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Enlightenment: Buddhism Vis-Ã -Vis Hinduism Acharya Mahayogi Sridhar Rana Rinpoche It must be understood that Hinduism and Buddhism have shared the same culture for the last 2500 years, which means they’ve also shared common language/s (Sanskrit or Pali). Because of this historical situation, there are many words that are used commonly in both traditions. This has led many scholars, especially Hindu scholars, to think that words and symbols mean exactly the same thing in both the traditions. By extending this thinking, they arrive at the wrong conclusion, mainly that Buddhism is another form, or revision, or reformation of Hinduism. First of all, it is wrong to say that Buddhism is either a branch or a formation of Hinduism. Buddhism is actually a paradigm shift from not only Hinduism but also from all other religious systems. Secondly, words used commonly in both Hinduism and Buddhism do not mean the same thing. In fact, very often they mean almost the opposite, and certainly at all times they point at two different paradigms. I would like to elucidate some of these points that will affect the meaning in the two systems directly or indirectly. First of all, in the Hindu context, we always find the theory that if illusion is removed, Brahman will reveal. Thus, samsara is illusion and Brahman is the only thing behind samsara, or is the base of the samsara, that truly exists. Only when the illusion-samsara vanishes, the Non-dual Brahman manifests. However, in the Buddhist context, illusion is not removed but rather seen as knowledge itself - or is transformed into knowledge. And this knowledge is not something that is the support or base of samsara. It is the knowledge of the true mode of existence of samsara itself. And furthermore, samsara is not an illusion which will vanish and only the Brahman will remain. In Buddhism, samsara is interdependently arisen (pratityasamutpann), like all illusions. So it is only like an illusion and cannot end. What ends is the wrong experience of experiencing it as really existing (skt. svabhava siddha). The knowledge (Gyana), that is synonymous with liberation, is not of an eternal, unchanging Brahman beyond samsara, but rather of the true mode of existence of samsara itself. Difference between Advaya and Advaita Although both experiences are called non-dual, here too, they mean two different things. Non-dual (advaita) in the Hindu context means non- existence of the second (divitiyam nasti). There is no second substance except the Brahman; it is the only thing that exists. This should be called Monism rather than Non-dualism. The phrase 'eka vastu vada' (one thingism) would be close to 'advaita'.

Hindu vs. Buddhist Philosophy

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by Acharya Mahayogi Sridhar Rana RinpocheIt must be understood that Hinduism and Buddhism have shared the same culture for the last 2500 years, which means they’ve also shared common language/s (Sanskrit or Pali). Because of this historical situation, there are many words that are used commonly in both traditions. This has led many scholars, especially Hindu scholars, to think that words and symbols mean exactly the same thing in both the traditions. By extending this thinking, they arrive at the wrong conclusion, mainly that Buddhism is another form, or revision, or reformation of Hinduism.

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  • Enlightenment: Buddhism Vis--Vis HinduismAcharya Mahayogi Sridhar Rana Rinpoche

    It must be understood that Hinduism and Buddhism have shared the same culture for the last 2500 years, which means theyve also shared common language/s (Sanskrit or Pali). Because of this historical situation, there are many words that are used commonly in both traditions. This has led many scholars, especially Hindu scholars, to think that words and symbols mean exactly the same thing in both the traditions. By extending this thinking, they arrive at the wrong conclusion, mainly that Buddhism is another form, or revision, or reformation of Hinduism.First of all, it is wrong to say that Buddhism is either a branch or a formation of Hinduism. Buddhism is actually a paradigm shift from not only Hinduism but also from all other religious systems. Secondly, words used commonly in both Hinduism and Buddhism do not mean the same thing. In fact, very often they mean almost the opposite, and certainly at all times they point at two different paradigms.I would like to elucidate some of these points that will affect the meaning in the two systems directly or indirectly.First of all, in the Hindu context, we always find the theory that if illusion is removed, Brahman will reveal. Thus, samsara is illusion and Brahman is the only thing behind samsara, or is the base of the samsara, that truly exists. Only when the illusion-samsara vanishes, the Non-dual Brahman manifests.However, in the Buddhist context, illusion is not removed but rather seen as knowledge itself - or is transformed into knowledge. And this knowledge is not something that is the support or base of samsara. It is the knowledge of the true mode of existence of samsara itself. And furthermore, samsara is not an illusion which will vanish and only the Brahman will remain. In Buddhism, samsara is interdependently arisen (pratityasamutpann), like all illusions. So it is only like an illusion and cannot end. What ends is the wrong experience of experiencing it as really existing (skt. svabhava siddha). The knowledge (Gyana), that is synonymous with liberation, is not of an eternal, unchanging Brahman beyond samsara, but rather of the true mode of existence of samsara itself.Difference between Advaya and AdvaitaAlthough both experiences are called non-dual, here too, they mean two different things. Non-dual (advaita) in the Hindu context means non-existence of the second (divitiyam nasti). There is no second substance except the Brahman; it is the only thing that exists. This should be called Monism rather than Non-dualism. The phrase 'eka vastu vada' (one thingism) would be close to 'advaita'.However, Buddhism usually uses 'advaya' (only sometimes is advaita used). Here, it means 'not two', i.e. free from the two extremes (skt. dvaya anta mukta) - of samaropa (the tendency to see things as really existing) and apavada (the tendency to see things as non-existing) - which include the existence of the grasper and the grasped (grahaka and grahya) too. Advaya is not of a thing (the one and only thing) like Brahma but a description of the form of samsara. That is why the samsara that is like an illusion transforms into Advaya Gyana in Buddhism. In Hinduism, the illusory samsara vanishes and the true eternal, unchanging Brahman dawns. That is why Buddhist Gampopa says, "May illusion dawn as wisdom..."There are two traditions of explaining 'advaya' in Buddhism. One is called the Vast Lineage (skt. Vaipulay parampara) of Asanga-Vasubandyhu. This is based on the 'Five Works' of Maitreya that emphasizes subject-object (skt. grahaka-grahya) duality. But unlike the various forms of Vedanta, they neither merge into one whole, nor does the grasper (subject) vanishes, and the illusion and only the eternal grasper remains. Here, they are found to be untenable from the very beginning. What remains is emptiness. This system had many great teachers like Dingnaga-Dharmakirti.The second lineage, called the Profound Lineage (skt. gambhira parampara), started with Nagarajuna, and was passed down through famous teachers such as Aryadeva, Buddhapalita, Bhavaviveka, Chandrakirti, Shantideva and Atisha. Other famous teachers, like Shantarakshita and Kamakashila, gave synthetic interpretations of 'advaya' using both traditions.Any Buddhist hermeneutics must be based on one of these hermeneutics or their various branches like Sakara Yogachara, Nirakara Yogachara, Yogachara, Sautrantic Madhyamik, Prasangic Madhyamika, and Svatantric Madhyamika, etc. Just because one understands Sanskrit or Tibetan, one cannot interpret the Sastras (texts) as one likes, giving straightforward meanings to them. Any interpretation must belong to, or be in conformity with one of these hermeneutical methodologies. Otherwise, it becomes one's own private idea of what these texts are teaching. That is why many Hindu scholars have misinterpreted the Buddhist texts and claimed that they are teaching the same thing found in the Hindu texts. But it is even more unfortunate that even so-called Buddhist scholars or those who are favorable to Buddhism, have not studied under any lineage masters belonging to any of the above hermeneutics, and have interpreted the texts simply on the basis of understanding the Sanskrit language. Such interpretations are personal ideas and not true Buddhist hermeneutics, and if analyzed, one will find many contradiction and inconsistencies.There are some who say that they are meditators and they are not interested in such theories. Some say such theories are only intellectual pleasures, and others say that the lineage of meditation and the lineage of text studies have no relationship. Such statements prove that such so-called Buddhist teachers are only half-baked. First of all, I would like to remind them that Asanga, Vasubandhu, Nagarjuna, Chandrakirti, Shantideve, and Atisha were all great meditators and they are considered among the greatest Buddhist masters in history. Such masters believed that it is necessary to acquire the correct philosophies to be able to truly practice the Buddhist meditation properly. Of course, H.E. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche said that this correct view could be presented in the form of a simple pith instruction from a qualified master, instead of an elaborate and detailed study of the religious texts. But one must still listen, think, discuss, and finally understand clearly the importance of the pith instruction, which is the same thing elaborated in the texts. So, to say that to meditate one does not need to study at all is utter nonsense. It is only after understanding the view correctly that correct Buddhist mediation can take place. Otherwise, there would be no difference between Hindu, Sufi, Christian, Tao, and Buddhist meditations. Some Newar Vajracharyas think that just taking the initiation of Cakrasamvhara, chanting its mantras, performing channel and chakra practice (nadi-chakra yoga) related to it is enough and there is no need to study. If that was so, why does the Hevajra Tantra, etc., say very clearly that one must study first the Vaibhasika, then the Sautrantic, then the Yogachara, and then the Madhyamika, then only be initiated? Secondly, if doing just Nadivayu-tilak yog would lead to Mahamudra accomplishments, then thousands of Hindu masters, who practice Kundalini Yoga, would achieve Buddhahood. Such thinking completely contradicts the very basic concept found in Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Meditation progresses from wisdom gained through hearing (Srutamayi), to wisdom gained through contemplation (Cintamayi), to wisdom gained through meditation (Bhavanamayai). How can there be hearing and contemplation without a valid study of valid religious texts?Notice when I say valid study. Valid study means study with valid lineage teachers, not just somebody who knows Sanskrit or Tibetan and happens to be a lama or Vajracharya by caste, as is found among Tamangs and Newars. Valid lineage Masters teach according to historically accepted Buddhist hermeneutics and do not give their own personal self-contradictory interpretations. Such a Master has studied with someone who belongs to one or more of these hermeneutical lineages. Such a study is not merely intellectually entertainment but is also a proper base for acquiring wisdom gained through listening and contemplation, and this creates an understanding of the correct view. This is the proper foundation for proper Buddhist meditation, i.e. the third wisdom gained through meditation. Simply doing 'nadi-vayu-tilak yoga' without such a base is the same as doing Hindu meditation, even if it is part of Hevajra, or Cakrasamvara, or Vajrabhairava, or Kalacakra practice.It is true that there are different lineages to study and meditate, but to say that the two are not interrelated, is simply showing ignorance.Tathagatagarbha

