Antiquity of Advaita Vedanta (was Re: An Open Letter to All)

[nanda chandran]

>Does it not lead to protagonists of Advaita charging that Advaitais
>nothing but Buddhism in disguise?

When even Advaitins find it difficult to understand the highly abstract
concept of MAyA, how can we expect those who do not even pursue the jnAna
mArga to understand it?

I only said that the end of both the schools is the same. Though not
absolutist even many of the other schools affirm that the end is infinite
peace. So are all the schools the same?

Technical philosophywise MAdhyamaka teaches only advaya which is
epistemological in nature and even this is approached from the standpoint of
anatta. While Advaita is outspokenly Advaita in ontology and approaches this
from the standpoint of the Atman. Even if there was borrowing, Advaita is
indebted to the Bauddhas only for their dialectic. In its philosophy, in its
approach, in its vision of the reality Advaita is Upanishadic.

But again how did the Bauddhas jump from the pluralistic realism of the
SarvAstivAdins and the stunted philosophy of the TheravAdins to the highly
sophisticated philosophy of advaya and VijnAptimAtratA? Not without
Upanishadic influence. Actually there're a few Bauddha writers who accuse
other Bauddhas of being "prachanna VedAntis" or "VedAntins in disguise"!
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