SuttaCentral
Another chariot analogy ,
This I guess is the basic form of so called ‘sanata dhamma’. The perennial philosophy. This is at once a picture of the structure of the universe and the nature of the individualised beings in it. The dreamy guy at the back is non other than ‘that all pervading consciousness’ (aka god). And the field of activity, non other than its own creation. And of course in this view, there are no real individual beings there is only the Being of god veiled by ignorance.
This looks like a scene from the Bhagavat Gita, where the Charioteer is God (Krishna) and the passenger is a human (Arjuna). The labels added to it are interesting.
A note on the sanatana dhamma. The difference between the Buddha’s teaching and the sanatana dhamma is that any notion of Being as an absolute is rooted in misconceiving the aggregates and gives rise to suffering. In addition, as far as I’m aware (please correct me if I’m wrong), the God described in the sanatana dhamma takes great joy in being the creator, preserver and destroyer of all that is (roles typically attributed to Bhrahma, Vishnu and Shiva respectively). But the Buddha’s teaching is not to delight in anything conditioned, whether with form or without, because that is the cause of suffering.
It is interesting that they include Buddhism under sanatana dharma. Some differences as i see them is that they asume an absolute ground of being. pañcupādānakkhandhā for them is then like wave in the ocean. This entails a different view of impermanence. whereas in Buddhism(in my opinion) there is new arising or abhinava uppada of dhammas. For example expressed in such terms as
‘anuppannā ceva kusalā dhammā uppajjanti’, ‘paṭicca-samuppāda’
‘khandhānaṁ pātubhāvo’ etc.
But this kind new arising will probably lead to contradictions for them. If there is new arising, is that separate from of the absolute? If it isn’t, when that ceases, does a part of the absolute cease?
In my opinion, in Buddhism there is a dhamma paramparā or lineage or succession of dhammas. Dhammas producing dhammas( paṭicca-samuppāda) due to various causal forces. For them its more of a modification of the existing.
But i dont think this can be settled on the level of philosophy. One could get convinced either way. So i will retire from this conversation.Experiential investigation through mental development is the key i think.