Yogachara: Buddhism's Consciousness School

by Jayaram V

Summary: Yogachara (Yogācāra), also known as Vijñānavāda (consciousness-only doctrine), is one of the two most influential Mahayana Buddhist philosophical schools alongside Madhyamika. Founded by Asanga, Vasubandhu, and Maitreyanatha (4th-5th century CE), it explores human consciousness through contemplative yoga practices to understand the nature of reality and perception. The school teaches that all phenomena are mere manifestations of consciousness (Vijñaptimātra-vāda), introduces the concept of eight types of consciousness including the storehouse consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) containing karmic seeds, and emphasizes transforming consciousness to overcome delusion and achieve enlightenment through direct insight into reality.

Yogachara (Yogācāra) is an important Buddhist school of philosophy that explores human consciousness through the contemplative practices of yoga to understand the nature of consciousness and the reality represented by it. Its ultimate aim is to overcome the delusion and distortions of the mind and its appendages (the senses) to see things as they are and overcome the desires and attachments one develops with worldly objects and impermanent phenomena. The early proponents of the Yogachara schools used the ancient Indian techniques of yoga to study human cognition, perception, and consciousness and engage in philosophical inquiry (hetuvada) and reasoning to perceive and cultivate discernment and mental clarity without delusion and cognitive distortions. It is considered one of the two most influential schools of Mahayana Buddhism, the other being the Madhyamika school, which emphasizes emptiness (sunyata) or the absence of essential nature (nissvabhava).

Yogachara means the tradition or practice (achara) of yoga. It is essentially a yoga tradition with its roots in the ancient classical Yoga System of Hinduism and its philosophy in Mahayana Buddhism. It is also known by other names such as Vijñānavāda (the doctrine of pure intelligence or consciousness), Vijñaptivāda (the doctrine of attaining truth or reality through rational and intelligent inquiry), Vijñaptimātratā-vāda (the doctrine that there is no reality other than what we think, perceive or imagine). There are further variations and interpretations within each of these schools. The practitioners of Yogachara explored the mind and consciousness or intelligence (vijnana), the movements and aggregates of the mind (dharmas), and an elaborate system of yogic practices or methodology to explore them to overcome the limitations to which we are subject and see things as they are without distortions.

History

The Yogachara school is believed to have emerged in the early common era from the followers of the Sarvāstivāda and its offshoot, Sautrāntika traditions of northern India when they embraced Mahayana Buddhism. Asanga and his half-brother (4-5th century CE), along with Maitreyanadha (270–350 CE), are revered as its pioneering founders and philosophers. They developed and systematized its essential philosophy, doctrine, and practice. Subsequently, an Indian monk named Shantaraksita (8th century) merged the Yogachara and Madhyamika teachings and introduced the knowledge and tradition to Tibet at the invitation of its King. History also acknowledges the role of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), a Tantric Buddhist, who is said to have aided him in establishing a monastery and disseminating the new philosophy in Tibet. These early efforts, along with the contributions of many Chinese monks, led to the integration of the School's teachings into Buddhism, making Yogachara a popular school in Tibetan and East Asian Buddhist traditions.

Literary sources

Some of the foundational texts that discuss Vijñaptimātratā-vāda include: “Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra” by Asaṅga, “Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā” (Thirty Verses on Consciousness-Only) by Vasubandhu, “Mahāyāna-saṃgraha” (Compendium of the Mahayana) by Asaṅga, Samdhinirmocanasutra, Lankavatarasutra, Srlmâlâdevlsimhanâdasütra, Ghanavyühasütra, Dasabhümikasütra, Bhadrapalasutra. The Sanskrit texts of some of these sutras are currently not available and scholars depend upon their Chinese or Tibetan translations.

