What can we learn from Jean-François Revel about sprituality?

Last Updated on January 13, 2025 by pg@petergamma.org

Jean-François Revel was a French philosopher and the father of Buddhist monk with a PhD in Cellular Genetics Matthieu Ricard.

Jean-François Revel neither believed in Marx nor Jesus:

And he wrote a book about it for which he became famous.

https://mobile.payot.ch/Detail/ni_marx_ni_jesus_de_la_seconde_revolution_americaine_a_la_seconde_revolution_mondiale-jean_francois_revel-9782221098882?fp=1

And there is also a book with Matthieu Ricard and Jean-François Revel

Revel, J: Monk and the Philosopher

https://www.orellfuessli.ch/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1003268490?ProvID=10917751&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAkJO8BhCGARIsAMkswyh-NUb1-upDIH8ReK9PMEI-Z9NytNJGQnip0wSuBzRcAYXcfNOLNNoaAlGKEALw_wcB

In this book Jean-François Revel said about spirituality

This neither have been proofen or disproofen.
It is difficult to proof or disproof.
We don t know.

These words of Jean-François Revel where very helpful to Peter Gamma from www.petergamma.org

and also apply to near death experiences:

Christians who believe in life after death & people who report about near death experiences: are these crazy people or people who believe in crazy people?

But does this mean that spirituality is without any substance? Certainly not. If so, would such teachings then have been transmitted over thousands of years?

Does it not only mean that spirituality as we know it today is not a subject which can be studied with scientific methods of today? And we where not able to give answers which are satisfying for scientists? Is and was spirituality not always something some people believed in, and others did not believe in it?