CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1. Title and Clarification of the Topic
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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1. Title and Clarification of the Topic Yogdcdra is one of the two Indian Mahdydna Buddhist Schools, its founding is ascribed to two brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu, but its basic tenets and doctrines were already in circulation for at least a century before the brothers lived. Yogdcdra focused on the processes involved in cognition and their sustained attention to issues such as cognition, consciousness, perception and epistemology. Although the founding of Yogdcdra is traditionally ascribed to two brothers, Asanga and Vasubandhu (fourth- fifth century BC), most of its fundamental doctrines had already appeared in a number of scriptures a century or more earlier, most notably the Sandhinirmocana Sutra (Elucidating the Hidden Connections) (2"'' century BC). Amongst the key Yogdcdra concepts introduced in the Sandhinirmocana Sutra are the notions of only-cognition ( Vijnaptimdtratd), their self- natures (Trisvabhdva), storehouse consciousness {Alaya- vijndna), overturning the basic (Asrayapardvrtti) and the theory of eight consciousnesses. Yogdcdra held that the world is mind only; there are many similarities between the Vijndnavdda and other idealist philosophies. But one thing that makes the Buddhist idealism of the Vijndnavdda different from most forms of idealism is the doctrine illusion {Mdyd). According to the Buddhist schools, all things are impermanent (Anitya). The Mahdydna Buddhist maintained that the world is actually unreal (Asat, Mdyd). The Vijndnavddin interpretation of this doctrine was that the mind, under the influence of the beginningless delusion or ignorance (Avidya), believes that it apprehends in both the walking and dreaming states, objects which are external to it, when in fact it is only the mind itself which is projecting, or appearing, as something external. Hence, although mind is real, the world is unreal. Yogdcdra is an influential school of Buddhist philosophy and psychology that stems from the early Indian Mahdydna Buddhist tradition. The Yogdcdra view is based on the fundamental truth that there is nothing in the realm of human experience that is not interpreted by and dependent upon the consciousnese and consciousnese only. In Buddhism, consciousness-only or mind-only (Sanskrit: Vijnapti-mdtratd, Vijhapti-mdtra, Citta-mdtra; Chinese: 0^11^; Pinyin: Wei-shi) is a theory according to which unenlightened conscious experience is nothing but false discriminations or imaginations. Thus, the notion of consciousness-only is an indictment of the problems engendered by the activities of consciousness. This was a major component of the thought of the school of Yogdcara, which had a major effect on subsequent schools after its introduction in East Asia. From the early Buddhism, the method of controlling the mind was the most important thing in the life of monks. The Buddha emphasized this in the first lesson of the Dhammapada Sutta: "Akkocchi mam avadhi mam ajini mam ahasi me ye ca tam upanayhanti veram tesam na sammati." (All the phenomena of existence have mind as their precursor, mind as their supreme mind leader, and of mind are they made. If with an impure mind one speaks or acts, suffering follows him in the same way as the wheel follows the foot of the drawer/of the chariot.)' Or: "Akkocchi mam avadhi mam ajini mam ahasi me ye ca tam upanayhanti veram tesam na sammati." The Dhammapada, Tr., V. 1, p. 5. (All the phenomena of existence have mind as their precursor, mind as their supreme leader, and of mind are they made. If with a pure mind one speaks or acts, happi- ness follows him like his shadow that never leaves him.) And the Buddha emphasizes that the person who is in the evil mind will be dangerous to himself and to others; a person with the virtuous mind will be useful to himself and to others: "Diso disam yam tarn kariya veri va pana verinam micchapanihitam cittam papiyo nam tato kare." (An ill-directed mind does greater harm to the self than, a hater does to another hater or an enemy to another enemy)."' Or: "Na tam mata pita kayira anne vapi ca nataka sammapanihitam citlam seyyaso naim tato kare." (Nether father nor mother, nor any other kindred, can confer greater benefit that does the well-directed mind.)"