Wednesday 30 November 2011

Asanga and Vasubandhu

Yogācāra ("yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential school of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing phenomenology and (some argue) ontologythrough the interior lens of meditative and yogic practices. It developed within Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism in about the 4th century CE.Yogācāra discourse is founded on the existential truth of the human condition: there is nothing that humans experience that is not mediated by mind.

Yogācāra is also transliterated (using standard English alphabet) as "yogachara". Another name for the school is Vijñānavāda (Sanskrit). Vāda means "doctrine" and "way"; vijñāna means "consciousness" and "discernment". Hence, "Vijñānavāda" may be rendered as "Consciousness Doctrine" or "Discernment Way"; though it is commonly rendered as "Knowledge Way". History

The Yogācāra is, along with the Mādhyamaka, one of the two principal schools of Nepalese and Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism. Origination

Masaaki (2005) states: "[a]ccording to the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, the first Yogācāra text, the Buddha set the 'wheel of the doctrine' (Dharmacakra) in motion three times." Hence, the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, as the doctrinal trailblazer of Yogācāra, inaugurated the paradigm of the three turnings of the wheel of Dharma, with its own tenets in the "third turning". The Yogācāra texts are generally considered part of the third turning along with the relevant sutra. Moreover, Yogācāra discourse surveys and synthesizes all three turnings.

The origins of the scholarly Indian Yogācāra tradition were rooted in the syncretic scholasticism of Nālandā University, where the doctrine of consciousness-only (vijñapti-mātra or cittamātra) was first extensively propagated. Doctrines, tenets and derivatives of this school have influenced and become well-established in China, Korea, Tibet, Japan and Mongolia and throughout the world via the dissemination and dialogue wrought by the Buddhist diaspora.

The orientation of the Yogācāra school is largely consistent with the thinking of the Pāli Nikāyas. It frequently treats later developments in a way that realigns them with earlier versions of Buddhist doctrines. Dan Lusthaus concludes that 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.

Vasubandhu, Asaṅga and Maitreya-nātha

Yogācāra, which had its genesis in the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, was largely formulated by the brahmin born half-brothers Vasubandhu and Asaṅga (who was said to be inspired by the quasihistorical Maitreya-nātha, or the divine Maitreya). This school held a prominent position in the Indian scholastic tradition for several centuries due to its lauded pedigree and propagation at Nālandā.

Yogācāra and Mādhyamaka

As evidenced by Tibetan sources, this school was in protracted dialectic with the Mādhyamaka. However, there is disagreement among contemporary Western and traditional Buddhist scholars about the degree to which they were opposed, if at all. To summarize the main difference in a way so brief as to risk the accusation of inaccuracy, while the Mādhyamaka held that asserting the existence or non-existence of any ultimately real thing was inappropriate, some exponents of Yogācāra asserted that the mind (or in the more sophisticated variations, primordial wisdom) and only the mind is ultimately real. Not all Yogācārins, however, asserted that mind was truly existent. According to some interpretations, Vasubandhu and Asaṅga in particular did not.

Later Yogācāra exponents synthesized the two views, particularly Śāntarakṣita, whose view was later called "Yogācāra-Svatantrika-Mādhyamaka" by the Tibetan tradition. In his view the Mādhyamika position is ultimately true and at the same time the mind-only view is a useful way to relate to conventionalities and progress students more skillfully toward the ultimate. This synthesized view between the two positions, which also incorporated views of valid cognition from Dignāga and Dharmakīrti, was one of the last developments of Indian Buddhism before it was extinguished in the 11th century during the Muslim incursion. It was also expounded by Xuanzang, who after a suite of debates with exponents of the Mādhyamaka School, composed in Sanskrit the no longer extant three-thousand verse treatise The Non-difference of Mādhyamaka and Yogācāra. Later Yogācāra teachings are especially important in tantric Buddhism, which evolved along with their development in India.

Yogācāra in Tibet

Yogācāra was transmitted to Tibet by Śāntarakṣita and later by Atiśa; it was thereafter integral to Tibetan Buddhism although the prevailing Geluk-dominated view held that it was less definitive than Mādhyamaka. Yogācāra terminology (but not view) is used by the Nyingmapa and its zenith,Dzogchen. Yogācāra also became central to East Asian Buddhism. The teachings of Yogācāra became the Chinese Wei Shi school of Buddhism.

Current debates among Tibetan schools between the shentong (empty of other) and rangtong (empty of self) views appear similar to earlier debates between Yogācāra and Mādhyamaka, but the issues and distinctions have evolved further. Though the later Tibetan views could be said to have evolved from the earlier Indian positions, the distinctions between the views became increasingly subtle, especially after Yogācāra incorporated the Mādhyamika view of the ultimate. Ju Mipham, the 19th century rime movement commenter, wrote in his commentary on Śāntarakṣita's synthesis, that the ultimate view in both schools is the same and each path also leads to the same ultimate state of abiding.

Yogācāra in East Asia East Asian Yogācāra

By the closure of the Sui Dynasty (589-618), Buddhism in China had developed many distinct schools and traditions. Xuanzang, in the words of Dan Lusthaus:

...came to the conclusion that the many disputes and interpretational conflicts permeating Chinese Buddhism were the result of the unavailability of crucial texts in Chinese translation. In particular, he [Xuanzang] thought that a complete version of the Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, an encyclopedic description of the stages of the Yogācāra path to Buddhahood written by Asaṅga, would resolve all the conflicts. In the 6th century an Indian missionary named Paramārtha (another major translator) had made a partial translation of it. Xuanzang resolved to procure the full text in India and introduce it to China.

