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THE JOURNAL
OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
BUDDHIST STUDIES
E D I T O R - I N - C H I E F
A . K. Narain
University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
E D I T O R S
Heinz Bechert Leon Hurvitz
Universitdt Gottingen, FRG UBC , Vancouve r, Canada
Lewis Lancaster A lexander W. MacDonald
University of California, Berkeley, USA Universite de Paris X, Nanterre, France
B.J. Stavisky A lex Way man
WN IIR, Mosco w, USSR Columbia University, New
York,
USA
A S S O C I A T E E D I T O R
Stephan Beyer
University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
Volume 3
1980
Number 2
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C O N T E N T S
I . A R T I C L E S
1.
A Yo gacara Analysis of the Mind, Based on the
Vijndna
Section
o f V a su b a n d h u ' s
Pancaskandhaprakarana
wi th Guna-
p r a b h a ' s C o m m e n t a r y ,
by Brian Galloway
7
2 . T h e R e a l m o f E n l i g h t e n m e n t in Vijnaptimdtratd: T h e F o r m u
la t ion of the "Four Kinds of Pure Dharmas" ,
by Noriaki
Hakamaya,
t r ans la t ed f rom the Jap ane se by
John Keenan
21
3 .
Hu-Jan Nien-Ch'i
(Suddenly a Thought Rose) Chinese Under
s t and ing o f Mind and Consc iousness ,
by Whalen Lai
42
4. No te s on the
Ratnakuta
Collect ion, by
K. Priscilla
Pedersen 60
5 . T h e S ix teen Aspec ts o f the Fou r Nob le T ru th s and T he i r
O p p o s i t e s ,
by
Alex Wayman 67
I I . S H O R T P A P E R S
1. Kaniska ' s B ud dh a C oins — T h e Off ic ia l I cono graph y of
Sakyam uni & M ai treya,
by Joseph C ribb
79
2 . "B udd ha-M azda " from Kara-tepe in Old Te rm ez (Uzbekistan):
A P r e li m i n a ry C o m m u n i c a t i o n ,
by
Boris J. Stavisky 89
3 . FausbpU an d the Pa li Ja ta kas , by
Elisabeth Strandberg
95
I I I .
B O O K R E V I E W S
1. L o v e a n d S y m p a t h y i n T h e r a v a d a B u d d h i sm ,
by Harvey B.
Aronson
103
2 . C hu ka n to Vuish ik i (M adhyam ika an d Vi j r iap t imatra ta) ,
by
Gadjin Nagao
105
3 . In t ro du c t io n a la conna issance des h lv in ba l de Th a i lan de ,
by
Anatole-Roger Peltier
107
4 . B ud dh i sm , Imper ia l i sm, and W ar . B urm a and Tha i l and in
M o d e r n H i s t o r y ,
by Trevor Ling.
109
5 . Z ho ng gu o foxue yuanl iu l iie jiang
(Brief lectures on th e origins and dev elopm ent of C hinese
B u d d h o l o g y ) , by
Lu Cheng
111
6. T h e Ja in a Pa th of Pur i f ica t ion ,
by
Padm anabh S. Jaini
112
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IV. NOTES AND NEWS
1.
M inutes of the Jo int M eeting of the Executive Com mittee
and the Board of Directors of the 2nd Annual Conference
of the IABS at Nalanda, 1979 116
Contributors
118
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A Yogacara Analysis of the Mind, Based
o n t h e Vijndna sec t ion of Vasubandhu 's
Pancaskandhaprakararia with
G u i j a p r a b h a ' s C o m m e n t a r y
1
by Brian Galloway
B ud dh ist p hi loso ph y con cern s itself both with the exposi t ion of ul timate
rea l i ty and the funct ioning of
samsdra.
For ul t imate real i ty, most
M ahay anists his torically have pre fer red the analyses of the M adhy am ika
scho ol ; bu t for the funct ion ing of samsara, the Yo gacara school seem s to
have the more sub t l e and complex theory .
Be fore d i scuss ing i t, how ever , we must d ecide how we are to deal
wi th the m an y technica l t e rms fou nd in its l i t e ra ture . T h er e are those
w ho feel tha t t echnica l t e rm s should not be trans la ted a t a ll , and othe rs
who t rans la te them in some very id iosyncra t ic and incons is tent ways ,
based on a supp osed ly sup er io r u nd er s t an d in g tha t they a lone possess .
As for th e f i rs t , it only n ee ds to be po inte d o ut that leaving a ter m
un t ran s l a t e d does no t gua ran tee t ha t we will un de r s t an d it p roper ly .
H av in g said this , i t is a p p a re n t th at ou r f irst task is to
understand
the
word ' s mean ing , and th i s can on ly be done by examin ing the
usage
o f
th e wo rd in th e var iou s con texts in which i t is foun d, an d by taking no te
of th e expl ic i t
definition
of th e w ord , if an expl ici t def ini t ion is fou nd in
the l i t e r a tu re . T h e n , hav ing und er s to od the word , we may indeed find
th at th er e is an a ccu ra te Engl i sh te rm w i th the same ran ge of mea nin g.
