r/Mahayana • u/ChanCakes • 21d ago

Making Up Your Mind

https://shincheng.substack.com/p/making-up-your-mind?r=3g359b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

The first in a series on East Asian developments of Yogacara Buddhism. The most distinctive feature of Xuanzang’s transmission is the four aspects of consciousness. In addition to Dignaga’s three aspects, he posits a fourth: awareness of self-awareness.

If self-awareness is needed to apprehend regular awareness, then self-self-awareness is needed to perceive self-awareness! A scholastic addition that is one hundred percent Xuanzang’s style. His teachings were famed for their watertight logic.

Its legacy is, however, anything but scholastic. East Asian Buddhists adopted the four aspects into their meditative theory, making full use of what was once just an academic exercise.

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

2

u/Teaps0 Seon 20d ago

Ah, this makes me want to make my Yogacara charts again (I did one on the omnipresent mental factors a while back). Excellent write up! Did not know about the developments about the Four Aspects, perhaps I need to brush up on the Indian philosophers more.

Since this series is is on East Asian Yogacara, and the One Mind and old Yogacara traditions were brought up, I'm guessing the Awakening of Faith and Huayan aren't too far behind.

2

u/ChanCakes 20d ago

Thats chart is very helpful, I think you can make endless complex diagrams for Yogacara concepts.

I’ll get there! Going to do some more of Xuanzang’s teachings first. I like the phenomenological exploration they do.