The structure of consciousness in purpoyted trilogy

·期刊原文
The structure of consciousness in Paramaartha's purpoyted trilogy
Diana Y. Paul
Philosophy East and West
Vol.31 No.3 (July 1981)
pp.297-319
Copyright by University of Hawaii Press

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From earliest times spiritual libelation in Buddhism has been defined in terms of three requirements: discipline (`siila). meditation (samaadhi), and wisdom (praj~naa).[1] The objective of this threefold process of liberation was the elimination of all anxieties. compulsions, and attachments as the source of suffering. Positively stated. the spiritual path culminated in an internal perception (praj`naa) of reality as it is (tathataa) and in a direct awareness of one's true self (anaatman).[2] Liberation was drought about by the development of an understanding of the true nature of self free from attachments and delusions. This understanding or knowledge is attained by analyzing the conscious processes which bring about attachments and delusions. To know these conscious processes is to be free from them. The basic problem in all Buddhist systems is to analyze the conditions which bring about ignorance and delusion in order to demonstrate ho the individual has the capacity for developing an adequate understanding of reality as it is.

While all sectarian developments within the various Buddhist traditions have dealt with the problem of ignorance and attachment in terms of the tripartite path to spiritual freedom listed above, not all of the theories agree on how to refine the powers of the mind nor how to define and describe the processes of conscious activity.[3] While no Buddhist would claim that merely accepting the right set of ideas or values constitutes wisdom, many Buddhists would differ from each other on the question of what structures consciousness has, and how consciousness is influenced by ignorance.[4]

Specialists in the field of early Yogaacaarin literature have virtually glossed over the system of operations or mechanisms necessary for eliminating ignorance.[5] The relationship between spiritual liberation and structures of consciousness in some of the more significant early Yogaacaarin texts translated by the sixth-century philosopher Paramaartha will be presented in this article.

1. THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF PARAMARTHA

Paramaartha traveled to China in 546 to disseminate. in a systematic way. the philosophy of early Yogaacaara.[6] He is a key figure in reconstructing the early philosophical development of Yogaacaarin thought in China prior to the seventh century when the Yogaacaarin master Hsuan-tsang [a] and his disciple Tzu-en [b] (or K'uei-chi [c]), both of whom were native Chinese proponents of a later form of Yogaacaarin Buddhism (Fa-hsiang), temporarily eclipsed Paramaartha's pioneering etforts.

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Paramaartha was the first to introduce and to disseminate Yogaacaarin philosophical and religious tenets in a systematic way to China. It is largely because of his extensive translations and exegeses that Yogaacaarin doctrines were to affect Chinese thought for over three hundred years. Prominent monks from all over southern China traveled to Paramaartha's residence to learn of the innovative Buddhist doctrine on the structures of consciousness. While the most prominent treatises of early Indian Yogaacaara translated by Paramaartha have been examined by scholars in the field, most notably, the treatises Mahaayaanasa.mgraha. the Tri.m`sikaa, and the Vi.m`satikaa,[7] the lesser known but more exegetical works of Paramaartha have not been so thoroughly investigated. In these lesser known works Paramaartha puts forth his systematization of the modes of consciousness as a system of operations which can lead to the realization of spiritual freedom. Three of these texts. originally perhaps comprising a trilogyl will be the materials upon which I will base my discussion of the path of salvation in early Yogaacaara in terms of Paramaartha's study of the structures of consciousness.

II. SUMMARY OF TEXTUAL MATERIALS

Although Paramaartha's largest and most complete works which influenced Chinese Buddhism were his translations of the Mahaayaanasa,mgraha and the Abhidharmako`savyakhyaa`saastra, there is a very close relationship between the Mahaayaanasa.mgraha and the purported trilogy, San wu-hsing hun [d], Chuan shih lun[e] , and Hsien shih lun [f] which were collectively called at one time the Wuhsiang lun [g] [8] These three texts are not specifically dated in any of the catalogs of Chinese Buddhist scripture, but they seem to have been translated during the intervening period of Paramaartha's two masterpieces (the Sa.mgraha and the Ko`sa), between 563 and 567. Hence, these texts would be representative of Paramaartha's most highly developed and significant philosophical views. Moreover, this trilogy shares in common the most distinctive feature of Paramaartha's thought. namely, the assertion of a transcendent, pure consciousness (amalavij~naana).[9]

A. Chuan shih lun (CSL)[10]

The Chuan shih lun is an adaptation from the Tri.m`sikaa by Vasubandhu. Although some specialists in the field have labeled the Chuan shih lun a translation of the Tri.m`sikaa, the former is more accurately described as a paraphrasing in prose: of the thirty Sanskrit verses collectively entitled the Tri.m`sikaa, together with liberal exegetical comments not found in the Sanskrit original.[11]

All eight evolutionary modes of conscious activity are defined and integrated with a glossary of terminology for various good, bad, and neutral mental states.[12] Discrimination, that is, mental construction through conceptualization of phenomena, is discussed in the context of the Yogaacaarin

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framework of Consciousness-Only. Functional dependency between perceiver and perceived object is also discussed. The reality which is devoid of mental construction due to ignorance and attachment, and which is equated with a transcendent, pure state of consciousness, is discussed in the conclusion to the Chuan shih lun. This text gives the overall impression of being a self-contained and cohesive outline of Paramaartha's philosophy.

B. San wu-hsing llun (SWHL)[13]

The San wu-hsing lun is the most difficult text in the alleged trilogy, as well as the most detailed and lengthy tract on early Yogaacaarin thought. In addition, it does not seem to constitute a self-contained discussion of Paramaartha's general schema on consciousness, as do the Chuan shih lun and the Hsien shih lun. As the title San wu-hsing lun (The three naturelessnesses) suggests, this treatise is primarily concerned with the nonsubstantial nature of reality.[14] Like the Chuan shih lun, this commentary discusses, but in considerably more detail, the nature of mental construction and discrimination and expands on this topic by arguing that discriminative acts are language-dependent. Language, in turn, is established by distinguishing functional relationships between perceiver and perceived. This network of operations yields a closed system unless one breaks the cycle of repeated patterns of conditioning habits resulting in ignorance and attachment. The spiritual path of the bodhisattva allows for the release from this cycle.

C. Hsien shih lun (HSL)[15]

In the latter half of the San ,wu-hsing lun and the entire tract of the Hsien shih lun, the variety of the seeds of experience is defined. These seeds are the stimuli for conditioning habits of discrimination and misperceptions yielding responses of ignorance and attachment but also yielding responses of wisdom. The same system can yield two very different sorts of responses. The relationship between this closed system of ever-repetitive habits of ignorance and the release from this system's responding in ignorant ways is centered on the understanding of the system itself. The operations which are programmed by the structures of consciousness can be terminated by those same structures through the practice of meditation. The recursive function of consciousness,[16] namely, the potentially infinite acts resulting from a finite set of factors, is the subject matter investigated below.

III. GENERAL DEFINITIONS OF THE STRUCTURES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The Buddhist consensus regarding the phenomenal world of individuals and things is that everything can be controlled and understood by thoroughly investigating the way the system of consciousness itself works and operates. To control and finally eliminate certain states of consciousness or certain activities of consciousness, one must become aware of the process of their emergence

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and formulation. The mode of operation which affects and influences behavior and perceptions is termed "conditioning" (pratiitya-samutpaada).[17] This "conditioning" is an ongoing process of change in a world viewed as impermanent in nature and not self-existent. To understand the structures of consciousness itself therefore requires analyzing the system of conditioning which allows various conscious processes to function. Once the system is understood in terms of its conditioning factors, one will be able to locate the causes for the functioning of certain structures and their relationship with other structures. While the religious goal of Yogaacaara, in general,is to attain an internal wisdom of the real through meditation and discipline, this school of Buddhism devotes much attention to the conditioning processes of consciousness which constitute compulsive acts of ignorance and attachment.

