Advaita Vedanta is a branch of Hindu philosophy whose primary belief is in the ultimate non-duality of individuals with the overarching soul-self, Brahman (Bartley 162). The world itself is a series of superimpositions--illusions that obscure realization of true oneness, known collectively as "avidya" (Bartley 165). There is some contention within the tradition over what precisely avidya is: either each individual's soul/perceptive ability is an avidya, or that avidya is a force of anti-knowledge, an entity on the scale of Brahman (Bartley 166). Coming to the realization of nonduality (similarly to Buddhism traditions) allows freedom from samsara, moksha (Bartley 139). Interestingly, this realization is a purely mental feat. None of the ritual actions of the Vedas are required. In fact, the value of the Vedas and the Gita is that reading them allows for an intuitive understanding of universal nonduality (Bartley 150-151). Some of the Vedantins value rituals less (like Samkara) some more (like Mandana Misra) (Barley 151) but there appears to be an overall consensus that the rituals are binding. Because they are actions, they are consequence and object oriented, differentiating rather than simplifying. They may positively impact the next life, but they cannot allow escape from the cycle (Bartley 153-154).
The Bartley text also describes Samkara's arguments about how Vendanta differs from Buddhism, but in this I can at least make my own interpretation. They seem similar but have an important and divisive difference. The Vedanta tradition believes that all differentiation is an illusion because everything is one. The Buddhist tradition believes that all differentiation is an illusion but everything is nothing (or not nothing but also not something).
It quite reminded me of your highly amusing Shiva blob comment, actually, Dr. Cat.
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