    Now, I would like to deal with the concept of Sugatagarbha, or Tathagatagarbha, or Dharmadhatu, or Dharmakaya. Many Hindu scholars think that these words prove that Buddhism is basically speaking about Hindu Brahman. If one studies the Ratnagotravibhaga, and the Srimala Sutra, it is easy to see that they make it very clear that Sugatagarbha and Sunyata (emptiness) are cognate words. Sunyata is the mode of existence of all phenomena, including the mind, which knows this; whereas Brahman is a separate entity altogether from all phenomena. Brahman is something that truly exists (absolutely existing / Parmartha Satta). Sunyata is not a thing or a Super Thing but the mode of existence of all things. Therefore, it is nonsense to speak of it as knowable epistemologically but not as a thing ontologically except interdependently. The Brahman, according to Hinduism, is not existing interdependently, but truly existing the one and only truly existing substance. The Brahman is svabhavasiddha (inherent), whereas Sunyata is nisvabhavata (non-inherent); the Brahman is svalaksana siddha, whereas Sunyata is a Laksanata. The Brahman is Paramartha satta (ultimate existence), whereas Sunyata is the unfindability of such a parmartha satta anywhere.Since the Ratnagotra makes it clear that sugatagarbha is just a cognate word for emptiness (Sunyata), Sugatagarbha and Brahman cannot be the same. The confusion is often created by the statement that the Sugatagarbha or the Buddha nature exists in all sentient beings. The word 'exists' is the perpetrator of confusion here. The exists is only for conventional usage, or giving way to conventional usage. Without its use here, one cannot express the fact that this is the mode of abiding of the true nature of mind of all sentient beings. Exists here is a synonym of is the mode of abiding, so exists here does not mean abide (skt. sthita) but rather non abidingness (skt. asthita). This is the mode of abiding, or the sugatagarbha present in all sentient beings. Even in the last sentence, the word present can create the same confusion. Present here would mean presence of the absence of self-existingness or self-characteristicness, etc. What is positively named Sugatagarbha is that it is said to exist in all sentient beings. This exists is qualitative rather than existential. It is also more epistemological, whereas the Brahman is more ontologically truly existing. The Brahman is not non-abiding but rather kutastha, which mean self-abiding.I have already elaborated the differences of Sunyata Sugatagarbha and Brahman in my article in the Buddhist Himalaya, Vol. VI, 1994-95. The word Samantabhadra used in the DzogChen tradition can often mislead people to believe that Samantabhadra is some kind of a god in this system. However, there is no God in any form of Buddhism. Great Buddhist Masters like Nagarjuna, Odiana Acharya, Kalyana Rakshita, etc., have written books proving that such beliefs are only for children. So Samantabhadra cannot be some substitute for God. Samantabhadra is a poetic, metaphoric expression for the enlightened state, i.e. the Sugatagarbha all sentient beings already possess. This is the way things really are, the way things really exist from the very beginning. However, it is called primordial enlightenment, because this state is always there and never was not. We, sentient beings, have apparently wandered from the knowledge, which is already there as our true mode of existence. Therefore, we have to be re-enlightened, i.e. come to recognize the primordial enlightened state already present in us, and through practice become established in it.Buddhism does not believe, and this applies to the DzogChen, which is considered relatively quicker or sudden path, that simply because Samantabhadra - the primordial enlightenment already present in us from the beginning - we can just recognize that fact and become enlightened. We have to become re-enlightened because we have already wandered off the path and need to be re-enlightened. One needs to remove the cause of our wandering. The cause is ignorance. Ignorance is basically cognitive but includes the conditioning produced by the cognitive mistake. These conditionings validate further the mis-cognition, which further produces more conditioning. Conditioning has two forms: conceptual defilements (kleshavarana) and emotional defilements (jeyavarana). Therefore, to have correct cognition, i.e. true recognition of Samantabhadra, requires clearing off of the conditionings to some extent. Since cognition itself is moulded by these conditionings, true recognition cannot take place unless the hold of the conditionings has been relaxed to some extent; but even this recognition can only become a pin-prick opening, which will naturally be conditioned by the still extant conditionings. So it is only through years of clearing off the conditionings, through accumulation of merit (skt: punya sambhara), and having glimpses of the true nature over and over again through accumulation of knowledge (janasambhara) that one is finally re-established in the state of re-enlightenment. Just recognizing one's true unconditioned state is not re-enlightenment. This is the major difference between the teachings of DzogChen and those of Punja Svami, Ramana Maharshi, Adrew Cohen, Krishnamurti, Nisargadutta Maharaja, and Sadyo Vedantic Systems like Astavakra Gita, Jivan Mukta Gita, etc. They believe that just recognizing one's true nature is primordially unconditioned enough to free a man. As we have seen earlier, no form of Buddhism agrees with that concept. The glimpse is only of the seed of enlightenment and is not the full enlightenment, or the enlightened state itself. There is a difference in the Tathagatagharbha and the Tathagata himself. But there is another difference too. What they call the unconditioned is the Atman as found in the texts of Hinduism. What the DzogChen of the Nyingma, the Mahamudra of Kagyu, and Lamdre of Sakya, the texts of the Profound and Vast tradition call the unconditioned, is the Tathagatagharbha, Samantabhadra, Emptiness, Nisvabhavata, Anatma. As we have seen, these are diametrically opposed paradigms.There are, however, two schools, some Nyingma and Kagyu schools, based in the Vast Lineage (skt. vaipulya) of Asanga, which interpret Tathagatagarbha as being present in full form (not as a seed), but the veils covering it is gradually unveiled through practice. Some Sakyapas based in the Profound tradition of Nagarjuna, however, interpret it only in seed form, and it has to be developed into its full form through practice.So what can be said in the Buddhist language is that people like Ramana Masharshi and Krishnamurti have only the base but no path related to that base, therefore, logically no fruit too. Many of these teachers teach about an indifferent state, i.e. choice-less, to be the base, or the enlightened state. It must be understood very clearly that this is not the state of Mahamudra or DzogChen. Choice-less Awareness (as taught in the Shiva Sutras and in the Kashmiri Shaiva school), to any form of Buddhism is such a state of ignorance (skt. moha) and not an enlightened state. Being indifferent and untouched by pain, happiness, anger, attachment, and remaining in a king of Choice-less Awareness is not DzongChen or Mahamudra, although, they may sound very close to each other. Such a state is a state of ignorance or delusion. DzogChen or Mahamudra is free from not only attachment or aversion but also from the choice-less state.That is why the Mahapandita and Siddha of the Sakya lineage, Sakya Pandit, warned, Everybody speaks about MahamudraMahamudra, but if one has not properly understood or experienced them with the help of a genuine lineage Master, such a state (indifferent, choice-less state of awareness) is a sure way to reborn as an animal.It is also not a question of merely eschewing all conceptuality and just remaining in a non-conceptual state. When non-conceptuality is used in the context of Dzogchen or Mahamudra, it is the Yogi pratyaksa, the unity of Sunyata Prabhasvara, in which Sunyatra Prabhasvara and the consciousness become one, like water poured into water.This is the Tathagatagarbha, which is very different from the non-conceptual experience of a choice-less awareness, or a Brahman or Parasamvit. Many so-called teachers are confused by the word non-conceptual. When describing their experience, they believe everything must be the same, without realizing that there are many kinds of non-conceptual states. Perhaps things get clearer if one understands that in the Buddhist context, non-conceptual is synonymous with pratyaksa- especially Yogi pratyaksa - and it is always an experience of something which becomes non-dualistically one with the experiencing consciousness. So it is not just a non-conceptual state that Buddhist traditions are talking about; but a particular type of non-conceptual experience of emptiness or the Tathagatagarbha (skt. avikapla or nisprapanca).Concept of TrikayaI would now like to take up the concept of Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya. One way of looking at it is Daharmakaya is Emptiness, Rupakaya (Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya) is interdependent origination (pratityasamtpada). We can divide all the three doors of body, speech and mind (skt. kaya, vak, citta) into the three Kayas. A very god metaphor is the crystal ball. The crystal ball is colourless representing emptiness. Even though it is colourless by itself, it has the capacity to reflect all the seven colours, if the right causes and conditions are present. This capacity is the capacity of emptiness to appear as interdependent origination. This is the Sambhogakaya, and if the right causes and conditions appear, i.e. if a torch light is flashed into the crystal ball, multi-coloured light will project out of it and appear on the wall. This is the actual appearance of the empty Samsara. This is called Nirmanakaya.It is of utmost importance to understand these three Kayas to fully comprehend what Enlightenment means in Mahayana-Vajrayana Buddhism. We find Enlightenment used in Hinduism and also by teachers such as Punja Svami, Andrew Cohen, Nisargadutta, J. Krishnamurti, and U.G. Krishnamurti, but they do not mean the same Enlightenment as the Enlightenment of Buddhism. In Mahayana Buddhism, Enlightenment means full realization and anything else is an inferior state. The popular Hindu definition of Enlightenment is Mukti, which means taking no more birth in samsara. This definition is also found in Mahayana and Theravada. Because of this, many people confused the Buddhist Enlightenment with Hindu Mukti. Mukti is no returning to samsara anymore. It is not enlightenment. In Buddhist Mukti, a person who attains it goes to one of the pure realms like Sukhavati, etc. This is achieved through Theravada and some Mahayana practices. He is not born again in this world until he becomes enlightened. But Enlightenment means that he has realized total reality as it is (skt. Yathabhuta), which means he has actualized all the three Kayas. Actualizing the three Kayas means attaining the three Vajra Kayas. Dharmakaya is the realization of emptiness (anatma / non-self), and there is no birth and death anymore after it, because there never was one who had taken birth. It is not destruction of some really existing Self. It is the realization that from the beginning, there never was any Self. This means there never was anyone who took birth from the very beginning. However, true and in-depth realization of Dharmakaya also leads to the realization of Rupakaya. Just as true realization of emptiness also entails true realization of interdependent origination (pratityasamutpada). Therefore, even though there is no birth, through the proper causes and conditions of compassion, etc., Nirmanakaya emanates continuously to help all sentient beings. It is this Nirmanakaya which is wrongly called Incarnated Lama by Nepalese Buddhists, due to the influence of Hinduism. But technically, they are not incarnations but emanations. Nirmanakayas are not personalities born again but rather emanated (skt. nirmita) from causes and conditions due to the innate capacity of Dharmakaya. This innate capacity is Sambhogakaya. A personality if reborn can be only one. Nirmanakayas can be infinite.Only such a person, who although is never born, emanates continuous emanations for the sake of sentient beings. The person has realised Totality, and only such a person is enlightened. People who have not manifested such capacities are merely conceptually enlightened not truly enlightened.This is the meaning of the statement made by the Eight Karmapa when he was born. He had turned around to his mother and stated, I am the unborn Karmapa. The unborn is the empty Dharmakaya. However, the apparently born Karmapa, who made this statement, is the Nirmanakaya of this very unborn empty Dharmakaya. If you have understood Madhyamika well and understood that interdependent origination itself is un-produced (skt. anutpada), then youll realize there is no contradiction.Sambhogakaya is the capacity of the unborn empty Dharmakaya nature of Enlightenment. It consists of all the qualities like omniscience, etc.If a person does not possess these qualities, he has not manifested Sambhogakaya. Therefore, he has not truly manifested the Dharmakaya, which according to Mahayana Buddhism is not truly enlightened.There are many such Masters around, especially coming from Hindu backgrounds, who later claim to be Buddhist masters but they have no realization of the Three Kayas. Such people cannot be considered as enlightened Buddhist Masters. Some of them do not even have the faintest idea what three Kayas are about. Those who want to practice Buddhist practices and attain Buddhist Enlightenment must be sensitive to these issues. They must not get confused by sweet talks and oratory skills.There are many degrees of Enlightenment in Buddhism. That is the significance of the concept of the Ten Stages (skt. dasha bhumi). A person who is in the First Stage is already Enlightened and they are very different from an unenlightened person. This person already has begun to manifest the Three Kayas to some extent. The actualization deepens as he moves to the Second Stage, the Third Stage, and so on until the Seventh Stage. The First to the Seventh Stage are still considered impure. It is only from the Eighth onwards that the Nirmanakaya begins to manifest more visibly. From the Eight to the Tenth are the pure Stages. It is said that many gods (devas) who have taken refuge in Buddhism and have practiced according to Buddhist texts, are found between the First and the Seventh Stages; but only Masters are found from the Eight upwards. It is only when a person crosses over the Tenth Stage to the No-Learning stage (skt. asaiksapada), or the state of Vajradhara according to Tantra, that the person is fully Enlightened. Often in Tantra, we find thirteen Stages instead of ten, but again, this is only a question of categories which can be classified in many ways.But, even a person who achieves the state of Vajradhara is still only what is called a Mind Buddha. This means his mind is the mind of full Buddha, like that of the Buddha Shakyamuni. His body, however, still does not possess the 32 superior and 80 secondary marks present in the body of Buddha Shakyamuni. So, although, he can be called a Buddha and there is no difference between his mind and the mind of the Buddha Shakyamuni, or any other Buddha, he has not perfected the Rupakaya yet. It is only after collecting vast amounts of merit, by emanating countless emanations, for the benefit of others, that he will also achieve the perfect Nirmanakaya, like Buddhas Shakymuni, Krakuchchanda, Kashyapa, etc.It is said that it took three uncountable eons (asamkhya kalpa) for Shakyamuni to collect enough merit to have the perfect Nirmanakaya. According to the Tantra, if the Sambhogakaya is developed using the Tantra methods, countless emanations can be sent to collect merit. This can be achieved much quicker and at faster rate than by following the Sutra system or method that the Buddha Shakyamuni used.If you understand the Buddhist Enlightenment correctly, based on what has been said, one begins to realize that ordinary people, nowadays, who have no such qualities and claim to be enlightened Masters, are like clowns sitting on the thrones of emperors caricaturing an emperor. However, people have the freedom the define Enlightenment in other ways; but in such a case, it is not the Enlightenment of Buddhism, especially Mahayana-Vajrayana.People like Milarepa, Longchempa, Marpa, Sakya Pandita of Tibet; Surata Vajra, Humkara Vajrea, Sasvat Vajra, Vak Vajra, Jamuna Gubhaju of Nepal; Naropada, Tillipada, Virupada, Nagarjuna, Atisha of India of the Vajrayana tradition; and Linchi, Hogen, Sungsan, to San Unmen of China; Dogen, Haquin Banke of Japan achieved at least one of the higher Stages, if not the Mind of the Buddhas.All of them manifested the display of Sambhogakaya throughout their lives, and especially during death. The death process of an Enlightened being is a very special occasion, and one can gauge his depth of realization. If he is Enlightened, there is no doubt that Sambhogakaya will manifest during and after his death. Some of the many manifestations are: rainbows appearing in the sky or around the house of the dead body, the body shrinking to the size of a 8 to16 year old, or in very advanced cases, the body either vanishing or transforming into light. Mantras and statues of deities engraved in their bones, special forms like stupas, etc., are also found in the ashes. Earthquakes, storms, animals, and birds beings disturbed, some parts of the body remaining intact after cremation are some others manifestations. There have been many well known Masters who have claimed to be Buddhas or Enlightened in the past whose death showed absolutely no manifestations. Such people cannot be considered enlightened in the Buddhist sense. As Karme Chagmed put it, the corpse of an ordinary man is the bed of a great Scholar MasterFaith and DevotionThere is no god in Buddhism. Devotions found in Mahayana-Vajrayana are not the same as that of the devotional cults of Hinduism. First of all, a person in Vajrayana shows great devotion towards their Guru. This is because a Guru plays a very special role in Vajrayana. In Theravada and Mahayana, a Guru is only a Kalyanamitra, i.e. some body that points the way. In Vajrayana, a Guru is also the way itself. This second role, teaching the way, is more important role of a Guru in Vajrayana. The Guru is the State of Enlightenment. But unlike Sutrayana, which is a cause-vehicle, he is not just a representative of the goal; he is used as the path itself.Vajrayana is also called effect-vehicle (skt. phalayana). It uses the effect in the path, instead of creating causes and conditions (skt. hetu-pratyaya), as in the cause vehicle to attain the effect one day. Since the Guru is the Enlightened state (he beings enlightened), he is used as the Path. He reflects ones own true nature and all of ones defilements (skt. Klesha) and obstructions (skt. avaranas). It is when one truly sees the Guru as primordially pure that one recognizes ones own primordial purity, and also sees the Guru was always one's own primordially pure Sugatagarbha.Therefore, devotion here is dedication and devotion to the path. It is devotion, faith, and dedication towards ones own Sugatagarbha. That is why in Tantra, a Guru who gives you initiations is not an individual but a Buddha. More accurately, he is ones own Buddha Nature, reflected in the personality of the initiation giver. This is very important for the path of Tantra, which uses the principle of effect-vehicle (using the fruit itself in the path to make the path quicker). Devotion is, there, to ones own Buddha Nature. That is why the first samaya (law, rule, bond) is to see the Guru as the Buddha, no matter through what kind of personality it may crystallize. And that is also why one must be very careful to make sure that the Guru is genuine.A genuine Guru in Vajrayana does not depend on how his personality is because most of the personality we see in him are our own characteristics we see reflected on him. We have to use this as our path. A genuine Master is someone who has received instructions from a genuine lineage teacher, belonging to pure, unbroken, realized lineage. Such lineages are not decided by caste or family, although families can preserve such lineages. Such a lineage must produce enlightened and learned masters in every generation. Then, only can it be considered as a pure and unbroken enlightened lineage.After having received all the theoretical and practical instructions from such a lineage master, he himself must have practiced those teachings and experienced them in his own mental continuum. He must also be certified by his own masters as a teacher, or as an Acharya, or a Vajracharya, or a Vidyadhara. Only such a Master, no matter how his personality is, can be considered worthy of being called a Master in Vajrayana.It is not necessary in Vajrayana Buddhism to have only one master. This concept of one guru only is a Hindu concept and not a Buddhist one. But I have found most Newars have only one master. This is a Hindu influence and such a concept is not found in true Buddhism. If we study the life stories of all the Indian, Nepalese, and Tibetan masters, we find that the majority of them had many masters. Some of them even had up to 300 masters. It is also a wrong and narrow minded thinking to think if you have a Nyingma master, you should not have a Sakya master at the same time. Nyingma and Sakya are names found only in Tibet. If you study the history of the lineages, you find the same Indian or Nepalese Masters taught both Marpa Lotsawa, the founder of the Kagyupa, and Drogmi Lotsawa, the founder of the Sakya lineages. To Phamthingpa or Humkara Vajra, Guru Padmasambhava or Bharo Bajracharya, Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya or Gelug had no meaning.

