Advaita seeks Atman, Buddhism seeks anatman, right?

[Coëmgenu]

The problem is when you take it upon yourself to "correct" Buddhists when they say that there is no self/soul, and when you further insist that this Western-born difference of "self vs soul" is relevant to the Dharma. You aren't actually as epistemologically humble as you let on.

[cappuccino]

you take it upon yourself to "correct" Buddhists when they say that there is no self/soul

No self is merely another self view

[cappuccino]

"Well then, friend Sariputta, does the Tathagata not exist after death?"

"Friend, that too has not been declared by the Blessed One …'"


Sariputta-Kotthita Sutta

[cappuccino]

The problem is when you take it upon yourself to "correct" Buddhists …

Am I not a Buddhist?

[Coëmgenu]

I believe that you self-identify as a Buddhist, unless you want to correct me.

[Coëmgenu]

you take it upon yourself to "correct" Buddhists when they say that there is no self/soul

No self is merely another self view

The issue with this is that it is wrong. You are calling "anattā" a version of "attā." That is not right at all. To take what is not the self as the self is an inversion of Buddhism. It is like saying "Atheism is a form of theism," or that "Anaerobic respiration is a form of aerobic respiration." It's not.

[cappuccino]

It is like saying "Atheism is a form of theism." It's not.

Atheists write endless books about God


Buddhists do not


What is the difference? Do you think

[Coëmgenu]

The difference is that one is atheism and the other is theism. Theists believe in God, and atheists do not believe in God. It's a pretty simple difference, much more simple than "attā vs anattā." Buddhists write endlessly about the self and how it doesn't exist and what it means for it not to exist. That doesn't mean that they are Hindus.

[cappuccino]

atheists do not believe in God. It's a pretty simple difference

They believe he does not exist, which is a form of concern


So, they are not liberated from theism

[Coëmgenu]

atheists do not believe in God. It's a pretty simple difference

They believe he does not exist, which is a form of concern


So, they are not liberated from God

Cappuccino, that doesn't make any sense. Go back and read it again.

[cappuccino]

that doesn't make any sense.

Any view about God is a form of concern

[Coëmgenu]

I don't believe in the invisible pink unicorns. Does that mean that I'm "not liberated" from the invisible pink unicorns? No.

The Buddha did not believe that Maheśvara or Brahma was the ultimate creator of the cosmos. Does that mean that the Buddha wasn't liberated from Maheśvara or Brahma? No.

[cappuccino]

I don't believe in the invisible pink unicorns. Does that mean that I'm "not liberated" from the invisible pink unicorns? No.

Well if you wrote non fiction about unicorns then

[Coëmgenu]

I don't believe in the invisible pink unicorns. Does that mean that I'm "not liberated" from the invisible pink unicorns? No.

Well if you wrote non fiction about unicorns then

Then what?

[cappuccino]

Then what?

Then you would be concerned about unicorns