Moreover, Dan Lusthaus charts the different dialectic and divergent traditions of Buddhism within India and China discovered by Xuanzang and mentions the Buddha-nature, Awakening of Faith, and Tathāgatagarbha:

Xuanzang also discovered that the intellectual context in which Buddhists disputed and interpreted texts was much vaster and more varied than the Chinese materials had indicated: Buddhist positions were forged in earnest debate with a range of Buddhist and non-Buddhist doctrines unknown in China, and the terminology of these debates drew their significance and connotations from this rich context. While in China Yogācāra thought and Tathāgata-garbha thought were becoming inseparable, in India orthodox Yogācāra seemed to ignore if not outright reject Tathāgata-garbha thought. Many of the pivotal notions in Chinese Buddhism (e.g., Buddha-nature) and their cardinal texts (e.g.,The Awakening of Faith) were completely unknown in India.

Principal exponents of Yogācāra

Principal exponents of Yogācāra categorized and alphabetized according to location:

The Yogācāra textual corpus Sutras

The Unravelling the Mystery of Thought Sutra (Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, 2nd century CE) was the seminal Yogācāra sutra and continued to be a primary referent for the tradition. Also containing Yogācāra elements were the Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra (1st century CE) and Daśabhūmika Sūtra(pre-3rd century CE).[11] The later Descent into Laṅkā Sūtra (Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, 4th century CE) also assumed considerable importance. Other prominent Yogācāra sutras include the Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanāda Sūtra and the Ghanavyūha Sūtra.

Five treatises of Maitreya

Among the most important texts to the Yogācāra tradition to be the Five Treatises of Maitreya. These texts are said to have been related to Asaṅga by the Bodhisattva Maitreya. They are as follows:

A commentary on the Ornament for Clear Realization called "Clarifying the Meaning" by Haribhadra is also often used, as is one by Vimuktisena.

Most of these texts were also incorporated into the Chinese tradition, which was established several centuries earlier than the Tibetan. However, the Ornament for Clear Realization is not mentioned by Chinese translators up to the 7th century, including Xuanzang, who was an expert in this field. This suggests it may possibly have emerged from a later period than is generally ascribed to it.

Other texts

Vasubandhu wrote three foundational texts of the Yogācāra: the Treatise on the Three Natures(Sanskrit: Trisvabhāva-nirdeśa, Tib. Rang-bzhin gsum nges-par bstan), the Treatise in Twenty Stanzas (Skt: Viṃśaṭikā-kārikā) and the Treatise in Thirty Stanzas (S: Triṃśikaikā-kārikā). He also wrote an important commentary on the Madhyantavibhaṅga. According to Buddhist scholar Jay Garfield:

While the Trisvabhāva-nirdeśa is arguably the most philosophically detailed and comprehensive of the three short works on this topic composed by Vasubandu, as well as the clearest, it is almost never read or taught in contemporary traditional cultures or centers of learning. The reason may be simply that this is the only one of Vasubandhu’s root texts for which no autocommmentary exists. For this reason, none of Vasubandhu’s students composed commentaries on the text and hence there is no recognized lineage of transmission for the text. So nobody within the Tibetan tradition (the only extant Mahāyāna scholarly tradition) could consider him or herself authorized to teach the text. It is therefore simply not studied, a great pity. It is a beautiful and deep philosophical essay and an unparalleled introduction to the Cittamatra system.

Authorship of critical Yogācāra texts is also ascribed to Asaṅga personally (in contrast to the Five Treatises of Maitreya). Among them are the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha and the Abhidharma-samuccaya. Sometimes also ascribed to him is the Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, a massive encyclopedic work considered the definitive statement of Yogācāra, but most scholars believe it was compiled a century later, in the 5th century.

Other important commentaries on various Yogācāra texts were written by Sthiramati (6th century) and Dharmapāla (7th century), and an influential Yogācāra-Mādhyamaka synthesis was formulated by Śāntarakṣita (8th century).

Yogācāra Tenets

Charles Muller, a contemporary Yogācāra scholar, remarks that "when Yogācāra specialists take on the task of trying to introduce the tradition to newcomers and non-specialists, whether it be in a book-length project, or an article in a reference work, they inevitably choose different points of departure, depending on their particular approach to understanding Yogācāra, and Buddhism in general. Some will start with the explanation of the eight consciousnesses; some will start with the four parts of cognition; some will start with the three natures; others will start with the doctrine of no-self, and so on. There is no special need to try to assess whether one of these approaches is better than the other, for indeed, in the vast and complex system that is known as Yogācāra, all of these different approaches and categories are ultimately tied into each other, and thus, starting with any one of them, one can eventually enter into all of the rest."

Hattori Masaaki (2005) states:

[Yogācāra] attaches importance to the religious practice of yoga as a means for attaining final emancipation from the bondage of the phenomenal world. The stages of yoga are systematically set forth in the treatises associated with this tradition.

Keenan, et al. (2003) states:

...the Yogācāra thinkers did not simply comment on Mādhyamika thought. They attempted to ground insight into emptiness in a critical understanding of the mind, articulated in a sophisticated theoretical discourse.

