Mahayana Buddhism and Whitehead

As many scholars have already pointed out, the modes of thought found in Whitehead's philosophy and Mahayana Buddhism have striking affinities. Because of their great similarity, Whitehead's philosophy and Mahayana Buddhism appear to be contiguous to one another, so much so that one could move from one to the other merely by taking a single step. Nevertheless, we must not overlook the important differences between the two. These differences, although subtle and often inconspicuous, are deeply rooted in the structure of their respective ways of thinking and of understanding reality. In other words, their differences are not of degree, or extent, but rather of quality and structure. This must be clarified and emphasized at the outset of our approach to the subject 'Mahayana Buddhism and Whitehead.'