Sunday, November 16, 2014

Vedantism and Buddhism

It's tricky but is also interesting that "Absolute" is good in a Vedantic context but is bad in Buddhist context. Its meaning is totally opposite between Buddhism (separate self, independent-self, or ego) and Vedantism (Awareness, Whole Mind, Non-Being, Noumenon...etc). Words are different but the message is the same. 

Another interesting point is the difference in approach. Buddhism use the wisdom of Emptiness (absence of separate self, or interdependence, or dependent co-arising), or Middle Way to transcend the duality (pairs of opposites). On the other hand, Vedantism denies Body-mind (ego) as monism, so there is no duality from the beginning. 

The strength of Buddhism is that the wisdom of interdependence is proved scientifically by the general theory of relativity. And it is easier for ordinary people to understand that body-mind (separate self, or ego) and subconscious (non-separate self) are interdependent. Buddhists can accept both body-mind and subconscious by the wisdom of interdependence. Of course, there is a danger if Buddhists accept too much ego.
 
Kilauea volcano, Hawaii Photo by Leisure Escapes