There must be some external basis for our experiences since experiences of any particular object are not occurrent everywhere and at every time. Translations of Indian Yogācāra texts were first introduced to China in the early fifth century. Madhyamaka-Yogācāra polemics abound in Indian Buddhist literature, and Tibetan doxographies regard them as distinct systems. Adherents of Madhyamika accused the Yogacarins of substantialism or a belief that some kind of substantial reality underlies phenomena, although this criticism doesn't seem to describe actual Yogacara teaching. By creating these concepts human beings become "susceptible to grasping after the object" as if it were a real object (sad artha) even though it is just a conception (vijñapti). "[89] Classical Yogācāra thinkers like Asaṅga and Vasubandhu critiqued Madhyamikas who "adhere to non-existence" (nāstikas, vaināśkas) because they saw them as straying into nihilism (ucchedavāda). Hookham and Paul Williams, their attribution to a single author has been questioned by modern scholars, especially the Abhisamayalankara and the Ratnagotravibhaga (which focuses on tathāgatagarbha). Standard Buddhist doctrine held that these eighteen "dhatus" or components of experience, "exhaust the full extent of everything in the universe, or more accurately, the sensorium. Yogācāra was first transmitted to Tibet by Śāntarakṣita, Kamalaśīla and Atiśa and Yogācāra thought is an integral part of the history of Tibetan Buddhism. Yogācāra has also been identified in the western philosophical tradition as idealism, or more specifically subjective idealism. The first half of this treatise analyzes the structure and the function of consciousness; the second elucidates the three-nature doctrine and the stages of practice. As has already been said, Yogacara is primarily concerned with the nature of vijnana and the nature of experience. The Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras teach the voidness, or the nonexistence, of all entities. La somme du Grand Véhicule d'Asaṅga (Mahāyānasaṃgraha). 313–335 in: Chen-kuo Lin / Michael Radich (eds.) Cambridge University Press, 1993, page 106. A practitioner who has stepped into the "path of insight" (darśana-mārga) attains "supermundane cognition" (lokottara-jñāna), in which there is no image of an object. But because the complete meaning of the Buddha's teaching was not fully elucidated during these "turnings," the Buddha set the wheel in motion a third time, with the intention of making explicit (nītārtha) what was only implicit (neyārtha) in the sūtras composed in earlier times. Since we can be aware of a pot even when we are not "linked" to the potter's intentions (even after the potter is dead), a more complex series of mental interactions must be posited.[34]. It is also known that a person who has advanced in yoga practice perceives a future object. The projection of cognitive objects for appropriation is consciousness's main tool for this construction. Hallucinations have no pragmatic results, efficacy or causal functions and thus can be determined to be unreal, but entities we generally accept as being "real" have actual causal results that cannot be of the same class as hallucinations. [12], One of the main features of Yogācāra philosophy is the concept of vijñapti-mātra. [116] The Indian Buddhist logician Dignāga (c. 480– 540 CE) wrote an important Yogācāra work, the Alambanapariksa and its vrtti (commentary). Manas represents the aspect of its mental functioning, thinking, reasoning, conceiving ideas, etc. Asiatische Studien 25 (1971): 265–323. To define something conceptually is to divide the world into what it is and what it is not, but the world is a causal flux that does not accord with conceptual constructs. East Asian Yogācāra (traditional Chinese: 唯識宗; ; pinyin: Wéishí-zōng; Japanese pronunciation: Yuishiki-shū; Korean: 유식종 "'Consciousness Only' school" or traditional Chinese: 法相宗; ; pinyin: Fǎxiàng-zōng; Japanese pronunciation: Hossō-shū; Korean: 법상종, "'Dharma Characteristics' school") refers to the traditions in East Asia which represent the Yogacara system of thought. There are really just impressions, but we superimpose on these the false constructions of object and subject. The grasper-grasped relation has ceased. Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism, 2003, pp 94-95. "La philosophie bouddhique idéaliste." The one and the same thing is represented differently by beings in different states of existence; for instance, that which is perceived by a man as a stream of clean water is represented as a flaming river by an inhabitant of hell and as a stream of pus and filth by a preta. Consciousness engages in this deceptive game of projection, dissociation, and appropriation because there is no "self." It frequently treats later developments in a way that realigns them with earlier versions of Buddhist doctrines. Wayaku to chūkai. Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso, the 19th-century Rimé movement commentator, wrote in his commentary on Śāntarakṣita's synthesis, that the ultimate view in both schools is the same, and that each path leads to the same ultimate state of abiding.[92]. 659-683. However, Yogacara is a lot more than just saying that. Collection of articles discussing some textual problems and philosphical ideas found in the Vijñānavā treatises. According to Buddhism, the deepest, most pernicious erroneous view held by sentient beings is the view that a permanent, eternal, immutable, independent self exists. First codified by the sage Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras around 400 C.E, the practice was in fact handed down from teacher to student long before this text arose. 1522), in which the doctrine of the ālaya-vijñāna is presented. Yogācāra adopts and expanded this theory. Its elu- cidation of vijñapti-mātratā , usually rendered as consciousness-only or mind-on- As a dual self. [83] Vasubandhu also went on to write important Yogācāra works after his conversion, explaining and defending key Yogācāra doctrines. [63] This is also an unreal superimposition, since there is really no such separation of inner and outer, but an interconnected causal stream of mentality which is falsely divided up. [112], Some of the earliest Yogācāra material can be found in the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, such as the doctrines of ālayavijñāna and āśrayaparāvṛtti. The consciousness that undergoes modification consists of three strata: (1) the six kinds of consciousness produced through the visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile senses and the mind; (2) the "I-consciousness," called manas, which accompanies the six kinds of consciousness; and (3) the subliminal consciousness, called ālaya-vijñāna ("store consciousness"), in which the "impressions" (vasana) of past experiences are accumulated as the "seeds" (bija) of future experiences. [109], The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra also later assumed considerable importance in East Asia, and portions of this text were considered by Étienne Lamotte as being contemporaneous with the Saṃdhinirmocana. [54] In this transformation the concept of objects is created. Dharmakīrti (c. 600–660) and Prajñākāragupta (c. eighth century) are recognized by both subschools as exponents of their respective doctrines. Vasubandhu's Vimśatikā mentions three and refutes them:[29][30][31], According to Mark Siderits, after disposing of these objections, Vasubandhu believes he has shown that vijñapti-mātra is just as good at explaining and predicting the relevant phenomena of experience as any theory of realism that posits external objects. The Yogācāra doctrine of “appearance only” (vijñapti-mātra), under such a reading, includes the mind itself. 2 vols. Foundations of Buddhism, by Rupert Gethin. Thus the modification (pariṇāma), or "change," of consciousness takes place in two ways: (1) a seed planted by the consciousness-in-activity becomes ripe in the ālaya-vijñāna; and (2) the consciousness-in-activity arises from the seed. [6] Yogācāra continues to be influential in Tibetan Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism. [2], This syncretic form of Yogācāra-Tathāgatagarbha became extremely influential in both East Asia and Tibet. "[32], Another objection that Vasubandhu answers is that of how one person can influence another's experiences, if everything arises from mental karmic seeds in one's mind stream. They believed Madhyamika leaned too closely to nihilism by over-emphasizing the emptiness of phenomena, although no doubt Nagarjuna would have disagreed. Yogācāra Buddhism received the name as it provided a "yoga," a systematic framework for engaging in the practices that lead through the path of the bodhisattva towards awakening and full Buddhahood. The ālaya-vijñāna subsists only for a moment, then is replaced by another consciousness in the next moment. Yamabe, Nobuyoshi (2004), "Consciousness, Theories of", in Buswell, Jr., Robert E., Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, USA: Macmillan Reference USA, pp. Key