Guest guest Posted August 27, 2006 Report Share Posted August 27, 2006 do Buddhists and Advaitins reach the same state of enlightenment? Note, I am a Vaishnava and do not seek to merge into any oneness or voidness. But I am curious if the Buddhist and Advaitin masters reach the same state of consciousness? or is their samadhi of a different type respectively? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 27, 2006 Report Share Posted August 27, 2006 do Buddhists and Advaitins reach the same state of enlightenment? Note, I am a Vaishnava and do not seek to merge into any oneness or voidness. But I am curious if the Buddhist and Advaitin masters reach the same state of consciousness? or is their samadhi of a different type respectively? the samadhi at the end of every spiritual road is the same (so long as all those involved have actually reached a true moksha state (or nirvana-state or what have you) the path to that state is different for all. Some take buddhist path, others take the advaitic road, still others the vaishnavite road. Given that each path will lead some followers to the final perfect state of moksha, all are just differentw ays to gt to the same place. Such as taking different roadways to get to the same city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 27, 2006 Report Share Posted August 27, 2006 Vaishnavas believe in a glorious spiritual realm, called Vaikuntha, where devotees of the Lord, experience eternal bliss and fellowship with a Personal God. I know Buddhists don't believe or seek this when they speak about reaching Nirvana. They are atheists and voidists, and they think the ultimate reality is Emptiness. To them Nirvana is a state of non-dual awareness, where there is no perception of Self and no thought-waves at all. Vaishnavas believe the Ultimate reality is sat-chit-ananda, eternal being and full consciousness bliss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 do Buddhists and Advaitins reach the same state of enlightenment? Note, I am a Vaishnava and do not seek to merge into any oneness or voidness. But I am curious if the Buddhist and Advaitin masters reach the same state of consciousness? or is their samadhi of a different type respectively? Here are a couple of ideas from the Chandogya upanishad: 1. In the Infinite alone is Happiness... the Infinite is that in which one sees nothiing else, hears nothing else, knows nothing else... 2. Tatvamasi (That thou art) Granted that the Vaishnava schools may interpret along their lines, etc., if I am an Advaitin or Buddhist, I should be able to derive meaning along the lines that the ultimate state involves a complete letting go of individuality and the resulting Nirvana or Jnana may be called emptiness or fullness. However the letting go of individuality can also be seen as surrendering the ego in the Supreme; in the Advaitic context, the aftermath of such complete surrender is the Infinite beyond identification: we do not think of the state after surrender in terms of individual or jiva. If we are liberal, we also say that the Vaishnava schools such as Visishtadvaita (not just the Buddhists) also speak of the same Advaitic realization, although they characterize it from the standpoint of the individual: for such a devotee sees nothing but Krishna, no "i" but the "I" of Krishna. So the state of total surrender/final realization is the same although the "individual belonging" to a particular school characterizes it from their preferred standpoint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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