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.
...
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