The great masters of the school

Maitreyanatha (300 CE), Asanga (315-390 CE), Vasubandhu (320-380 CE), Dignaga (4800540), Dharmapala (530-561 CE), Sthiramati (650 CE) and Hiuna-Tsang (602-664) are considered the great teachers of the Yogachara School. Ideas such as cittamatra, alayavijnana, and trisvabhava were developed and systematized by these early masters. Dignaga (480-540) was the founder of the Buddhist school of logic and epistemology. His treatise Alambanapanksa is important to our understanding of the Yogachara philosophy. Hiuan-tsang (602-664) wrote a commentary (Vijnaptimatratdsiddhi) on the Triṃśikā of Vasubandhu based on the ten Indian commentaries he studied probably during his visit to the Indian subcontinent. In India, Dharmaklrti (600-660), the disciple of Isvarasena (disciple at his turn of Dignaga) and Dharmapala, contributed to the development of the Buddhist school of logic and epistemology and thereby to the popularity of the Yogachara school. Apart from them, many Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese masters contributed to its growth and popularity.

Doctrine and Philosophy

The school explores the mind consciousness and the objective reality we experience through it. It believes that all human experiences arise from the mind due to the duality between the subject and object and, therefore, is illusory and dependent upon our perceptions and cognition. Hence, it proposes that the reality of the world or the world we experience is also unreal and the reason for our suffering and bondage. This realization, achieved through the purification of the mind and body and cultivating discernment, is essential to overcoming desires and attachments and attaining nirvana. The following are its important concepts.

Vijnaptimatra Vada

Vijñaptimātra-vāda, or the Doctrine of Consciousness-Only or Mind only (Chitta matra), is a central tenet of the Yogācāra school. It suggests that all experiences and phenomena are merely manifestations of consciousness and do not exist independently of the mind. The reality we experience is a mere representation (vijnaptimatra) of the world that we experience in our consciousness through our minds and senses. This representative reality or illusion arises due to the duality between the subject and the object. It is responsible for our involvement with the world, for our desires and attachments, and thereby for our suffering and bondage. When this duality disappears, our experience of the world also disappears and, thereby, our involvement with it.

The origins of Vijñaptimātra-vāda can be traced back to the works of early Yogācāra scholars such as Asanga and Vasubandhu in the 4th to 5th centuries CE. Vasubandhu’s treatise, the Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā (Thirty Verses on Consciousness-Only), is a foundational text that briefly outlines the principles of this doctrine. According to them, what we perceive as the external world is merely a projection of our own minds or consciousness. Therefore, our cognitive experience of reality or the objective world is not an external reality but are mere representation or mental construction of what we see or feel like, just like something we imagine, conceive, mentalize, or experience in dreams or reverie. These postulations challenge the conventional understanding of reality by asserting that we should not take our mental and perceptual experiences for granted but see them for what they are - mere impressions- by understanding how we create our own realities of the world and experiences due to desires and attachments and subject ourselves to suffering and mistaken notions of ourselves and the world. This realization has profound implications for the seekers of enlightenment, as it suggests that by transforming their consciousness, they can overcome delusion and have a direct experience of reality as it truly is, free from the distortions caused by the duality of subject and object and their own mental constructs.

Types of consciousness

Another important teaching of this school is the division of consciousness into six or eight categories. The first six types arise from the five senses and the mind respectively. They are primarily responsible for our experience of the world and the delusion and duality that arise from them. These six types of consciousness are stream-like and produce momentariness. The senses create this momentariness through the constant flow of perception and impressions while the mind acts as a surveyor and registers their activities. The defiled ego-consciousness (kliṣṭamanovijñāna) and the storehouse or base consciousness (ālayavijñāna) constitute the seventh and the eighth. The last one, ālaya-vijñāna (storehouse or repository consciousness), is a storehouse of all karmic seeds (bīja), which arise due to impaired intelligence, desires and desire-ridden actions and erroneous thinking. They manifest in their own time and produce consequences and the basis for the rebirth of the beings. Hence, it is also known as the mind that has all the seeds (sarvabījakam cittam), root or causative consciousness" (mūla-vijñāna) and the receiving or seizing consciousness (ādānavijñāna). According to the Saṅdhinirmocana Sūtra, this base consciousness is the support for all the remaining types of consciousness and also the basis of rebirth and future experiences.

Five Categories of Beings

Another important teaching of this school is the "five categories of beings," which is closely related to the concept of Alaya Vijnana or the storehouse consciousness), which acts as the repository of a being’s karmic seeds. It shapes the future and the level of spiritual progress or enlightenment a being can potentially accomplish in his current or future births. Accordingly, it identifies into five groups of beings based on the puirity or impurity of their consciousness. .