Yogācārins developed an Abhidharma literature set within a Mahāyāna framework. Consciousness-only

One of the main features of Yogācāra philosophy is the concept of consciousness-only (cittamātra orvijñapti-mātra). That term was used in Tibet and East Asia interchangeably with "Yogācāra", although modern scholars believe it is inaccurate to conflate the two terms.

The Three Natures

The Yogācārins defined three basic modes by which we perceive our world. These are referred to in Yogācāra as the three natures of perception. They are:

  • Parikalpita (literally, "fully conceptualized"): "imaginary nature", wherein things are incorrectly apprehended based on conceptual construction, through attachment and erroneous discrimination.
  • Paratantra (literally, "other dependent"): "dependent nature", by which the correct understanding of the dependently originated nature of things is understood.
  • Pariniṣpanna (literally, "fully accomplished"): "absolute nature", through which one apprehends things as they are in themselves, uninfluenced by any conceptualization at all.

Also, regarding perception, the Yogācārins emphasized that our everyday understanding of the existence of external objects is problematic, since in order to perceive any object (and thus, for all practical purposes, for the object to "exist"), there must be a sensory organ as well as a correlative type of consciousness to allow the process of cognition to occur.

The eight consciousnesses

Perhaps the best known teaching of the Yogācāra system is that of the eight types of consciousness (Sanskrit: aṣṭa-vijñāna). This theory of the consciousnesses attempted to explain all the phenomena of cyclic existence, including how rebirth occurs and precisely how karma functions on an individual basis. It addressed questions that had long vexed Buddhist philosophers, such as, if one carries out a good or evil act, why and how is it that the effects of that act do not appear immediately? Inasfar as they do not appear immediately, where is this karma waiting for its opportunity to play out?

The answer given by the Yogācārins, those that hold to the tenets of Yogācāra, was the store consciousness (Sanskrit: ālayavijñāna), also known as the basal, or eighth consciousness. It simultaneously acts as a storage place for karmic latencies and as a fertile matrix of predispositions that bring karma to a state of fruition. It may be ultimately traceable to the "luminous mind" mentioned once in the Āgamas. The likeness of this process to the cultivation of plants led to the creation of the metaphor of seeds (Sanskrit: bīja) to explain the way karma is stored in the eighth consciousness. In the Yogācāra formulation, all experience without exception is said to result from the ripening of karma--the seemingly external world is merely a "by-product" (adhipati-phala) of karma. The term vāsanā ("perfuming") is also used, and Yogācārins debated whether vāsāna and bija were essentially the same, the seeds were the effect of the perfuming, or whether the perfuming simply affected the seeds. The type, quantity, quality and strength of the seeds determine where and how a sentientbeing will be reborn: one's race, sex, social status, proclivities, bodily appearance and so forth. The conditioning of the mind resulting from karma is called saṃskāra. The store consciousness concept developed along with the Buddha nature doctrine and resolved into the concept of mindstreamor the "consciousness-continuity" (Sanskrit: citta-santāna) to avoid being denounced as running counter to the doctrine of emptiness (śūnyatā) and the tenets of selflessness (anātman).

The Treatise on Action (Karmasiddhiprakaraṇa), also by Vasubandhu, treats the subject of karma in detail from the Yogācāra perspective.

According to Walpola Rahula, all the elements of the Yogācāra storehouse-consciousness are already found in the Pāli Canon. He writes that the three layers of the mind (citta, manas, and vijñana) as presented by Asaṅga are also mentioned in the Pāli Canon: "Thus we can see that 'Vijñāna' represents the simple reaction or response of the sense organs when they come in contact with external objects. This is the uppermost or superficial aspect or layer of the 'Vijñāna-skandha'. 'Manas' represents the aspect of its mental functioning, thinking, reasoning, conceiving ideas, etc. 'Citta' which is here called 'Ālayavijñāna', represents the deepest, finest and subtlest aspect or layer of the Aggregate of consciousness. It contains all the traces or impressions of the past actions and all good and bad future possibilities."

Additionally, according to scholar Roger R. Jackson, a "'fundamental unconstructed awareness' (mūla-nirvikalpa-jñāna)" is "described . . . frequently in Yogacara literature."

Emptiness in Yogācāra

The doctrine of emptiness (Sanskrit: śūnyatā) is central to Yogācāra, as to any Mahāyāna school. Early Yogācāra texts, such as the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra and the Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, often act as explanations of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras. Keenan (2003) holds that emptiness, dependent arising(pratītyasamutpāda) and the doctrine of two truths are central in Yogācāra thought and meditation.

As one Buddhologist puts it, "Although meaning 'absence of inherent existence' in Mādhyamaka, to the Yogācārins [emptiness] means 'absence of duality between perceiving subject [grāhaka, 'dzin-pa] and the perceived object [grāhya, bzhung-ba].'"

This is not the full story however, as each of the three natures (above), has its corresponding "absence of nature". i.e.:

  • parikalpita => lakṣana-niḥsvabhāvatā, the "absence of inherent characteristic"
  • paratantra => utpatti-niḥsvabhāvatā, the "absence of inherent arising"
  • pariniṣpanna => paramārtha-niḥsvabhāvatā, the "absence of inherent ultimacy"

Each of these "absences" is a form of emptiness, i.e. the nature is "empty" of the particular qualified quality.