C on ce rn in g th e second g ro up , we may say tha t the i r im press ion
i st ic an d h ap h az ar d m eth od of trans la t ing migh t be jus t i fied in deal ing
with texts wri t ten crypt ical ly from the s tandpoint of ul t imate real i ty,
provided tha t the t rans la tor shares the profundi ty of ins ight of the
ori gin al au th o r . Bu t it will ha rdly d o in scient if ic/technical l i tera ture of
the Yogacara type. By scient i f ic/ technical I mean that this l i terature is
analogous to modern sc ient i f ic expos i t ion: i t uses technica l t e rms
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s t r ic tly; it analyzes an d catego rizes; impressionist ic or vag ue ram blings
ar e ut ter ly foreign to i t. T h e difference betw een it an d m od er n scienti
fic th o ug ht is only tha t the B ud dh is t technical wri t ing takes as given the
thesis that there exists, objectively and in real truth, a state of mind,
possible for a hu m an bein g to dev elop , that is qual ita tively different
from and bet ter than ordinary consciousness: d if ferent , in that i t
m ak es a ll worldly con side rat ion s pale into ins ignif icance; b et ter , in th at
i t makes for t rue happiness both for oneself and for the others that one
he lps .
I have goen into the mat ter of Yogacara technical terms in a
prev ious a r t i c le , Vijndna, Samjnd, a n d Manas, which was pr inted in
t h e Middle Way, Vol . 53 , No . 2 (Su m m er 1978). T he re I a rg ued tha t the
words in the t i t le have been incorrect ly t ransla ted in the past ,
2
and
proposed the t ransla t ions given in this char t :
Cor rec t Former ly
Tran s la t ion Preva il ing T r .
vijndna
pe rce pt io n (consciousness)
samjnd recog ni t ion (percep t ion)
manas consciousness (mind)
To recap i tu la te my a rguments o f tha t a r t i c le :
vijndna
is what ha pp en s
w he n t he re is a sense org an , a sense object , no obstru ct ion between
th em , an d a m in d tha t funct ions pro pe r ly; i t is the f irst men tal even t
tha t occurs and does no t involve any " th ink ing" of vitarka-vicara o r
kalpand. I t is " the nak ed , un ad or ne d , appr ehe ns io n of each s t imulus"
(Conze quo t ing t he Abhidharmakosa*); i t "gra sps th e m er e object" or
" the ob jec t a lone"
(don tsam 'dzin
to : G un ap r ab ha i n his com me n ta ry o n
Vasubandhu's Pancaskandhaprakarana*). Vijndna therefore does not
co rr es po nd to the E ngl ish w ord "co nsciousness" , which a lways involves
an ide a of se lfhood (as I show by quo tat ion from the Ox ford Engl ish
Dic t ionary) , bu t to perception in i ts strict , mo d er n , scientific sen se, th at
is ,
s ense -pe rcep t ion . (Thus vijndna co r r e sponds t o t he Ge rman Wahr-
nehmung,
not to
Bewusstsein.)
Som e may a rg ue tha t the wo rd "perce p t ion" (here I am br ing in g
in new ar gu m en ts , no t pres en t in my ear l ier ar t ic le) is pro pe r ly the
transla t ion of the logical term
pratyaksa.
So it is, bu t this do es n ot p ose a
p r o b l e m h e r e , b e c a u s e vijndna a n d pratyaska really mea n the sam e
thing. In Dignaga's Pramdnasamuccaya we find that pratyaksam kalpand-
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podham
5
wh ich is exactly w ha t is said
of vijndna.
"W hen the eye com es in
contact with a color , for ins tance blue, v isual consciousness [sic] arises
wh ich is aw aren ess of the p res en ce of a color ; but it doe s not recognise
tha t i t i s b lu e. T h e r e is no recog ni t ion a t th is s tage" (Rah ula in What the
Buddha Taught
6
). Dig naga, whi le discussing pratyaksa, add uce s this
quota t ion f rom an unspec i f ied Abhidharma t rea t i se :
caksurvijndnasamah gi nilam vijndndti no tu nilamiti
(Daa-2)
7
"O n e w ho can perce ive by the eye perceives blue, but not ' th is is b lu e." '
T h e p o i n t
is
that D ignaga quote s this as an ex planation of the na ture
of pratyaksa,
th ou gh th is wo rd nev er ap pea rs there , and the quota t ion is
cou ched en t i r e ly in t e rm s of vijndna ( the verb vijndndti is used ). T h at is,
he t akes pratyaksa a n d vijndna to be fundamenta l ly the same. The
reason for us ing pratyaksa ra th er than the o lder t e rm is p robably two
fold: i t was desirable to have a special term for use in the context of
ep is temology/ / log ic (pramdna)', and over th e cen tur ies the word vijndna
pe rh ap s beca m e debased in tha t the re g rew up a rou nd it a mass o f
vag ue impres s ions (while i ts fund am enta l m ean ing of course re ma ined
u n c h a n g e d ) .
T o r e t ur n to my form er a r t i c le , I th ink I have shown tha t samjnd
m ean s " recogni t ion ." G un apr ab ha s ta tes tha t samjnd, "having discerned
the same object [as in a pr ior percept ion) , grasps i t wi th sureness"
('du
shes ni yul d e nyid yong su bead nas nges par 'dzin pa
ste).