• Those whose seed consciousness (alaya vijnana) gives them an inherent capacity to practice the Bodhisattva ideals and achieve full enlightenment of Buddhahood. /li>
• Those whose seed consciousness enables them to achieve the state of a solitary Buddha (Pratyekabuddha). They yearn for Nirvana and aim to achieve enlightenment on their own, without the help of a guide or teacher. They also prefer to be alone and aloof, lack compassion, and do not engage in moral teaching, spreading Dharma, or helping others.
• Those whose seed consciousness gives them the capacity to achieve the state of an arhat. The arhats are on the path of enlightenment but are not ready yet to become Bodhisattvas or Buddhas. According to Mahayana Buddhism, they must strive to pursue the Bodhisattva Path and rise to the level of Bodhisattvas in this very life. Otherwise, they may regress into emptiness and delay their enlightenment.
• Those whose seed consciousness is indeterminate and, therefore, their future too. In other words, they are not ready and do not have the potential to achieve any of the levels of enlightenment mentioned above. Hence, they may continue to exist in Samsara unless they improve themselves and strive for enlightenment.
• Those whose seed consciousness is impure and who are incapable of achieving enlightenment now or in any future births due to their attachments, desires-ridden actions, passions such as lust, greed, anger, etc., and the lack of faith. In Mahayana Buddhism, such people are known as icchantikas. Some schools believe they should not be written off since the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas may intervene and help them return to the Path.

Three natures (Trisvabhava)

Another important concept of this school is trisvabhava, or the triple modes or natural propensities. They are described below.

1. Parikalpita-svabhava (Imagined Nature). This refers to the illusory nature of phenomena. It represents how we perceive the world through our conceptual frameworks, imagination, and mental and verbal constructs. For example, when we see a rope in dim light and mistake it for a snake, the snake is the imagined nature. This nature is characterized by our misunderstandings and the projection or the superimposition of our minds on reality, leading to a distorted view of the world.
2. Paratantra-svabhava (Dependent Nature). This is the dependent nature of phenomena, which refers to the way things actually exist due to their dependence on causes and conditions. It is based upon the observation that things depend upon several dependent factors and conditions for their origin and continuation and that everything is interconnected and arises due to a complex web of relationships. For instance, a tree exists because of the seed, soil, water, sunlight, and so on. In other words, it points to the interdependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) of all things, meaning that nothing exists in isolation.
3. Parinishpanna-svabhava (Perfected Nature). This is the ultimate nature of phenomena, representing the true nature of reality as it is, free from conceptual constructions and misunderstandings. It is the realization of the emptiness (śūnyatā) of all phenomena, where one sees things as they truly are, without the veil of ignorance, mental constructs or fabrication, imagination, dependent factors, illusion, projection, duality, or superimposition. Achieving this understanding leads to enlightenment, where one perceives the world in its pure, unconditioned state. Emptiness in the Yogachara lexicon means the absence of the duality between subject and object. Things are comprehended directly without the agency of the mind or the senses or the mind’s cognitive functions.

Critical evaluation

Much of the information available on the Internet about the Yogachara school is not helpful in understanding its essential philosophy, practice, or implications. For example, the Wikipedia article on it is full of verbiage with little substance. The impression one gains from it is that too many scholars have too many opinions and differences of opinion about it, which, ironically, proves the school’s basic tenet that the mind cannot be trusted about what it represents or holds to be true and the same truth can materialize differently in different minds due to the differences in their cognitive functions. I have to admit that my reading of it only led to more confusion rather than clarity until I read some books on it. Even then, I have to admit that my knowledge of it is still shaky.

