So, let's review what we know: These days almost nobody can read and understand the Sanskrit scriptures so it's a really good thing that somebody can elucidate what the ancients were talking about. According to what I've reaed, there is a close affinity between Advaita Vedanta and Yogacara Buddhism. This has been noted by many scholars and historians due to the fact that the BS (Brahma Sutras) seem to indicate that Badarayana may have been a pantheistic realist. This is certainly what Ramanuja and Madhva seemed to have believed - that a dualist or quasi-dualist (dwaita and/or vasisit-advaita) reading is possible from BS.
Are we agreed so far? According to Werner, "Their theory of Maya emerges from their belief in experiential reality of the absolute consciousness 'Brahman' (as emphasized in Upanishads), as opposed to Buddhist doctrine of emptiness, which emerges from the Buddhist approach of observing the nature of reality." The Upanishads were composed by transcendentalists, that is, the authors all believed in the existence of an Absolute, which was beyond or transcendental to, the world of the senses. According to what I've read, all the Upanishads were authored after the passing of the historical Buddha. Shankara taught that through direct knowledge one could realize Brahman. He taught that it was only through direct knowledge that one could realize Brahman. Vasabandhu taught that yoga is a direct knowledge experienced as emptiness - there is a co-dependency and non-origination. Werner says, "A perception of the fact that the object seen is a rope will remove the fear and sorrow which result from the illusory idea that it is a snake". Cited from Shankara's "Vivekachuudaamani" verse #12/a metaphor that was borrowed from Yogacara Buddhist thinkers, who used it in a different context." Works cited: 'The Yogi and the Mystic' Karel Werner Routledge, 1995, p. 67. 'Sankaracarya' by S. Vidyasankar http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/sankara.html On Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 7:31 AM, <emptyb...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > Yer so right. > > "Let's review what we know." > > Yep, there's nothing here to know and apparently you got nothing out of it. > > "Are we agreed so far?". > > Yep, we all agree - nothing here in the beginning, the middle or the end.. > >