The definitions of consciousness and its structures presented by Paramaartha reflect the general Yogaacaara focus on the functioning of consciousness as ignorant or deluded. In accordance with the Buddhist framework of investigating the conditioning apparatus of a given system in order to understand the operation of that system, Paramaartha defines consciousness in terms of the variety of processes which emerge as perception and behavior. Paramaartha describes an eightfold process of consciousness which is categorized into three levels or structures according to the factors necessaiy for each level or structure to operate.[18]

The Chuan shih lun begins with the statement: "There are two kinds of evolution of consciousness: (1) evolution into sentient beings; (2) evolution into phenomena, Everything which is conditioned must be from these two [evolutions of consciousness]. These two are really nonexistent but the consciousness evolves into these two appearances.''[19] From this opening statement in the Chuan shih lun we can extract a general definition of the structure of the world of beings and things as mentally constructed: the subjective activity of consciousness evolves into sentient beings and the objective activity into a world of phenomena. Everything, being impermanent and continually undergoing change, is either a sentient being, that is, conscious, or an object, that is, an object of consciousness. The relationship between sentient beings and their world is fundamentally a relationship constructed by consciousness. This mental activity of construction or evolution influences or ''conditions*' perceptions and behavior. For the early Yogaacaara Buddhist, the relationship between sentient beings and their world is continually undergoung a series of changes in a conscious system and is not existent outside that system. This is what is meant by the statement that sentient beings and phenomena "are really nonexistent." Everything conditioned is therefore a by-product or evolved product of conscious activity. The function of conscious activity is to condition, that is, to be a conditioner or conditioning power, to be affecting or constructing things.

The lines following go on to state: "Next, we will explain the conditioner in

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three ways: (1)as the "retriburive" consciousness, namely. aalayaavij~naana;(2)as the "appropriating" consciousness. namely, the aadaanavij~naana; (3) as the sense consciousness. namely, the six [sense] consciousnesses (vij~naana)."[20] The struc- tures of consciousness operate on three levels according to this classification. The retributive structure of consciousness is primarily an ethical domain, the most basic and fundamental function of all conscious activity from the religious perspective of the Yogaacaara in general, and of Paramaartha in particular. This underlying structure is to be understood and controlled until the cessation of activity occurs in the highest forms of meditation. We will discuss later the relationship between this structure and meditation in terms of the shift from the structure of consciousness which constitutes ignorance to the structure of consciousness that is pure wisdom.[21]

Technically known as the aalayavij~naana, this underlying structure represents the capacity of consciousness to construct future deluded acts based upon past habits and behavior. The aalayavuj~naana is defined functionally as the system of conscious activity which reinforces certain modes of behavior and certain ideologies or conceptions. In Buddhist terminology, the aalayavuij~naana is metaphorically called the receptacle for karman, because it conditions future karma as a "seed" (biija) or stimulus, and is the result of past karman as an "impression" (vaasanaa) or habit.[22] Retribution or the compensatory effects of one's actions are the system of operations collectively called the aalayavul~naana, which is the mechanism that reinforces past habits or "seeds," on the one hand, while in turn being a "clearing house.' for latent habit-impressions on the other. These habit-impressions will later emerge as conscious activity of a similar ethical nature. Paramaartha states that we can only indirectly know of the existence of this level or structure, that is, by its effects on an individual's behavior.[23] A deluded act or thought, in this system, must have had a preparatory stage in which a latent habit-impression in the clearing house of the aalayavuj~naana influenced the person to behave in a deluded or ineffectual manner through some kind of previous stimulus ("seed"). For example, take the behavior of a habitual liar who continually exaggerates and distorts the facts of a given incident. For the act of lying to have taken place, there must have been a preparatory stage in which a dormant habit-impression of a past act of lying influenced the person to behave in a similar manner, thus producing a "seed" to tell a lie sometime in the future. This seed's future potency or energy will, in turn, become a habit-impression when a new act of lying takes place, provided that the cycle of lying is not broken.

The second level or structure of consciousness, namely, the aadaanavuj~naana,[24] is likewise defined in terms of its function, namely, "to appropriate" or to acquire." This level is based upon the aalayavuj~naana and is the structure of egotism or of appropriating for "me." It conditions all conceptualizations as inherently intertwined with the false identity of the self: that is, with wrongly identifying one's existence in terms of what one acquires or appropriates:

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material possessions, people, and/or values. For example, in the case of our hypothetical liar, he lies because of his past propensity to lie but also because he believes he will gain in status and acquire material benefits. His repeated lying is a result of past habits of a similar nature but also is influenced by his self-image that who he is must be intertwined with his status and his wealth.

The third level or structure of consciousness, namely, the six vij~naanas, functions in sensory and ideational processes. Both sensation and ideation involve the same mechanism. All sense data are, in this categorization, basically mental. Ideas are derived from sense data which in turn are derived from sense objects. For example, from having an abstract idea for the number nine I infer an object "nine" just as from sense data for an object table I infer an object "table." Sensation or ideation takes place when three elements of the process interact: a sense faculty or intellect (manovuj~naanaa), sense data or mental entities ("ideas''), and a consciousness.[25] This threefold process of interacting elements is the evolution of consciousness which simulates an objectified world of objects and persons. This evolution is shaped by past experiences which have ethical consequences. How we perceive and construct our world is influenced and affected by psychological associations from past experiences and by the languages we use to categorize the world in which we live. For example, a child's fear of the dark may have brought about a perception of monsters lurking in his room at night. These perceptions of monsters may have been shaped by a past experience in which his parents, threatened that a monster would spank him if he quarreled with his younger sister. Every time he quarrels with his sister he has a fear of the dark. Fear of the dark is associated with fear of his parents' anger and this fear affects his perceptions. that is, imagining monsters in his room. The word "monster" evokes all of these feelings in the child.

The sensory and ideational apparatus is also interactive with other cognitive states: attention (manasikaara), sensation (vedanaa). evaluative reason (cetanaa) and conceptualization (samj~naa).[26] The underlying structures for these states of conscious activity occurring on this level are the aalayavuj~naana and the aadaanavuj~naana: the former is the "current'' while the latter are the "waves,"[27] disruptive and delusory, predominantly appropriating in function. This third structure of ideation and sensation is always active except in certain states of meditation, sleep, and unconsciousness.[28]

IV. DEEINITION OF CONSCIOUSNESS-ONLY

The amalavij~naana, literally, "Pure Consciousness," is equivalent to Consciousness Only. The negative definition of this spiritual attainment is the elimination of all anxieties, habits of delusion, and attachments through dispensing with both the sense object and the sensing, functioning consciousness. The positive designation for this same spiritual attainment, namely, the internal perception or wisdom of things as they are, is the "Pure Conscious

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ness," the conscious activity of one who is no longer conditioned or controlled by ignorance. Since everything is constructed or influenced by a conscious Process, does the term "Consciousness-Only" refer to this fact or to sornethlng else? The Chuan shih lun makes the following statement concerning the principle of Consciousness-Only:*: "The meaning [of Consciousness-Only], fundamentallv. is to dispense with the sense objects and to dispense with the mind." The text also goes on to say that "separate from consciousness there is no other sense object.... One dispenses with sense objects in order to empty the mind.... [When] both the sense object and consciousness are destroyed, this [state of affairs], is identical to the absolute nature. The absolute nature is identical with the amalavij~naana"[29]

"Emptying" consciousness of compulsive attachments and dependence, of delusions and unethical actions, is described by Paramaartha here in much the same way that the term "Emptiness" is used by NaagaarJuna.[30] "Consciousnessonly" is a neutral term used to denote the understanding of both the arising and cessation of ignorance as merely conscious activity. The cultivation of a meditative state of mind operates in the same system that can bring about ignorance, Maadhyamika Buddhism utilizes Naagaarjuna's negative dialectic as a device to break the misconception that phenomenal and mental entities are self-existent things not influenced or affected by others. Paramaartha also uses a negative dialectic to break these same habitual misconceptions but reformulates the dialectical method in terms of the conscious activity which evolves into simulating persons and things as self-existent entities.[31] Additionally, there is one ethical and essential distinction between the two uses of the negative dialectic; the distinctively religious intention of affirming a "Pure Consciousness" by Paramaartha will be discussed presently.

V. THE DYNAMICS OF THE THIRD LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS: INTERDEPENDENCY BETWEEN CONDITIONING SUBJECT AND CONDITIONED OBJECT

The religious intention of analyzing the third level, as opposed to the second and first levels or structures of consciousness, is to weaken and finally to eliminate the habitual patterns or mechanistic modes of cognizing and experiencing the world as filtered through the five senses and the idea-creating intellect. These are the grossest forms of ignorance and unethical behavior and, therefore, are the easiest to eliminate. The functions of the conscious process at this level concern Paramaartha only with regard to their retributive impact. That is. the religious intention for analyzing this system of conscious activity is to explore the ethical consequences of this type of activity as either increasing one's suffering or releasing one from suffering.[32] By no means does all conscious activity have to have a reinforcing effect from, past habits: take, for example, the conscious activity of a bodhisattva. The bodhisattva is no longer shaped by past experiences which have ethical consequences. Freed from past actions and their effects, the bodhisattva experiences the liberating effect of

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understanding reality without conscious effort.[33] But the ordinary conscious activity at this level is a structure which conditions certain types of behavior, leading the person to reap his or her own deserved retribution.