    Madhyamika Buddhism vis--vis Hindu Vedanta (A Paradigm Shift)Acharya Mahayogi Sridhar Rana RinpocheMany famous Hindu Indian scholars like Radha Krishnan, Svami Vivekananda and Nepalese scholars like Mr. Chudanath Bhattarai, Svami Prapannacharya have written that Buddhism is a reaction, a reformation of Hinduism. The Buddha tried to reform some of the malpractice within Hinduism. That is all. He never wanted to create a new religion. In short, according to these scholars, Buddhism is correct Hinduism without any malpractice and evils and what is called Hinduism is the malpractice and distorted form of the vedas. There are three problems with this interpretation of the Buddha's teaching. One is that if these authors really believe that the Buddha came to reform evils, malpractice and wrong interpretation of the vedas then why are they themselves still following these evils and malpractice and not practicing the Buddha's teachings, the reformed form of the Vedas? Hoe warped and distorted are the minds of people who with one breath proclaim the Buddha as the great reformer of Hinduism and then turn around and call Buddhism (what Buddha taught) wrong. Some of these scholars have even gone to the extent of claiming that although the Buddha actually only wanted to reform the Vedas, his disciples misunderstood him and created a new religion. How illogical to believe that Buddha's own disciples did not understand him whereas Hindu Svami's and Panditas 2000 years later really do understand the Buddha's message. The second problem with this interpretation is that it implies that Buddha was a Hindu. Simply because Suddhodana was a king and therefore called a Ksatriya is absolutely no proof that he was a he was a Hindu. If the Buddha was really a Hindu why did he not call himself the great Brahmin or Mahabrahman like the great ksatriya Vishvamitra.? It is strange to call Buddha a proponent of Brahmanism when he called himself the great sramana or Mahasramana. Although a lot of research remains to be done about Sramanism. it can certainly be said that a Sramana is not a Sramanism is itself as old as Brahmanism. Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, also called himself a Sramana. If Buddha was merely reforming the Vedas, why did not call himself a Neo-vedic, Neo-Brahman or true Brahman i. e. Mahabrahmana? Why did he call himself a Mahasramana?