H
Vasubandhu ' s
def in i t ion of samjnd, on w hich Gu na pr ab ha is com m ent ing , is th i s:
"grasping an object by i ts s ign" (yul la mtshan par 'dzin pa).* Sthiramati ,
ano ther commenta tor on th i s same tex t , exp la ins tha t "a s ign i s the
pa rti cu la r o f a n object, b lue , yellow, etc.; it is the basis of classification
of a phenomenon. Grasping by a s ign is th inking, 'This is b lue, th is is
yel low' (mtshan ma ni yul gyi bye brag sngon po dang ser po la sogs pa dmigs pa
rnam par gzhag pa i rgyu 'o.dela mtshan mar dzin pa ni di ni sngon po o di ni
serpo'o zhes rtogpa'o).
10
Ra hula uses the word "reco gni t ion " as a def ini
t ion of samjnd ( th ou gh he t ransla tes it d i f ferent ly) : samjnd "recognizes
tha t it is b lu e ." ' ' B ud dh ago sa , in h i s
Visuddhimagga,
defin es it exactly as
does V asu ba nd hu , and com pare s it t o wha t hap pen s when a ca rpen t e r
sees a pi le of woo d th at h e has previously m ar ke d with a s ign to indicate
what type of wood it is (he recognizes i t as previously classified).
As for manas, this is explicitly stated in Ab hid ha rm a works (includ
in g th e p re se n t o n e, as we shall see) to be associated with the i l lusion of
self, which means that i t is really "consciousness" in English.
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This may seem to be a great fuss about a few words; but these are
words of absolute and crucia l impor tance . We cannot s imply assume
t ha t we know w ha t they me an . The se t e rms mus t be thought abo ut ; they
must be invest igated ser iously on a theoret ical level and in a scient i f ic
fashion. Of course , there are those who prefer to t rans la te technica l
terms however they see f i t a t a g iven moment , drawing on the la tes t
fashion able ja rg o n of twelve di f ferent W estern phi losophica l and
l inguist ic systems; but this sort of imp ressionist m eth od of transla t ion is
s imply not accura te , authent ic , or appropr ia te for ser ious sc ient i f ic
A bh id ha rm a w orks , how ever use ful i t may be whe n one is p re t end ing
t o b e p r o f o u n d .
We usual ly think of the mind ( the subject of this paper) as the
object ive c orre lat ive of consciou sness. B ut this is no t the B ud dh ist view.
In Buddhism, the s tar t ing point of any discuss ion of the mind i s not
consc iousness bu t pe rcep t ion (vijndna); consciousness comes la ter . T h e
mind is seen as a group of
perception-processes:
somet imes as a group of
s ix , a t o th er t imes as a gr o u p of e ight . Va su ba nd hu , in h is d i scuss ion of
percept ion, which becomes a d i scuss ion of the mind, in h i s Pancaskan-
dhapraharana (which we shal l now examine in detai l together with
G u n a p r a b h a ' s c o m m e n t a r y ) ,
1 2
begins by asking the t ime-honored
ques t ion, What i s percept ion? He answers h i s own ques t ion thus ly:
vijndnam dlambanavijnaptihl
"Pe rcep t ion is t he mani fes t a t ion o f a phe no m en on ." Now we have two
m o re t echn ica l t e rm s to d i scuss .
In ca l l ing the perce ived objec t a "phenomenon" we are avoiding
asse r t i ng tha t any real object exis t s; ph en om en a may be express ion s of
real i ty o r i l lusions. T h is is in kee pin g with the Y ogacara bel ief that rea l
objects do not in fact exist phi losophical ly.
Fo r "man i fes ta t ion " as a t rans la t ion oi'vijnapti see Ap te ' s Practical
Sanskrit-English Dictionary,
wh ere in he def ines it as "com m unica t ion"
and "announcement . " The mani fes t a t i on o f cour se t akes p l ace in the
mind.
Gunaprabha, in h i s commentary , now te l l s us tha t the phenomena
are o f six k inds . Why on ly six? G un apr abh a an d V asuban dhu a re Yoga-
car ins who in tend to e labora te a doct r ine of e ight k inds , but they wish
f ir s t to es tabl ish th e t radi t io nal -B ud dh is t s ix as a foun dat ion on which
to bui ld . G u n ap ra bh a the refo re lis ts the s ix ; le t us lis t the m he re
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toge ther wi th the cor responding sense-organs (ca l led " suppor t s" o r
asraya in Bu ddh i sm ) and the pe rcep t ions .
Pe rcep t ion
(vijndna)
eye -pe rcep t ion
e a r - p e r c e p t i o n
nose -pe rcep t ion
t o n g u e - p e r c e p t i o n
b o d y - p e r c e p t i o n
consc iousness
pe rcep t ion
S u p p o r t
{asraya)
eye
ear
nose
t o n g u e
body
consciousness
(manas)
P h e n o m e n o n
(dlambana)
fo rms
(rupa)
sounds
smells
tastes
tangibles
e l emen t s {dharrna)
C on ce rn in g these term s, first we observe that it is un im po rtan t wh ether
we use s ingular or plural forms; in Engl ish, p lurals are perhaps bet ter
here to indicate that we are not deal ing with abstract ions but with
specific reali t ies.
F o r m (rupa) here means objects perceived by the eye, hence
"sights" ; i t should be noted careful ly , however , that the same word
iorm/rupa has ano th er m ea nin g, in which it includes a ll of the above-
l is ted phenomena plus the f i rs t f ive supports ( the mater ia l sense-
organs) , p lus someth ing ca l led "unmani fes t fo rm" (avijnaptirupa).
