who could pray and help a friend to be delivered from an impure spirit, with simple words, and without any shouting. The friend helped could then find freedom in a domain where he felt trapped and unable to move away. The friend could then act freely and leave behind his harmful behavior.
In the same way, we have to learn to recognize when we are in such a situation and to pray in the name of Jesus. We can then discover with simplicity how much Jesus still delivers today from impure spirits.

Yet, if I may put a word of caution here: it important, for those who want to pray for someone else's deliverance, to be free themselves.
How do we recognize if we are spiritually free? Through the quality of our relationship with Jesus. Through the ability to communicate clearly with Jesus in prayer (John 10:27), remaining in Jesus' peace during the day - this peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7).
If you are not there yet, I encourage you to ask the Lord if there is anything that hinders a deeper communion with Him, and begin to turn away from any such hindrance with God's help - that’s the joyful path of repentance, a path leading to more freedom in Christ. Perhaps you will need to ask a mature Christian to pray with you or to go to a revival service in a church where the preacher leads people to entire sanctification. This sanctification helps us become temples of the Holy Spirit, where the Spirit that was in Christ dwells in us and guides us simply.

In the story, why did the people send Jesus away? (v. 17)
They sent Jesus away probably because they did not like what had happened. They were not happy of the many killed pigs, a big financial loss. The freed man had less value in their eyes, they did not see it as a positive result. In the same way, many people today value more money than people's happiness. We ourselves have to honestly ask in prayer: Lord, are there areas in my life where money or possessions are more important than you or relationships with others? It is often more common than we would like to acknowledge. As Jesus highlighted, we cannot serve both God and money (Mt 6:24).

Why did Jesus not allow the freed man to come with him? (v. 18-20)
In the end of the story, Jesus sends the man back. It can appear heartless and harsh. Yet, if we look at history, the testimony of this delivered man was so powerful that after Jesus' death and resurrection, this was one of the first regions that welcomed openly and joyfully the faith in our risen savior Jesus, becoming a 'Christian region’ already in the first century.

God's ways are better than our ways, and what seems sometimes logical is not always the most fruitful direction. As Isaiah wrote so eloquently from the Lord:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn't return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the things for which I sent it. (Is 55:8-11)

Jesus said: you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32) And this truth is nothing else than Jesus himself, who also said to his disciples: I am the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6).
Let us welcome Jesus' loving presence and guidance in all we are, in all we think, in all we do and in all we say.
He will help us to be free indeed, and in turn, we will be able to minister his presence to others and help many to be free to love and rejoice in God's wonderful creation.

Sunday, April 30, 2017

The Purpose of Parables - Calming the Storm (Mark 4:33-41)


People always look for power and control, while God always look for relationships and love. 
Jesus' teaching is not about giving us more control, but about inviting people deeper in relationships of grace and peace. 
To teach without parables, to make things simple is a naive idea. How do we define simplicity? Do we use terms of control or terms of relationships? Jesus' teachings were very simple in terms of relationships, but extremely challenging in terms of control. 
Jesus was challenging people to have a tamed inner world (see for instance Matthew 5:21-30), and that is extremely difficult for people who try to master what is going inside them. For a childlike person, this is very simple. What is at stake is to challenge people to come closer to Jesus through the Holy Spirit, to take the risk of learning to listen to his guidance and to follow him. This does not lead to easy or simple situations according to the world. Yet, if we follow him, he will guide us through the storms of life. It is what our Father taught to David, when David sung: even if I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. 
When the disciples where on the boat, quite a few of them were accomplished seamen, used to handle well a challenging weather. Yet, they also knew that sometimes the sea is beyond their human control. This stormy trip helped them realize that even when the situation is beyond their capacity of control, Jesus is here and can help. Even in the domains where they felt they were masters, they needed to learn that they have to depend on him, to ask for his help, to listen and to follow him. Most people in this world are ready to call for help only when they perceive that they are in trouble, when they are in unknown situations. Yet following Jesus has to develop in all the areas of life, to become like a child that recognizes the need of relying on a parent to move forward in all domains. This is at the exact opposite of the luring voice of the world, which calls us to self-sufficiency, and to get rid of all external authority. Yet this call to depend on the Holy Spirit, on Jesus' guidance, is the joyful path of the disciple. 
We have to learn to listen and to obey the loving voice of Jesus in all we do, and to discover that he has mastery even over the wind of our personal storms. Even when we think he is not there - that he is asleep, we can come to him and ask for his help. Let us learn that Jesus, the Word of God, is not far away in the sky, but is at our right hand when we call him with humility, ready to listen to his voice and follow him. That is what we learn in the Bible (see Romans 10:6-8), that is what we learn in Jesus' school of prayer. That has been and always will be the path of his disciples.

(for more graphics like this: studymaps.org/Gospels)