    I would like to ask those scholars and their followers these questions. Nowhere in the Hindu Shastras are Sraman considered as part of the vedic fold. And the Buddha called himself a Mahasramana. It was the custom of India from ancient times to call kings Ksatriyas be they of the Sramana or Brahmana group. And even if Suddhodana was of the Brahmin school) of which there is absolutely no proof), the Buddha certainly did not seem to have taken after Brahmanism but rather after Sramanism. Sramanism cannot be called Brahmanism by any historical standard. The third problem is that the teachings found in Buddhism do not on any way appear as a reformation of Hinduism. Any one who was studied Buddhism (If I am not talking about prejudiced Hindu oriented scholars) can see that there is a major paradigm shift between Hinduism and Buddhism, in fact, between all other religious systems and Buddhism. A paradigm shift cannot and should not be misconstrued as a reform. Reforms are changes brought about within the same paradigm. Paradigm shifts are changes in the very foundations. The very basics are completely different. In such cases, it is completely confused thinking to state that one paradigm is a reformation of another paradigm. So Sramanism is a system of religious based on a completely different paradigm than Hinduism and as such it would be gross error to say Buddhism is a reformation of Vedic Hinduism. It is not a reformation, but a shift in paradigm. Even if the Vedic paradigm was the older, they are still different paradigms. But it is even questionable whether the Vedic paradigm is really older than the Sramana paradigm. After all, although Buddhism begin with Shakyamuni, Sramanism is much older, and according to the findings of the Indus valley civilization, was in the Indian sub- continent even before Brahmanism.

    It is the purpose of this paper to show how Brahmanism and Buddhism are built on two totally different paradigms even though they share the same language. It is this sharing of the same language that has fooled most scholars, especially Hindu biased scholars who have therefore failed to be sensitive to the fact that these are two completely different paradigms with very little in common except the same cultural background, and their language, metaphor, analogy, and words. But as we shall see, the same analogies etc. express two different conceptual structures (paradigms). When we compare the Advaita Vedanta, especially as interpreted by Shankara and Madhyamika, whether be it the Svatantric from of Bhabya or Prasangic form of Candrakirti, the sharing of the same language, culture and analogies while talking about two different paradigms becomes obvious. Because of the use of the same language structure (be it Pali or Sanskrit) and the same analogies to express two different paradigms many Vedantins or scholars of Buddhism with Vedantic backgrounds have been fooled into thinking Buddhist Madhyamika is a re-interpretation of Hindu Vedanta. Many think Buddhism is the negative way to the same goal (via negativa) and Hindu Vedanta the positive way ( positiva). One uses negation and the other affirmation but the Shunyata of Buddhism is a negative way of talking about the Brahman of the Vadanta. The issue here is not via negative or via positive at all but rather two different paradigms, or two different goals based on two different paradigms, or two diametrically opposed answers to the burning issue of mankind developed out of diametrically opposed paradigms. In fact, the Buddha, after long years of Brahmanic as well as Sramanic meditation, found the concept of Brahma (an ultimately real, unchanging, eternal substratum to this ephemeral transient world) not only inadequate to solve the basic issue of humanity- i. e. sorrow (dukha) and questioned the very existence of such an eternal substratum; but also declared that a search for such an imagined (Skt. Parikalpita Atman) Brahman was a form of escapism and therefore not really spiritual but spiritual materialism.

    Since the concept of Brahman, the truly existent (Skt. paramartha sat) is the very foundation of Hinduism (as a matter of fact some form of an eternal ultimate reality whether it is called God or Nature is the basis of all other religious systems); when Buddhism denies such an ultimate reality (Skt. paramartha satta) in any form, it cuts at the very jugular veins of Hinduism. Therefore it cannot be ontologically, epistemologically, and soteriologically said that Buddhism reforms Hinduism, The affirmation of a ground (Skt. asraya) which is really existent (Skt. paramartha sat) and the denial that such an existent (Skt. satta) can be found anywhere, with in or without, immanent or transcendent, are two diametrically opposed paradigms- not simply variation or reformations of each other. The Webster Dictionary defines re-form: to amend or improve by change of form or removal of faults or abuse. The example I have given above of an eternal base without which Hinduism in its own language would be atheistic (skt. nastik) and the denial (without any implied affirmation) (Skt. prasajya pratisheda) of such an eternally existing unchanging base by Buddhism cannot be said to be a reformation but a deconstruction of the very roots of the Hindu thesis. That is why Buddhist is not a reformation of Hinduism but a paradigm shift from the paradigms on which Hinduism is based.

    Many Hindu scholars believe that without an ultimate eternal reality then there can be no liberation from the changing, transient samsara; therefore even though the Buddha denied the ultimate reality, he could have meant only conceptually really existing reality, no the eternal ultimate reality which is beyond concepts. Otherwise there cannot be liberation. The fault with this kind of thinking is that it is measuring the thesis (which is no thesis) of the Buddha (or interpreting the Buddha) from within the Hindu paradigm. Remaining within the Hindu paradigm, an eternal ultimate reality is a necessity (a necessary dead end as the Buddha saw it) for the soteriological purpose, i. e. for liberation. Since according to the Buddha there is no Brahman- such a concept being merely an acquired fabrication (skt: parikalpana) learned from wrong (skt: mithya) scriptures, hankering after, searching for such a Brahman is necessary a dead end which leads nowhere, let alone liberation. The Buddhist paradigm if understood correctly, does not require an eternal something or other for liberation. In Buddhism liberation is not realizing such a ground but rather a letting go of all grounds, i. e. realizing groundless. In fact holding on to any ground is ignorance, according to Buddhism. So in the Buddhist paradigm, it is not only not necessary to have an eternal ground for liberation, but in fact the belief in such a ground itself is part of the dynamics of ignorance. We move here to another to major difference within the two paradigms. In Hinduism liberation occurs when this illusory samsara is completely relinquished and it vanishes; what remains is the eternal Brahman which is the same as liberation. Since the thesis is that samsara is meraly an illusion, when it vanishes through knowledge is there were no eternal Brahman remaining it would be a disaster. So in the Hindu paradigm (or according to Buddhism all paradigms based on ignorance) an eternal unchanging, independent, really existing substratum (skt. mahavastu) is a necessity for liberation else one would fall into Nihilism. But since the Buddhist paradigm is totally different, the question posed by Hindu scholars: How can there be liberation if a Brahman does not remain after the illusory samsara vanishes in Jnana? is a non question with no relevance in the Buddhist paradigm and its Enlightenment or Nirvana.

    First of all, to the Buddha and Nagarjuna samsara is not an illusion but like an illusion. There is a quantum leap in the meaning of these two statements. Secondly, because it is only 'like an illusion' i. e. interdependently arisen like all illusions, it does not and cannot vanish, so Nirvana is not when samsara vanishes like mist and the Brahmin arises like a sun out of the mist but rather when seeing that the true nature of samsara is itself Nirvana. So whereas Brahman and samsara are two different entities one real, the other unreal, one existing, the other non-existing, samsara and Nirvana in Buddhism are one and not two. Nirvana is the nature of samsara or in Nagarjuna's words shunyata is the nature of samsara. It is the realization of the nature of samsara as empty which cuts at the very root of ignorance and results in knowledge and results in knowledge not of another thing beyond samsara but of the way samsara itself actually exists (skt vastusthiti), knowledge of Tathata (as it is ness) the Yathabhuta (as it really) of samsara itself. It is this knowledge that liberates from wrong conceptual experience of samsara to the unconditioned experience of samsara itself. That is what is meant by the indivisibility of samsara and nirvana (Skt. samsara nirvana abhinnata, Tib: Khor de yer me). The mind being samsara in the context of Dzog chen, Mahamudra and Anuttara tantra. Samsara would be substituted by dualistic mind. Hindu paradigm is world denying, affirming Brahman. The Buddhist paradigm does not deny the world; it only rectifies our wrong vision (skt. mithya drsti) of the world. It does not give a dream beyond or separate transcendence from samsara. Because such a dream is part of the dynamics of ignorance, to present such a dream would be only to perpetuate ignorance.

