CIRCLE OF LIGHT

CIRCLE OF LIGHT
The Mystical Essence of Presence and Perception
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ESOTERISM STUDIES

ESOTERISM STUDIES
Going with the Flow (2)
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ESOTERISM ACADEMY NEW ARTICLE

ESOTERISM ACADEMY NEW ARTICLE
Sunday, 9 February, 2025

Sunday, August 20, 2023

Buddhism Yogacara

 

Buddhism Yogacara

An Insight into Consciousness-Based Philosophy

Introduction

Yogacara Buddhism, often referred to as the "Mind-Only" or "Consciousness-Only" school, is a profound and influential branch of Mahayana Buddhism. Emerging in India during the 4th century CE, it remains one of the most sophisticated attempts within Buddhism to understand the nature of consciousness and reality.

Origins

Yogacara was founded by two brothers, Asanga and Vasubandhu, who were driven by the objective of comprehending the nature of existence and experience. The term 'Yogacara' translates to 'practice of yoga' or 'yoga practitioner', reflecting the school's emphasis on meditation and mindfulness as pathways to enlightenment.

Core Tenets

Yogacara Buddhism posits that our understanding of reality is fundamentally shaped by our mind and that external objects do not exist independently of our perception. This notion is encapsulated in the concept of "vijnapti-matra", often translated as "consciousness-only" or "representation-only". According to this idea, what we perceive as 'reality' is merely a projection of our own consciousness.

Three Natures

Yogacara describes reality through 'Three Natures' or 'Three Modes of Existence':

1. Parikalpita (Imagined nature): This represents the world as we normally perceive it, filled with distinct and independent objects. Yogacara maintains that this level of reality is a product of our imagination, based on the mistaken belief in the inherent existence of objects and self.

2. Paratantra (Dependent nature): This is the dependent or causal nature of phenomena, acknowledging that our experiences are not random but arise due to specific causes and conditions.

3. Parinishpanna (Absolute nature): The absolute or ultimate nature of reality, experienced when one realizes the interdependent and mind-only nature of existence. It represents the world as it is when not filtered through our conceptual constructs.

Eight Consciousnesses

Central to Yogacara is the model of 'Eight Consciousnesses', a comprehensive explanation of how human consciousness operates:

1. The Five Sense Consciousnesses: These correspond to our five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.

2. The Mind (Manovijnana): This is the coordinating consciousness that processes and interprets sensory information.

3. The Defiled Mental Consciousness (Manas): This consciousness gives rise to the sense of "I" and "mine", it is the root of self-attachment and delusion.

4. Storehouse Consciousness (Alayavijnana): This serves as a repository for all potential energy and information, including our karmic seeds. It is this consciousness that continues from one life to the next in the process of rebirth.

Influence and Legacy

Yogacara's insights have had widespread influence, not only within Buddhism but also in various fields such as psychology, cognitive science, and philosophy. Within Buddhism, Yogacara concepts have been integrated into many Mahayana traditions, including Tibetan Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism.

Conclusion

Yogacara Buddhism provides a unique perspective on consciousness and reality. Its teachings invite us to question our habitual perceptions of the world and understand the profound role our minds play in constructing our experiences. By doing so, Yogacara offers a path to liberate ourselves from delusion and suffering, leading us towards enlightenment.

While the complex metaphysical and psychological systems of Yogacara can be challenging to comprehend, their essence lies in the practical application—mindfulness and meditation. As we navigate our contemporary world, the wisdom of Yogacara remains relevant, reminding us to examine our perceptions, cultivate awareness, and realize the interconnected nature of all phenomena.

THE "IDEALIST" THEORY OF REALITY

Preamble

Tathata

Citta

Dhyana

Paravritashraya

Preamble

The Yogakara Teaching is a "continuation" and an "extension" or "deepening" of the Sunyata Teaching. (at least in the view of the followers of the Teaching): The Only Reality is Sunyata, all is Sunyata, all are transitory phenomena. Even Sunyata is Sunyata, Emptiness. The only Stable Support (Asraya) is the One who experiences them, who "perceives" all these. Thus, the Ultimate Reality, Sunyata) Is Essentially Identified with Vijnana.