All perceptions and ideations have certain concomitant mental states which. on their most primitive level, have some conceptual (samj~naa) and affective (vedanaa) quality. In other words, all sensations and ideas have mental constructions and depend upon or are conditioned by other fators. Paramaartha's objective here is to determine the relationship between mental construction (Vikalpa, parikalpita) and the overall system of consciousness. He sets out to illustrate that all sensations and perceptions are really indirect in the sense that thev are constructed by categorization; the external object is merely inferred. The only conscious processes which are without mental construction occur in meditation, even in the early stages, but conceptualization (samj~naa) and feelings (vedanaa) are totally eradicated only in the last stage (nirodhasamaapatti).[34]

We will begin here with the relationship between the conditioning subject that senses and perceives and the conditioned object that is sensed and perceived. That is, we will look at the processes of consciousness constituting the perception of an object.[35]

The relationship of subject (or consciousness) to object (or sense field)[36] is described by Paramaartha in terms of the correlates "nature of dependence" (paratantra) and "discriminated nature" (parkalpita) respectively. Paramaartha also adds a new set of correlative terms "substantive" and "nonsubstantive" for the same process of being conscious of an object:

Third level or structure of consciousness (六識)

第三識轉

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subject (識) object(境界)
dependence (依他性) discriminated (分別性)
substantive (有體) nonsubstantive (無體)

DIAGRAM 1

To discuss the conditioning process between subject and object, first it is necessary to explicate what Paramaartha means by the "discriminated nature.[37] The discrimination of an object is conditioned bp the features or aspects which distinguish and contrast it from other objects. That is, one makes distinctions about an object chair based upon relationships among other things (cabinet, table, and so on) rather than in isolation. The features or aspects of one object in contrast to those of another object allows for the designation "discriminated nature" and is the basis for constructing names and language in general.

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world chair
[not table,etc.]
[object](境界) hard
wooden
square, and so on
[not large, and so on]
[features or
aspects](相) chair"
[name](名) consciousness(識)
[attention to
prepare for
sensation =
"intention"] (義)

DIAGRAM 2

These two diagrams describe the dynamics of the relationship between the sensing, concept-forming, language-using consciousness and the object of consciousness. The process or cycle is interactive, but at this level the conscious agent does not realize that to be conscious is to be conscious of something which has been already constructed and categorized by the inner dynamics of the process itself. To be able to apprehend a sense field and then later infer a sense object requires a preparatory stage of being ready for or attentive to an object, of directing or "intending" an object as external to the conscious subject.[38]

The process of "intention" or of the mental preparation preceding sensation and ideation is not understood at this level of conscious activity. The individual does not know that the objects of consciousness are of a discriminated nature solely because of properties or aspects in the objects themselves and in the relations between and among themselves. The awareness of consciousness' input into impting imputing properties or aspects onto the objects is lacking or deficient. At first, the discriminated or contrasting nature of objects is assumed to be radically different in nature from the subjective consciousness; the subjective consciousness is posited as other than its object, and it is assumed that objects are self-existent yet knowable. Consciousness is dependent upon this "other" or object and is consequently called "dependent in nature,"[39] from the perspective of making still another contrast or discrimination. Just as the mind can contrast between tables and chairs, the mind can also make contrasts between itself as a subject and itself as an object. It is of paramount importance for Paramaartha to penetrate the process or system of evolving things and persons rather than to attempt to analyze in themselves the evolved products or objects, which cannot be known apart from mental construction.

Becoming aware of the power of consciousness to evolve a manifold of objects yields a system of objects which are as subjective or mental in content as one's own self-consciousness. When consciousness reflects upon itself as an object, that is, becomes "self-conscious," all objects can then be reduced to objects of consciousness. A world outside of conscious activity can only be

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hypothesized.[40] Stated otherwise. everything knowable is knowable because it evolves from or is constructed by conscious activity. What makes this knowledge religious is the liberating effect that this knowledge has on the individual. To understand that the world of one's experience is mentally constructed and knowable only because of the discrirninating and constructing nature of consciousness is to be no longer attached to a world of objects as having self-existing powers over one's life.[41] One is shaped by past experiences in misconstruing a world of objects as totally external to mental construction yet at the same time necessary for one's personal identity. The nature of one's true self as a self-conscious being is the only appropriate content of knowledge and is the spiritual liberation to be attained in Yogaacaara Buddhism.

Eliminating both the assumption that an object is a self-existent entity and the assumption that consciousness can know self-existent objects without any mental construction is the spiritual liberation of "Consciousness Only.'' When the Chuan shih lun states that "The meaning [of Consciousness Only], fundamentally, is to dispense with sense objects and to dispense with the mind,"[42] this is what is meant. If objects and consciousness were radically different from each other and only contrastive in nature, not dependent on each other, one could not have any type of knowledge whatever, either of objects or of conscious processes (selt-knowledge). One could not have consciousness itself as an object, that is, self-knowledge or self-consciousness would be impossible to attain.[43] The functions of consciousness would be unknowable, relegating an individual forever to a realm of ignorance of the true nature of self and of existence. In brief, the Yogaacaara Buddhist wanted to conclude that objects and consciousness cannot be so different from each other if any sort of knowledge is attainable.

VI. THE SECOND TRANSITIONAL LEVEL: OPERATIONS OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE NATURE OF DEPENDENCE

The second level of conscious activity, in which consciousness gains a selfawareness of its input into the relationship between subject and objective world is a transitional stage in the sense that the religious character of the discussion on consciousness comes to the forefront of the argument. What distinguishes consciousness from its contrastive object is the fact that consciousness can enter a relationship with itself In Yogaacaara the more refined and advanced forms of this self-investigation take place in meditation.

However, consciousness and self-consciousness enter a different relationship with each other than the relation of consciousness and its objective world. Consciousness and self-consciousness cannot differ from each other in the same way that objects differ from each other. The distinctive feature of consciousness is that it is contrasted with objects yet is also dependent or contingent on objects as much as the objects are dependent upon conscious

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ness in order to be known.[44] The relationship is mutual; in Yogaacaarin terminology, this relationship is "dependent in nature" (paratantrasvabhaava). This is similar to Naagaarjuna's notion of mutual dependence between subject and object, both having no self-existence.

A. Operations of Self- Consciousness Parallel to Structure of Consciousness Only

The understanding of self-consciousness is approached in several ways by Paramaartha, not all of them being epistemological. While the first argument to appear in the Chuan shih lun with regard to the contingency between subject and object is based upon the functions of contrasting and discriminating between and among sense data, the most critical arguments to support Paramaartha's position of Consciousness-Only center on the self-generating operations of conscious activity.

This self-generating process of conscious activity is represented by a closed system of operations, metaphorically represented as "seeds" or impressions that constitute the conscious energy;[45] from which all sensations, perceptions, and feelings emerge. The metaphor of "seeds" is posited in order to develop the theme that all phenomena--persons and things--derive from the same source, namely, from the seeds of the fundamental conscious structure. When consciousness recognizes itself as a "seed-consciousness,"[46] that is, becomes conscious of the true nature of self, then the spiritual path to transforming this seed-consciousness to a pure, "seedless" structure is well underway. Phenomena can be retained in their seed-form inasmuch as the conditioning process of these seeds has been understood and hence capable of being controlled. The assumption, however, is that the seeds are no longer giving rise to ignorance when this self-consciousness is fully developed. We will turn to this presently, but first we need to explain the complex structure of the seeds as a metaphor of Consciousness-Only.