works of the hybrid school include the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra), and in China the Awakening of Faith. According to Rahula, all the elements of this theory of consciousness with its three layers of Vijñāna are already found in the Pāli Canon:[55], Thus we can see that Vijñāna represents the simple reaction or response of the sense organs when they come in contact with external objects. As the name of the school suggests, meditation practice is central to the Yogācāra tradition. Among these was Guṇabhadra's translation of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra in four fascicles, which would also become important in the early history of Chan Buddhism. According to Siderits, this is because: When we wrongly imagine there to be external objects we are led to think in terms of the duality of 'grasped and grasper', of what is 'out there' and what is ' in here' - in short, of external world and self. [24], Other scholars such as Saam Trivedi argue that Yogācāra is similar to Idealism (closer to a Kantian epistemic idealism), though they note that it is its own unique form and that it might be confusing to categorize it as such. By the end of the eighth century, the Abhidharma wing has mostly become eclipsed by the logical tradition as well as by a new hybrid school that "combined basic Yogācāra doctrines with Tathāgatagarbha thought. These three characteristics are closely related to the "triple unreality" discussed in chapter 7. According to the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, a Yogācāra text, the Buddha set the "wheel of the doctrine" (dharmacakra) in motion three times. Consequently, it is known that the form of an object that appears in the consciousness does not belong to a thing in the external world but is attributed to the consciousness itself. [70] While this division did not exist in the works of the early Yogācāra philosophers, tendencies similar to these views can be discerned in the works of Yogacara thinkers like Dharmapala (c. [78] This work is strongly influenced by Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma. [125][lower-alpha 3] Buddhist scholar Jay Garfield continues to uphold the equation of Yogācāra and idealism, however. The imaginary character is the assignation of conventional names to things with respect to their intrinsic nature (svabhāva) and specific qualities (viśeṣa). "[121], According to Lusthaus,[122] Étienne Lamotte, a famous student of Louis de La Vallée-Poussin, "...profoundly advanced Yogācāra studies, and his efforts remain unrivaled among Western scholars.". According to Lusthaus: Overturning the Basis turns the five sense consciousnesses into immediate cognitions that accomplish what needs to be done (kṛtyānuṣṭhāna-jñāna). Die Āśrayaparivṛtti-Theorie in der Yogācārabhūmi. Shoki Yuishiki-shisō no kenkyū. [97] His translations include the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, the Madhyāntavibhāga-kārikā, the Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā, and the Mahāyānasaṃgraha. Vasubandhu argues that "impressions can also be caused in a mental stream by the occurrence of a distinct impression in another suitably linked mental stream. That by which the nondual reality is there. As early as the fifth century some Yogācāra works were translated into Chinese, but a real interest in Yogācāra was not aroused until Bodhiruci (?–527) arrived in China in 508 and translated Vasubandhu's commentary on the Daśabhūmika Sūtra, the Shi di jing lun (T.D. [2], One of the more controversial teachings espoused by the Yogacara school was an extension of the teachings on seeds and store-conscious. What is its nonexistence? Thus Asaṅga speaks of emptiness as "the non-existence of the self, and the existence of the no-self. 2049) and Xuanzang's Da Tang xiyu ji (T.D. [10] For this reason, Yogācārins developed an Abhidharma literature set within a Mahāyāna framework. no. [91] The harmonizing tendency can be seen in the work of philosophers like Jñānagarbha (8th century), his student Śāntarakṣita (8th century) and also in the work of the Yogācāra thinker Ratnakaraksanti (c. 1000). When that deception is removed one's mode of cognition is no longer termed vijñāna (consciousness); it has become direct cognition (jñāna) (see above). from Tibetan): These representations (vijñapti) are mere representations (vijñapti-mātra), because there is no [corresponding] thing/object (artha)...Just as in a dream there appear, even without a thing/object (artha), just in the mind alone, forms/images