Buddhism and Taoism: Two Roads, Same Mountain?

Or not so much?

Jason Miller posted about a dream he had in which Padmasambhava (the 8th century tantric saint who introduced Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet) and General Guan (the Taoist immortal) said that the Buddhist and Taoist paths were “Pretty much the same thing from where we stand, just the specifics are different and even then some are the same."

So, granted, Buddhism and Taoism employ similar means to their ends.  Meditation is key in both systems, and Vajrayana Buddhism and esoteric Taoism both employ sophisticated processes of inner alchemy to produce enlightenment or "immortality."  Some of those meditative and alchemical processes are very similar in the way that they work with breath, visualization, and inner energy channels.  And of course there has historically been a great deal of cross-fertilization between Buddhism, Hindu yoga and tantra, and Taoism, especially in the regions where Indian, Tibetan, and Chinese cultures have met and intermingled.   

Normally I am not a fan of the idea that all spiritual paths lead to the same place.  If you look at the traditions, read the texts carefully, and observe practitioners in those traditions, it is obviously not the case.  Different traditions employ different spiritual practices which have different results.  This is something I came to feel pretty strongly about when I was a Religous Studies major at Humboldt, and I really get tired of hearing the feel-good New Age sentiment that all spiritual paths are "the same."  They're not.

Buddhism and Taoism, however, especially in their esoteric forms, are more similar to each other than most other paths.  In China, most people are essentially both Buddhist and Taoist and Confucian and practice various elements of Chinese folk religion, as well.  Moreover, Taoism strongly influenced the development of the Ch'an (i.e. Zen) school of Buddhism in China, while Buddhism influenced the development of the Complete Reality school of Taoism.  And there is quite a bit of overlap between Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist yoga and qigong practices in terms of posture, breathing, and internal energy work.

That said, what about the end result of the two paths?  Buddhism has very clearly defined goals for its practitioners.  In the Theravada tradition, this goal is defined as nirvana.  The practitioner becomes an arhat, and will never again be reborn in samsara.  In the Mahayana, practitioners are encouraged to follow the way of the bodhisattva, aiming for the complete liberation of all beings, and the highest level of attainment is described as samyaksambodhi or perfect enlightenment.  But what, exactly, is the goal of Taoism?  I'm sure this goal is defined differently in the various schools of Taoism, just as there are variations in the concept of buddhahood and the path to it among the various schools of Buddhism.  At least some schools of Taoism do seem to emphasize realization of emptiness or pure, unconditioned awareness in a way that sounds a lot like the goal of Buddhism.  They are both essentially nondual spiritual traditions, after all.  But some schools of Taoism also promote the pursuit of immortality (defined in various ways), which is not a feature of Buddhism.

Ultimately, I think I am coming to the conclusion that I don't know enough about the various forms of Taoism to draw clear parallels (or perpendiculars) with Buddhism.  Does anyone out there know enough about the actual goals of Taoist practice to further my understanding?  I would greatly appreciate it.