I am not sure whether the school believes in the illusory nature of the absolute world as the Advaita school holds or whether it is just concerned about our perceptions and experiences of it. The Buddha did not believe or at least did not speculate on whether the world was real or unreal. He thought that such intellectual pursuits were not useful to resolve suffering. He certainly believed in its impermanence and the illusory nature of our experiences, the awareness of which should help his followers cultivate discernment (prajna) and overcome suffering. The Yogachara follows the same line of thinking, except that it is more detailed in its study of our cognitive experiences and teaches us to see things clearly without mental distortions and constructions. Although some scholars hold it to be an idealistic school, the proponents of this school seem to be pragmatists who wanted the seekers of enlightenment to see the reality of the world beyond illusions, assumptions, imagination, and faulty perceptions. They were not in search of idealistic and grandiose solutions or experiences but cognize reality directly without any exteral or internal obstacles created by the mind or the senses. They also identified the role of karma in inducing delusions and making it almost impossible for humans to see the reality of their own experiences. Therefore, they focused on the factors that induced delusion and distortions and the practices with which one could overcome such obstacles and see things as they were.

It is difficult to believe that the world is anything but an illusion or mental construct or that it depends on or exists solely because of our minds and senses. The world that arises in our vision or consciousness can be faulty or a mere construct, far from the truth, but the existence of the world itself cannot be doubted even by the worst of idealists. Our perception or experience of it can be illusory and arise from our erroneous and faulty perceptions and mental activity, but not its actual existence. We cannot simply brush off the whole existence of the world or the universe as the handiwork of our imagination or mental construct. We may perceive it differently at different times or in different states according to our states of mind or our thinking, attitude, emotions, feelings, desires, and attachments. That is not enough to say that it exists solely because of our minds or perceptions. We may accept the argument that the world is an illusion or a mere representation of our minds in a limited sense, assuming rationally that it exists in each person’s consciousness as a representation, copy, or impression. We may perceive things as they are, free from the mind’s interference when we enter deeper states of awareness and transcend the duality of subject and object. The validation of that basic premise can only be done by those who enter that state, not by the scholars who merely theorize about it or differ in their opinions of it without basic practical knowledge.

The Yogachara schools hold that in the state of unified consciousness, things appear to be empty and devoid of any essence or distinction. It is possible the proponents of this school were not concerned about the existence or nonexistence of the absolute world (which is the dominant theme of Advaita) or about the absolute reality that exists and serves as the object of our experiences and perceptions. They were probably concerned with how we experience it and what impressions or representations the duality of subject and object creates in our consciousness and delude us into believing them to be true, thereby inducing desires and attachments.

For most of us, the world that forms in our consciousness due to the activity of our minds and senses becomes ‘the world.’ We hold it to be true, ignoring that it is still a representation (vijnaptimatra), and the same world and the same objects can be represented differently in each person according to his knowledge, discernment, thinking, desires, attachments, and so on. When they are resolved and consciousness is cleaned, the duality and delusion also will disappear, and the world ceases to exist in our minds. The purpose of this awareness or understanding is to become free from our involvement with samsara and overcome the suffering it causes by perpetuating the duality of subject and object, which in turn leads to desires and attachments or craving and clinging. These views are also upheld by modern psychology, which identifies the cognitive distortions that impair our thinking, knowledge, and understanding and lead to many problems.

Implications of Yoachara

The Yogācāra philosophy is useful for practicing meditation and training the mind to observe conscious experiences and develop insight into the nature of the mind and our objective consciousness. For example, the knowledge and understanding of Vijñaptimātratā-vāda can potentially help us cultivate deeper levels of awareness and understanding through meditation and mindfulness practice and discern the mind’s role in constructing reality, producing suffering (dukkha) or creating consequences (karma). Its regular practice leads to the following.

1. Cultivating awareness: Through meditation, they observe how thoughts and perceptions arise and pass away, realizing their transient nature.
2. Overcoming attachments: By understanding that external objects are not inherently real, practitioners can reduce attachment and aversion, leading to greater inner peace.
3. Developing compassion: Recognizing the interconnectedness of all beings, practitioners strive to cultivate compassion and altruism.
4. Overcoming delusion: By realizing the illusory and impermanent nature of samsara and the duality of subject and object, one automatically develops discernment, detachment, and indifference to worldly objects

References

Recommended Reading

1. Living Yogacara: An Introduction to Consciousness-Only Buddhism, Kindle and Paperback by Tagawa Shun'ei (Author), Charles Muller (Translator)

2. Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara: A Practitioner's Guide, Paperback by Ben Connelly (Author), Norman Fischer (Foreword)