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“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa
In the
historic Kodaiji Temple,
in Kyoto, Japan, there
is a Buddhist priest
named Mindar. But this
is no ordinary priest.
Instead, Mindar
is a robot, with
silicone skin, an
aluminum skeleton, and
cameras for eyes. Mindar
preaches from the Heart
Sutra, one of the
most-read Buddhist
scriptures. Worshippers
reportedly approach
Mindar initially as a
robot but come to
perceive it as a
manifestation of Buddha,
a channel for Buddha’s
words.
Mindar is a collaboration between Kodaiji Temple and Osaka University’s Department of Systems Innovation. The aim was to enhance worshippers’ spiritual experiences and spur renewed interest in Buddhism. Its design is said to be an effort to bridge the gap between the physical world, where the robot is, and the spiritual world, where Buddha is supposed to be. It was purposely designed with a gender/age neutral appearance so that worshippers could imagine their own conception of Buddha. For now, it recites preprogrammed sermons but there are plans to incorporate AI so that it can improvise original ones. The Temple’s chief steward, Tensho Goto, says, “The Buddhist goddess of mercy, Kannon, can change into anything. This time, Kannon was represented by a robot.” Naturally, as both a science fiction fan and a person of faith, I found the story compelling with its blending of technology and religion. And just as Kannon, the Buddhist goddess, can change into anything, we believe in a God who became a human being (Phil. 2:6-8). Since Mindar the robot is supposed to help people see Buddha, I thought about people in the Bible who had seen God. Jacob wrestled all night with “a man” (Gen. 32:24) and afterward he said, “‘Certainly I have seen God face to face and have survived.’” (vs. 30b New English Translation). Still, In New Testament times, Jesus told the pharisees, “‘The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me, and the one who sees me sees the one who sent me.’” (John 12:44b-45 NET). In this way, he told them in no uncertain terms that he himself was God. And he told his disciple, Philip, “‘The person who has seen me has seen the Father!’” (John 14:9b NET). But we don’t have to see Jesus face to face or have visions to see God today. If our spiritual ancestors could “see” God through eyes of faith, then so can we. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews begins, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.” (11:1 NET). And what’s more, others should be able to see God in us. When some men from the synagogue brought the apostle Stephen before the council to accuse him of blasphemy, everyone saw that “his face was like the face of an angel.” (Acts 6:15b NET). What might people say about us? Do others see God in our faces? Do you or I ever look like angels? In my own case, I strongly doubt it, but the We may not be angels but just as Mindar the robot represents mercy and a channel for the words of Buddha, you and I can be channels of God’s words of mercy and grace. Jesus told the disciples, “‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.’” (Matt. 5:7 NET). Since we have already received abundant mercy (1 Pet. 1:3), we should also be demonstrating it. In the same vein, Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children” (Eph. 5:1 NET). If we imitate God, others will see God in us. And since God is love (1 John 4:7-12), we can show God through loving, merciful actions and attitudes. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Pet. 2:9 NET.) Copyright © 2022 by David Phelps
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