(Aside from this last , rupa in this sense corresponds to the Western
con cep t of "m at ter " which is based on the idea that tangibles (sprastavya)
ar e basic bu t a lso can be ap p re h en d ed also by form , sou nd , smell , e tc.)
O ne ha s t o j u d ge f rom con tex t wh e the r iorm/rupa m ea ns sight-objects
or a ll man i fes t and u nm ani fes t fo rm (vijnaptyavijnaptirupa).
T h e " e le m e n t s" (dharrna) in the above chart as objects of conscious
ness (manas) a re no t all e lem ent s in the Y ogacara lis t of on e h u n d re d
elements . Al l are grouped into f ive categories as fol lows.
F o r m (rupa) in the larger sense
M i n d (citta), th e e igh t perc ep t ion s abou t to be discussed
Men ta l s (caitta), cer ta in m enta l funct ions , mostly em otion s
N o n - M e n t a l s (citta-viprayukta), cer ta in funct ions an d processes
U n c o m p o u n d e d s (asamskrta), i nc lud ing tathatd
T h e e lem en ts m ea nt in the p resen t ins tance as ob jec ts o f consc iousness
(manas) a r e t he men ta l s , t he non -men ta l s , t he uncompoundeds , and
avijnaptirupa. Co nce rn ing t he s ix ph en om en a li st ed , G un ap ra bha now
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te l ls us , "Their assimilat ion (khongdu chudpa) is m anife station , is pe r
cep t ion . These a re t he s ix beg inn ing pe rcep t ions
(pravrttivijndna)
He cont inues , expla ining the exact re la t ionship be tween a per
cep t ion , i ts co r re sp on di ng "s up po r t" , or sense-organ, and its cor res
po nd in g "ph en om en on " , o r ob jec t. (Ra the r t han t rans l a te w i th pa in fu l
li teralness, "If i t be asked, what is eye-perception, i t is . . ." I prefer to
give, "Eye-percept ion i s . . . " )
"Eye-percept ion is the various manifestat ions of which the eye is
the suppor t and fo rms a re t he phenomena ; ea r -pe rcep t ion i s t he
var io us man i fes ta t ions of which the ear is the sup po r t and soun ds the
p h e n o m en a; n ose-p ercep t ion is the var ious mani fes ta tions of which
the nose is t he supp or t an d smells t he phe on m en a ; t ongue-pe rcep t ion
is the var ious m ani fes ta t ions of which the tongu e is the sup po r t and
tas tes the ph en om en a; bod y-pe rcept io n is the var ious m ani fes ta t ions
of which th e body is the su pp or t and tangibles the ph en om en a;
consc iousness -pe rcep t ion (manovijndna) is the various ma nifestat ions
of which consciousness (manas) i s the suppor t and [cer ta in] e lements
t h e p h e n o m e n a . "
T h e nex t passage is som ewh at confusingly w r i tten . V asu ba nd hu
tel ls us that percept ion " is mind (citta) an d consciousness (manas),
be cau se i t is va r ieg ated (citra) and the sup po r t of consciousness (yid rten
byedpa, }mana-dsraya).
Percept ion (vijndna)
m i n d (citta) Consciousness (manas)
I I
Variegated (citra) Su pp or t of consciousness
W ha t he m ea ns i s th i s : "T he s ix percept ion s cons t i tu te the mind in the
tra di t i on al B ud dh ist view; this m ind is var ieg ated, or a variety, because
there is a s ixfold variety of percept ion-processes, and because (as
Gunaprabha wil l te l l you) within each of the s ix there is a variety of
form s to be perce ived . (Also, th er e is the pleasing p un of citra with citta.)
Bu t the min d is m or e than th i s . T h e six perce pt ions form the su pp or t
of a sev en th tha t ar ises on t he fo un da t ion of the six. An d this seventh is
consc iousness (manas).
G u n a p ra b h a tells us exactly how this ar is ing takes place: "As it is
said,
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Right after the cessation of the six,
Whate 'e r percept ion comes i s consc iousness .
Tha t which occurs r ight a f te r the s topping of whatever- i t -may-be i s
ca l led consc iousness
(manas).
For example, the son of one may be the
fa ther of another , the f ru i t o f one [ t ree J becomes the seed of another ,
and l ikewise when the six frui ts of the beginning perceptions are
s topped, they become suppor ts of the a r i s ing of another percept ion ,
and hence a re ca l led the suppor ts of consc iousness . So the mind has
be en e xp la in ed a s the six beg inn ing pe rcep t ions . "
But, we must add, i t has been explained as six perceptions giving
rise to the seventh, cal led consciousness
(manas).
A nd this mu st not be
confused wi th consc iousness-percept ion (manovijndna).
Now comes the c ruc ia l par t . Vasubandhu here def ines the mind
in a co m ple tely dif fer en t way; bu t the new view will tu rn o ut to be fully
co m pa tibl e with the old; it will sup ply a d ee p basis or fo un datio n for the
old view. He sta tes:
"In rea li ty , the m ind is the s toreh ous e percep t ion
(dlayavijndna);
be ca us e it is th e assembly (cita, an o th e r p lay on
citta)
of the seeds
(bija)
o f
a l l c o m p o u n d i n g s
(satnskdra).