    To Buddhism, any system or paradigm which propagates such an unproven and unprovable dream as an eternal substance or ultimate reality, be it Hinduism or any other "ism", is propagating spiritual materialism and not true spirituality. To Hinduism such a Brahman is the summum bonum of its search goal, the peak of the Hindu thesis. The Hindu paradigm would collapse without it. Since Buddhism denies thus, it cannot be said honestly that the Buddha merely meant to reform Hinduism. As I have said, it is a totally different paradigm. Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism are all variations of the same paradigm. So truly speaking you could speak of them as reformations of each other. But Buddhism has a totally different paradigm from any of these, not merely from Vedic- Hinduism. This leads us naturally to the concept of the truths (skt. satyadvaya). Both Hindu Vedanta and Madhyamika Buddhism (and for that matter all forms of Buddhism) use this concept to clarify its paradigm. But again the same words point at two different paradigms. First of all the concept of two truths clearly stated as in Buddhism comes into Hinduism only after Sankaracharya (Seventh/ eight century) whereas the Buddha himself used these words. But even though Sankara copied the use of these words from Buddhism and also copied many other conceptual words from Nagarjuna to elucidate his Vedantic paradigm, the paradigm that he tries to clarify with these words different. In many places these conceptual wordings and analogies are forced to produced the meaning that is required for the Veantic paradigm. In the Vedantic context, the relative truth (Skt. samvritti satya) is that this samsara is an illusion and the ultimate truth (skt. paramartha satya) is that there is an ultimately existing thing (skt. paramartha satta) transcending/ immanent in this world. The relative truth will vanish like a mist and the both transcendent and immanent Brahman will appear as the only Truth, the world being false. To sum it up, the Vedantic ultimate truth is the existence of an ultimate existence or ultimate reality. Reality here is used as something which exists (skt. satta).

    However, the Buddhist ultimate truth is the absence of any such satta i. e. ultimately existing thing or ultimate reality. That is the significance of Shunyata- absence of any real, independent, unchanging existence (skt. svabhava). And that fact is the ultimate truth of Buddhism, which is diametrically opposite to the ultimate truth of the Hindu Brahman. So Shunyata can never be a negative way of describing the Atman- Brahman of Hinduism as Vinoba Bhave and such scholars would have us believe. The meaning of Shunyata found in Sutra, Tantra Dzogchen, or Mahamudra is the same as the Prasangic emptiness of Chandrakirti, i. e. unfindability of any true existence or simply unfindability. Some writers of Dzogchen and Mahamudra or Tantra think that the emptiness of Nagarjuna is different from the emptiness found in these systems. But I would like to ask them whether their emptiness is findable or unfindable; whether or not the significance of emptiness in these systems is also not the fact of unfindability- no seeing as it could also be expressed. Also some Shentong scholars seem to imply that the Shentong system is talking about a different emptiness. They say Buddha nature is not empty of qualities therefore, Buddha nature is not merely empty, it also has qualities. First of all the whole statement is irrelevant. Qualities are not the question and Buddha nature being empty of quality or not is not the issue. The Buddha nature is empty of Svabhava (real existence). Because it is empty of real existence, it has qualities. As Arya Nagarjuna has said in his Mula Madhyamika Karika: "All things are possible (including qualities) because they are empty "Therefore the whole Shentong/ Rangtong issue is superfluous. However, in Shentong, Buddha nature is also empty and emptiness means unfindable. In short, the unfindability of any true existence is the ultimate (skt. paramartha) in Buddhism, and is diametrically opposed to the concept of a truly existing thing called Brahman, the ultimate truth in Hinduism.

    Now let's examine relative truth (skt. samvritti satya). In Hinduism, the relative truth is the fact that this world is an illusion (skt. maya). It has no existence. In Buddhism, samsara is interdependently arising. It has relative existence (skt. samvritti satta) according to Tsong Khapa or it appears conventionally according to Gorampa Senge and Mipham. It is like an illusion (Skt. mayavat). Like all illusions, it appears interdependently based on various causes and conditions (Skt. hetu pratyaya). It may be like an illusion but it is the only thing we have, there is nothing behind it or beyond it which can be called an ultimate thing or reality. The ultimate reality or truth or fact in the Buddhist sense is the mode of existence of this illusion like samsara i. e. (Skt. nihsvabhava) empty of real existence. So here too we find two different parameters to two different paradigms. Now let us investigate some of the words used by both paradigms. One word that has created great confusion is non- dualism. First of all Hindu Vedanta is advaita and Madhyamika Advaya. Although they are sometimes use interchangeably by both systems, their meanings are as used in the two paradigms differ. In Hindu Vedanta, non dualism (advaita) means one without a second Skt: dvitiyam nasti, Chandogya Upnishad). What is the meaning of this? That there is only Brahman which really exists, nothing else really exists. In other words- the world does not exists at al- it is only am illusion. The true English word for this is Monism according to Webster Dictionary. The view that there is only one kind of ultimate substance. Since, as we have been seen already there is no kind of ultimate substance in Madhyamika Buddhism the meaning advaya (non-dualism) cannot be like in Hinduism. The Madhyamika scriptures very clearly defines advaya as "dvaya anta mukta" free from the two extremes. The extremes are the of eternalism into which the Hindu vedantic Brahman falls and Nihilism into which many materialistic system like Charvak fall. But it goes deeper. Non dual knowledge (skt. advaya jnana) is the state of mind which is soteriologically free from grasping at the two extremes of knowing in terms of "is" and "is not" and ontologically free from being "existing" or "non existing" Advaita jnana is however the knowledge of the one and only truly existing substance or reality called Brahman in Hinduism. It could also be called by any other name. Even if the Brahman is defined as beyond "is and" is not" as in the Yogavasistha, it is only a round about way of saying that there is an ultimate reality, Brahman, which is beyond concepts of existing and non existing and therefore it still falls within eternalism. There is also the use of :"free from the existence and non existence" in Buddhism and beyond existence and non existence in Hinduism. "Beyond" implies a third something which is neither; but "free" does not necessarily implies a third something which is neither. Some Shentongpas define the Tathagatagarbha exactly like the Brahman of the Vedanta without realizing it and even claim as a higher mediator's view which is not accessible to lower class logicians etc.

    Perhaps it is most apt now to talk about two other words used commonly by both paradigms: Nisprapanca (Tib: thro-me) and avikalpa (Tib: Tog- me). Nisprapanca means non fabricated and avikalpa means non- conceptual. In the context of Hinduism, it is the Brahman (the ultimate reality, the ultimate real, the ultimate existing) which is beyond concepts and non- fabricated. It also means a non-fabricated and non-conceptual knowledge of that Brahman. When I am using ultimate reality as a synonym for the Brahman. I am using reality to mean something that exists as per the Webster's Dictionary. I am aware that reality also connotes "fact" i. e. truth and with such a meaning could be used in Buddhism to mean ultimate fact/truth. But as one of its connotation is existing, it is hazardous to use the word ultimate reality in any Buddhist context and it is always safer to use the word ultimate truth instead. Some English translations of Dzogchen, Mahamudra etc. have used the word ultimate reality for Rigpa, co- emergent wisdom (skt. sahaja jnana) Tathagata garbha, rather indiscriminately without the authors even realizing that the use of such lax wording brings them not only dangerously close to Vedantins of one only dangerously close to Vedantins of one form or the other, but also they are actually using Buddhist texts to validate the vedantic thesis. If some of them object that their ultimate reality is empty while the Hindu ultimate reality is not; the Hindu can ask," then how it is an ultimate reality in the sense of ultimate existing"? To avoid this confusion, it is safer and semantically closer to the Buddhist paradigm to use only "ultimate truth".

    Now coming back to Nisprapanca and Avikalpa, as for Buddhism, the first verse of Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamikakarika makes it clear that it is the "pratityasamutpada" the interdependent origination which is nisprapanca and beyond concepts and it is the wisdom that realizes this that is nisprapanca and avikalpa. No Hindu Vedanta would agree that the Brahman is interdependent origination or interdependently originated. The same can be said of words like acintya (inconceivable), anupamya (inexpressible) or apratistha (non- established) etc. for which we need not write separately. This naturally leads us to three crucial words and concepts used in the two paradigms.: Emptiness, (skt. Shunyata), Interdependent Origination (Skt. pratityasamutpada) and Brahma (the infinite, eternal, unchanging, Truly existing, Non conceptual, unfabricated reality). Many Hindu writers from the 5th/6th century onwards until today have tried to show that the Brahman and Shunyata, mean the same thing. The Yogavasistha (7th/8th century) has even very explicitly stated that the Brahman and Shunya are the same reality. (Chapter 3/5/5-6) Modern authors like Dr. Radhakrishnan, Svami Vivekananda and Vinova Bhave have also tried to show that they mean the same reality. Je Tsong Khapa says in his "Pratityasamutpada stuti Subhasita Hridaya" whatever is dependent on conditions is empty of real existence. This statement makes it clear that dependent origination and Shunyata are two labels for the same condition - two sides of the same coin. Now I would like to ask these Hindu authors "Is Brahman (which according to them is the same as Sunya), dependently originated or origination? Even here in the two words there is a difference. The Brahman can never be a dependent origination because it is a really existing thing. It can only be a dependently originated thing I am sure no Hindu would like to say this of the unchanging eternal independent Brahman. On the other hand, the significance of Shunyata is "dependant origination" or nisvabhava (non real existence). The Tathagatarbha, Mahamudra, Rigpa (Vidya) etc cannot also, empty but not nisvabhava. Such as definition of Shunya (as not nisvabhava) would not only contradict the entire Buddhist paradigms but also would force such so- called Buddhist writers to fall into the "all-embracing" arms of the Vedantin Brahman. If Rigpa, Mahamudra etc. is described without the correct emptiness, then such words as Mahamudra, Dzogchen, Rigpa, Tathagatagarbha are only new names given to the ancient concept of Brahman as found in the Upanishads (some of which are 600 years than the Buddha. Such misconcepts of ultimate realities come not from Buddhist but actually from Hindu Brahman in the garb of Buddhist scholar monks. Some Buddhist writers give lame excuse about meditative experience & theory being different. I would like to reiterate that such a meditative experience is not Buddhist but Hindu because it fits perfectly with Hindu theory of reality. If meditative experiences are going to be different from the theory on which they are based, that would be tantamount to saying that the base has no relation to the path and fruit, or that path is one and the actual experience of the fruit (meditative experience is another). At least the Hindu base- path-fruit is more consistent. They do not being with non real existence and end up with some kind of subtle existence. The Buddhist meditation experience must coincide with its base (basic paradigm). Yes, there is a shift from conceptual to non-conceptual during meditation but that does not necessitate a shift from non-real existence to real existence. If reality is conceptually non real existent it does not become real existent non conceptually. The true Buddhist meditative experience or "non real existence "not" real existence". Some may say that non real existence is only a concept. But the same can be said of real existence. Since Brahman is real existence by itself, independent etc. it cannot be a synonym for Shunyata. Some Shentong Buddhist writers who have not studied Hindu philosophy well enough try to give invalid excuses by implying that the Atma-Brahman of Hinduism is imagined , fabricated, whereas the shentong Tathagatagarbhas is non conceptual (eg. Jamgon Kongtro Lordo Thaye- Gaining certainly about the view 5.2.4.2.). If one has read the Vedanta Shastra one finds that the Atma (self) of the Hindu is also free from mental elaboration like the Tathagatagarbha. So the crux of the different lies in emptiness not in non-elaboration, non conceptual, luminous etc. The Atma of the Vedanta is also not accessible to inferior logicians and not negated by logic because it is uncreated, unconditioned, self existing, self-luminous and beyond concept. So just stating that the Hindu Atman is fabricated and our Tathagatagarbhais not, does not really solve anything. The Atma is what remains after everything else that is not it, has been negated. Last of all the Atman is not the ego (Ahamkar, Tib. ngak dzin) which is what the Shentong logic negates.