The multiplicity of phenomenal experiences mentioned earlier were described as ordinarily conditioned by ignorance (or "seeds" of ignorance) in such a way that compulsive tendencies, dogmatic ideological positions,[47] and unethical behavior were the consequences. The reinforcement of this entire system of thought and action is repeated endlessly due to the backlog of latent habit-impressions and their imminent effects. These habit-impressions are the latent aspects of "seeds" to which the second function of conscious activity, the aadaana, responds in an "appropriating" manner. That is, the "seeds" had the energy to be activated in two simultaneous counterparts: the appropriating subject or aadaana and its objects filtered through the six sensory and conceptual consciousnesses. A diagram of the "seeds" or energy of consciousness responsible for the structure of subject-object relationships would be as follows:

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"seed"(種子)[aalayavij~naana] (fundamental conscious structure)

┌──────────────────┐

"appropriating subject"
(aadaanavij~naana)
│ objet (vi.saya)
│
│
sense/conceptual subj.
(manovij~naana and other five vij~naanas)
│ │
│
│
dependent in nature discriminated in nature

DIAGRAM 3

The next two diagrams show the behavioral effects of a seed in contrast to the previous diagram which shows perceptual effects. In its dormant stage, the conditioning process from the accumulation of past karman also reflects this dual structure:

"seed"

┌──────────────────┐
attachment (宿業熏習執)
│ influence from past karman (宿業熏習)
│
dependent in nature discriminated nature

DIAGRAM 4

In its active stage, the conditioning process creates future karman(kle`sa) also in a dual mode of operation:

"future seed"

┌──────────────────┐
influential force of aspects[48]
│ gross influential forces
│
dependent in nature discriminated in nature

DIAGRAM 5

The significance of this simultaneity of counterparts in the seed structure isthreefold:

1. Diagram 3 illustrates the overall structure of the three cycles or structures of conscious activity; the fundamental structure can only be inferred as the underlying, unifying one based upon its dualistic effects.

2.Diagram 4 illustrates a subset of the effects of the underlying structure (Diagram 3) with reference to past karman in order to understand the conditioning process of how an individual's responses are affected by the past. Past appropriation or attachment for the sake of an ego yields future responses of a similar nature.

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3.Diagram 5 also illustrates a subset of the effects of the aalayavij~naana (Diagram 3). but with reference to future karman or kle`sa. Although past karman may have been extinguished. such as in the cessation of the sort of activity described here, there is still future retribution from past karman illustrated in Diagram 4. In other words. this level (Diagram 5), the more readily controlled one, does not preclude the second level (in Diagram 4) which the Arhat has not thoroughly controlled or eliminated.[49]

To attain the spiritual freedom embodied in a thorough understanding of Consciousness-Only is to eliminate the misconceptions of the relationship between subject and object and the way those misconceptions affect our lives. In other words, one must get to the source of the conditioning process which yields attachment to things and to self by eliminating the "seeds" of ignorance which underlie the dynamics of the system. We infer that these seeds exist because theoperations of a subject-object interaction are not possible without the ability to contrast and discriminate subject over and against its object. The ability to do this is the function of conscious structures since only such a structure can take itself for an object. What is ultimately and finally knowable. therefore, is of the very nature of "seeds." namely, the aalayavij~naana, which simultaneously dispenses with the subject, discriminating consciousness and its objective world. In other words, the nature of the ''seeds'' is the teaching of "Consciousness-Only."

B. what Remains in "Consciousness-Only"[50] The "Emptiness" of the AAlayaVij~naana

Since a fixed entity of selfhood is denied by Paramaartha, as it is by almost all Buddhist schools, the task set before Paramaartha is to give a sufficient account of the notion of self or personhood as a series of effective and morally accountable activity without a permanent substrate. The question addressed is one of the plurality of psychological and physical events within a single, continually changing organism, held together by a name and by an economy of mental procedures. It is the series (samtaana) itself, a sum total of conscious events and evolving processes of conscious activity, which we designate as a "person" or "self."[51]

Each act or event leaves a mental impression (vaasanaa) which can in turn discharge its energy or "seed" (biija) as a future evolution (pari.naama) in the consciousness-series.[52] In the context of morally qualified acts, the seed of any given act remains dormant in the subconscious clearinghouse (aalayavij~naana) after the act has been committed. Later, the seed will mature as compensation or retribution (vipaaka) derived from the previous act, which left a residual impression (vaasanaa). In light of the accepted tradition throughout the history of Buddhism that trance-induced states (as well as the unconscious states of dreamless sleep and comas) suspend all normal functions of consciousness. Buddhist philosophers had to account for the retention of retributive seeds memory, and past habits until consciousness was reinstated.[53]

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Early Yogacaara accounts for the continuity of the "seeds" of retribution, memory. and so forth after normal tunctioning of consciousness has temporarily ceased, by resorting to the notion of the aalayavij~naana, which is, metaphorically speaking, the uninterrupted series of potentially evolving seeds which influence behavior and perception. This series of subconscious moments continues to function in a momentary but steady stream throughout states of unconsciousness. Hence, the "seeds" of past experiences continue to momentarily replace themselves without interruption during meditation, dreamless sleep, and so on.

In viewy of Paramaartha's innovation, namely, the ninth consciousness which is transcendent and pure (amalavij~naana), there is the elimination of the functions of the seed system of the aalayavij~naana, replaced by the functioning of the absolute nature of reality, identified with the amalavij~naana.[54] This new structure of consciousness, also called "Consciousness-Only,'' is what remains when the seeds of defilement are no longer produced. While the aalayavij~naana is the subconscious receptacle for karmic seeds stored for subsequent release, the continuum of this karmic cycle and of rebirth ceases when the aalayavij~naana ceases. After this cessation, according to Paramaartha, what remains is the absolutely real, that is, the amalavij~naana. the "seedless" state of consciousness:

If an objective world is nonexistent, what produces any effects? Like seeds which can produce a sprout, if the seeds are nonexistent, how can a sprout emerge? Therefore, there is no production. The nature of absolutely real is called "the natureless nature." because it is without a nature and without naturelessness.[55]

What this means is that the aalayavij~naana and its processes of producing "sprouts"[56] Of attachment and delusion no longer function once the wisdom of the amalavij~naana has been attained. The nature of the amalavij~naana is not ontologically different from the nature of the aalayavij~naana. One state of conscious activity simply transforms its content (aa`srayaparaavrtti or pari.naama) from misconceived notions to knowledge of reality. Pure consciousness is identified with the nature of reality (parini.spanna) or Suchness.[57] To know the structures of consciousness as inherently pure is to know that the nature of reality which is ultimately knowable is an expression of mind. Knowing the nature of mind is knowing reality as such.

The spiritual attainment of the bodhisattva path consists in the process of understanding the relationship between mind and its world, a process which thereby eliminates false views and attachments. A detailed account of the elimination of the obstacles of defilement and of the obstacles to knowledge is described in the San wu-hsing lun.[58] This process of obstacle-elimination culminates in the nondiscriminative wisdom (nirvikalpaj~naana)[59] of the advanced stages of bodhisattvahood and finally of buddhahood. Such wisdom, said to require a revolution or transformation (aa~srayaparaayrtti or pari.naama) of the basic structure of consciousness, is identical to the shift from an

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aalayavij~naana msechanism to that of the amalavij~naana. The karmic cycle ends when the system of discrimination has ended. This results in "an effortless seeing of the ground for entering the nature of discimination'';[60] stated in another way. the amalavij~naana is the mode of operation for one who has the wisdom to understand the source of ignorance and attachment inherent in the system of seeds and of the aalayavij~naana. This type of wisdom is brought about only in meditation. All other structures of consciousness admit some degree of mental construction.

Since the doctrine of action, of karman, is the foundation for the ultimate explanarion of conscious activity, when the aalayavij~naana as the karmic receptacle is eliminated, the introduction of another, nonkarmic conscious activity was felt to be needed on the part of Paramaartha. Action or karman had alwavs been essentially construed as thought or volition, able to be qualified morally;[61] each completed action or thought had to have a necessary relationship with some sort of retribution. The entity which received this retribution, the aalayavij~naana. explained the continuity of the retributive mechanism without positing a permanent substrate. For the Maadhyamika, actions were never completed, hence there is no retribution nor a receiver of retribution. For the early Yogaacaarins like Paramaartha. the act when completed influences the aalayavij~naana through a habitual impression (vaasanaa) of a seed (biija) in the evolution of the ongoing stream of consciousness (sa.mtaanapari.naama).

What is called the amalavij~naana is the true nature of self devoid of all misconceptions and defilements. This is the religious state of mind equated with those cultivating meditational insight through the Bodhisattva path, ending in Buddhahood. Amalavij~naana is the wisdom of the Buddha. reminiscent of the earlier Mahayanist doctrine of Tathaagatagarbha,[62] and of the Sautraantika prototype found in the Abhidharmako`sa that the good or pure seeds (ku`salabiija) persist throughout the series of consciousness.[63] Liberation. since it is inherent in the structure of the mind, becomes accessible to all.