of all kinds of things/objects like visibles, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, houses, forests, land, and mountains, and yet there are no [such] things/objects at all in that [place]. "[17] According to Paul Williams, "all things which can be known can be subsumed under these Three Natures. [114] He wrote various important śāstras, including the Trisvabhāva-nirdeśa (Treatise on the Three Natures), Viṃśaṭikā-kārikā (Treatise in Twenty Stanzas), Triṃśikā-kārikā (Treatise in Thirty Stanzas), Vyākhyāyukti ("Proper Mode of Exposition"), Karmasiddhiprakarana ("A Treatise on Karma"), and the Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇa (Explanation of the Five Aggregates). dharmatā) that is empty. This makes us anxious, since it entails that no self or identity endures forever. In the fourth, defilements have been eliminated, and the student realizes enlightenment. There is a lot t o be found in the scholarship about the Yogācāra school of thought, in particular the storehouse consciousness (Jiang, 2004), however most of what is found is philosophical in … There are several interpretations of this main theory, some scholars see it as a kind of Idealism while others argue that it is closer to a kind of phenomenology or representationalism. Regarding the composition of a treatise dealing with seventeen stages, Paramārtha's Life of Vasubandhu (T.D. In this article, Sadhguru offers the following Yoga definition; essentially, "that which brings you to reality." Sanskrit School. [2][3] It is also variously termed Vijñānavāda (विज्ञानवाद, the doctrine of consciousness), Vijñaptivāda (the doctrine of ideas or percepts) or Vijñaptimātratā-vāda (the doctrine of 'mere vijñapti), which is also the name given to its major epistemic theory. [35], An explanation of the Buddhist doctrine of karma (action) is central to Yogācāra, and the school sought to explain important questions such as how moral actions can have effects on individuals long after that action was done, that is, how karmic causality works across temporal distances. Is it just an exercise form? Thus, he realizes that there is no real object to be "seized" (grāhya) and, consequently, that the consciousness as the "seizer" (grāhaka) is also devoid of reality. According to Robert Kritzer, though this work is traditionally seen as being based on Sarvastivada and Sautrantika Abhidharma, it also contains Yogācāra influences drawn from the Yogācārabhūmi. [17] The second element of this is a perceptual duality between the sensorium and its objects, between what is "external" and "internal", between subject (grāhaka, literally "grasper") and object (grāhya, "grasped"). [75] It includes new theories such as the basis-consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), and the doctrine of representation-only (vijñapti-mātra) and the "three natures" (trisvabhāva). Manas or self-consciousness, the seventh consciousness, is the part of the mind that creates an illusion of individual self. [95], Translations of Indian Yogācāra texts were first introduced to China in the early 5th century CE. [113], Asaṅga's brother Vasubandhu is also considered to be an important Yogācāra figure. Yogacara students went through four stages of development. [102] Xuanzang also promoted devotional meditative practices toward Maitreya. Mādhyamika and Yogācāra: A Study of Mahāyana Philosophies. ed. Zhihua Yao Yogācāra Critiques of the Two Truths pp. Some of the reasons mentioned are as follows; 1. Very simply, Yogacara teaches that vijnana is real, but objects of awareness are unreal. Suguro Shinjō. The chapter dealing with the "stage of bodhisattvas" (bodhisattvabhūmi) is devoted to the detailed analysis of the religious practices of bodhisattvas, systematically explaining the matters with which their practices are concerned, the ways that their practices are to be conducted, and the results to be attained by the practices. To these six types of vijnana, Yogacara added two more. If I own things (ideas, theories, identities, material objects), then "I am." Why Choose Yogacara Whistler? Yogācāra (योगाचार) refers to “practicing the practices” and represents one of the ten Bodhisattva vyavasthānas, according to the Avataṃsaka in the chapter on the bodhisattva-daśavyavasthāna, as mentioned in the 2nd century Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra chapter 52. The philosophical ideas expressed in these commentaries are not identical with those presented in the Viṃśatikā and the Triṃśikā. Yogācāra From Buddha-Nature < Key Terms. Realization