Buddhism and the Self

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

> I'd like to make one last general comment about the conduct of this list.
> More than one list member seems to feel that Advaita-L should be confined
> to discussions of orthodox Hinduism rather than the wider interpretation of
> Advaita sometimes called the "perennial philosophy" or "primordial
> tradition". I know many members of this list prefer to think of Advaita as
> expressing the truth of all great spiritual systems of the world and not
> just Hinduism. If this wider view is not welcome here then perhaps we are
> on the wrong list.  Can anyone clarify this point?
>
> Sincerely,
>
>  -Allan Curry

I would like to point out that generic non-duality as "philosophia
perennis" and advaita vedAnta need not be the same always. Specifically,
advaita vedAnta comes with a tradition of textual exegesis of the vedic
corpus, and its own attitudes about what is revelation and how to handle
it as a source of valid knowledge. Other religions have very different
ways of handling their source texts. That is why when someone reinterprets
the Sermon on the Mount according to vedAntic principles, it is not
received well by Christian orthodoxy. However, lay Christians may find a
resonant chord in it.

That said, I think this list would benefit a lot if it were more
broad-based, with input from various lines of thought. However,
personally, I would like to see scholarly comparisons of the texts
accompany accounts of personal experiences. Thus, for example, an analysis
of Kashmir pratyabhijnA on its own merits, without subordinating it to
Sankaran vedAnta would be more informative than the other. Similarly with
Buddhist schools, especially with respect to the madhyamaka, yogAcAra and
vijnAnavAda schools. Another note of caution. It is quite tempting to read
some kind of non-duality into Ramanuja's thought, or even into Madhva's
school. However, this would not be acceptable to the followers of these
schools.

Vidyasankar

ps. Disagreeing with Sankara is not necessarily being disrespectful. Even
writers within the orthodox advaita vedAnta tradition find occassion to
disagree with him.