Hello everyone. I'm new here and this will be my first topic on this forum aside from introductions. It is also one that has weighed on me heavily. My first encounter with dharma was Buddhadharma about 10 years ago. In that time I've familiarized myself with many of its major schools, traditions and cultural manifestations. But I've also found myself drawn to Hindu dharma or Vedanta for philosophical and experiential reasons. I've found much in Buddhist philosophy that is questionable, especially in early and Theravada Buddhism, whether it be the teachings on no-self, dependent arising, nominalism, or momentariness, including the atomism to be found in Abhidhammic literature.
Yet I also have respect for the fact that Buddhism makes extensive use of meditation and deeper states of consciousness. Of all the religions of the world, Buddhism seems to stick out like a sore thumb, because it makes no affirmation of God, the soul, transcendental reality, etc. I'm aware that 'transcendent, unchanging reality' is tricky in that many Buddhist schools affirm this, whether in terms of tathatagarba or buddhanature of what have you. But Theravada will have no talk of such things. Buddhism, especially early Buddhism, staked its identity in opposition to Vedic principles, and even today all schools insist that what they are teaching is not Vedanta.
I've often felt torn over this issue, because both traditions use very similar methods and have teachers that have meditated and accessed very deep levels of awareness and yet seem to have directly the opposite to say on the nature of mind, self, and reality. One says that there is an unchanging ground which is God/universal consciousness/true self, the other say that there is no unchanging ground and everything is dependently arisen and there exists no self. Since I have not even got close to mastering one tradition let alone both, how does one make a decision ultimately?
I'm not sure if this is the correct area of the forum to post this question. Please feel free to move it if necessary.
Thanks for reading. Peace.