In this word
sa m
m e a n s together, while
kdra
is the
vrdhhi
form of
kr
'make , do ' p lus
a.
Whitney, in his
Sanskrit
Grammar
(sees. 1145 an d 1148b-c) says th at such a form atio n may be
e i the r a
nomen actionis
o r a
nomen agentis;
thus ou r word may be t rans
l a t e d e i t h e r " c o m p o u n d i n g s" o r " c o m p o u n d e r s " ; t h e T i b e t a n
'du
byed
co uld sta nd for e i th er; th e f irst is a lmos t certa inly correct an d could
also have an a gen tive force. (Cf.
asarnskrtal du
ma
byasl
u n c o m p o u n d e d s . )
The word has a t least two meanings: general ly, a l l worldly things,
including al l the f ive
skandhas
(See Rahula ,
W hat the Buddha Taught,
p .
22 & no . 2 , p . 57 8c n. 2); that is , a l l things that consist of component
p a r t s ,
hence al l things that are subject to analysis (separat ion into
p a r t s ) ;
in th is sense we a re tempted to t ransla te "compoundeds" which
is pr ob ab le an d l inguistically possible ( th ou gh this wo uld m ore specifi
cally be
samskrta).
Exc luded a re space
(dkdsa),
two kin ds of cessation
(nirodha),
and suchness
(tathatd).
Spec i f ica l ly , in the Abhidharma, as here , sarnskdras are the
caitta-
dharmas
o ther than fee l ing
(vedand)
and recogni t ion
(samjnd),
plus the
cittaxnprayuktadharmas.
Since the sarnskdras he re a re specif ic e lem ents we
a re t empted to ca l l t hem "compounde rs" , th ings tha t make up a
compound ing ; bu t fo r bo th senses "compound ings" may be the bes t
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solution. Psychologically samskdras a re "unconsc ious t endenc ies . "
So V asu ba nd hu has now def ined the m ind as the sarvasamskdrabi-
jacita, the assembly of the seeds of al l unconscious tendencies or
"co m po un d i n gs . " G un ap rab ha now te lls u s , '"All com pou nd i ng s '
means the pass iona l e lements {klistadharma). T he y ar ise from four
c o n d i t i o n s (pratyaya) His next words a re more eas i ly comprehended
in the form of a char t :
Bas ic condi t ion Per fumings (vdsand) dwell ing in
(hetupratyaya)
the s toreho use percept ion
R ul in g con di t ion Six sense org an s
{adhipatipratyaya)
Im m ed i a t e cond i t i on Consc iousnes s (manas)
(samanantarapratyaya)
Ph en om en al cond i t ion Form , soun ds , smell s, e t c .
{dlambanapratyaya)
Hetu
is of ten t rans la ted as "cause", but a cause
orces
the resul t, w hereas
a hetu mere ly provides the basis on which the result can occ ur. I t
pro vid es , in ot he r wo rds , the contex t wi thin which the resul t can occ ur .
I t sho uld , there fo re , be t rans la ted as basis. In Bu ddh is t tho ug ht there is
no real "causation" at al l , s ince events merely take place within a net of
in te r re la t ion sh ip s ; they a re dep en de nt on each o th er in a sense (condi
t i oned o r i g i na t i on , pratityasamutpdda), but they d o not force each oth er ;
they merely assist ( in the French sense of
being
present): "this pres ent ,
tha t occurs . "
I t has been suggested that vdsand might bet ter be t ransla ted as
"exper ient ia l ly ini t ia ted potent ia l i ty of exper ience" or some such. But
i f Vasubandhu and o thers had wanted to use such an express ion , they
cou ld easily have do n e so in Sansk r i t : anubhavasambhavdnubhavasakyatd
m igh t se rve . If on e t rans la tes vdsand li terally as "p erf um ing " the idea is
c le are r . If one dip s a c loth into perfu m ed water and th en h ang s it ou t to
dr y, the p er fu m e tha t has pe rva de d the c loth rem ains in it af ter the
water has a l l evaporated. Similar ly the exper iences and pass ions
remain in the s torehouse percept ion ( the Unconsc ious of Wes te rn
th ou gh t) af ter the init ia l s t imu lus is go ne . T h e m ind has been semi
pe rm an en t ly affected (s ince no thi ng at a ll is t ruly pe rm an en t in
B ud dh ism ) and thu s is ca ll ed per fum ed by the per fum ings {vdsand) of
f o rm er ac t ion . T h e wor d
perfuming
does m ake th e idea c lear , an d tha t is
why such a word was chosen by Vasubandhu and others in the f i rs t
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place , ra ther than the more complica ted phrase given above.
Now Gunaprabha wishes to exp la in the process of the genera t ion
of the compoundings , the pe r fumings , and the s to rehouse pe rcep t ion
itself.