Yogācāra gave special significance to the Lesser Discourse on Emptiness of the Āgamas. A passage there (which the discourse itself emphasizes) is often quoted in later Yogācāra texts as a true definition of emptiness.

Meditation in the Yogācāra tradition

As the name of the school suggests, meditation practice is central to the Yogācāra tradition. Practice manuals prescribe the practice of mindfulness of body, feelings, thoughts and dharmas in oneself and others, out of which an understanding of the non-differentiation of self and other is said to arise. This process is referred to in the Yogācāra tradition as "turning about in the basis" (Sanskrit: āśraya-parāvṛtti), the basis being the storehouse consciousness.

Contemporary scholarship

Accordiny to Lusthaus, Étienne Lamotte, a famous student of Louis de La Vallée-Poussin, "...profoundly advanced Yogācāra studies, and his efforts remain unrivaled among Western scholars."

Philosophical dialogue: Yogācāra, idealism and phenomenology

Yogācāra has also been identified in the western philosophical tradition as idealism, or more specifically subjective idealism. This equation was standard until recently, when it began to be challenged by scholars such as Kochumuttom, Anacker, Kalupahana, Dunne, Lusthaus, Powers, and Wayman. Buddhist scholar Jay Garfield continues to uphold the equation of Yogācāra and idealism, however. Yogācāra has also been aligned with phenomenalism. In modern western philosophical discourse, Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty have approached what western scholarship generally concedes to be a standard Yogācāra position.

The Legacy of the Yogācāra

There are two important aspects of the Yogācāra schemata that are of special interest to modern-day practitioners. One is that virtually all schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism came to rely on these Yogācāra explanations as they created their own doctrinal systems, including the Zen schools. For example, the early Zen tradition in China was sometimes referred to simply as the "Laṅkāvatāra school", due to their strong association with the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. This sūtra draws heavily upon Yogācāra theories of the eight consciousnesses, especially the ālayavijñāna. Accounts recording the history of this early period are preserved in Records of the Laṅkāvatāra Masters.

That the scriptural tradition of Yogācāra is not yet well-known among the community of western practitioners is perhaps attributable to the fact that most of the initial transmission of Buddhism to the west has been directly concerned with meditation and basic doctrines. However, within Tibetan Buddhism more and more western students are becoming acquainted with this school.Very little research in English has been carried out on the Chinese Yogācāra traditions.

The Yogacara school, also known as the "consciousness-only" school, is a fourth century outgrowth of Mahayana Madhyamika Buddhism. The Yogacaras, "by establishing a systematic presentation of mind,...a world-view based on their three-nature theory...and...a path system..." of Buddhist practice, conceived a new philosophical system that "brought Mahayana thought to its full scope and completion." Yogacara itself is not a specific meditative practice, but is meant to be applied as a descriptive tool to understand situations of action and intention. The final goal is the complete clarification of consciousness into wisdom. As Harvey says: The intention of the school...is not to propound a mere philosophical viewpoint, but to develop a perspective which will facilitate enlightenment. This paper is intended as a simple survey of Yogacara. Its purpose is to give a general schema and overview of Yogacara with a minimum of doctrinal analysis. Therefore, details of Yogacara history and the context of its development have not been included. Sanskrit terms also have been avoided, except where there is no equivalent term in English. The paper is divided into numbered sections which describe the components of Yogacara theory. Since the components of Yogacara are like blocks that together make a unified structure, their order within the paper is arbitrary (ideally you should read all the sections simultaneously). The components are presented beginning with the simplicity of enlightenment through the increasing complexity of the process of consciousness. Terms, or components, not previously explained or defined are followed by a number in brackets that indicates a section with more information. 1/ THE MIND OF ENLIGHTENMENT The purpose and goal of human life is to reach enlightenment. Yogagcara considers enlightenment a state of True Suchness, or Thusness, meaning that it is the ultimate nature of all things. In reality enlightenment is the only truly existent state. In the perfect clarity of enlightenment there is total awareness and complete understanding. There is no discrimination between inside and outside, or internal and external. In enlightenment there is only the singular total truth of unity, which subsumes the "I" of the ego-differentiated self. After enlightenment the mind's process of seeking outside itself ceases, as does the process of sending energy out (in the form of attachments to the external conditional world). Rather, the mind is now contemplative absorbing energy for the benefit of itself and humanity, like a flower absorbing the rays of the sun. 2/ ENLIGHTENED WISDOM Although the enlightened mind is one, it is useful to classify its activities into four types of enlightened wisdom which are the functions of the Buddhic mind. These reflect the transformation of the eight consciousnesses into fundamental wisdom : 1. The five perceptual consciousnesses become the wisdom of Successful Performance. "This wisdom is characterized by pure and unimpeded functioning (no attachment or distortion) in its relation to the (sense) organs and their objects." 2. The sixth consciousness becomes the wisdom of Wonderful Contemplation which "has two aspects corresponding to understanding of the emptiness of self and of the emptiness of dharmas." With this wisdom the Buddha knows all dharmas, without distortion or obstruction, and, in that way knowing the mental and physical condition of all beings,...[can] teach them most effectively." 3) The seventh consciousness [9] becomes the wisdom of Equality. which "understands the nature of the equality of self and other and of all beings." 4) The eighth consciousness becomes the Great Mirror wisdom. This wisdom reflects the entire universe without distortion. Although the four wisdoms do not manifest completely until enlightenment, aspects of Wonderful Contemplation and Great Mirror wisdom begin to function in a lesser degree before enlightenment. 3/ THREE BUDDHIC BODIES The Buddha is said to have three bodies. Only the third, the Dharma body, is real. The Transformation and Enjoyment bodies are emanations of the Dharma body, and are relative expedient bodies corresponding to unenlightened consciousness. 1) The Transformation body, also called the Body of Self Mastery, refers to a physical body in the phenomenal world. This body is necessary for the Buddha to teach humanity the path to enlightenment. The Wisdom of Successful Performance is employed in this body so the Buddha can "function perceptually within that body." 2) The Enjoyment body is a luminescent, subtle, limitless form that the Buddha uses to teach Bodhisattvas, the beings at the final stage prior to enlightenment. There are many Enjoyment bodies, each having a heaven, or Pure Land, outside the normal world system, where "it is easy to hear and practice the dharma." The wisdom of Equality corresponds to this body. 3) The Dharma body has two aspects: a) The knowledge body, which is the inner nature shared by all Buddhas, manifests as omniscient knowledge, perfect wisdom, and the highest spiritual qualities. b) The self-existent body representing the ultimate nature of reality, thusness and emptiness. It is the transformed storehouse-consciousness and is the body that is realized on attaining enlightenment. This body is equated with Great Mirror wisdom. 4/ THREE WISDOMS 1) Before enlightenment there is only applied wisdom which is discursive and is used in the everyday world. Once this knowledge is focused towards enlightenment, it becomes a preparation for acquiring fundamental wisdom. In the state of enlightenment there is only pure wisdom which has two aspects; fundamental wisdom and subsequently-attained wisdom. 2) Fundamental wisdom is the foundation. It is insight without distinction-making and is non-discriminative, so it is knowledge without subject/object duality. This is wisdom that is beyond words and concepts; it is pure contemplation that knows True Suchness is the basis of reality. Fundamental wisdom brings forth:

3) Subsequently-attained wisdom is a pure form of knowledge that flows out of non-distinction making, so it is "purified mundane knowledge." This is an expedient wisdom that can analyze dharmas without becoming attached, so it can "eliminate confusion about phenomena..." Although this discriminative knowledge is at a lower level than fundamental wisdom, it is used by the Buddha for the purpose of benefiting others; all the Buddha's teaching is attained wisdom. This kind of wisdom explains how, in enlightenment, a person can still deal with relative appearances in the everyday world.

5/ CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness is awareness of a "self". The fundamental doctrine of the Yogacara school is "that all phenomenal existence is fabricated by consciousness." Consciousness is the basis of all activities from birth to attaining enlightenment; "...all is based upon the coming into being and the ceasing to be of consciousness, i.e., of distinctions in the mind." Consciousness is the distinction making activity of the mind, both in making and having distinctions, including the states we consider the conscious as well as the unconscious. Consciousness, in making distinctions between self and other, becomes the subject which treats everything else as object. Consciousness itself is real. It exists as a series, or stream, of successive momentary awareness of events, each immediately replaced by consciousness in the next moment. Consciousness "has no substantiality ...and is dependent on the consciousnessof the preceding instant."

Since everything, until the attainment of wisdom in enlightenment, is consciousness, all objects in the external world are just "representations" in our consciousness. Since everything is just an aspect of consciousness, all phenomenal existence is without intrinsic nature . Therefore, the "I" is illusory and there is no "self" to be found; everything is just a phenomenon of consciousness. Eventually, consciousness that is attached to these representations and makes distinctions has to be clarifiedinto wisdom which is free of all attachments.

There is nothing separate or independent from consciousness. The world is our perceptual construct and an analysis of the unenlightened mind will show different levels of perception which are based in a storehouse consciousnesscontaining the karmic seeds of former actions.

6/ KARMA

The result of our intentional actions is karma. The consequences of these actions remain as traces or seeds planted in the storehouse consciousness. These seeds germinate over time and generate more seeds. Therefore, our lives, are driven by past actions which compel us to decisions about future actions. The theory of karma accounts for the "continuity of personality through death, or unconsciousness..." Once a seed produces its fruit, it is used up. However, new seeds come to fruition in each moment. Until the time of enlightenment, while we continue to believe in the reality of our perceptual framework, this process "...creates seeds that will ripen into further delusion."

Because of the similarity of karmic seeds, and the corresponding delusions they produce, our perception of the world matches that of other people. Consequently, in our samsara (the cycle of existence and rebirth that is the cause of suffering), we are usually in agreement with others about the external sensible world. We also experience interaction via our streams of mental phenomena, since one person's mental representations can effect those of another.

The karmic process has three stages: 1) Giving rise to delusion has one root in the sixth consciousness [10], whose actionslead to activity and therefore karma. 2) Creating karma involves planting seeds in the eighth consciousness . The ongoing cycle of life, death, and rebirth draws the eighth consciousness back into the six levels of existence. 3) Finally, undergoing retribution is the germination of karmic seeds; we reap what we have sown.