The incorruptible nature of the good seed or intrinsically pure nature of mind has a long history in Buddhist thought, most notably in Mahaasaa.mghika (prabhaasvara citta),[64] Sautraantika (ku`salabiija), and Tathaagatagarbha thought The philosophical and religious purpose for establishing the notion of amalavij~naana appears to have been twofold: (1) to account for the possibility of good habits being produced after bad habits have been formed;[65] (2) to account for actions without karmic residue, nirvaa.na without remainder. The aalayavij~naana, as a structure of consciousness entailing the propensities for habitual ignorancel could not account for the mind devoid of karmic retribution. since by definition the aalayavij~naana represents that system of retribution. While other proponents preceding Paramaartha had postulated an underlying, fundamentally spiritual character to the mind, none of the earlier theories had developed a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the mind as intrinsically capable of salvation by its very nature. It was only with the

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brilliant compositions of Vasubandhu and his transmitter Paramaartha that a new philosophy of mind could develop.

The amalavij~naana. the fundamentally good structure of mind no longer chained to a cycle of retribution, was the expression Paramaartha created to account for that most cherished of Chinese Buddhist beliefs, the belief in universal salvation as the natural capacity of the mind to know its own true nature.[66]

In summary. the structures of consciousness were the paramount object of study for the early Yogaacaarin philosophers in general, since the natural evolution of the mind was to gravitate toward its own self-discovery. Mind is capable of knowing its own processes, of understanding the nature of mental constructions through the languages developed in a given culture and through the interdependency between mind and its object. In the final analysis, the only appropriate subject matter which is knowable is mind, since only a world of mind-created symbols is ours to know. For Paramaartha this world is opened up to us through philosophical investigation and through meditation. Both types of inquiry aim at the understanding that being religious. being spiritually free, is developing the ability to ascertain the true nature of mind--the true nature of self---free from those conscious processes which constitute attachment and delusion, binding the individual to a never-ending cycle of existence filled with ignorant and unethical habits of behavior.

NOTES

1.Most of the Suttas in the Pali Canon describe the training of a monk in terms of these three requirements. beginning with `siila. then samaadhi, and ending with praj~naa. Buddhagho.sa's Visuddhimagga (Path of purity) describes these three practices to arhatship. Upatissa's Vimuttimagga(path of freedom)lists tive recluirements. the above-mentioned three together with freedom (vimutti) and the knowledge and discernment of freedom (vimutti~nadassana) as neces sary for eliminating discrimination (compare the Path of Freedom. trans. N. R. M. Ehara et al., [Ceylon.1961], p.253). These latter two are usually grouprd with praj~naa.

2.Although anaatman literally means "nonself." more precisely. it is the notion of the nonsubstantial impermanence of an individual comprised of multiplicity of factors (skandhas) in continual change. This understanding of the nature of self as a nonabsolute, nonmetaphysical series of psychophysical events could be defined as the true nature of the individual or self.

3.A classic study on the universal Buddhist concern with understanding mental proceses andses and their religious implicutions is "La N^egation de l' Ame et La Doctrine de l'Aete by Louis de La Vall`ee Poussin. Journal Asiatique, (1902- 19o3): 237-450.

4.The widest theoretical disparities on this issue were those between the SarvaastivaadaVaibhaa.sika and the Sautraantika. These differences in doctrine were the stimulus for the composition of the masterpiece. the Abhidharmako`sa by Vasubandhu in the fourth century. Compare L`Abhidharmako`sa. Louis de La Vall`ee Poussin (Paris: Paul Guethner, 1925).

5. While many of the most significant early Yogaacaarin treatises written by the brothers Asarign and Vasubandhu have been translated, the elaborate account of the system of operations for reinforcing patterns of behavior given in early Yogaacaara as opposed to the .Abhidharmako`sa's

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systcrnatie treatment has not been discussed. I am primarily concerned with Paramaartha's views: Hsuan-tsang's have been discussed by others. most notably. his Ch'eng-wei-shih lun[h]. (See Louis de la Vall`ee Poussin, trans. Vij~naptimaatrataa-siddhi La Siddhi be Hiuan-tsang ,6 VOls. (Paris: Paul Curthner. 1928-1948.) Hsuan-tsang does not represrnt early Yogaacaara, however. The most complete treatment of an early Yogaacaarin treatise is `Etienne Lamotte's annotated translation of Asa^nga's Mahaayaanasa.mgraha entitled La Somme du Grand Vehicule d' Asa^nga (Louvain: 1938)

6.The official biography of Paramaartha (Chinese name: Chen-ti[i]) is contained in the Hsu kao seng chuan[j] (HkSC). T.50.2060.429c6-431a6. For a partial French translation. see Takasaki Junjiro. "La Saa.mkhya-Kaarikaa," Bulletin de l' Ecole Francaise d'Extr`eme Orient 4(1964): 60-65.

7.See footnote 5 (herein) for the citations of the French translations. Paramaartha's translation of the Mahaayaanasa.mgraha has been exhaustively studied by Ui Hakuju in Sho-daijoo-ron kenkyuu[k]2 vols. (Tokyo. 1966). and by Sasaki Gesshoo in Sho-daijoo-ron[l] (Tokyo. 1935). Among the most thoroutgh studies of` the Tri.m`sikaa and Vi.m`satikaa (collectively called the Vij~naptimaa trataasiddhi) are: Yuuki Reilnon. Srshin yuishiki no kenkyuK[m], 2 vols. (Tokyo: 1955): Fukaura Seibun. Yuishikigaku kenkyuu[n]. 2 vols. (Kyoto: 1955): and Sasaki Gesshoo/Yamaguchi SasamLl's Yuishiki nijuu-ron no taishaku kenkyuu[o] (Tokyo. 1924: reprinted 1978). Fukaura Seibun's Yuishikigaku Kenkyuu has an excellent discussion on habit-impressions (vaasaana) and seeds (biija), 2:390-418.

8. See kokuyaku issaikyoo[p], vol. 148 (Yuga-bu)[q], pp. 1-2. Tzu-en's student. Hui-chao[r]. also cites a text attributrd to Paramaartha entitled the Wu-hsiang lun in his Ch'eng wei-shih lun liao-i teng[s] (T. 1832.43.659). After the title entry of each of these three texts, there is the statement that each was extracted trom the Wu-hsiang lun (compare Taishoo volume 31, numbers 1587. 1617. and 1618.) The difficulties in identifying these three texts are described extensively by Yuuki Reimon. Seshin yuishiki, op. cit., pp. 63-164.

9. The question of whether human nature was intrinsically spiritual, that is. capable of enlightenmsnt. particularly plagued Chinese Buddhist clergy in the sixth and seventh centuries. The Ratnahotravibhaaga makes an allusion to an amalavij~naana. One of the names for the aalayavij~naana Of a Tathaagata is vimala-vij~naana. David Seyfort Ruegg,La Th`eorie bu Tathaagatagrabha et du Gotra (Paris: 1969). pp. 443-444 (Compare Siddhi, vol.1. p.167.) Paramaartha. for purposes of clarity, may have distinguished these two modes of the aalayavij~naana more systematically by discussing the eighth phase or mode in an ignorant state as the aalayavij~naana and the ninth stats as the amalavij~naana. The term amalavij~naana does not appear in the Mahaayaanasa.mgraha, but, in my opinion, could have been an accommodation to the controversy between the Northern Ti-lun,[t] who felt the aalayavij~naana was partially pure in nature yet superficially involved with ignorance. and the Southern Ti-lun. who felt the aalayavij~naana was intrinsically and entirely pure. For a brief but lucid presentation of the amalavijnnaana, see Fukaura Seibun. Yuishikigakuu kenkyuu (Tokyo reprint: 1977). 1, pp. 188-228.

10. T. 1587.31.61c-63c.

11. The Chuan shih lun is considered the same text as the Tri.m`sikaakaarikaas with the addition of liberal exegetical comments. according to Ui Hakuju, Indo tetsugaku Kenkyuu[u] (Tokyo: 1966). vol.6. pp. 107, 434-435. Fukaura Seibun thinks the entire purported trilogy. wu-hsiang lun, was developed from the Hsien-yang sheng-chiao lun[v]. T. 1602.31, attributed to Asa^nga whereas Yuuki Reimon criticizes both Fukuura and Ui in that the trilogy is not simply a derivation from the Hsien-yang sheng-chiao lun and is the work of Vaiubandhu. See Seshin yuishiki, particularly 1:63-78.