Jnana means Pure Knowledge, non-dual knowledge, pure perception. Vijnana is 'discerning perception'. In Yogacara when the term Vijnana is used it simply implies Jnana. When used with some aggressive designation it implies Vijnana as "discerning perception" (Alaya vijnana), or "objectifying perception with separateness " (Manas, Manovijnana, Visaya-Vijnana or vijnana of the senses).

(The root jna - means " to know "

Prajna means spontaneous, unhindered and untouched (by processing) knowledge, the primary experience of knowledge, an emergence beyond processed knowledge, into a higher knowledge, a higher awareness.

Jna -na is the Higher Unadulterated Knowledge, the True Knowledge, the "transcendence" of vi - jna -na.

Vi - jna - to be the discerning rational knowledge.

A- jna -to be non-knowledge).

Tathata

TATHATA (As It Is, So It Is) is the One Reality. Tathata is absence of all perception, without any determination, without differentiation, empty of everything, it is Sunyata (Emptiness). Tathata Exists by Itself, Alone. Tathata is based in Himself, in His Absolute Nature. It is the Real, That, which Exists Thus.

Tathata is the Supreme Jnana, Pure Knowledge, Enlightenment.

Tathata is Nirvana, the completion of 'being'.

As in all Buddhism, "Ontology", Epistemology, Ethics, are identical. Thus, Tathata has both "Ontological" and Epistemological and Ethical Character, it is Tathata and Vijnana and Nirvana at the same time, it is all three.

There is no perception that there is anything different, outside:

Whatever is perceived whatever 'appears' is Cittamatra (Mind Alone).

Within the Absolute - Vijnana - Citta all consciousness and "material" phenomena appear. (Vijnanakaya or Cittakalapa , or Ayatana , "worlds").

Citta

All that exists and all that can exist is only Citta (Cittamatra – Only Mind) or Vijnana. When the Chitta or Vijnana is Activated, a different quality of energy called " Vijnana " (consciousness, mental flow) appears and from which arises the world of phenomena.

So, what appears (vijnana, consciousness) is actions, processes, phenomena, arising spontaneously within the Citta and again disappearing within It, (Citamatra Lokam – the world is only Mind). In this case the Citta is called Alaya Vijnana. (The Mental Activity which produces everything, the Transatomic Consciousness which contains the seeds of all possible forms – the equivalent of Calculus). All this is vijnana. They have no self-existence, a reality of their own (svabhava). The ultimate essence of all these vijnana (perceptions, sensations, phenomena) is vasana, that is, the crystallized memory that keeps them in existence There is no external, self-existent world. The ceaseless succession of perceptions (phenomena), creates the impression of an "objective world". All this apparent life is subject to the law of karma.

There are various kinds of Vijnana (discerning consciousnesses). It must be understood that all these " Vijnanas " described are not distinct categories of Vijanas but several phases of the cosmic evolution of the One Vijnana. Vijnana has Objective Character, Subjective Character, Limited Subject Character, Special Personality Character, etc.

Vijnana in detail (the Variations of Vijnana, the "Vijnan "):

1) Cittamatra: (Tathagata, Tathagata-Garba): Has an Objective Character:

Prabada Alaya Vijnana (Unceasing) or Paramalaya Vijnana or Viviktadharma (Oneness, Absolute Reality).

2) Citta: It has a Subjective Character; It is the Great Subject, the Objective Subject, without particularly subjective elements:

Laxana Alaya Vijnana (Manifest) or Vijnaptir Alaya Vijnana or Hetuka Vijnana (subject to causation): The all-encompassing consciousness, the inner intelligence, which has three gradations, in which:

a) there is no underlying object (empty consciousness),

b) underlying object identify (global consciousness),

c) subject, object, are separated (omnipresent consciousness).

