Thursday, January 24, 2008

Buddhism vs Vedanta

today it has become a fashion to call buddhists as rational and great people as if vedanta is irrational. the buddhists believe only in Pratyaksha &ANUMANA, while vedanta believes in PRATYAKSHAM ,PRAMEYA, ANUMANA, SABDA, ETC. Buddha taught that one should believe only ones perception through rational thinking. through rational thinking he came to a bizzare conclusion that neither god or soul exists and everything is momentary sensation and the truth is the untruth of these. Bhagavan Ramanuja reasons out that even to form a molecule , real atoms should exist an should combine , which requires that they be real and not momentary. Quantum physicists may say that every thing is in a state of flux and what we observe is due to the convergence of a probability equation which supports buddistic view . But if such is the case one must also explain where is the locus of energy and where are those probability rules hanging. if one says that energy changes itself as per the probabilistic law of nature to form compounds , then energy should be real . but buddhists would say energy is false and they can never explain the locus of the source of all these so called sunya. Vedanta Desika would have probably replied to the physicist that it might be that probalities decide shape and structure and apperance but this just proves pratyaksham is not absolute { because of improper prameya} but fallacious and here buddhism would tear off. So its better to believe in sabda than pratyaksham for pratyaksham may be fallacious due to tarka dosha, indriya dhosha, kala dosha etc. vedanta gives high importance to this pramana but also recognises its defects . he definitely would not have agreed that probabilities shape things , stating that its cause is still not represented and only the method is represented and its an incomplete darshana.
the concept of nirvana leading to sunya is not only suicidal for life but also for its own philosophy .
sunyatha cannot explain why there is dhuka, moha, karma , etc as cited by buddhists . to paraphrase Vedanta Desika from his Shata Dushini, "if there is nothing to see and nothing is the truth why ponder to make a philosophical speculation."
Adi shankara built a rock solid theory of an ignorant Brahmam which is the ultimate reality. this brahmam cannot be disproved for it has no features and similar to shunya which just exists and cannot be proved for there is none apart from it to have the proof . Shankara probably intrepreted vedanta in this manner to shut the mouth of buddists , who eventually lost and ran outside india.