of vijñapti-mātra exposes this trick intrinsic to consciousness's workings, thereby eliminating it. Mādhyamika, (Sanskrit: “Intermediate”), important school in the Mahāyāna (“Great Vehicle”) Buddhist tradition. Yogācāra has also been aligned with phenomenalism. A Paper Prepared for Philosophy 772 "Yogacara Buddhism" San Francisco State University Fall, 1995 རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་, Wyl. Yogācāra-vyavasthāna is also known as sieou hing. It shows that phenomenal existences, which are characterized by the duality of subject and object or of denoter and denoted, are in reality modifications of a conscious principle called "unreal imagination" (abhūta-parikalpa). In modern western philosophical discourse, Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty have approached what western scholarship generally concedes to be a standard Yogācāra position. 2 Stuttgart, 1990. Kyoto, 1953. The Yogācāra school is, with the Mādhyamika, one of the two main traditions of Indian Buddhism. Where the schools differ is in the Yogacara refusal to accept the validity of discussing external objects as causes (nimitta) given that an external object is never (directly) perceived.[77]. For example, the early Zen tradition in China was sometimes referred to simply as the "Laṅkāvatāra school" (Ch. The Yogācāra philosophy was systematized by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu, thinkers who lived in the fourth or fifth century. ", According to Mark Siderits, what Vasubandhu means here is that we are only ever aware of mental images or impressions which manifest themselves as external objects, but "there is actually no such thing outside the mind."[15]. [105], Although Je Tsongkhapa (whose reforms to Atiśa's Kadam tradition are generally considered the beginnings of the Gelug school)[106] argued in favour of Yogācāra views (specifically regarding the existence and functioning of eight consciousnesses) early in his career, the prevailing Gelug view eventually came to hold Yogācāra views as a matter of interpretable meaning, therefore distinct from Madhyamaka which was held to be of definitive meaning. The recognition that phenomenal appearance is but the play of the mind itself is a means of discovering how beings fall into samsara and how they can be liberated from it. When the Warehouse Consciousness finally ceases it is replaced by the Great Mirror Cognition (Mahādarśa-jñāna) that sees and reflects things just as they are, impartially, without exclusion, prejudice, anticipation, attachment, or distortion. [113], Authorship of several major Yogācāra treatises or śāstras are ascribed to Asaṅga, a major doctrinal systematizer of the school. Nagao Gadjin. Consciousness projects and constructs a cognitive object in such a way that it disowns its own creation - pretending the object is "out there" - in order to render that object capable of being appropriated. [17] Vasubandhu also explains why it is soteriologically important to get rid of the idea of really existing external objects. What exists in reality is only primordial mind (ye shes, jñāna), described as self-cognition (rang rig, svasamvedana/ svasamvitti) or individually self-cognizing primordial mind (so so(r) rang gis rig pa’i ye shes). He also uses the example of a wet dream to show that mental content can have causal efficacy outside of a dream. by Roger Zim. For example, visual consciousness or vijnana -- seeing -- has the eye as its basis and a visible phenomenon as its object. Vasubandhu famously converted or developed from being an expert on the Sarvastivadin Abhidharma, albeit with Sautrantika views, to being a Mahayanist and a founder of Yogācāra. However, the unreal imagination is not admitted to exist in the ultimate sense. Waldron, William S. The Buddhist Unconscious: The Alaya-vijñana in the context of Indian Buddhist Thought. Mental consciousness has the mind ( manas) as its basis and an idea or thought as its object. In the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, in which the three-nature doctrine is a major topic, Asaṅga sets forth the view that the imagined and the perfected natures are two aspects of the dependent nature; the dependent nature, he explains, appears as the imagined nature by dint of a false imagination and as the perfected nature when the false imagination is removed. The Yogācāras maintain that phenomenal existences, which are generally supposed to have objective reality in the external world, are no other than the "representations" (vijñapti), or images, of objects