Source: TW
Among all the systems of vedAnta, it is vishiShTadvAita (vadakalai) that puts the most emphasis on trying to give a unified synthesis of the karma & j~nAna kANDa. Their panentheism(=God is greater than the universe and includes and interpenetrates it) helps explain almost all the putatively conflicting views of scripture.
Due to this panentheistic realism, the advaitin-s viciously attack them with the charge that their system compromises the nirvikAratva and avyayatva of Brahman. The advaitins rest their philosophy on the absolute immutability of Brahman & they don’t compromise one bit on it.
Keep in mind that all denominations have different views on what the jiiva is. People make the mistake of just assuming it’s the same, the devil absolutely lies in the details here. vishiShTAdvaita believes the individual self is a doer, enjoyer as well cognizer. So the VAdv achAryas say the jiiva is eternally a jnAtRRi, bhoktRRi and kartRRi. Keep in mind the giita is more saMkhyin, so verses such as अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते have to interpreted with some wit. It is advaita that says the self is pure self-reflexive awareness. I say once again, the devil lies in the details: the relationship of the self to the manas, the buddhi, the antas-karaNa, and to jnAna is where the real juice of the different denominations rests. What is awareness? what is consciousness? what is intellect? what is knowledge? And this is also where the real difference between vedAnta and platonism lies. It is very important to understand first and foremost what each denomination and what non-vedAntic sects think of the self, and what are of its attribute-essence according to them.
Btw, speaking about panentheism it’s important to also realize that the Eastern Orthodox Church is not really monotheistic but holds to a soft panentheism. (essence-energies distinction). In fact, this system is fairly similar to vishiShTAdvaita (energies = attributes of God). It’s true, advaita is similar to some sects of buddhism but those sects of buddhism then are also similar to the upaniShads ;) The concepts of dharmakaya, tathagathagarbha and alaya-vij~NAna are all more vedAntic than they are madhyamikan.