12. There are very few differences in listing the mental states. Hsuan-tsang and the Sanskrit text list eleven good mental states. instead of ten. The eleventh is amoha. "the absence of delusion." Yuuki Reimon analyzes the schema of the Abhidharma in Paramaartha's Hsien-shih lun and claims that. except for minor discrepancies, Paramaartha follows Vasubandhu, whereas Hsuuan-tsang follows Asa^nga more closely. See Seshin Yuishiki. 1.51-55. also. see footnote 5. p. 62 for differences between Yuuki and Ui on authorshiP Of verses alld commentary

13. T. 1617.31.867b-878b..

14. The three natures (svabhaava) are well known: parikalpita, "the mentally constructed" or "discriminated"; paratantra, "the interdependent" or "dependent on another." and the parini.spanna, "absolutely real" or "complete." The ni.hsvabhaava are related to the svabhaava a as the emptiness of the latter, namely. the emptiness of aspects which the mind imputes (alak.sana), the

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emptiness of arising or self-causation (anuipaada), and the emptiness of any intrinsic nature (asvabhaava). See SWHL, T. 1617.31.867b20-867c28.

15. T. 1618.31.878c-882b.

16. A recursive function is defined in terms of itself. that is. the definition of. the procedure includes the procedure itself. A "loop" or iterative function will indefinitely repeat itself according to a rule or formula involvinp a finite number of steps unless or until a specified condition is met. We are concerned here with a logical structure presented by Paramaartha that is rather similar to the "loop" or recursive functions employed in computer science. A recursive function will continue to call itself indefinitely unless some condition is specified. and this condition is fulfilled at some point in running the program. If that condition is not properly specified or fulfilled. then the "loop" becomes an "infinite loop" and the program will run indefinitely. In the case of the mental "programming" of seeds in the "computer," the aalayavij~naana-the sequence of habit seeds--is similar to a looping procedure in that each cycle includes the factors necessary to initiate the succeeding cycle. Only in meditation, whereby one can understand the ..loop,' mechanism, is the necessary condition met for terminating the "program" of seeds.

17. pratiityasamutpaada is reinterpreted throughout the history of Buddhist thought. The Chinese Buddhist schools of Yogaacaara tended to fall into two categories: (1) those who claimed that Suchness (Tathataa) or reality is the basis for changes in the world and (2) those who claimed that it is the mind which, in its eighth mode or function as the aalayavij~naana, serves as the basis for changes in the world. Paramaartha belongs to the first category whereas Hsuan-tsang and K`uei-chi belong to the second. Their Indian counterparts would be the Nsalandaa school represented by Dharmapaala and the Valabhii school represented by Sthiramati. See Ruegg, La Th`eorie du Tathaagatagrbha, pp.439-444, particularly for a possible Tibetan counterpart to some of Paramaartha's ideas, namely, Jo-nan-pa. For the meaning of pratiityasamutpaada in the Chinese Buddhist context, see Whalen Lai's excellent overview, "Chinese Buddhist Causation Theories: An Analysis of a Sinitic Mahaayaana Understanding of pratiityasamutpaada," in Philosophy East and West 27, no. 3 (July, 1977): 241-264, although I would disagree that Fa-tsang was the first to trace pratiuuyasamutpaada to Suchness. Paramaartha's introduction of` the amalavij~naana certainly maintains the same principle.

18. The threefold structure of consciousness is said to be continually evolving or transforming (vijaanapari.naama) (compare Tri.m`sikaakaarikaa, verse 1.) The subjective side of this evolutionary process produces the objective side of the process as animate beings and inanimate things.

19. T. 1587.31.61cl-2.

20. T. 1587.31.61c3-4. Compare Tri.m`sikaa. verse 2, in which the second level is called manana, that is, manas. The Ch'eng wei-shih lun consistently uses the terms aalayavij~naana and aadaanavij~naana for the first level or structure. corresponding to the eighth function of consciousness. See hindoo joo-yuishiki-ron[w], ed. Saeki Join(Nara:1940), pp.14-15. The term aadaanavij~naana. for Hsuan-tsang. refers to the "collectjng of the seeds." For Paramaartha, aadaana appropriates an ego, performing the functions usually attributed to the manas. The Ta-sheng i chang[x] uses the term aadaanavij~naana for the seventh consciousness, in accordance with the system given in the La^nkaavataara-suutra. (See Fukaura Seibun, Yuishikigaku kenkyuu, 1:194-195.) Paramaartha sometimes uses the term aadaanavij~naana to refer to the eighth consciousness as well as the seventh although the reason for this remains unclear to me: compare Fukuura, Yuishikigaku kenkyuu. 1:332-333.

21. For an excellent study of the Sarvaastivaada-Vaibhaa.sika/Sautraantika controversy over the causal connections between virtuous acts and ignorant acts, see Padmanabh S. Jaini, "The Sautraantika Theory of Biija," BSoAS 22, pt. 2 (1959): 236-249. In brief. the Theravaadins claim that a neutral, intervening factor (avyaak.rtacitta) between ignorance and wisdom allows for changes in one's mental states. The Sarvaastivaada-Vaibhaa.sika put forth a force of attraction (praapti) or repulsion (apraapti) which either enhances or interferes with the production ofa good or bad mental state. The Sautraantika object to both the Theravaadin and Vaibhaa.sikan theses, putting forth a seed theory in which latent good, bad, and neutral mental energy or dispositions succeed each Other; accounting for the change in mental states.

22. The terms biija and vaasanaa are usually interpreted as synonyms in most instances for the power or energy (`sakti) of the mind. In itself the biija or vaasanaa is only nominally existent, that is, it is a term used as a metaphor to describe the process of conceptual and attitudinal changes. See

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Jaini, "Thr Sautraantika Theory," pp. 242-244. Stephan Anacker. Vasubandhu Three* Aspects, (University of Wisconsin, Ph.D dissertntion, 1970), makes the distinction between biija and vaasanaa the latter being "the process of everything in past experience entering the consciousness-stream to help in its transformation" (p.246). following Asa^nga`s Mahaayaanasa.mgraha, I. I8. Paramaartha also makes a similar temporal distinction between Biija and vaasanaa. The latent habits or influences (hsu-hsi[y] ) from past karman are the seeds of karman (CSL. 62c22). The energy from these habits (hsi-ch'i[z]) is the defilement. The distinctions are quite refined: past habits or infiuences(vaasanaa) are the seeds for future Karman. The energy (`sakti) from these habits, that is the energy of these seeds (biija). in actuality becomes an ignorant act [or an act of wisdom], CSL. 63a8. The relationship May have had its prototype in the relationship between latent dispositions (anu`saya) and active defilements (paryavasthaana). corresponding to vaasanaa and biija repectively. See the `Sriimaalaadeviisuutra for a striking parallel, cited in Paramaartha`s CSL, 63c13. The fist chuan of the SWHL is devoted to the different types of habits and their perpetuation.

23. See CSL 61c9-62a2. One infers that the aalayavijnnaana exists since we can observe its effects. namely, the behavior produced because of past experiences. That backlog or clearing house of one's past which influences present responses is assumed to exist in order for there to be "conditioning" between past and present actions. The text gives ignorance as an example, but admittedly an unclear one. The claim is made that one can only infer that there is ignorance because of its effects on one's behavior.

24. The distinction between the first and second level of consciousness is primarily based upon the more specialized nature of the second or aadaanavij~naana. While all normal conscious states function in a dual manner, as subjective and objective constituents, the aadaanavij~naana is the structure of dominant, narcissistic subconscious and conscious energy, viewing the nature of self as a substrate. The aadaanavij~naana is left undeveloped in both the CSL and SWHL, a definition of the aadaanavij~naana [or the more common term Manas, in Hsuan-tsang's translations] is given in the HSL as the seat of the ego, believed to be the nature of the aalayavij~naana (T. 1618.31.879b10-11, 15--16). In addition. the aadaanavij~naana accepts or appropriates (analogous to upaadi?) the body. and does not retain ant. seeds (HSL 879b5). This would be in agreement with the usage of the term aadaana in the Sa.mdhinirmocana but not identifying the aadaana With the aalaya. See Stanley Weinstein, "The AAlayavij~naana in Early Yogaacaara Buddhism.'' Transaction of the International Conference of Orientalists in Japan, (1958): 56-57. Also see footnote 20.

