The Completion of Mere Ideation WDL11843

''Cheng Weishi Lun'' (, CWSL,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

reconstruction: ''*Vijñaptimātrāsiddhiśāstra'', English: ''The Treatise on the Demonstration of Consciousness-only,'' Taisho Catalog number 1585), is a comprehensive treatise on the philosophy of

Yogacara Yogachara (, IAST: ') is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through the interior lens of meditation, as well as philosophical reasoning (hetuvidyā). ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and a commentary on

Vasubandhu Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; floruit, fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential Indian bhikkhu, Buddhist monk and scholar. He was a philosopher who wrote commentary on the Abhidharma, from the perspectives of th ...

's seminal work, the '' Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā'' (''Thirty Verses on Consciousness-only''). The CWSL was written by the early

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

monk Xuanzang (602–664), who drew on numerous Indian Yogacara sources and scholars as well as his experience of studying under Indian Yogacara masters like Nalanda's Śīlabhadra and Prasenajit.

Overview

When Xuanzang was studying

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

at Nālandā University with masters Śīlabhadra and Prasenajit, he is said to have studied ten commentaries on Vasubandhu's ''Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā,'' those of: Dharmapala, Sthiramati, Nanda, Citrabhanu, Bandhusri, Suddhacandra, Jinaputra, Gunamati, Jinamitra, and Jñanacandra.Brunnholzl, Karl. ''A Compendium of the Mahayana: Asanga's Mahayanasamgraha and Its Indian and Tibetan Commentaries'' (Vol. I), pp. 28–30. Shambhala Publications, 2019. Back in China, Xuanzang drew upon his studies in India to write a detailed explanation of Vasubandhu's ''Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā''. This synthetic commentary became the ''Cheng Weishi Lun''.Cook, Francis (1999).
Three Texts on Consciousness Only
', pp. 1–3. Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research Kuiji claimed that the interpretations of Dharmapāla were the only correct ones found in the CWSL and that Xuanzang follows the views of Dharmapāla. However, modern scholars have found that Kuiji often attributes to Dharmapāla certain interpretations which are actually found in the works of Sthiramati. Some modern scholars like Dan Lusthaus suggest that it is actually more likely that the CWSL reflects the views of Xuanzang's teacher Prasenajit, as well as Xuanzang's broad studies in other sources like the ''Yogacarabhumi''. According to Francis Cook,

The theory of the Ch’eng wei-shih lun is that basic or fundamental consciousness (mula-vijñana) comes to appear naturally and spontaneously in the form of a seeing part (darsana-bhaga) and a seen part (nimitta-bhaga). The seeming reality of an inner self perceiving external events is nothing more than one aspect of consciousness perceiving itself in the form of images. A third part of consciousness, the manas, or thinking aspect, interprets the two parts as a self and an external world. This situation is also the basis for hatred, craving, fear, and other passions. In fact, the apparently real external world of things is nothing but internal images perceived by consciousness and grasped as a source of attachment by thought.

Influence and commentaries

The ''Chéng Wéishì Lùn'' became one of the key texts of

East Asian Yogācāra East Asian Yogācāra refers to the Mahayana Buddhist traditions in East Asia which developed out of the History of Buddhism in India, Indian Buddhist Yogachara, Yogācāra (lit. "yogic practice") systems (also known as ''Vijñānavāda'', "the d ...

, both by Chinese ("Faxiang") and Japanese ("Hossō") thinkers. It is a major doctrinal source and summa for this tradition, also known as the Consciousness Only School (''Wéishí-zōng''). Kuiji, one of Xuanzang's key pupils, wrote a commentary on the CWSL, called the ''Chéng Wéishì Lùn Shuji'' (成唯識論述記; Taishō no. 1830, vol. 43, 229a–606c). Kuiji's commentary relies on the epistemology of

Dignāga Dignāga (also known as ''Diṅnāga'', ) was an Indian Buddhist philosopher and logician. He is credited as one of the Buddhism, Buddhist founders of Indian logic (''hetu vidyā'') and Buddhist atomism, atomism. Dignāga's work laid the grou ...

and remains focused on an orthodox Yogacara interpretation. The Korean monk Woncheuk, another influential pupil of Xuanzang, wrote his own commentary, the ''Chéng Wéishì Lùn Ceshu'', which disagrees with several of Kuiji's positions.Ronald S. Green, Chanju Mun (2018). ''Gyōnen’s Transmission of the Buddha Dharma in Three Countries,'' pp. 60–61. Brill. Woncheuk was a follower of the Shelun school (攝論宗) of Yogacara, which draws on the work of Paramārtha (499–569). This tradition defended Parāmartha's teaching that there was a ninth consciousness called the "pure consciousness" (''amalavijñāna''). This position had been rejected by Xuanzang and Kuiji. Another student of Xuanzang, the Japanese monk Dōshō (道昭, 629–700 CE) brought the CWSL to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 660, creating the doctrinal foundation for the Japanese Consciousness-only (Jp: ''Hossō'') school at Nara's Gangōji Temple.

English translations

The Chinese scholar and philosopher Wei Tat translated the ''Chéng Wéishì Lùn'' into English for the first time in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1973. He drew on various Chinese and Western sources for his research, especially the French translation of the CWSL by Louis de La Vallée Poussin. Poussin's translation also included numerous annotations and passages from Kuiji's commentary. Francis Cook made a new English translation for the Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research's Taishō Tripiṭaka translation effort.Cook, Francis H. (1999),
Three Texts on Consciousness Only
', Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, In 2017, a new translation closely based on Louis de La Vallée Poussin's French (along with many annotations) was published by Motilal Banarsidass as ''Vijñapti-mātratā-siddhi: A Commentary (Chéng Wéishì Lùn) on Vasubandhu's Triṃśikā by Xuanzang.'' It is the work of Lodrö Sangpo, Migme Chödrön and A. L. Mayer. Peter Lunde Johnson has published a translation that is entitled "''On Realizing There is Only The Virtual Nature of Consciousness''" in 2019.Johnson, Peter Lunde (2019). "''On Realizing There is Only The Virtual Nature of Consciousness''", An Lac Publications,

References

Bibliography

* Lusthaus, Dan (2003). ''Buddhist Phenomenology: A Philosophical Investigation of Yogacara Buddhism and the Ch'eng Wei-shih Lun'', Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism, * Schmithausen, Lambert (2015)
"On the Problem of the External World in the Ch’eng wei shih lun"
International Institute for Buddhist Studies * Sharf, Robert (2016). "Is Yogacara Phenomenology? Some Evidence from the Cheng Weishi Lun". ''Journal of Indian Philosophy'' 44 (4), 777–807 * Jiang, Tao (2005)
"Alayavijnana" and the problematic of continuity in the "Cheng Wei-shih Lun"
''Journal of Indian Philosophy'' 33 (3), 243–284

External links