Beginn ing wi th the beg inn ing pe rcep t ions (prai>rttivijndna)
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called basis
(hetu)
and frui t
(phala)\
the basis being the perfum ings , the
f ru i t be ing the r ipen ing (rnam par smin pa), which means produc t ion
(skyed) by the pe r fum ings of fo rm er ac t ion (purvakarmavdsand). T h u s
we should see that on the basis of one, the other ar ises . For example ,
th e blazing of an oil lam p an d i ts bu rn in g of the wick ar ise mu tual ly a t
the sam e t ime , an d w hen the re is a t en t supp or te d on th ree po les , one
supports another by means of the third so that they do not fa l l ; so the
basis of ar is ing, whatever i t may be, should be unders tood to be the
s to r ehouse pe rcep t ion .
"S ince the s to r eho use i s a percep t io n , wha t is its ph en om en on and
w hat is i ts m od e? " I ts ph en o m en on , of cou rse , is the object that it
perceives; s ince the ear perceives sounds, the nose smells , e tc . , what
does the s torehouse perceive, s ince i t i s sa id to be a percept ion?
F ur th er , wha t i s its
mode (rnampa, dkdra)?
Th is t e rm ap paren t ly rep laces
support
(dsraya,
rten)
y
s ince a su pp or t m us t be som eth ing m ate r ia l , and
the s to rehouse has no mate r ia l suppor t . Vasubandhu answers bo th
quest ions by essent ia l ly not answering them:
" I t s p h e n o m e n o n a n d m o d e a r e u n d i s c e r n e d {aparichinna, yongs
su ma chad pao)
Nor does Gunap rabha commen t . The ma t t e r i s
covered , though none too c lea r ly , in S th i ramat i ' s commentary to
V a s u b a n d h u ' s Trimsika; but i t is a mat ter for an ot he r pap er .
V as ub an d hu now te lls us that the s to reho use is "of on e class an d
continually produ ced (rigs cigpa dangrgyun chagspar 'jugpa'o). "Of one
class" mea ns , accord ing to G un ap rab ha , tha t it is mora l ly ind i ffe ren t
(n ei t he r good no r bad in its essence) ; whi le bein g cont inual ly pr od uc ed
m ea ns tha t it is m om en tary (it is p ro du ce d aga in every mo m ent ) . "Th a t
i t ha s one na tu re {rang bzhin, svabhdva) is known by authori ty (dgama)
and r ea son (?nydya). T h e au tho ri ty is the B lessed One 's verse in the
[now lost?)
Abhidharmasutra:
The rea lm of t ime wi thout beg inn ing i s
The p lace where a l l the e lements res ide .
Since this exists, the realms of sentient beings
And also Blessed Rest , have been obtained.
Gunaprabha takes " the p lace where a l l the e lements res ide" to be the
s to r ehouse pe rcep t ion .
H e has add uc ed th is quo ta t ion in o r de r to show an au thor i ty for
the mora l ly neu t ra l charac te r o f the s to rehouse percep t ion . But the
same quotat ion serves equal ly to show that the s torehouse exis ts in the
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f i rst place, as against those who do not bel ieve in one's existence.
V as ub an dh u a nd G un ap ra bh a now t ry to dem ons t ra t e its ex i st ence by
means o f r eason .
First , they point to the meditat ional states cal led cessat ion at tain
m e n t
(nirodhasamdpatti), n on-recognit ion attainment (asam jnisamdpatti),
and (p l a in ) non- recogn i t ion (asamjnd). W he n o ne is in these states, the
s ix beginning percept ions "also known as object -mani fes ta t ion (visya-
vijnaptiy
ar e sto pp ed ; w he n on e leaves these states, the six ar ise aga in.
T he y m us t have been s to red some wh ere ; tha t som ewh ere is t he s to re
house percept ion . Gunaprabha asks: " I f we do not accept a s torehouse
percep t ion , f rom what bas i s
ihetu)
wil l the six beginning percept ions
ar i se? Therefo re we mus t accep t a s to rehouse percep t ion . "
Fur ther , i t i s maintained that wi thout a s torehouse percept ion i t
would be impossib le to enter , or more impor tant ly to leave, the round
(samsdra).
Th is is a l so su pp or ted by the scr ip tural verse qu oted above.
Final ly, i t is maintained that the storehouse is the basis even of the
mater i a l body . Gunaprabha s t a t es : "S ince these var ious {gang yin pa)
seeds of a l l pass ionate e lements (samklistadharma) dwell in it, it is called
th e s to re ho us e pe rce pt io n . Again , it dwell s in the m as the actual ity of
the basis iyang na de dag la rgyu'i dngos pot gnas pa'o, }hetuvastu)
Vasubandhu now ident i f ies the s torehouse wi th cer ta in o ther
technic al ter m s that w ere p er ha ps c ur re nt in cer ta in c irc les in h is day:
"T h e s to re hou se pe rcep t ion is itself t he g rou nd (gzhi
nyid;
tddhdra,
ladhisfhdna) of all seeds, is the storehouse of the body, is the basical
(hetuka).
[The two sen tences o f Gunaprabha quo ted jus t above occur
here.] I t is that which resides in the body; again, i t is appropriat ing
(dddna) per cep t ion because it app ropr i a t es a body . " H ere G un ap rab ha
quotes the Sandhinirmocanasutra:
A pp rop r i a t ing percep t ion is p ro fo und and f ine ,
And al l the seeds f low onward l ike a r iver:
It is not right to view it as a
self;
I d id not teach i t to the immature .