3) Citta:

Manas: Individuality (Consciousness of Self), Higher Self, Pure Ego (not empirical personality).

Manas has a "Double Side". When it does not relate to the "objective world" or withdraws from the "objective world" it is non-Local and does not differ in essence from the Objective Subject, from the lower form of Alaya Vijnana (omnipresent consciousness). When it turns towards the "objective world" it acquires Local Character within a secular environment. In its Physical State it is a Non-Dual Subject, a Non-Dual Consciousness that in its Awareness Embraces everything. It has the Character of the Non-Dual Ego (Ego, discriminating and classifying activity – mentality having an internal function with object in the world of forms and an external activity in the world of forms). It is the Enlightened-I. It does not have the character of a special personality.

4) Manovijnana: It has the character of the limited particular ego, the binary-ego which functions as a separate subject within an objective world and feels all objects "opposite". It is the special special personality.

Manovijnana is still the unification of the five senses, the sixth sense – the equivalent of Perception. It is the Experiential Personality.

Manovijnana is Intellect (Alambana - representational perception and Visaya - external perception): Three varieties: (intellect, intellect, external perception).

5) Five Visaya-Vijnanas or Pravrittis Vijnana, (Vijnana of the Senses).

6) Visaya (objective world, material world).

Dhyana

Citta or Vijnana is the One Reality. Either in Fundamental, Unmodified Stillness, Empty of all perception (Prabada), or in energy, like Lakshana Alaya Vijnana, then all phenomena appear (Variations of Alaya, Manas, Manovijana, Visaya Vijnanas, Visayas), there is no difference. There is no reality outside of the Citta. Either there is recognition of the Reality of the Citta, or there is not. Absorption in phenomena is not reality, it is a dream. Therefore, since the Citta is the One Reality, there is no falling into another reality, no evolution, no redemption, nothing. Simply, either there is recognition of the reality of the Citta, or not. When the Reality of the Citta is not recognized, phenomena are left to operate according to their own laws. But all this is a dream situation.

Citta or Vijnana is the One Reality. All that Appears as "Creation" is "Contents" of Citta or Vijnana, the Great Subject, is Mental in Nature. And the Small Subjects (Mother), and the "objective phenomena". The "difference" between the Great Subject (citta or Vijnana) and the small subjects (Manas) is that the Vijnana Understands all phenomena more correctly while the manas see the phenomena in a distorted way.

So since "Creation", the "Experience of the World", has a "subjective character", is of a mental texture, it becomes clear that it depends entirely on the "Subject" how he will see Reality, it does not depend on the perception or not of an object or from some real object, there is no such thing.

Consequently, the deeper meaning of Dhyana also changes character. In "Realistic" Theravada, all processes of "existence" must be exhausted in order to naturally reach Nirvana. In "Dialectical" Sunyavada we must realize the "Emptiness" of all experiences, all phenomena. In "Idealistic" Jnanavada we have to understand that it is entirely up to us (from the Subjective Existential Basis) whether we continue to " give up" the "Creation" and "dream" of an individual, limited life or whether we "give it up":

1) Certainly, as long as we are absorbed in the external "objective" life we have no hope of progress. For this, in principle, the external discipline of a righteous life is required.

2) The correct understanding and use of the "senses", is the basis for a real release from the fantasy world.

3) The "Discreet" Observation of Manovijana, the external intellect, comes next. Rejecting beliefs, prejudices, "knowledge" and "experiences" is to some extent easy because all of these are immediately recognizable as "conditional lies". There is no delay here. The dialectical intellect which is supposed to be able to as "thought", "contemplation", "philosophy", can mislead some as a process of finding or revealing the truth. But anyway "thought" is a closed system that cannot lead beyond its own right. Truth lies outside of 'thought. Even looking at things objectively is not enough as long as even a trace of "I" remains. The physical exhaustion of ego-viewing can actually "lead" to transcendence into Manas, the Non-Dual Consciousness that in its Awareness includes everything.

