Kyoto (Japan) (AFP)

In a 400-year-old Japanese temple, the Buddhist goddess of compassion Kannon greets the faithful and visitors in the form of a humanoid robot, which is not unanimous.

The Android Mindar, whose design cost nearly a million dollars, recites at will Sutras and warns a metallic voice against vanity and the dangers of desire, anger and the ego.

The flesh-and-blood priests are still there in the Kodaiji Temple of the ancient Japanese capital Kyoto, and are looking sympathetically at this new associate made of exposed cables and silicone.

For them, it is particularly adapted to Buddhism and likely to evolve in line with technological progress and enriched by recorded experiences.

"Buddhism is not a belief in a god, it is to pursue the path of Buddha, it is to engage in the path of Buddha, and it does not matter whether it is represented by a machine, a piece of scrap or a tree, "assures AFP one of them, Tensho Goto.

The size of an adult, the top of the open skull revealing the electronics, a tiny camera in the left eye, with only the face, hands and shoulders made of silicone to mimic human skin, the "priest- robot "is placed in a room intended for him. On a wall are projected translations in English and Chinese sutras he pronounced, as well as images of nature or a crowd.

- "Evolve to infinity" -

Born from a joint project between this Zen temple steeped in history and the famous roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, from Osaka University, he entered into service this year.

"It can be difficult for some to communicate with some nerdy priests like me and I hope this robot will be a fun way to bridge the gap," said the priest Goto in an allusion to the younger generations.

The University of Osaka has polled the faithful: some said they felt a "heat that is not experienced in front of any machine", while others on the contrary said they feel "wrong with the machine" comfortable "at the sight" of the artificial expressions of the robot ".

The Kodaiji Temple has even been accused of sacrilege by some.

"Westerners are the ones that the robot has the most embarrassed," according to Tensho Goto, saying that the reactions of the Japanese are mostly positive. "The Japanese have no prejudices against robots, we were raised with comics in which robots are our friends, Westerners think differently."

"The purpose of Buddhism is to alleviate suffering," the priest added. "Modern society brings new forms of stress but the goal has not really changed in over 2,000 years."

"The big difference between a monk and a robot is that we are going to die, while he will meet a lot of people and store a lot of information that will make it evolve to infinity".

© 2019 AFP