7/ DHARMAS

"Dharmas are the ultimate factors that support 'existence'...." They are basic interdependent patterns within the overall nature of reality. Each dharma is a mental-construct with a specific process that consists of a stream of momentary events. Dharmas are attachments to an illusory reality. In terms of process and events dharmas interact with all eight consciousnesses.

Yogacara posits one hundred dharmas, which can be categorized according to the three natures [14], since dharmas lack any real self-existence. There are five categories of dharmas (in descending order): First; the eight mind dharmas are supreme and manifest as the eight consciousnesses. Second; the fifty-one dharmas interactive with the mind supplement the mind dharmas and are subdivided into six categories: 1) five universally interactive (attention, conceptualization, etc.), 2) five particular states (desire, concentration, etc.), 3) eleven wholesome (faith, shame, renunciation, etc.), 4) six fundamental afflictions (greed, anger, etc.), 5) twenty derivative afflictions (deceit, jealousy, torpor, lack of shame, etc.), and 6) four unfixed (sleep, regret, etc.). The afflictions and wholesome dharmas represent further categorizations of distinctions in the sixth consciousness. Third; the eleven form dharmas (sounds, flavors, objects of touch, etc.) are shadows of the first and second categories. Fourth; the twenty-four dharmas not interactive with the mind (time, birth, distinction, etc.) are positions not found in the first, second, or third categories. Fifth; the six unconditioned dharmas (empty space, extinction of feeling, thinking, etc.) are dharmas revealed by the first four categories.

The realization that all dharmas are nothing but mental-constructs is an essential step on the path to enlightenment. In that final state the wisdom of Wonderful Contemplation "understands without distortion the individual and universal dharmas...."

8/ EIGHTH CONSCIOUSNESS

In Yogacara theory everything is "mind only" and this consciousness is divided into eight sections. The principal part of consciousness is the alaya or "storehouse consciousness" which is the basis of the seven other consciousnesses. All eight comprise the mind dharmas and the fifty dharmas that interact with the mind.

The alaya consciousness is also known as the "repository of impressions." From the alaya arise all of our ideas of self, ego, and their respective functions in the external world. If the alaya is imagined as a vast ocean, then the seven other consciousness are waves on its surface. The seven are not separate from the eighth, nor do they disturb the stillness of its depths; all eight are essentially one.

The eighth consciousness is "beyond the dualisms of subject and object, or existence and non-existence," so it does not have any purposive activity and is unaware of objects. Since it does not make distinctions, and is neither good or bad, the eighth consciousness is said to have the state of equanimity.

The alaya consciousness is the "karmic" storehouse which contains seeds generated by our unenlightened actions. Although it does not create karma, the alaya functions as the subject of retribution for past intentional activities. The process of ripening of seeds, thinking, and perception of objects is all subjective and "neither the process nor its results have any real existence." Because of the "...karmic activity of the seven consciousnesses" the alaya continues developing karmic seeds which, in their fruition, influence future attachments and activities via the three realms [16] and the nine grounds.

Final freedom from the samsaric process occurs when all "the defiled seeds are replaced by pure seeds created by pure deeds." The alaya also contains "intrinsically pure seeds" which are the source of our motivation towards enlightenment. Upon enlightenment the eighth consciousness becomes empty of ripening seeds and is transformed into the Great Mirror wisdom.

The alaya has two divisions; the perceiving (the subject) and the perceived (the object). The former is linked to the seventh consciousness, while the latter is linked to the sixth consciousness and the five perceptual consciousnesses [13]. When the perceived division is transformed during enlightenment it becomes subsequently-attained wisdom. 9/ SEVENTH CONSCIOUSNESS The seventh consciousness obscures a person's true nature with the ego concept of "I". It is also known as the "defiling/transmitter consciousness" because it is the home of the illusory "...ego individuality with which it defiles the first six consciousnesses..." by obscuring them with its concepts of self. The seventh consciousness also defiles the eighth consciousness by attributing to it characteristics of a real "self" that exists in space and time.

The seventh's mode of knowledge is fallacy caused by its innate attachments. Since the seventh consciousness bases its decisions on relative, defiled knowledge from the dharma of judgment, it is built on false assumptions which give it four types of delusion; pride of self, self-love, self-delusion, and self-conceit. It also supports the eight major-grade derivative afflictions (laziness, distraction, lack of faith, etc.). 10/ SIXTH CONSCIOUSNESS Cognition and perception take place in the sixth consciousness. The sixth, along with the five perceptual consciousnesses [13], perceives worldly phenomena. The sixth takes "manifestations of the five aggregates (the five "heaps" of dharmas) as object...[and] generates various non-continuous concepts of self." This process also includes its interaction with the fifty-one dharmas interactive with the mind.

The sixth consciousness distinguishes between good and evil and makes moral determinations about the input of the five perceptual consciousnesses. It also uses the dharmas of the basic and subsidiary afflictions along with the three natures and the three modes of knowledge which pervade the three states. In these processes the sixth consciousness creates karma by its examination and decisions which then lead to physical activity.

In the eighth ground "the sixth's...attachment to the perceiver division of the eighth...consciousness...is abandoned, so there is no longer attachment to self, only dharmas."

11/ THREE MODES OF KNOWLEDGE Distinction making, which is used by the sixth consciousness, involves subject and object. The subject has three types of knowledge: 1) Direct veridical perception, functioning with the five perceptual consciousnesses, gives a truthful picture of reality, for example: The apple is red.