1 3
Gunaprabha ' s comment s a re o f l i t t l e ph i losoph ica l i n t e res t here , and
he does not explain how an immater ia l s torehouse percept ion can g ive
rise to a material body; one assumes that to the Yogacarins, material i ty
itself is an i l lusion anyway.
Here the expos i t i on o f t he s to rehouse percep t ion in itself is
f in i shed ; bu t Vasubandu t akes an ex t remely impor t an t s t ep here . He
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goes back to the seventh percept ion, "consciousness" , manas, for
another look at i t . We saw i t before as ar is ing out of the s ix beginning
percept ions . Now we shal l see i t as r i s ing out of the s torehouse, or
eighth percept ion; we shal l see i t in i t s relat ion to the s torehouse.
"In real i ty, the consciousness {manas) has the s toreho use perc ep
t i on f o r i t s phenomenon . " Gunapr abha : "Th i s means t ha t i t phenom-
enal i zes [sees the s toreho use perc ept ion as a
self. ( dngos
su nayid ni
kun gzhi mam par shes pa la dmigs te shes bya ba ni, kun gzhi rnam par shes pa
la bdag tu dmigs zhes bya bai tha tshiggo.)
V asub and hu: It is that which is
associated wi th the cons tant delus ion of sel f
(dtmamoha),
view of self
dtmadrsti , ego ism o f self
(dtmamdna),
and lust for self
(dtmardga),
and
so
o n . "
u
G un ap ra bh a: " I t is expla ined as op era t in g a lways, an d ar ises as
g o o d (kusala), b ad (akusala), an d ind ifferen t . His saying 'I t is of on e
class'
me an s [in contras t to what i t m ean s for the s torehou se pe rcept ion
that i t has a pass ionate (klista) n a t u r e (rang bzhin, ?svabhdva). 'It is con
t inual ly p ro du ce d ' me an s that it is m om en tary . I t op era tes always, but
' I t i s not present in an Arhat , on the Noble Path, or at the t ime of the
ces sat io n-a t tainm en t . ' In the last two it is pre ve nte d f rom pr od uc ing
pe rfu m in gs ; w he n on e rises ou t of the m , the seeds ar ise again f rom i t.
In Arhat sh ip they cease comple te ly .
"W ith that , we have explaine d th e eight percept ions that cons t i tute
the pe rcep t ion agg rega te , [ to wi t] the six beginning p ercept ions , th e
s torehouse percept ion , and the pass ionate consc iousness
(klistamanas).
T h e pe r cep t i on - aggr e ga t e has been exp l a i ned . "
So our char t of percept ions above requi res these two addi t ions :
Pe r cep t i on Mode
(dkdra)
P h e n o m e n o n
Cons c i ous nes s (rnanas) (not specif ied) Sto reho use Percep t ion
ak a klistamanas (falsely seen as self)
S t o r e hou s e Pe r cep t i on Und i s ce r ned Und i s ce r ned
(alayavijndna ) (aparichinna ) (aparichinna)
This has been only one sect ion of a very elementary Yogacara
t rea t i se , and the k ind of prob lem s tha t we en cou nter h ere should w arn
us aga ins t the er ro r of thin kin g that we can fully u nd er s ta nd this
doctr ine quickly or easi ly or without r igorous scientif ic analysis .
O f co urse , such a t reat ise as this may raise mo re ques t ions th an it
ans w ers: for instance, how to reconcile the
three
views
of manas
presented :
as a sense organ giving r ise to manovijndna; as aris ing from the six
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be gin nin g perc eption s; as arising from the storehouse percep tion. But
befo re study ing this treatise we did not know e nou ght even to ask the
question.
N O T E S
1. I hav e used t he edit ion of the D erg e Ta nju r. I have not been able to obtain th e
San skr i t of t he V as ub an dh u, a nd in any case I do not know wh ethe r i t is the or ig inal or a
ret ra nsla t ion f rom the Ti bet an ; i f the la t ter , the re would be no adva ntage in using i t. In
mo st cases, the Sans kri t equ ivale nt of a given Tibe tan term is kno wn ; in a few cases abov e
I give th e Tibetan w he re I am un su re of the San skri t .
I have t ranslated or paraphrased essent ia l ly every th ing that Vasubandhu and
G un ap ra bh a say her e; a few min or poin ts are passed over cursor i ly . In a couple of p laces
the ir w rit ing is not as clear as it migh t be (they at on e po int seem to be trying to talk abo ut
two things at once); I have tr ied to straighten things out a bit in my exposit ion, but
cer ta in ly I have not chan ge d any of the ideas or technical terms, and all imp ortan t po in ts
a re t r ans l a t ed verbatim.
2. Vijnana has been occasionally translated as perception, but never so far as I am
aw are w i th any exp lana t ion o f why th is is correct and the mo re usual t ranslat ion w rong. 1
th ink i t bet ter to br ing the whole mat ter ou t in to the open .
T hr o ug h ou t th is pa pe r I en gag e in d iscussion of the meaning s of ind iv idual
San skr i t w ord s: th is is no t m er e "phi lo logy" because we investigate the w ords not for the i r
own sake , bu t i n o rder to unders t and the phifmophiral ideas they express . One cannot
un de rs ta nd an idea unless on e fi rs t un de rs ta nd s the words used to explain i t Derel ic tion
of this pri nc iple is w ide sp rea d, beca use peop le pref er to avoid the difficulties (and they
are genuine difficult ies) of dealing strict ly with these technical terms; and this enables
them ( in some cases) to read their own ideas into the texts.