25. CSL 1587.31.62a6. See Th. Stcherbatsky, The Central Conception Of Buddhism (London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1923; reprinted Calcutta. 1961), pp. 46-7: "The element of consciousness according to the same laws [pratiityasamutpaada] never appears alone, but always supported by an object (vi.saya) and la receptive faculty (indriya)." Cf. Abhidharmako`sa, iii, P. 143 on the sa.mprayuktas, quod vide, definirion of sensory contact (spar`sa): "Concours des trois, trikasa.mnipaata. La triade est I'organe. l'objet, le Vij~naana (indriya, vi.saya, vij~naana).... Ces trois pr`eexistent a I'etat de Biijas." Examples of this threefold interaction are given on pp. 143-5

26. The CSL (62a8-11) gives the following metaphor for these cognitive states: "Attention is like a galloping horse and evaluative reason is like the rider. A horse only gallops straight but cannot avoid or head towards the right or wrong place. Because of the rider, a horse can avoid the wrong and head towards the right place. Evaluative reason is similar. It can enable one's attention to avoid reckless actions." The implications of attention (mananikaara, manaskaara) have nor been fully appreciated by Buddhologists. Attention is the primitive function of the mind to be prepared to turn toward an object. For the early Yogaacaara such as Paramaartha, this primitive state of mind already starts the process of mental construction, or "intending an object." Compare Abhidharmako`sa. pp. 146-147 for sectarian differences in interpretation of manasikaara. See Franklin Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary,*,sub voce, aabhujati, abhoga, and g]osses for manasikaara (manaskaara),p.99.for difficulties in defining this state. The most interesting equivalent being "assumed." "effort directed toward something concretely existing" or what would prefer to call "preparation for assuming an external object." "intending." or "getting ready for sensation." Sthiramati. usually considered of the same Yogaacaarin tradition as Paramaartha. supports my claim: aabhujanam aabhoga.h/aalambane yena cittam abhimukhiikriyate Cited by Poussin in the Ko`sa, p. 147.

27. T. 1587.31.62a1l-12.

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28. CSL 62b13-19: "ln what instabces does this mentation [or ideation,i[aa]] not occur? Exeept for these six states--meditation without conceptualization. heavens without conceptualization, dreamless sleep, drunken stupor, unconseiousness, or a coma-the others always have it [mentation]

29. T. 62e12-14. 17-19. Line 17 COuld be translated alternately as: "One dispenses with sense objects,yearning for the mind of Emptiness. "( i ching wei yu k'ung hsin [ab])

30. See Frederick Streng. "Ths process of Ultimate Transformation in Naagaarjuna`s Maadhyamika." The Eastern Buddhist 9, no. 2 (October, 1978): 12--32. for an interpretation of Naagaarjuna`s dialectical method as a therapeutic device for liberation from mental suffering Note especially pp. 19-21, and veres 18:4. 5, and 7 cited on page 12.

31. A. Charlene McDermott succinctly pleads the case that Maadhyamika and, at least. certain theories in Yogaacaara have a close affinity. The major similarity she brings out is the identity between the aalayavij~naana and reality (tathataa) when ignorance no longer is operative, that is, when the influences (vaasanaa) from past ignorance, have dissolved. See "Asa^nga's Defence of AAlayaVij~naana," Journal of` lndian Philosophy 2 (1973): 167-173. This identity is given the name amalavij~naana by Paramaartha.

32. See Bimal Krishna Matilal, "A Critique of Buddhist Idealism." in Buddhist Studoes in Honour of I. B. Horner. L. Cousins ed. (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1974), p. 139: "Just as the 'Emptiness` doctrine (`suunyavaada) supplies the philosophic basis for the therapeutics of Nirvaa.na so also idealism or vij~naptimaatrataa doctrine provides the metaphysical rationale for pursuing the religious programme to realisc` Nirvaa.na in the form of pure, translucent consciousness, the `absalute`."

33. The bodhisattva states of knowledge are equated with the seven kinds of reality (tathataa) SWHL 1617.31.873a23-29. This revolution of the basic structure of consciousness (aa`srayaparaav.rtti) has two stages and five subdivisions: (1) partial revolution for the Two Vehicles and beginning bodhisattvas, (2) active revolution for the seventh stage bodhisattva through the ninth stage, the tenth stage of practice, and the ultimate stage of buddhahood (SWHL 874c3-12). The bodhisattva's use of language and discrimination is described at Iength in SWHL 875b5-876c1.

34. Mental construction is inherent in a11 nonmeditative states in the early Yogaacaarin system as contrasted with the later views of Dig^naaga. The first of the three types of insubstanljality of phenomena is parikalpitasvabhaava. that is, construction by conceptualization. Mental construction begins to dissipate in meditation but is not totally eliminated until the highest stage, nirodhasamaapatti when both conceptualization and feelings cease. See Stephan Anacker, Vasubandhu: Three Aspects. pp. 157-165.

35. The following discussion, together with Diagrams l and 2, are basrd on the following passages From the SWHL: 867b27-c1, 867c29-868b24.

36. The Chinese characters for object (ching[ac] or ching-chieh[ad]) have a variety of possible meanings, depending upon their Sanskrit equivalents. Nagao Gadjin, Madhyaantavibhaagabhaa.sya (Tokyo: Suzuki Research Foundation, 1964), gives the Sanskrit equivalents artha. gocara, and vi.saya for ching: aalambana. gocara(tva), and j~neya for ching-chieh. If the CSL is an exegesis of the Tti.m`sikaa then we find that in verses 1I and VIII where vi.saya occurs in the Sanskrit, Paramaartha has translated the term by the less ambiguous character, ch'en[ae], literally, "dust." The vi.saya is the srnse-ubject, the sense data with which the sense organs come into contact. The aalambana. appearing in verses V and XXVIII. is translated by yuan[af] and yuan (tz'u) ching[ag] respectively. Compare Nagao, Madhyaantaavibhaaga, P. 186 sub voce enkyoogai[ah] aalambane The aalambana is. strictly speaking, an object of consciousness, Mhich may or may not have a referent. In other words. it ean be the idea conditioned by an object, suggested by the Chinese term yuan.''to have an affinity to." "be affected by (an object," or'`to affect (an object)." Ching-chieh may simply be used as a gloss for so fen-Pieh[ai]. "that which is diseriminated yad vikalpyuate of verse seventeen, that is, an ohject of a discriminating consciousness. In this respect. ching-chieh is closer in meaning to an aalambana, that is, the objectified content of mind. See La Vsll`ee Poussin, Siddhi. l:42.

37. That is, "what is discriminated" or- "that which is siscriminable." Sanskrit. parikalpita. Chirlcse: fen-pieh hsing[aj]. Usually this term is translated as the '`nature of discrimination" or "the discriminative nature" but the focus of this principle is weighted toward the objectification of the

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world. toward the purportcd self-existence of the object. imputing characteristics constructed by the discriminating subjeet on to the objects disciminated.

38. See my. artiele. "An Introductory Note to paramaartha's Theory of Language." Joutnal of lndian plrlosophy 7 (1979). in which I diseuss the process "intention" or bring mentally prcdiposcd to sensing an object defore sensing or naming takes place.

39. Sanskrit: paratantra. literally, "dependent on another," wthich the Chinese carefully translated as i-t 'a hsing[ak]

40. Many specialists on Yogaacaara view the entire tradition as adhering to the idealist`s position that external objects do not exist in any way whatsoever. While some later Yogaacaara such as Hsuan-tsang certainly lead one to that conclusion. the writings of Vasubandhu in particular do not necessarily do so. For philosophical argumentation. Vasubandhu challenges the opponent`s complacent belirf that he knows the external world and can articulate its reality. He does not necessarily make the logical error that simply because the mind cannot know anything except its own states that what is not knowable to the mind simply does not exist. Stephan Anacker "Vusubandhu's Karmasiddhiplrakara.na." ( philosophy East and West 22, no. 3 (July. 1972). 247 258),and Charlene A. S. McDermitt, "Asa^nga's Defense." are in agreement with the interpretation I give in this article of the philosophical force of early Yogaacaara. The labsling of Vasubandhu's view as "subjective idealism" seems to me to bear the same sort of unjustifiable attack as the label "nihilism" does to Naagaarjuna's views. Although Vasubandhu claims that sense objects are dependent upon mind. he also makes the corollary that the mind is also dependent upon objects in normal cognitivs states. Asa^nga. his older brother. is more amenable to the application of the label "idealist." because of his flgjts into the meditative vision of a world devoid of objects.