2) Inference is assumptions based on perception: The apple will taste good.

3) Fallacious knowledge is our dreams, imaginings, and hallucinations: This apple will cure my dandruff.

12/ THREE KINDS OF STATES

The second part of distinction making, refers to the objects of perception:

1) The natural state is perceived aspects of consciousness undistorted by attachments to self, others, or dharmas. This stateis unconditioned by mental causation and corresponds to the perceptual consciousnesses, for example: You see a dog.

2) State of solitary impressions refers to imagined categories in the sixth consciousness: It is a good dog.

3) State of transposed substance are the distortions of false thinking generated by the concept of "self": The dog likes my good vibes.

13/ PERCEPTUAL CONSCIOUSNESSES

The fifth through first consciousnesses are the perceptual consciousnesses. They comprise the visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile senses. These senses arise from the perceived division of the eighth consciousness. Each organ of perception has two parts: 1) its physical substance (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, or body) and the nerves connecting it to the perceived division and 2) its mental component. They can appear in any order or all at once, depending on the situation; for instance, an illness or shock can stop their operation. The five perceptual consciousnesses interact with the thirty-one dharmas interactive with the mind and work in conjunction with the sixth consciousness which processes their input to construct a mental picture of reality. After perceptions from the first five consciousnesses are assimilated in the sixth consciousness, they are introduced into the seventh consciousness, which puts these cognitions into the eighth as though the latter were a real "self". This continual process plants more karmic seeds in the eighth consciousness.

None of the five perceptual consciousnesses contain the potential for making moral distinctions, so they are of indeterminate nature. All five function on the first of the nine grounds, while eyes, ears, and body also occupy the second ground. None of them arise after the second ground - the first dyhana. The five perceptual consciousness are:

Fifth consciousness: This is consciousness of the body, or tactile feeling. It perceives through contact, i.e.; touch.

Fourth consciousness: Tongue consciousness or tasting also perceives through contact. After the second ground this perception ceases to function.

Third consciousness: Nose consciousness, or smelling, perceives through contact. After the second ground this perception also ceases.

Second consciousness: Ear consciousness or hearing perceives at a distance.

First consciousness: Eye consciousness or seeing perceives at a distance.

14/ THREE NATURES

The theory of the three natures is one of the central concepts of Yogacara philosophy. Although there is just one world it can be perceived in three ways, hence three natures also known as the "three characteristics". The three natures are a perspective on experience "...both a type of real or supposed knowledge, and a degree of reality that this knowledge relates to." All three natures are involved in direct perception and "...represent all states of entities without exception."

1) The imaginary nature is constructed of subject/object discriminations. It is the nature that accepts the reality of the "self". In Yogacara theory all objects, internal and external, are constructs which only exist as part of our awareness, so their nature is imaginary. There is no reality in this nature, it is just illusion. This nature accepts the validity of the illusory, i.e., that happiness depends on having a new car. The imaginary nature believes in the reality of the the water in a mirage.

2) The other-dependent or interdependent nature is the basis from which the imaginary nature arises and the perfected nature appears. The other-dependent nature is produced by "...the flow of changing mental phenomena...that arise from causes and conditions." These dharmas are real (as conditional things), but "because we impose an imaginary 'self-existence' upon our experience of them, we come up with distorted images...[of] things...." This causes suffering (samsara), since our mental constructs do not match reality. The other-dependent nature is the mirage itself.

3) The perfected or fulfilled nature is the ultimate nature; the only one that is absolutely real. However, it is "...neither the same as, nor different..." from the other-dependent. The perfected nature is devoid of duality and sees the world as "representation only". Since it is always exactly the same, it is the "thusness" of all. The perfected nature knows it is seeing a mirage.

To see the inter-relationship of our mind processes (i.e.; the other-dependent nature) as being without real objective qualifications of their own (imaginary nature) is to be enlightened (perfected nature). Once the false concept of "I" and "object" is removed, the result is "things-as-they-are", which is nirvana.

15/ SIX LEVELS OF EXISTENCE Depicted as the wheel of existence, the six destinies, or the Wheel of Becoming, these are the possible types of reincarnation:

1) Gods - residing in heaven

2) Asuras - spirits or titans

3) Humans

4) Animals

5) Hungry ghosts - spirits of suffering

6) Beings in hell

16/ THREE REALMS

The distinctions made by the sixth consciousness cause the manifestation of the six levels of existence in the three realms:

1) Realm of Desire

2) Realm of Form - the four dhyanas

3) Formless Realm - four samadhis

17/ NINE GROUNDS The nine bodhisattva grounds are stages, within the three realms, of spiritual attainment:

REALM OF DESIRE

First ground: This is the phenomenal world which includes the destinies of the six levels of existence and the six desire "heavens".

REALM OF FORM

Second ground: The Joyful Stage of Leaving Production is the first dhyana, a level of deep awareness, contemplative calm, and one-pointed concentration. The four dhyanas are meditative techniques which produce a state of mental emptiness (samadhi). This is the first formal level on the path to enlightenment and is marked by happiness, joy, clear reasoning, and the state of investigation and examination.

Third ground: The Joyful Stage of the Arising of Samadhi is the second dhyana of joy and pleasure, but now free of investigation and examination. At this stage sexual desire has ceased.

