Buddhism has no answer to certain questions like the existence of Atama (Soul).+

Buddhism believes in reincarnation.  Buddhism does not believe in the existence of Athma. Buddhism does not believe in the existence of God whereas Sage Sankara proves the existence of Athma and the existence of Brahman or God and on the standpoint of Athma reincarnation is an illusion because the birth, life, death, and world are merely an illusion.

Buddhism has not proved the truth of Nonduality.  Bhagavan Buddha pointed out the unreality of the world and he told people, they were foolish to cling to it. However, he stopped there. He came nearest to Advaita in speech but not to Advaita fully.

Sage Sankara disagrees with Buddhists who say, there is nothing - a nonentity. Sage  Sankara believes there is some reality, even though things are not what they appear to be. If one knows the truth, he will know what to do to find inspiration for action.  The seeker of truth‘s subject is to know what is it that is Real.

Buddhism says: ~ “All things are illusory and nothing exists.  However, Sage  Sankara avers that it is not so.  It says that the universe, of course, is illusory, but there is Brahman (consciousness), that exists forming the very substratum of all things (illusion or universe)”.

In the context of Advaita Vedanta: ~ Jagat (the world) is not different from Brahman; however, Brahman is different from Jagat.

It has not been possible to preach Advaitic Truth entirely free from the settings of dualistic weakness it has not been more operative and useful to mankind at large because only a few will be able to grasp and realize it.

'To realize the Advaitic Truth a freer and fuller scope the seeker has to realize the form, time and space are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. And the Soul, the innermost Self is present in the form of consciousness.   

To realize the Advaitic truth the seeker has to be free from all superstitions and orthodox contaminations. The seeker has to be dedicated to acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana alone.

The point of Bhagavan Buddha is that if God is non-existent, the entire creation including the ‘Self’ is non-existent.

Sage Sankara wanted to establish the existence of the Brahman. For this purpose, He made the Atman as Brahman.

Sage Sankara brought out the identity of the ‘Self’ with the consciousness and made the Atman the Brahman. Since one will not negate the existence of his Self, he will accept the existence of the Brahman, which is the Athma the  Self.

The Athma is the Self. The Athma is present in the form of consciousness.  The consciousness is ever-present. Without the Athma the world, in which you exist ceases to exist. The Athma is Self-evident. It is not established by extraneous proofs. It is not possible to deny the Athma because it is the very essence of the one who denies it. The Athma is the basis of all kinds of knowledge, presuppositions, and proofs. Athma is everything. Thus, Athma is the ultimate truth or Brahman or God.

The Athma, which is present in the form of consciousness, is real and eternal. The world in which we exist is an illusion created out of the Athma, which is present in the form of consciousness.

That is why Dalai Lama said: ~ Buddhism need not be the best religion, though it is most scientific and religion and inquisitive. But Buddhism has no answer to certain questions like the existence of Atama [Soul] and rebirth. Dali Lama said that as an individual he believes in rebirth as he had come across a few cases of rebirth. Modern science, Dalai Lama hoped would unearth the mystery behind the rebirth. (In DH –dec-212009-Gulbarga) .

Buddhism has no answer to certain questions like the existence of Atama and rebirth.

People who believe in reincarnation and rebirth theories are unaware of the fact that their belief is based on the waking entity, which is the false Self within the false experience. The waking entity itself is false Self within the false experience, it means the present experience of birth, life, death, and the world is a falsehood. Thus, whatever is seen, known, believed, and experienced as the waking entity is bound to be falsehood because the Soul or consciousness the innermost Self is birthless because it is formless. Therefore, the rebirth and reincarnation theory based on the false Self is bound to be a falsehood.

Accepting rebirth and reincarnation theory as reality is accepting the false Self (waking entity or ego) as the real Self and the false experience (waking) as a reality. Self-realization is impossible if one accepts the present waking entity as the real Self because the Self is neither the waking entity nor the Self is a dream entity, but the Self is the formless Soul, which witnesses the coming and going of the three states.

The three states are impermanent, but the Soul or consciousness, which is the witness of the three states, is permanent and eternal. In reality, the three states are one in essence. And that essence is consciousness. Therefore, there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness. Thus, consciousness (Soul) is second to none.

