Is it time for Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains to draw closer together for the world's sake?

[Aupmanyav]

Is dualism a real appearance in the world? Is it only a seeming appearance?
Our main difference as Buddhists and Jains is our rejection of the Vedas, ..

The world is both real and unreal. In advaita, Sankaracharya opined two realities. Absolute (Parmarthika - final meaning) and Vyavaharika (Pragmatic - worldly perception). So, 'Samsara' is real if we do not go into philosophical details (Vyavaharika Satya). If we do that, then 'Samsara' does not exist (Parmarthika Satya). Dharma exists only in Vyavaharika. In Paramarthika, Brahman only exists.

As for Vedas, we need not worry about that. Hindus give no more than lip-service to Vedas. We do not have animal sacrifices now. In practice, what we do is puja and bhakti (devotion), something that Mahayana adopted from us. Jains have their own cosmology, but again, we are not differ in practice. We worship the deities, only a few of whom are mentioned in the Vedas. They were adopted during the Aryan/indigenous people integration - Rudra combining with Shiva, Vishnu combining with the regional Gods in India including Rama and Krishna, and Sarawati. Buddhist worship Buddha and various Bodhisattvas.

Buddha is worshiped among Hindus too as the ninth and the latest avatara of Lord Vishnu. You would hardly find a house without an idol of Buddha among the educated Hindus. Names of Buddha are given to millions of children (including my own son). So basically, there is no difference between Hinduism and Buddhism - the noble Eight-fold path is 'dharma' for a Hindu too. As for philosophies, there are many in Hinduism as well as Buddhism and Jainism. We have accepted existence of deities and soul as the people are still not enlightened / advanced enough to abandon these ideas as they were not in Buddha's time. That is why Buddha too talked about heaven, hell and rebirth, although his meaning was very different from the usual.

 

[ajay0]

These questions come before any categorization of orthodox and heterodox among Indian traditions of belief and thought. Our main difference as Buddhists and Jains is our rejection of the Vedas, but in most ways- our basic premises and the questions we're setting out to answer are not different.

It is not just rejection of Vedas, but Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism difer from Hinduism in terms of their rejection of caste system and belief in equality and fraternity of all human beings. There are Hindu sects like the Lingayats, Arya Samajis, and Prajapita Brahmakumaris who too establish the equality and fraternity of all human beings but they are minority sects at this point of time.

This is also one of the reasons for the high conversion rates of Hindus to Christianity, Buddhism and Islam in India then and now.

 

[SomeRandom]

What a wonderful welcome.

I think the intention was for you to avoid an official warning from the mods for posting here, not that you're not welcome.

 

[Buddha Dharma]

So, 'Samsara' is real if we do not go into philosophical details (Vyavaharika Satya). If we do that, then 'Samsara' does not exist (Parmarthika Satya). Dharma exists only in Vyavaharika. In Paramarthika, Brahman only exists.

I find this very interesting because it reminds me of things some Buddhist teachers have said, particularly in Zen- about the world of Samsara and Nirvana being the same, but difference being an appearance.

 

[Aupmanyav]

It is not just rejection of Vedas, but Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism differ from Hinduism in terms of their rejection of caste system and belief in equality and fraternity of all human beings.

Vedas do mention 'varna' but it is vastly different from jati (castes). Moreover, In advaita, any differentiation will not be allowed. That is why Sankara fell down at the feet of the Chandala.

 

[ajay0]

Vedas do mention 'varna' but it is vastly different from jati (castes). Moreover, In advaita, any differentiation will not be allowed. That is why Sankara fell down at the feet of the Chandala.

That is true. Theoretically vedic and advaitan philosophy does not endorse any distinction between human beings, but this is not reflected in practice, and which is what really counts.