In my introductory post on this topic, I mentioned that Buddha’s teachings are no different from that of Vedanta, that Buddha presented the distilled essence of Vedanta, that Buddha’s primary inspiration was the Vedas, and that the difference lay not so much in the message as the medium.

NB: I’ve used Veda and Vedanta interchangably throughout this series.

It is therefore essential to begin by examining some of the broad similarities between Buddhism and the Vedas. The items I have chosen include some of the core–and widely known, even by laymen–Vedic concepts.

• Yagna
• Brahman
• Quest for Atman
• Advaya (non-duality)

Apart from mere similarities in semantics/terminology, I shall try to show how there exist philosophical parallels to each of these Vedic concepts in Buddhism; that is, how Buddha understood/expounded each of these. The goal as I mentioned in my previous entry is not one of upmanship–how the Veda is superior to Buddhism; rather, it is an attempt to find harmony between the two.

It is important to first understand at a very high level, the structure and division of the Vedas. This is an essential backgrounder to understand what part of the Veda deals with philosophy. The Vedas can be commonly divided into two broad categories: the Karma Kaanda (ritualistic mantras) and the Gnana Kaanda (mantras that expound philosophical precepts).

Mantras from the Karma Kaanda are what one typically listens–at least in India–during various ceremonies such as the naming, wedding, and death ceremonies, as well as when yagnas are performed. While these are mainly ritualistic, one can reasonably say they do not contain much by way of philosophy in the sense of the Upanishads. However, they do contain philosophy mainly at a symbolic level–for example, the Rig Vedic Suktas on Fire, Water, Rain, etc. Buddha’s “rebellion”–which neo-Buddhists and various other intellectuals celebrate–was directed against the misuse of the Karma Kaanda and not the Vedas as a whole. In the words of Swami Prabhavananda, author of Spiritual heritage of India,

However, the later followers of Buddha misinterpreted Buddha’s opposition to the Karma Kaanda as his opposition to the Vedic Dharma itself. This caused them to sever themselves away from the Mother (Vedic) Dharma.

This is an important distinction if we need to clearly understand the harmony between the Vedas and Buddhism. This distinction is also important to understand what one really means by terms like Yagna, which is the subject of my next post.