appearing in our consciousness (vijñāna). Among them are his magnum opus, the Mahāyānasaṃgraha and also a compendium of Yogācāra Abhidharma, the Abhidharma-samuccaya. A brief description of the Yogācāra teachers and their works and an exposition of the fundamental doctrines are given on pages 92–169, 228–250. A detailed study of a chapter of. Jacobi, Hermann, trans. This text, a massive encyclopedic work on yogic praxis, is traditionally attributed to Asaṅga (4th century) or Maitreya, but most scholars (such as Schmithausen and Aramaki) believe it contains the work of many authors, and its components reflect various stages of historical development. Tokyo, 2001. This work was recognized as authoritative for Yogācāra dogmatics by the Faxiang sect, which was founded by Kuiji (632–682), a disciple of Xuanzang. [19] While the standard translations for these terms are often "consciousness only" and "mind-only" (signifying an Idealistic doctrine), several modern scholars object to these, as well as to Idealistic interpretation. The dogmatics of the Faxiang (Jpn., Hossō) sect were introduced into Japan during the Nara period (710–784) by some monks who had studied in China. The Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra (Ornament of Mahāyāna Sūtras), which presents a systematic exposition of the practices of bodhisattvas, consists of about 800 verses and is divided into 21 chapters. Hamamya Noriaki. Citta which is here called Ālayavijñāna, represents the deepest, finest and subtlest aspect or layer of the Aggregate of consciousness. [73] Yogācāra texts are generally considered part of the third turning along with the relevant sutra. [50][lower-alpha 1] Instead referring to separate consciousnesses, Kalupahana interprets these terms as referring to a function or transformation of consciousness. The first is the ālaya and its seeds, which is the flow or stream of consciousness, without any of the usual projections on top of it. Vijnana often is translated into English as "awareness," "consciousness" or "knowing." Jump to navigation Jump to search. Yogācāra-Vijñānavāda literature, and second, to offer an interpretation of the three natures theory that answers the fundamental question of the theory’s purport. Nevertheless, the notion was highly criticized by adherents of the Lotus Sutra (e.g. Upon enlightenment, these dualistic modes of awareness are transformed, and the resulting awarenesses are able to perceive reality clearly and directly. However, the uniformity of a single assumed "Yogācāra school" has been put into question. Peter Harvey, "An Introduction to Buddhism." Yogācāra philosophy is primarily meant to aid in the practice of yoga and meditation and thus it also sets forth a systematic analysis of the Mahayana spiritual path (see five paths pañcamārga).Yogācārins made use of ideas from previous traditions, such as Prajñāpāramitā and the Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma, to develop a new schema for spiritual practice. A careful examination of the composition of the Yogācārabhūmi. La Vallée Poussin, Louis de. This, as I see it, is one of the main agendas of the Yogācāra arguments against the Mādhya- mikas. Vallée Poussin's Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi abruptly introduced the densely rich, complex systematics and vast terminology of advanced Yogācāra thought, a richness which few Western scholars to this day have actually digested. King, Richard, Early Yogācāra and its Relationship with the Madhyamaka School, Philosophy East & West Volume 44, Number 4 October 1994 pp. The Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra's major contribution to the Yogācāra school is its formulation of the doctrine of the three "characteristics" (lakṣaṇa) of entities: the imaginary character (parikalpita-lakṣaṇa), the dependent character (paratantra-lakṣaṇa), and the perfected character (pariniṣpanna-lakṣaṇa). He lectured every night for four months; the next day Asaṅga, for the sake of the other attendants, gave a full explanation of what the bodhisattva had taught. How does it appear? One of the agendas of the Yogācāra school was to reorient the complexity of later refinements in Buddhist philosophy to accord with early Buddhist doctrine.[79]. Yogācāra-vyavasthāna is also known as sieou hing. "[2] So according to Lusthaus, "Yogacarins don't claim that nothing whatsoever exists outside the mind" and "Consciousness enjoys no transcendent status, nor does it serve as a metaphysical foundation.
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