Fourth ground: The Stage of Wonderful Bliss of Being Apart from Joy is the third dhyana of happiness and equanimity, but now without joy.

Fifth ground: The Stage of Renouncing Thought is the fourth dhyana which is the purity of equanimity without pain or pleasure.

FORMLESS REALM

The Four Stations of Samadhi, or emptiness:

Sixth ground: Infinite Space. Meditation with characteristics was used until this point but now meditation without characteristics becomes predominant, and continues in the next three grounds.

Seventh ground: The Far-Reaching Ground or Infinite Consciousness. At this level the seventh consciousness breaks its attachment to the eighth consciousness as being the "self" and is transformed into the wisdom of Equality. In the first through seventh grounds, "...the sixth and seventh consciousnesses [are being] transformed into their respective wisdoms."

Eighth ground: The Unmoving Ground or Nothing Whatsoever. Here all outflows "from the sixth and seventh consciousnesses... and the wisdom of Wonderful Contemplation proceeds spontaneously...."

Ninth ground: Neither Cognition nor Non-cognition. In this ground is the samadhi of the extinction of feeling and cognition.

18/ THREE KINDS OF FEELING These three typify the basic emotional and perceptual experiences we undergo, so they are an "analysis of experiential effect." Any experience must fall into one of these categories:

1) Pleasure 2) Pain 3) Neutral feelings 19/ THREE MORAL NATURES

The activities of the sixth consciousness can be characterized as having one of the three moral natures which are "an analysis of causal activity" and change from moment to moment.

1) If an action is beneficial it is considered to be wholesome. It is the result of the fruition of "good" karmic seeds from wholesome activity in the past. Wholesome activity is accompanied by the eleven wholesome dharmas.

2) The opposite is true for unwholesome action; it will generate further unwholesome seeds, so "...the dharmas of affliction arise in conjunction with it."

3) Indeterminate actions are neutral; they are neither beneficial nor not beneficial. These actions are found in the five perceptual consciousnesses.

20/ THE PROCESS OF CONSCIOUSNESS Enlightenment is not achieved through only "conceptual understanding." Since everything prior to wisdom is consciousness, enlightenment requires an internal transformation of consciousness. Initially, if we can begin to distinguish that there is a difference between the constructs of the relative, conditioned mind and the pure, absolute enlightened mind, then we can "...leave the former and dwell in the latter." For to "...ascend to the wisdom of enlightenment necessitates negating samsaric reality, while aspiring to the nirvanic ideal."

The process of the transformation of consciousness is threefold:

1) The seeds of past actions automatically ripen into the form of mental phenomena which we believe to be external events. This is the retribution process that occurs in the eighth consciousness. The ongoing sprouting of karmic seeds gives us belief in the "reality" of our senses, of our body, and the external world which we "know" via a process of five mental operations: 1) the connection between the exterior object and the sense organ, 2) the mind focusing on the object, 3) our experience of the object, 4) recognizing and categorizing the object, and 5) making a judgment about the object.

2) The seventh consciousness, which deals with cognition and mentation, believes in a "self" represented by the eighth consciousness. Since the eighth contains all the seeds, the seventh takes it as its object.

3) The six other consciousnesses are responsible for perception via the five modes of perception and their mental assimilation.

21/ TYPES OF ATTACHMENT TO SELF We have attachments to self and to dharmas which create obstacles that prevent realization. Attachments are divided into two types:

1) Innate attachments are present at birth. They are subtle and exist in all sentient beings. Innate attachments are found in both the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. When the state of no outflows (enlightenment) is reached innate attachments are eliminated.

2) Distinguished attachments are learned. They are less subtle and more obvious than innate attachments and come from the distinction making process of the fifth and sixth consciousnesses.

22/ FIVE STAGE PATH

Yogacara recognizes a five stage process, or path, to enlightenment:

1) Resources, or gathering provisions, is the stage of subduing the phenomenon of duality based on learned attachments toself and dharmas. This helps us see our life experience with increased understanding, so we can act in ways that lead us in the direction of enlightenment. By applying Yogacara theory to everyday activities we can replace subjective concepts with more objective information about consciousness. In this stage, and the next, applied or provisional wisdom, which is dependent on mental constructs, is utilized. For example, the dharmas of resolution (remorse and shame) and the dharmas interactive with the mind help us deal with our conditioned nature.

2) Application is the stage of using meditations to enter into the four dhyanas. This process is completed when the seeds in the eighth consciousness, that ripen into concepts of subject and object, are eliminated. Neither in resources nor applicationis there a manifestation of pure wisdom.

3) Vision is the beginning of the transformation of consciousness into wisdom. This process begins with entrance into the first of the nine Bodhisattva grounds where conditional applied wisdom, that is dependent upon distinctions, is gradually superseded by fundamental and attained wisdom.

4) Meditational development covers the eight remaining grounds while eliminating all the seeds of the innate attachments to self and to dharmas. In the second through seventh grounds all three types of wisdom are still used; applied wisdom to deal with attachments still present, subsequently-attained wisdom in meditation that have characteristics, and fundamental wisdom in meditations without characteristics. In the last three grounds just fundamental wisdom (in meditation) andsubsequently attained wisdom (for actions) are utilized.

5) Perfection is the final stage of completion. There one resides in the state of contemplation of pure wisdom and enlightenment.

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