Jeremy-Similarities between Advaita & Taoism

[Guest guest]

Hi Jeremy,

 

In my explorations of Advaita Vedanta (both 'neo' and 'classical'),

Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism and (to a small extent) gnostic

Christianity, Tibetan Buddhism and Jainism...

 

I see far more similarities than differences. It's clear there's

only one " Awakening, " described somewhat differently in each of

these " systems " (even quite differently between various " teachers "

within each system).

 

A common " mistake " is to take the " philosophy " of these systems and

reject the " meat, " which is " Realization " or " Awakening. " Comparing

the philosophy to the underlying Reality is like comparing a candy

wrapper to the candy bar.

 

Another common mistake is to confuse the " descriptive " with

the " prescriptive. " These systems developed from the teachings and

writings of " Awakened people, " and so much of it is simply an attempt

(sometimes involving lousy translations between languages) to

describe " the state of being Awake, " yet is instead taken as a

prescription for action, seeking and doing -- or made into

a " philosophy " to be studied and debated.

 

Namaste,

 

Tim / Omkara

 

 

Nisargadatta, " Jeremy Frost " <frost@t...> wrote:

> The Path of Advaita Vedanta and philosophic Taoism seem to hold

many

> similarities. What are their differences? The only differences I

can think

> of are in Taoism all of creation comes from the Tao , where as in

Advaita

> all is the Self and external reality is seen as an illusion.

Taoism also

> holds fast to the importance of nature but Advaita sees the

external world

> as a distraction more than anything else. To those familiar with

both

> philosophies, can you think of any other similarities or

differences between

> them? In some respects, they seem so close they also seem related(

they

> aren't).

>

> Kind Regards,

> Jeremy