The reader wil l note that my translat ions of technical terms are often quite l i teral
(w hen I thin k tha t the l i teral me an ing most clearly expre sses the idea, as i t often do es),
an d som et im es a mo des t de pa r t ur e fom l i teralness (when it seems bet ter to t ranslate the
meaning than the word, so to speak). Always I give the Sanskri t original if i t can be
asc er t a in ed— unl ik e ce r t a in peop le , I am bo und to say .
I d o no t believe in transl at in g word s inconsistently, but hold to the princ iple of one
Engl ish w ord for one San skr i t word in the overw helm ing major ity of cases . Some main
tain that the profun di ty an d complexi ty of Buddh is t ph i losophical thou ght const i tu tes an
excuse for thei r own terminological inconsis tency and obfuscat ion (a hyper- in tel lectual
but essential ly frivolous point of view, in that i t does not meet the real requirements). On
the contrary , the more profound, subt le , and complex the thought , the more necessary i s
t e rmino log ica l exac t i tude .
3 .
E . Conz e , H uddhvit Thought in India (Ann Arbor: Universi ty of Michigan, 1973),
p . 189.
4 . G u n a p r a b h a ' s c o m m e n t a r y o n V a s u b a n d h u ' s Pancaskandhaprakarartu: Derge
T an ju r si lb l -31b7. Unf or tun ately , when w orking on th is tex t , I neglected to take down
the speci f ic page numbers . Never theless the quotat ion wi l l be found to be accurate .
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5 . M. Ha t tor i , t r . LHgndga on Perception, being the Pratyaksa pariccheda of Digndga's
Pramanasamuccaya (Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard U.P. , 1968), sec. C. of Ski . text (pages
unnumbered i n Sk t . ) . Pratyaksa like vijiuina is nam ed after sense orga ns (aha) (sec. Daa -1).
T h e two a r e no t exactly iden t ical , s ince vipidna ap pe ars within the discussion of pratyaksa as
its specificity (where injhdna has at least two aspects [acc ording to th e logicians in gen eral I,
objec t -cogni t ion [insayavijndna] an d the cog nit ion o f that co gnit ion). But it is clear that
they both are wi thin the range of meaning of the Engl i sh word percept ion. At any ra te ,
they bear much c loser resemblance to each other than e i ther does to "consciousness" ,
which is som eth ing e l se ent i re ly .
6 . W . Rah ula , What the Buddiiu T aught (New York: Grove Press, 1959), p. 23. In
case anyone wonders why Theravada sources are used in the di scuss ion of a Mahayana
text , it is becau se the m ean ing of s tand ard Ab hid har ma technica l t e rms is the same in
both t radi t ions . The Mahayanis t s a f ter a l l bui l t the i r Abhidharma thought on the same
ea r ly -Buddh i s t f ounda t i ons .
7 . Ha t t o r i , op. ctt. Sec. Daa-2 .
8. See n. 4 abo ve.
9 . Locnt.
10. Derg e T a n ju r sh i 195b6ff.
1 1. Ra hu la loc. cit.
12 .
See n. 4 above.
13 .
Th is qu ota t ion also wa rns us against seeing the SP as a
self. i
It is a kin d of
con t i nu i t y (santdna), to be su re, that plants for instance are con tinui t ies without selfhood
(a su pp os ed self in plants is on e of a nu m be r of w rong views refuted by the Bu dd ha in one
of the HInayana Sut ras) . In the Ratnardsi Sutra quoted by Sani ideva (Sihasamuccaya,
Ben dal l , p . 20 1, Vaidya p . I l l , E ng. t rans , p . 195) p lants are s tated to be asvdmika and
amama (without "I" or "mine") . As Rahula says, "If we can understand that in his l i fe we
can co nt in ue w i thout a perm an en t , un cha ng ing sub s tance like Self or Soul , why can ' t we
un de rs ta nd tha t those forces themselves can con t inue wi thout a Self or Soul behind them
af ter the non-funct ioning of the body?" (Ibid., p. 33 . H e also points ou t , p. 65 n. 1, that the
Ijankdxiatnra emphatical ly denies selfhood in the Alayavtjndna o r
Tathdgatagarbhu,
p. 6 8 f f.
of Suz uk i , pp . 7 8 - 7 9 of Skt .) That a con tinui ty is not a self is implicit in th e
V ajracchedikd,
which den i e s
dtman, sattva, jiva,
a n d
pudgala,
bu t not con tinui ty, or funct ioning ent i t ies in
ge ne ra l . The accu sat ion that the Vog acarins ten d towa rds a self- theory is s imply without
f o u n d a t i o n .
14. Mohti
o r
mi'ufhi. drsti, mdna,
an d
rdga
o r
sneha
are four of the six passions, a
subdivis ion wi thin the menta l s (caittadhanna). These four dhamias, then, when associated
with the i l lusion of dtman, are the cons tant accompaniments of the manas. Five other
e lem en ts a lso accom pany i t, acco rding to Sthi ramat i in h is com me ntary to Va suba ndh u 's
Trimsikd: the f ive "everpresents" (.\arvatraga) jth at I ha ve listed in th e List of Techn ical
Te rm s |.
20
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