Remember:~

A deeper self-search reveals the fact that the waking experiences are an illusion. It means the present experience of birth, life, death, and the world is an illusion. Thus, the reincarnation theory based on the false Self within the false experience is bound to be a falsehood. When the waking entity is not the Self then whatever theories are based on the waking entity imagined theory.

This imagined theory based on the waking entity or ego is for that lower mindset that is incapable of grasping the ultimate truth or Brahman.

People who are caught up with the idea of reincarnation and rebirth theories are not qualified for Self-Knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana because they accepted the duality as reality. Birth implies duality and from the standpoint of the Soul, the innermost Self the duality is a falsehood.

Remember:~

Reincarnation is based on ignorance.  Reincarnation is a religious fable based on the birth entity (ego).   The experience of birth, life, death, and the world is a reality only from the dualistic perspective.

From the non-dualistic perspective, there is really no reincarnation at all, either now or before. Nor will there be any hereafter. This is the truth.

Religion propagates reincarnation happens to the individual Soul after the death of the body. Some claim that the Soul goes to heaven or hell while others claim that it is reincarnated in a new body.

Reincarnation theories are based on the imagination based on the birth entity. The birth entity is the false self within the illusory world (dualistic world).  Religion is dualistic because religion holds s the experience of birth, life, death, and the world as a reality.  Religion holds the Soul as an individual and the Soul is within the body.  All the religious and yogic theories are based on the individual Self

From the non-dualistic perspective, the reincarnation theories collapse. From the standpoint of the Soul, the Self, there is no birth or death, no heaven or hell, and no reincarnation.

Religious people who are unable to assimilate the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space, think that reincarnation is true. If one imagines on the base of the ego (birth entity) then he would imagine he would new body and a new life in the new world.

Once the one realizes the ‘Self’ is not the ‘I’ but ‘Self’ is the Soul then the ‘I’ cease to be a reality ceases and unreality of the experience of the birth, life, death, and the world is exposed.  All theories about birth, life, death, world, and reincarnation belong to the dualistic illusion.  

The Self is birthless therefore it is deathless. The one which is born lives and dies within the world (waking) is not the Self.  The idea of reincarnation is based on the birth entity (waking entity or ego) which lives and dies within the illusory world (waking).   The Self is the one that witnesses the coming and going of the dual (waking or dream) nondual (deep sleep) experiences. When the experience of birth, life, and death takes place in the illusion, then recantation also is part of the same illusion.

 The dream becomes unreal when waking takes place. Similarly, the waking becomes unreal when wisdom dawns. Wisdom dawns when the Soul, innermost Self, consciously remains awake in its formless non-dual nature.  When the substance and the witness of the three states are one in essence and that essence is consciousness, then what value is there for the universe in, which the experience of birth, life, death, and reincarnation happen? Even you take reincarnation as a reality, the reincarnation happens within the world, which is an illusion, from the standpoint of the formless Soul, the innermost Self.  From the standpoint of the 'Self', the world in which we are born is merely an illusion.    

Remember:~

Sage Sankara endeavored towards establishing the Vedic religion overthrowing Buddhism. But even he was not able to avoid the influence of Buddhism. The influence of the revolutionary atmosphere of Buddhism has reappeared in the Advaita of Sage  Sankara. His inability to revive Vedic religion that flourished before the Buddhist revolution in its pure form is discernible.

He was even more mystical than the UPANISHADS, because the UPANISHADS, however mystical they look, have their own rationality. They talk about the transmigration of the Soul. Buddha talked about transmigration without a Soul. It is more mystical.

Buddhism has not proved the truth of Non-duality.

Buddhism has no answer to certain questions like the existence of Atama (Soul). Buddhist do not believe in Atmha but they believe in emptiness. Buddhists are unaware of the fact that emptiness is the nature of the Athma.  Without the Athma the nonduality cannot be proved. 

Bhagavan Buddha never actually wrote any of his teachings down.  Similar to Jesus and Socrates, his method of teaching was verbal and communicative.  Oral traditions kept the wisdom of the Bhagavan Buddha alive until 400 years after his death when the first transcript of his teachings first emerged.