    Another word that has confounded many Hindu Svamis is the unborn (skt. ajat or anutpada), unproduced. In the context of the Hindu Vedanta it means that there is this ultimate reality called the Brahman which is unborn i. e. never produced by any thing or at any time, which means it always was. A thing or super thing even a non thing that always existed and was never ever produced at any period in time which is separate from this born, illusory samsara. In the Buddhist context, it is the true nature of samsara itself which although relatively appears to be "born" ultimately is never born. Advayavajra in his Tatvaratnavali says " The world is unborn says the Buddha". As Buddha Ekaputra Tantra (Tib. Sangye Tse tsig tantra) says, the base of Dzogchen is the samsara itself stirred from its depth. Since the Samsara stirred from its depth is interdependently originated, i. e. not really originated i. e. unborn and since the samsara is only relatively an interdependently originated thing but ultimately neither a thing nor a non- thing (bhava or abhava) that truly exists, the use of the word unborn for Brahman (which is definitely not samsara) and for samsara itself in Buddhism are diametrically opposed. The true meaning of unborn (anutpada) is dependently originated (pratityasamutpanna) which is as already mentioned the meaning of a nisvabhava (non real existence) or Shunyata. None of these can be a synonym for Brahman or anything that ahs kind of ultimate real existence, even if it is called Tathagatagarbha. There is no acceptance of an ultimate existence in any Buddhist Sutra. It is interesting that an exact word for paramartha satta in Tibetan Buddhism is very rarely used. It shows how non-Buddhist the whole concept is. One has to differentiate between satta (existence) and satya (truth) although they are so close and come from the same root in Sanskrit. Even in the Ratnagotra there is one single sentence (Skt. Yad yatra tat tena shunyam iti samanupasyati yat punartravasistam bhavati tad sad ihasthiti yathabhutam prajanati): "whatever is not found know that to be empty by that itself, if something remains knows that to exist as it is)." This statement is straight out of the Vaibhasika sutras of the Theravada (Sunnatavagga) and Sautrantik Abhidharma Samuccaya. It seems to imply an affirming negative. First of all this statement contradicts the rest of the Ratnagotravibhaga if it is taken as the ultimate meaning in the Sutra (as Shentongpas have done). Secondly since it is a statement of the Vaibhasika school (stating than an ultimate unit of consciousness and matter remains), it cannot be superior to the Rangtong Madhyamika. Thirdly its interpretation as what remains is the ultimately existing Tathagatagarbha contradicts not only the interpretation that found in other Buddhist sutras as "itar etar Shunyata" (emptiness of what is different from it) but also the shentong interpretation of Tathagatagarbha contradicts all the other definition of the Tathagatagarbha found in the Ratnagotravibhaga itself.

    This brings us to the wrod Nitya- i. e. eternal or permanent. The Hindu use of the word Nitya for its ultimate existing reality, viz. Brahman is Kutastha Nitya i. e. something remaining or existing unchangingly eternal, i. e. something statically eternally. Whatever the word Nitya is used for the ultimate truth in Buddhism, the Great Pandita Santa rakshita has made it very clear in his Tatvasamgraha that the Buddhist Nitya is parinami nitya i. e. changing, transforming, eternal in another words dynamically eternal. The Buddhist Nitya is more accurately translated in English as eternal continuum rather than just eternal. I would like to remind some western translators of Nyingma and Kagyu texts that it is either the view of Shantarakshita's Svatantrik Madhyamika or the prasangika view that is given during the "Tri" instruction of Yeshe Lama as the correct view of Dzogchen. Now finally I would like to show how the same analogies are used in the Vedantic Hinduism and Buddhist Madhyamika to illustrate different thesis. The most famous analogy in both Vedanta and Madhyamka is that of the snake seen in the rope. In Vedanta you have the famous Sankaric verse rajjau sarpa bhramanaropa tadvat Brahmani jagataropa i. e. as a snake is imputed/ superimposed upon a piece of rope so is the samsara imposed upon the Brahman. Only the rope or the Brahman is real the snake-samsara is unreal and does not exist at all. They are only illusions. If one studies teh analogy one realizes that it is not such an accurate analogy. The rope is not eternal like Brahman. Furthermore the rope is not asamskrita (unconditioned like Brahman so it is not really good example or the proof of a truly existing independent Brahman. It is a forced analogy. And rightly so, because it is a Buddhist analogy squeezed to give Vedantic meaning.

    As for Buddhism the rope stands for pratityasamutpada for which it is a good example being itself interdependently arisen from pieces of jute etc. and the snake imputed upon it stands for real existence which is imposed on the interdependently existing rope appearance. Here it is the rope that is the true mode of existence of the samsara (unlike the snake representing samsara in Vedanta) and the snake is our ignorance imputing samsara as really existing instead of experience it as interdependently arisen. This interdependence or emptiness is parinami nitya i. e. an eternal continuum and this applicable to all phenomena. Of course, this interdependence is the conventional truth whereas nisvabhavata which is synonymous to emptiness is the ultimate truth in Madhyamika. Although interdependence is itself conditioned, in reality it is unborn and empty, its true nature is unconditioned. But this is not an unconditioned reality like Brahman but an unconditioned truth i. e. the fact that all things are in reality empty, unborn, uncreated. Likewise the Mirror reflection analogy is used to show that just like images which have no existence at all appear and disappear on the permanent surface of the mirror so too samsara which is an illusory reflection on the mirror of Brahman appears on the surface of the Brahman and disappears there. In Buddhism this metaphor is used to show that samsara is interdependently arisen like the reflection on the mirror. The mirror is only one of the causes and conditions and no more real that the other causes and conditions for the appearance of the reflection of Samsara. Here too the mirror is a very poor metaphor for the Brahman, being itself interdependently arisen like the reflection on it. Actually such analogies are good examples for pratityasamutpada and not for some eternal Brahman. The mirror Brahman metaphor is only forced. The same can be said of the moon on the pond analogy and rainbow in the sky analogy. In conclusion, I would like to sum it up by stating that Buddhism (especially Mahayana/ Vajrayana) is not a reformulation of Hinduism or a negative way of expressing what Hinduism as formulated. Hinduism and Buddhism share a common culture and therefore tend to use the same or similar words. They do share certain concepts like Karma and re-incarnation, although their interpretation differ. Hindu concepts of karma and therefore reincarnation tend to be rather linear whereas the Buddhist concept is linked with pratityasamutpada. The Theravada concept of pratityasamutpada is also rather linear but the Mahayana/Vajrayana concept is more non-linear multi dimentional-multi leveled-interdependent inter-latched. But all similarities to Hinduism ends there. The Shunyata of the Buddha, Nagarjuna, Candrakirti is by no accounts a negative way of describing the Brahman of the Upanishad- Samkara-Vidhyaranya groups.

