Across families
Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism and Yoruba Ifá
Different families with 10 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.17 (0 would be identical).
Mahayana aims plus tantric means: an elaborate deity practice, a guru whose authority is central, and a use of the body and the passions as the path rather than as obstacles. The most ritually dense form of Buddhism here.
A vast memorised divination corpus, a remote supreme being, hundreds of orisha, and a personal destiny chosen before birth that can be renegotiated. The source tradition for most of the Afro-diasporic religions in this matrix.
Where they agree
A4 Locus
Both sit at fully present within it — a gap of 0.00.
D2 Centrality of ritual
Both sit at essential and prescribed — a gap of 0.00.
A2 Personhood
Both sit at between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address — a gap of 0.03.
D3 The body
Both sit at between to be disciplined and to be celebrated — a gap of 0.04.
B2 Reading of sacred text
Both sit at between literal and binding and metaphorical, or no text at all and leaning literal and binding respectively — a gap of 0.05.
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good
Both sit at leaning achieved by effort or insight — a gap of 0.07.
B1 Source of truth
Both sit at between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experience — a gap of 0.07.
C3 The human condition
Both sit at ignorant but fundamentally sound and leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound respectively — a gap of 0.10.
B3 Institutional authority
Both sit at clergy and tradition decide and leaning clergy and tradition decide respectively — a gap of 0.10.
A3 Plurality
Both sit at leaning many powers and spirits and many powers and spirits respectively — a gap of 0.12.
Where they part company
E2 Origin of the cosmos
Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism: beginningless or natural. Yoruba Ifá: leaning an intentional act. A gap of 0.72 on an axis running from “an intentional act” to “beginningless or natural”.
C1 Survival of the self
Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism: between ends at death and continues in some form. Yoruba Ifá: continues in some form. A gap of 0.44 on an axis running from “ends at death” to “continues in some form”.
All seventeen axes
| Axis | Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism | Yoruba Ifá | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine reality | leaning a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly exists | 0.22 |
| A2 Personhood | between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address | between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address | 0.03 |
| A3 Plurality | leaning many powers and spirits | many powers and spirits | 0.12 |
| A4 Locus | fully present within it | fully present within it | 0.00 |
| B1 Source of truth | between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experience | between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experience | 0.07 |
| B2 Reading of sacred text | between literal and binding and metaphorical, or no text at all | leaning literal and binding | 0.05 |
| B3 Institutional authority | clergy and tradition decide | leaning clergy and tradition decide | 0.10 |
| C1 Survival of the self | between ends at death and continues in some form | continues in some form | 0.44 |
| C2 Shape of time | cyclical return | leaning cyclical return | 0.13 |
| C3 The human condition | ignorant but fundamentally sound | leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound | 0.10 |
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good | leaning achieved by effort or insight | leaning achieved by effort or insight | 0.07 |
| D2 Centrality of ritual | essential and prescribed | essential and prescribed | 0.00 |
| D3 The body | between to be disciplined and to be celebrated | between to be disciplined and to be celebrated | 0.04 |
| E1 Exclusivity | between one true path and many valid paths | leaning many valid paths | 0.20 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmos | beginningless or natural | leaning an intentional act | 0.72 |
| E3 Locus of belonging | between a people, inherited and an individual choice | leaning a people, inherited | 0.36 |
| E4 Standing of nature | leaning animate and itself sacred | animate and itself sacred | 0.18 |
Positions for Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism rest principally on Tibetan tantric commentarial literature and Lamrim texts; for Yoruba Ifá, on Odu Ifa corpus and Abimbola’s scholarship. Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.
The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.