 Bhagavan Buddha's awakening occurred when he realized that you didn’t have to starve yourself and mortify your body, as was commonly practiced in India at that time to enhance spiritual clarity and wisdom.  

The misinterpretation is because of Bhagavan Buddha himself. Most of the questions were answered only by silence leaving many to interpret as per their understanding. The enlightenment of Bhagavan Buddha and which again was indirectly accepted by Sage Goudpada

There is no doubt  Bhagavan Buddha pointed out the unreality of the world. He told people they were foolish to cling to it. But he stopped there. He came nearest to Advaita in speech but not to Advaita fully.

The distinction between Sage Sankara’s Advaita and Vijnanavadin Buddhism is that the former is mentalism i.e. mind is the real, whereas the latter is idealism, i.e. ideas are real. We follow the former.

Buddhism did not graduate its teaching to suit people of varying grades; hence its failure to affect society in Asia.

Bhagavan Buddha's teachings that all life is misery belongs to the relative standpoint only. For you cannot form any idea of misery without contrasting it with its opposite, happiness. The two will always go together. Bhagavan Buddha taught the goal of cessation of misery, i.e. peace, but took care not to discuss the ultimate standpoint for then he would have had to go above the heads of the people and tell them that misery itself was only an idea, that peace even was an idea (for it contrasted with peacelessness). That the doctrine he gave out was a limited one, is evident because he inculcated compassion. Why should a Buddhist sage practice pity? There is no reason for it.

Advaita is the next step higher than Buddhism because it gives the missing reason, viz. unity, non-difference from others, and because it explains that it used the concept of removing the sufferings of others, of lifting them up to happiness, only as we use one thorn to pick out another, afterward throw both away. Similarly, Advaita discards both concepts of misery and happiness in the ultimate standpoint of non-duality, which is indescribable.

Buddhists say that a thing exists only for a moment, and if that thing has still got some of the substance from which it was produced, how then can they deny that its cause is continuing in the effect; hence its existence is more than a moment. Vedanta is concerned with whether it is one and the same thing which has come into being or has it come out of nothing.

Bhagavan Buddha also holds that this world which changes from moment to moment is not real, it is only a reflection and a thing of which it is the reflection alone is real. Buddha was not an atheist. He never denied reality. There is nothing in his words or teaching to show that he considered truth to be non-existent like horns of a hare. He could not have held the foolish view that something came out of nothing. It is true; some of his disciples misunderstood and misinterpreted him. his idea was that the truth which cannot be designated by a name or described is words and of which one cannot even say whether it is existent or none extent, is like non-existent. The idea is quite in agreement with the view of the Upanishads. An object which cannot even be talked about, is, for all practical purposes, as good as non-extent. But it is not non-existent in the sense that the son of a barren woman is non-existent. This subtle idea, Buddha's contemporaries and even his disciple fail to catch. In one passage Bhagavan Buddha says clearly: Sramana Gautama was an atheist. It is the annihilation of the non-existent truth that he teaches. So will people attribute to me atheism, which is not mine? So will they ascribe me to the theory of non-existence, which again is not mine?

From these similar statements of the Bhagavan Buddha, it is clear that he was not an atheist. All philosophers old and new arrivals at the same point. Orthodox Advaita (monism) is inevitable; the people of thoughtful temperament cannot find peace and quietude until they do so. Moksha (liberation) is in the realization of oneness with God. They speak of God Goddesses, devotion, and devotees, only in an accurate way only from the standpoint of dvaithi (dualists). After realizing oneness with God, there is no distinction between God and devote, and the word "devotion" has no meaning.

Even in Buddhism: - Buddhist teaching has itself become a kind of interactive and Self-evolving process, much like its idea of pratityasamutpada. However, the end goal is still Nirvana, which is an experience ultimately beyond all concepts and language, even beyond the Buddhist teachings. In the end, even the attachment to the Dharma, the Buddhist teaching, must be dropped like all other attachments. The tradition compares the teaching to a raft upon which one crosses a swift river to get to the other side; once one is on the far shore; there is no longer any need to carry the raft. The far shore is Nirvana, and it is also said that when one arrives, one can see quite clearly that there was never any river at all.  : ~Santthosh Kumaar