    Vednta vis--vis ShentongAcharya Mahayogi Sridhar Rana Rinpoche

    Vednta is based on the Upanishads, some of which are as old as the Buddha and others are four to eight hundred years older than the Buddha himself. Shankarcrya (also known as Sankara), who was from the 8th century, is the most famous commentator of the Upanishads, and today, the majority of the Hindus follow his commentaries. In the Bodhyana commentary, according to him, the hermeneutic of the Upanishads existed even before his time.Although he was from around the 8th century, he became popular among the Hindus only after the 10th century when one of his lineage holders, Vcaspati Misra, wrote a sub-commentary (Tib. grel-wa) on his commentary. Today, Shankarcrya is considered among the greatest Hindu philosophers and even educated Hindus in India subscribe to him. However, since he became well known only after the 10th century, no Buddhist scholars like Sntideva, ntarakita, Ratnkarasnti, Jnagarbha, etc., seem to mention him or refute him in their work.ntarakita has however refuted the Upanishadic non-dualism in the Tattva Sangraha chapter 7, section 5. In his refutation of the Upanishadic view he has referred to the followers of the Upanishad as those who postulate that the tm is eternal, one and of the nature of knowledge/conciousness/ Jnasvarpa. Kamalala has also commented on this view describing it as,That is the tm is of the nature of one eternal consciousness / knowledge.Indeed both ntarakita and Kamalala are refuting almost the same view that Sankarcrya postulates although neither ntarakita nor Kamalala mentions his name or his work. It is important to understand that according to ntarakita and Kamalala, the Upanishadic view (which is older than the Buddha and the most common and popular view held by Hindus today) is that there is a non-dual consciousness or a non-dual knowledge which is eternal and this is the tm or this is called the tm. It is important to understand that ntarakita himself has refuted 6 different interpretations of the tm as accepted in Hinduism in his time. This non-dual cognition / consciousness / knowledge which is eternal (nitya / rtag-pa) is one of the tm-s refuted by ntarakita in his Tattva Sangraha. This tm is not dualistic; therefore it is not Vijna (Tib. rnam-shes). It is non-dual and it is eternal. It is called Gyana (ye-shes) by ntarakita, who used the very word the Upanishad and Sankarcrya uses.This is how ntarakita refuted this view:The error in the view of these philosophies is a slight one due only to the assertion of eternality of cognition.There is, however, a slight difference between this Upanishadic view refuted here by ntarakita and Sankarcryas Upanishadic view. Sankaras view is called Maya-Vivartavd i.e. the illusionist. The view refuted by ntarakita is called parinmavda - modificationist. The difference is that this view considers the 5 elements, etc., and the world as illusory modifications of this non-dual eternal cognition / consciousness, while Sankara interprets the world and its 5 elements, etc., as illusory and therefore non-existent and this non-dual eternal cognition as separate from the illusion. What Khunkhyen Dolpopa states in his bka sdus bshi pa of the Shentong Ultimate Reality is exactly this tm view.I have not seen, to date, any Shentong Tibetan Master refute this tm view. Is it because the only difference between the view of Sankara and the Shentong is the use of the word tm, which Buddhists do not like to use?Although Sankarcrya refuted the Vaibhbika, Sautntrika, Cittamtra, and Mdhyamika, he never mentioned anything that is even similar to the Shentong view. If a view similar to Shentong had existed in India and if that had been the view of Asanga, he would have certainly mentioned it. Hindus from ancient time until today have always wanted to prove that Buddhism is just a branch of Hinduism and what the Buddha taught is just another way of teaching the same teachings as already found in Hinduism. If anything similar to the Shentong view had already existed in India by 600 AD, Sankarcrya would have certainly used it to prove that Buddhism is just a type of Hinduism. Since Asanga was at least 200 years older than Sankarcrya, why has Sankarcrya mentioned Vaibhbika, Sautntrika, Cittamtra, and Mdhyamika only and refuted them only?Sankarcrya even mentions the exact opposite view of what ntarakita mentioned above and refutes him. In exact opposite of what ntarakita says, The error in the view of these philosophers is a slight one due only to the assertion of eternality of cognition. Sankara says about the Chittamatra The error in the view of these philosophies is only slight - they believe the non-dual mind as changing moment to moment; we believe it as unchanging eternal.If the meaning of the Uttara Tantra is what the Shentongpas make it out to be, it would have existed in the Indian sources too. Sankara would certainly have written that the view of these Buddhist philosophers as what the Vedas had always taught and that Buddhism is just a branch of Hinduism. Even today, if any Indian Hindu philosopher comes across the Shentong view, they would be most happy to embrace it as the correct view and take it as a solid proof that Buddhism is just a branch of Hinduism and the Buddha did not teach anything new. This of course blatantly contradicts what the Buddha himself said in Mahayana, Theravada, and Sarvstivda Sutras and Sstra-s. The Buddha said that he taught something that had been lost for a long time. But the Vedas and the Vedic Brhmins of the Buddhas time, whom the Buddha met, had been and are still teaching the existence of true tm, and eternal non-dual cognition as the Ultimate Reality.If we glance through the Jain literature, we again find that no Jain scholar mentions that the Buddhists believed in an eternal / permanent non-dual cognition as the ultimate reality. At least, those Jain scholars after Asanga should have done so, if that was how the Uttara Tantra had been interpreted in India.If we analyze both the Hindu Sankarcryas and the Buddhist ntarakitas, we find that both agree that the view of the Hindu Advaita Vednta is that the ultimate reality (tm) is an unchanging, eternal non-dual cognition. The Buddhists as a whole do not agree that the ultimate reality is an eternal, unchanging non-dual cognition, but rather a changing eternal non-dual cognition. These statements found in the 6th century Hindu text and the refutations of the Hindu view found in the 9th century Buddhist texts (both of which were after the Uttara Tantra and Asanga), show that the Hindu view of the ultimate reality as an unchanging, eternal non-dual cognition is non-existent amongst the Buddhists of India. Not only was such a view non-existent amongst Buddhists of India, but it was also refuted as a wrong view by scholars like ntarakita. He even writes that if and when Buddhists use the word eternal (nitya), it means parinmi nitya, i.e., changing eternal, and not the Hindu kind of eternal, which always remains unchanged.The Hindu tm is not only non-dual cognition but is also unchanging, eternal, and truly existing. Sankarcrya defines existence (sat) in his Tattvaboda as that which remains the same in all the 3 times (past, present, future). In the commentary by Gaudapda (who was Sankarcryas Gurus Guru), of the Mndukya Upanishada, in verse number 96, he calls the eternally really existing non-dual cognition is non-relational, i.e., free from reference points. In the 37th verse of the same work it is said that this non-dual, eternal, really existing cognition is free from all sense organs, i.e., free from the dualistic mind (namshe). So the Upanishadic view is that the really existing, eternal / permanent, non-dual, non-referential cognition is the tm, and this is not dualistic mind. This Upanishadic view existed even before the Buddha, and this was what Sankarcrya expounded very clearly and most powerfully around the 6th century. This view, similar to this Sankara view, was refuted by ntarakita as a wrong view.The Vedntic Sutras and Sstra-s are full of statements like:

    1. This tm is truly existent beyond existence and non-existence.2. This is truly non-dual beyond dual and non-dual.3. This tm is the Great Thing (mahvastu), which is permanent

    beyond permanent and impermanent, etc., etc.4. It is empty of all qualities (nirguna), which means empty of foreign

    qualities, but not empty (of itself), i.e., not empty of being a truly existing permanent entity (sat); not empty of being non-dual coginition (cit), and not empty of bliss (nanda). Sat-cit-nanda is the nature of this tm (or non-dual cognition).If you have understood what I have written above, it is easy to understand why when Ringo Tulku presented the Shentong view in an Indian symposium, all the Hindu Indian scholars happily agreed with it and told him happily, This is the same view as our Vedanta!. Also, a few centuries ago, Jonangpa Kunga Drol Chog, a throne holder of the Jonangpa, had visited Muktinth, where he presented his views to the Hindu yogis present there. These Hindu yogis also called him a genuine Hindu yogi after they heard his Shentong view.Now I have some questions that I would really like to ask the Shentong Buddhists:

    1. What is the difference between the Shentong view and the most popular Hindu view of the Vedanta / Upanishad of Sankarcrya?

    2. If the views are the same, i.e., there cannot be found any differences, then what was the new view that the Buddha taught?

    3. If this Upanishadic view is the highest view of Buddhism, why do we not find it in any Buddhist, Hindu, or Jain texts of India? Taking into consideration that the Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains debated with each other and refuted each others views right from the Buddhas time until Buddhism vanished from India, isnt it a bit strange that none have mentioned a Buddhist view similar to the Upanishads non-dual Atma? All the Hindu and Jain refutations of Buddhism can still easily be found in their original Sanskrit. Why do we not find mention of such a view (Shentong) in any of these texts even after Asanga? This lacunae itself seems to speak quite clearly.

    4. If this Atma has been refuted by many Buddhist scholars like Shantarakshita, yanagarbha, etc., how is it possible for the Shentong view to be free from the same refutation? After all, both are calling the non-dual cognition, which is permanent, non-referential, and really existing as the Ultimate Truth and Ultimate Reality.

    5. If the Ultimate View of Buddhism is Shentong, why did thousands of Brahmins from the time of the Buddha until the 12th 13thcenturies, become Buddhists and refute the Hindu view as wrong? Many of them were brilliant Hindu / Vedic scholars before they became Buddhists. How could all of these scholars uphold the Shentong view while refuting the view of the Upanishads, if they were saying the same thing?

    6. Shenphen Hookham says, They have their own view and we have our own, so whats wrong if they are the same? This implies that the views are the same. Do all the Shentongpas agree to her reply? If they do agree with her then were all the scholars like Candarakrti, Jnagarbha, ntarakita, Kamalala, Ratnakarashnti, Bhavaviveka, Buddhaplita, Sntideva, Prajkaramati, and thousands of others just fools to refute the Hindu tm view of the Upanishads and become Buddhists?

    7. Also, there seem to be many types of Shentong and these need to be differentiated, otherwise there can be quite a lot of confusion. Just as there are Nirkra Cittamtra, Skara Cittamtra, or Yogcra Sautntrika Mdhyamika, Prsngika Mdhyamika, Mdhyamika Shentong should also be differentiated in various forms, instead of calling all of them just Shentong. For example, some Shentongpas call the state of Nirvna permanent. This is not a problem and fits in neatly with the rest of Buddhism. This is not really contradictory to Rangtong. As Rangtong does not say the state also is impermanent. It only says that Nirvna (or such states) is also Nisvabhva. In such case a Shentong could be called Avasthiti Shentong. This includes those who say the qualities Svatantrika(guna-s) and Kya-s are permanent. But since the Rangtong does not deny this, it seems redundant to call it Shentong. The qualities and Kya-s are also Nisvabhva. If they were not so, they would not be of any use as they could not function. But the bka sdus bshi pa of Khunkhyen Dolpopa seems to say that the Ultimate Reality is a Super-Thing (Mahvastu of Vednta), which is beyond thing and non-thing (beyond Vastu and Avastu), and this is permanent. This Shentong should be called Mahvastu Shentong. This Shentong is the problem and is not only 100% Vedanta, which predates even Asanga by more than a thousand years, but is contradictory to both the Srvakayna and Pramityna. This was not taught by the Siddha-s to the Rishi-s, as these Rishi-s were older than any of the Mahsiddha-s.

