From what I understand, Dr. Grandpierre is not dealing in analogy here. He means it when he says the Sun may be a living system -- not just a vast fusion reactor, not just "a luminous ball of gas." He argues that new conceptual research, new theoretical approaches are needed in our understanding of solar dynamics that have become feasible with the advent of helioseismology, space-based neutrino detectors and other new technical tools, plus theoretical work that has been done in information science, etc.
Natch, the jury's still out; but I will be following the science as it evolves, and see what develops.