Re: a possible integration between Buddhism and Integral Yoga? by rjon on Sun 19 Nov 2006 01:32 PM PST Profile Permanent Link It seems to me that Buddhism is much closer to the scientific doxa of modernity than Vedanta and Sri Aurobindo's "Integral Yoga," and thus has been an easier recourse for Westerners looking for an authentic spiritual tradition. -- The Buddhist eschewing of a Divine Being to which humans can claim privileged access may also be why there have been fewer religious atrocities created by followers of Buddhism. But, my question remains whether these same aspects of Buddhism imply that it also lacks a core component present in the Vedantic approaches, which is, as Debashish says above, "... related to the "Divine Maya of Supermind" ? ~ ron
i have spent some time in a Sri Aurobindo study group and despite having a strong bond with some of the people have been somewhat frustrated by an inability to communicate something. it seems to me that as beautiful and rich as SA's philosophy is that his reaching for the supramental is actually a flaw that diminishes the impact of his work relative to Buddhism. the strength of the Buddha's contribution was that he looked directly, in a discliplined way it what can be known without reaching for an absolute, permanent or substantial entity called the self or 'God'. it was Buddha's view that this reaching for God came out of clinging. Buddha's critique of the philosophy of his indian forebears was that the weakness of spiritual approaches that reach too quickly for God, rather than looking directly at one's pain (with the intention of transforming it) was a form of epistomological suicide. in practice i have seen how it this approach has a tendency to try to banish all human emotion, thus separating it from a sense of the Divine. Buddha's approach was to integrate the suffering of existence with the sense of freedom that came with disciplined meditation. in his view trying to contact the supermind through meditation would only cause more grasping and more suffering.
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