* 2 Ibid., V. 3, p. 5. Mbid., V. 42, p. 19. ^ Ibid., V. 43. For the purpose of this thesis, I desire to concentrate on the consciousness which is the doctrine of Yogdcdra Buddhism, finding down the correct solution for the change of evil view of human beings and social order. Good and bad or evil in the society, group, or in a mind of a person is dependent on the consciousness. Society walfare of the society, preservation of lawful atate and justice also is based on the consciousness. All the problems in modern world like war, hatred, killing, terrorism etc. take place due to the ignorance of the mind. Yogdcdra and the masters of Yogdcdra analyzed the role of consciousness and its function and confirmed that the reality of consciousness and the notion that the world is a world of ideas only, not of things. However, Yogdcdra is not the same like other philosophical doctrines of other religion, Yogdcdra is a method of experienced science, through the practice of yoga and meditation in the Bodhisattva's Path; one purifies his consciousness and accords with the stage of wisdom, which enteres into the purifying consciousness and develops to the positive tend of unlimited capacity of consciousness on the way of liberation. Besides, the cosmological approach to consciousness consists in tracing the origin or evolution of consciousness in the universe from the other levels of beings and it explaining the 'causal' relation it bears to them. Anthropological approach to consciousness consists of various branclies of study and anlyses the characteristic of consciousness from different objective standpoints. It traces the development of consciousness in human being from the life in the past (animal, heaven), resulting in the corresponding the 'seed' changes in man, studies consciousness as found in the human culture development and describes consciousness in its social dimensions. That is the reason, none is the same anyone. Because the 'seed' in their consciousness of the past life mere beared in them not the same each other, and then, they are human being together in this life with different 'seed' in their consciousness. The man can bear the 'seed' in consciousness from the monkey in the past life, but not the ancestor of human, because the man can bear any 'seed' from any sentient beings. Epistemology is also an interesting field of consciousness in the different means of knowing the object, the reality of the object in term of its dependence or independence from the knowing consciousness, the standard of truth and the theory error applicable to the consciousness to understand about an object. Psychology is also the nearest to the phenomenology, as Edmund Husserl, a famous scholar in the field of consciousness in the West, he distinguishes the 'descriptive phenomenology' from 'transcendental phenomen ology' and says that the 'descriptive phenomenology' as 'phenomenological psychology' (A General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology, George Allen & Unwin, London, 1958, p. 15); and it seems an introspective method. That is a problem, while Yogdcdra thought said that consciousness is phenomenal status in independence of conditions. In the Vimsatikd-kdrikd, the master Vasubandhu says that the consciousness was born from the 'seeds', and he confirms that, it is the word of the Buddha.^Therefore, the phenomenology exists in its own distinct problems and object approach. Consciousness has developed into various branches of study and is interested in several objective issues connected with consciousness from childhood to adulthood, the process of learning, the various propensities or instincts which manifest in human conscious behaviour, the various behaviourist response of consciousness to the different situations, the broad distinctions etc. There are but general descriptions of highly complex studies of consciousness from objective standpoints. However, the great mistake of Western scientists and psychologists is in thinking that the approach to consciousness is the inward approach, and more mistake is in their thinking that the system of nervs and brain as consciousness. Firstly, in Yogdcdra doctrine, the masters of Yogdcdra point out those neurons and brain which are only subtle elements, and follow the law of birth and death. It is certain these two viz. brain and neurons are not consciousness. Consciousness just depends on them and manifests; they belong to sense organ to give rising cognition. Consciousness is described by Yogacarins as the store-house with unlimited space. Brain is not enough for Stefen Anacker, Seven Works of Vasubandhu, p. 165. 7 cognition. Brain along with consciousness gives rise to cognition. ^ In other words, the material cannot produce the consciousness. Just as, the bulb cannot produce the light, but without it, the power cannot be the light for itself. Brain is needed only as the conditional thing where the manifestation of consciousness and producing the cognition takes place; just the bulb is the conditional thing for the light from the power enabled. As the people die, the brain becomes decayed and cannot producing the cognition, but consciousness still exists in a state of potential energy; as in the computer, when the electricity is corrupted, the memory of computer is inactivated, but the database still keeps it in the memory; and when the electricity appears, the memory is generated again. Same is the case with consciousness in one's body, when the man dies, his physical body (the collection of four elements: earth, water, wind, and fire) decays, but his mental body or consciousness returns to the potential state and is waiting for the focusing of conditions and becomes active in a new body of the next life. ^ Countless examples could be collected from other works about the Cheng-wei-shi- lun or Yogdcdra as well.