by John Wheeler
On May 6, 1991, John Wheeler of Ready Systems posted this concise comparative essay to soc.religion.eastern — one of the first moderated religious discussion groups on the internet. The post arrived in the middle of a lively thread on Madhyamika philosophy. Wheeler's argument — that Vedanta and Mahayana Buddhism, despite centuries of polemic, are essentially the same philosophy — cut against the grain of the thread and sparked immediate responses. He drew on six structural parallels: the role of ego-identification, the absence of any "I" in objective experience, the transcendence of conceptual thinking, the equation of Brahman with Buddha-nature, the identical attainments of masters in both traditions, and his own meditative experience. Short and quietly confident, it remains a lucid statement of the perennialist position.
I tried to post an article in response to the previous postings on Madhyamika philosophy, etc. Apparently it got lost in transmission. In the article I offered the opinion that in the final analysis Vedanta and Buddhism are very similar, if not identical, philosophies.
There are several reasons for my believing this.
1. In both philosophies the source of suffering is shown to be the concept of a separately existing ego or self.
2. They both show that nothing in the objectively perceivable universe of experience contains anything that can be called "I".
3. The practical application of the teaching involves the relinquishment of ego-based conceptual thinking (this has nothing to do with the "unfiltered" awareness mentioned in a previous posting, which is a common misinterpretation of Buddhist meditation).
4. The idea that the Self is the Absolute or Brahman as postulated by Vedantins is not only echoed in Mahayana Buddhism, it is the basic tenet of the teaching. For example, in the Ch'an school of Buddhism, which flourished for several centuries during the T'ang dynasty, the cardinal teaching was "Your Mind (Heart) is the Buddha." It is not unreasonable to assume the following two statements are the same:
Self = Brahman
Mind = Buddha
Which boils down to the idea that your true nature and the ultimate reality are the same — not-two.
5. Since masters of both schools have clearly demonstrated in their lives a complete transcendence of the cause of suffering — i.e., they have attained the identical state — their philosophies are most likely talking about the same thing. This implies that Nirvana and Self-realization are synonymous terms.
6. Based on my experience, the application of either of these teachings leads to the same meditative experience. Several enlightened sages of this century who have had acquaintance with these schools have supported the view that they are essentially the same.
Colophon
Written by John Wheeler (Ready Systems) and posted to soc.religion.eastern in May 1991. A concise statement of the perennialist position regarding Vedanta and Mahayana Buddhism, with particular attention to Ch'an doctrine of Buddha-nature and the parallel with Advaita Vedanta's Brahman. Preserved from the UTZOO Usenet archive (b218) for the Good Works Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: [email protected]
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