    8. Most of the logic used by Shentong to show that the Rangtong is inferior to its view has a remarkable resemblance to the logic used by Hindus to refute Buddhism as a whole. These logical refutations of the Buddhist view by the Hindus from even before Buddhism entered Tibet are now being echoed by Shentonpas when they refute Rantong.

    A. One must meditate on a truly existing permanent thing to be liberated. How can anyone be liberated by meditating on the emptiness of an illusory world or on an emptiness or Antm?

    B. This tm is non-conceptual and therefore beyond the refutation of the lower logicians.

    C. This tm is permanent and truly existing, and beyond being empty and non-empty, beyond permanent and impermanent, beyond existing and non-existing.

    D. The refutation of the logicians cuts only the real existence of the ego and not the real existence of this tm.

    9. There is a small legend that says that the Shentong view was kept secret in India from the time of Asanga until it entered Tibet. This story seems cooked up to justify the Shentong lacunae in the records of all Indian systems. First of all, Asangas teachings are Sutra-s and the Shentong view is a Sutra view. It is bit far-fetched to think that Sutra teachings are secret like Tantra. Second, this implies that all the rya-s like Ngrjuna, Aryadeva, etc., before Asanga had the wrong view and therefore cannot be rya-s. Thirdly, why was it necessary to keep Sutra teachings secret unless it blatantly contradicted the prevalent Buddhist views coming down through the unbroken lineages and which were well known to not only all Buddhists, but also all Hindu and Jain scholars? Fourthly, The Srvaka systems like the Theravda have an equally interesting lore which fits well, like a piece of jigsaw with this Secret Shentong in India lore. This lore / legend say that in later years, many Hindu Bharamins entered Buddhism and became monks with the secret purpose of subverting the correct Buddhist view to destroy Buddhism. These Bharamins secretly implanted Hindu (Tib. rmu-rteg-pa) views of the Veda-s and passed it on as the highest Buddhist view. But this was kept secret for many centuries. This legend from the Theravda tradition and the Secret Shentong in India seems to be uncannily similar to each other. It seems weird that a Sutra teaching, which is regarded as the real highest view of Buddhism, was really taught only after Asanga in the Uttara Tantra, and that too was kept a secret until it entered Tibet at least according to some Shentongpa legends.

    10. These questions are not satires but very genuine for me. Like some of the ancient scholars and practitioners, I belong to an orthodox Hindu family and studied and practiced Hindu theory and practice thoroughly before I became a Buddhist. One of the major reasons why I became a Buddhist is because of Mdhyamika (and all the other Buddhist systems), very clearly proved to me that the Upanishadic tm view (of a permanent non-dual cognition that really exists) is flawed. Now, if the Shentong view is the real inner secret and highest view of Buddhism, my raison dtre for becoming a Buddhist has been pulled like a carpet from under my feet.Can any Shentongpa please show me how the Shentong view is different from the Hindu Upanishadic view as explicated above?

  • Acharya Mahayogi Sridhar Rana Rinpoche

    It must be understood that Hinduism and Buddhism have shared the same culture for the last 2500 years, which means theyve also shared common language/s (Sanskrit or Pali). Because of this historical situation, there are many words that are used commonly in both traditions. This has led many scholars, especially Hindu scholars, to think that words and symbols mean exactly the same thing in both the traditions. By extending this thinking, they arrive at the wrong conclusion, mainly that Buddhism is another form, or revision, or reformation of Hinduism.First of all, it is wrong to say that Buddhism is either a branch or a formation of Hinduism. Buddhism is actually a paradigm shift from not only Hinduism but also from all other religious systems. Secondly, words used commonly in both Hinduism and Buddhism do not mean the same thing. In fact, very often they mean almost the opposite, and certainly at all times they point at two different paradigms.I would like to elucidate some of these points that will affect the meaning in the two systems directly or indirectly.First of all, in the Hindu context, we always find the theory that if illusion is removed, Brahman will reveal. Thus, samsara is illusion and Brahman is the only thing behind samsara, or is the base of the samsara, that truly exists. Only when the illusion-samsara vanishes, the Non-dual Brahman manifests.However, in the Buddhist context, illusion is not removed but rather seen as knowledge itself - or is transformed into knowledge. And this knowledge is not something that is the support or base of samsara. It is the knowledge of the true mode of existence of samsara itself. And furthermore, samsara is not an illusion which will vanish and only the Brahman will remain. In Buddhism, samsara is interdependently arisen (pratityasamutpann), like all illusions. So it is only like an illusion and cannot end. What ends is the wrong experience of experiencing it as really existing (skt. svabhava siddha). The knowledge (Gyana), that is synonymous with liberation, is not of an eternal, unchanging Brahman beyond samsara, but rather of the true mode of existence of samsara itself.Difference between Advaya and AdvaitaAlthough both experiences are called non-dual, here too, they mean two different things. Non-dual (advaita) in the Hindu context means non-existence of the second (divitiyam nasti). There is no second substance except the Brahman; it is the only thing that exists. This should be called Monism rather than Non-dualism. The phrase 'eka vastu vada' (one thingism) would be close to 'advaita'.However, Buddhism usually uses 'advaya' (only sometimes is advaita used). Here, it means 'not two', i.e. free from the two extremes (skt. dvaya anta mukta) - of samaropa (the tendency to see things as really existing) and apavada (the tendency to see things as non-existing) - which include the existence of the grasper and the grasped (grahaka and grahya) too. Advaya is not of a thing (the one and only thing) like Brahma but a description of the form of samsara. That is why the samsara that is like an illusion transforms into Advaya Gyana in Buddhism. In Hinduism, the illusory samsara vanishes and the true eternal, unchanging Brahman dawns. That is why Buddhist Gampopa says, "May illusion dawn as wisdom..."There are two traditions of explaining 'advaya' in Buddhism. One is called the Vast Lineage (skt. Vaipulay parampara) of Asanga-Vasubandyhu. This is based on the 'Five Works' of Maitreya that emphasizes subject-object (skt. grahaka-grahya) duality. But unlike the various forms of Vedanta, they neither merge into one whole, nor does the grasper (subject) vanishes, and the illusion and only the eternal grasper remains. Here, they are found to be untenable from the very beginning. What remains is emptiness. This system had many great teachers like Dingnaga-Dharmakirti.The second lineage, called the Profound Lineage (skt. gambhira parampara), started with Nagarajuna, and was passed down through famous teachers such as Aryadeva, Buddhapalita, Bhavaviveka, Chandrakirti, Shantideva and Atisha. Other famous teachers, like Shantarakshita and Kamakashila, gave synthetic interpretations of 'advaya' using both traditions.Any Buddhist hermeneutics must be based on one of these hermeneutics or their various branches like Sakara Yogachara, Nirakara Yogachara, Yogachara, Sautrantic Madhyamik, Prasangic Madhyamika, and Svatantric Madhyamika, etc. Just because one understands Sanskrit or Tibetan, one cannot interpret the Sastras (texts) as one likes, giving straightforward meanings to them. Any interpretation must belong to, or be in conformity with one of these hermeneutical methodologies. Otherwise, it becomes one's own private idea of what these texts are teaching. That is why many Hindu scholars have misinterpreted the Buddhist texts and claimed that they are teaching the same thing found in the Hindu texts. But it is even more unfortunate that even so-called Buddhist scholars or those who are favorable to Buddhism, have not studied under any lineage masters belonging to any of the above hermeneutics, and have interpreted the texts simply on the basis of understanding the Sanskrit language. Such interpretations are personal ideas and not true Buddhist hermeneutics, and if analyzed, one will find many contradiction and inconsistencies.There are some who say that they are meditators and they are not interested in such theories. Some say such theories are only intellectual pleasures, and others say that the lineage of meditation and the lineage of text studies have no relationship. Such statements prove that such so-called Buddhist teachers are only half-baked. First of all, I would like to remind them that Asanga, Vasubandhu, Nagarjuna, Chandrakirti, Shantideve, and Atisha were all great meditators and they are considered among the greatest Buddhist masters in history. Such masters believed that it is necessary to acquire the correct philosophies to be able to truly practice the Buddhist meditation properly. Of course, H.E. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche said that this correct view could be presented in the form of a simple pith instruction from a qualified master, instead of an elaborate and detailed study of the religious texts. But one must still listen, think, discuss, and finally understand clearly the importance of the pith instruction, which is the same thing elaborated in the texts. So, to say that to meditate one does not need to study at all is utter nonsense. It is only after understanding the view correctly that correct Buddhist mediation can take place. Otherwise, there would be no difference between Hindu, Sufi, Christian, Tao, and Buddhist meditations. Some Newar Vajracharyas think that just taking the initiation of Cakrasamvhara, chanting its mantras, performing channel and chakra practice (nadi-chakra yoga) related to it is enough and there is no need to study. If that was so, why does the Hevajra Tantra, etc., say very clearly that one must study first the Vaibhasika, then the Sautrantic, then the Yogachara, and then the Madhyamika, then only be initiated? Secondly, if doing just Nadivayu-tilak yog would lead to Mahamudra accomplishments, then thousands of Hindu masters, who practice Kundalini Yoga, would achieve Buddhahood. Such thinking completely contradicts the very basic concept found in Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Meditation progresses from wisdom gained through hearing (Srutamayi), to wisdom gained through contemplation (Cintamayi), to wisdom gained through meditation (Bhavanamayai). How can there be hearing and contemplation without a valid study of valid religious texts?Notice when I say valid study. Valid study means study with valid lineage teachers, not just somebody who knows Sanskrit or Tibetan and happens to be a lama or Vajracharya by caste, as is found among Tamangs and Newars. Valid lineage Masters teach according to historically accepted Buddhist hermeneutics and do not give their own personal self-contradictory interpretations. Such a Master has studied with someone who belongs to one or more of these hermeneutical lineages. Such a study is not merely intellectually entertainment but is also a proper base for acquiring wisdom gained through listening and contemplation, and this creates an understanding of the correct view. This is the proper foundation for proper Buddhist meditation, i.e. the third wisdom gained through meditation. Simply doing 'nadi-vayu-tilak yoga' without su