4) Manas marks the essential passage beyond the lower worlds, the "liberation" from reincarnation in the lower worlds. Because, in fact, it constitutes Non-Dual Consciousness it sees the world and acts in the world without getting "involved" (and thus does not create karma or leave residue). When the karma of the present life is exhausted the mere "being" does not return to the lower worlds.

As an "experience" the Manas because all "personal" mental content has been exhausted is like the one-dimensional point which always escapes when you try to grasp it. When he turns to the world he works without personal nuances. When he "remains" in his awareness, in his understanding he is in a free blissful state (which is not, however, fixed or permanent). When he "leaves" the world he is essentially (emerges in) Alaya Vijnana in its lowest state as 'omnipresent consciousness'.

So essentially Manas is an Intermediate State between the Higher States (worlds) of Alaya Vijnana and the lower worlds of reincarnation. It is a Gate, to "Above" or to "Below". As a Status, because it is Timeless it can last forever but it has no meaning when the Infinite Worlds of Alaia Open to its perspective Vijnana.

5) The Experiences of Alaya Vijnana actually constitute the passage from the "Split" of the Subject into Subject-Object to the Complete Unification of the Subject within its Real Essential Nature, its Limitless Oneness. It is the State of True Sunyata the Complete Emptiness of the Subject.

When the Subject Reaches This Unbounded State, It Finally Metamorphoses into its Objective Nature, It "Ceases" to Be a Subject. It is the Ultimate State of Agni Alaya Vijnana before 'Becoming' 'That', 'That Which Is Thus', Tathata.

6) The Tathata

Ultimately, the One Substantial Reality Is Tathata. The All, the Support of All. Any "consciousness" is without entity. Experiences, life, etc., are dreamlike. There is no individuality, no samsara, no redemption, nothing, everything is dreamlike.

Paravritashraya

What does Paravritashraya mean:

Bhritti is 'mental content', mental fluctuation, thought.

Para means "beyond", above.

Asraya means Base, Foundation

Paravrittiasrajya means:

"Beyond Thought Foundation", means "Beyond Mind".

"Elimination of mental activities and return to Subjective Base", or "Return to Base", or "Return to Back" or "Return to Original Nature".

It means a total spiritual conversion.

The Truly Experienced Yogacara Dhyana, who Rightly Understands the Teaching, does not need to walk this gradual approach to the Inner Self. One who is truly determined can immediately discard all the Vijnana processes and emerge directly into the Absolute. This is the "Direct Way". But such people who can "apply" the "Direct Path" are rare. So, most people necessarily follow the Path of gradual approach.

...

Ελληνικά:

Βουδισμός Γιογκακάρα

https://www.wholeness.gr/2022/05/blog-post.html 

 

 


 


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TAOΪSM

TAOΪSM
Chapter 13. The Self That Is Not Self: A Mystical Reflection on the Path of Tao
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BUDDHISM

BUDDHISM
Chapter11. The Eternal Beyond Death: A Mystical Reflection on Dhammapada Chapter XI
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VEDANTA

VEDANTA
(Atma Bodha - By Adi Sankaracharya) / The Eternal Wisdom of Atma Bodha: Unveiling the Infinite Brahman (Verses 56-60)
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jKRISHNAMURTI

jKRISHNAMURTI
The Only Revolution / To See is to be free: The State of Choiceless Awareness
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RELIGION

RELIGION
The Path of Introverted Mysticism: A Journey to Consciousness Without Content
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Quotes

Constantinos’s quotes


"A "Soul" that out of ignorance keeps making mistakes is like a wounded bird with helpless wings that cannot fly high in the sky."— Constantinos Prokopiou

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Επίσης, επιτρέπεται η αναδημοσίευση υλικού για λόγους προβολής των γεγονότων και δραστηριοτήτων του Ιδρύματος, με την προϋπόθεση ότι θα αναφέρεται η πηγή και δεν θα θίγονται δικαιώματα πνευματικής ιδιοκτησίας, δεν θα τροποποιούνται, αλλοιώνονται ή διαγράφονται εμπορικά σήματα.

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