41. It is due to the cumulative influences (vaasanaa) from past experiences that an individual develops a highly personal style of constructing one's world yet at the same time views this world as if it were independent of individual interpretation. These vaasanaa are the source for wrong notions that objects have autonomous powers over one's existence. See B. K. Matilal, "A Critique of Buddhist Idealism." pp. 146, 154.

42. CSL 62b22-23

43. In Paramaartha`s description of the "seed" structure, a parallel may be seen with svasa.mvitti or self-awareness, the underlying unity for projection of a subject over and against an object. See Matilal. "A Critique of Buddhist Idealism." for a brief summary of sva-sa.mvitti; also Hattori Masaaki. Dignaaga: on Pereeption (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1968). pp. 101-106.

44. The entire argument is given in CSL 62b25-c20. The question is r.aised in that passage concerning the name "Consciousness-OnIy." If both sense object and sensory ideational consciousness are eliminated. how can one say there is "Consciousness-Onlv?" The answer has two parts. (1) the functiurling of consciousness is the only type of world we know. When this system of how Consciousness functions is understood. this is "Consciousness-Only.'` (2) When the interdependency of consciousness and its objects is completely understood. this is knowledge of Emptiness. This interdrptlndency is expressed by paramaartha as both the absolute nature (parini.spanna). the real. and Pure Consciousness. In other words. knowledge of reality is called "Consciousness-Only" or "Pure Consciousness."

45. The Chinese equivalent for this conscious energy is hsi-ch'i, ch'i connoting "energy." and hsi. "habit." The Sanskrit equivalent is vaasanaa. according to Etienne Lamotte. "Passions and Impregnations of the Passions in Buddhism." Studies in Honour of' I. B. Horner, ed. L. Cousins (Dordrecht: D. Reidl.. 1971), p. 91. whereas hsun-hsii "latent habits," corresponds to vaasanaa according to Naagao. Madhyaantavibhaaga.. p. Hsun literally means "scent," ``vapor," or "perfume." derved from the meaning ot` vaasanaa as "perfuming" or "infusing" as well as from the metaphor found in the ko`sa, namely. that lingering effects of past Karman remain in the mind just as a sesume seed perfumed by a flower retains the scent. Compare Abhidharmako`sa, chapter 4. p249 (Hsuan-tsang xviii. fol. 17a-b). Compare HSL 1618.31.880c11-15. This metaphor is repeated in the Siddhi. 1:122. Both hsi-ch'i and hsun-hsi have usually been translated as equivalents, but there seems to be a temporal relationship between them. Hsi-ch'i is the energy produced by hsunhsi. via a seed. The hsi-ch'i is. properly speaking. the vaasanaa or energy from past habits which have

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efficacy (biija), lingering in the mind (hsun-hsi) as an impregnation (hsun-hsi is probably bhaavanaa). responsible for producing defilement which then in turn has a habit-energy (hsi-ch'i) starting the cycle again. See Siddhi, 2:475 and footnote 21 herein.

46. "Seed-consciousness" is my abbreviated translation for vipaaka.h sarvabiijakam. from verse 2 of Tri.mi`sikaa. "the retributive result [consciousness]. consisting of all seeds." Compare CSL 61c6-7.

47. That is, delusions about selfhood (aatmamoha), and theoretical views about selfhood (aatmadrsti) (CSL 62a15).

48. Hsiang hsi-ch'i[al]. "influential force of aspects." and Is u-chung hsi-ch'i[am] "gross influential forces" are tentative translations for an obscure concept appearing in both CSL and SWHL. The object discriminated is the gross form of latent habits which generates opportunities for defilement (kle`sa). The subject who does the discriminating manufactures the content of the delusion, that is. the aspects or appearances of objects in a world. See CSL 62c26-63a17 The SWHL reverses the terms. using hsiang lei[an] for the discriminated object and ts' u-chung[ao] for the discriminating subject. See SWHL 870c10-16. 871a14-19.

49. Hsi-ch'i. the latent energy from past habits or vaasanaa. is not defilernent (kle`sa) but the accumulation of patterns of reflexive responses. Lamotte gives some humorous examples of vaasanaas monks have retained even though they no longer engage in acts of an unethical nature. For example. there was a handsome monk. Nandn. who still habitually gazed upon women whom he taught even though he no longer had passion for them. See Lamotte, "Passions and Impregnations." p93.

50. Emptiness is not always defined in negative terms, traced back to the correlation between Emptiness and interdependent existence (pratiityasamutpaada) by Naagaarjuna and the praj~naapaaramitaa tradition. See E. Obermiller. "A Study of the Twenty Aspects of `Suunyataa" Indian Historical Quavtevly (March, 1933): 170-187, and Nagao Gadjin. "'What Remains` in Suunyataa: A Yogaacaara Interpretation of Emptiness. Mahaayaana Buddhist Meditation, ed. Minoru Kiyota (Honolulu. Hawaii: The University Press of Hawaii. 1978), pp. 66-82.

51. Notions of "self" or "persnn" have only nominal existence (Praj~naaptisat). The evolving processes of conscious activity (prav.rttivij~naana) function through sensation and are communicable through language. The subconscious processes of the aalayavij~naana which shape sensations and conceptualizations together with the sensory and ideational activities of consciousness (Prav.rttivij~naana) constitute the sum total of the stream (sa.mtaana) of consciousness.

52. Pari.naama refers to the transformations or changes in the consciousness-series (sa.mtaana) and is the term used to describe the shifts from deluded states of consciousness to enlightened states. See La Vall`ee Poussin. Ko`sa, pp. ii. 185

53. The replenishment of"seeds" occurs on a momentary basis even though normal conscious states have been momentarily suspended during meditation. Seeds of influential events from past experiences also are replenished. to be later retrieved in the case of memory or habitual responses. when conditions associated with the past event are met.

54. The elimination of discriminating what actually has only imputed characteristics is the elimination of the constructing function of the aalayavij~naana. This type of wisdom is technically called nondiscriminative wisdom (nirvikalpaj~naana). that is, wisdom defined in terms of what it lucks. A positive definition of this same knowledge is knowledge of reality, the Suchness (tathataa) of a11 things. This Suchness can also be called the Pure Consciousness (amalavij~naana), or the revolution of the basis for discrimination (aa`srayaparaav.rtti). Compare CSL 1588.31.63c4-5; SWHL 1617.31.871c22-24, 873c23-24

55. CSL 63b21-23

56. The seed-sprout metaphor is used to suggest the uninterrupted series of conscious moments and the changes that take place in successive moments of consciousness. See La Vall`ee Poussin, Ko`sa. pp. ix. 296.

57. See citations listed under footnote 54, herein.

58. The major part of the San wu-hsing lun is devoted to an analysis of the types of discriminations based on mental constructs (868c12-871b15) which are the obstacles of defileinent (kle`savara,na) and obstaclrs to Knowledge (j~neyavara.na). The corresponding kinds of knowledge of Suchness which have eliminated these obstacles are then explained (871b15-873a17). The description of the path toward the final elimination of discrimination and the understanding of dependence between subject and object is described in detail (874a29-878b25)

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59. Both the bodhisattva stahes and the buddha stages are the attainment of nondiscriminative wisdom (876c9 10), but the causal realm of the bodhisattva is that of skill-in-means whereas that of rthe buddha is the result of having benefitscl both self and other without being attached to either sa.msaata or nirvaa.na (878a10-b25)

60. SWHL 874bl2-13.

61. Ko`sa.pp. iv, I-2.

62. See. for example*.the `Sruunaaladeviisuutra, in its discussion of anu`saya, or mind-disassociated defilement. This doctrine was also held by the Vibhajyavaadins.

63. P. S Jaini. "Thr Sautraantika Theory of Biija," pp.248-249.

64. See my discussion of Mahaasaa.mghika. Sautraantika. and Tathaagatagurbha thought in chapter 2 of The Buddhist Feninine Ideal: Queen ~Sriimaalaa and the tathaagatagarbha (Missoula. Montana: Scholars Press. 1979).

65. The aalayavij~naana. as a structure of consciousness entailing the propensities for habitual ignorance. could not account for the mental states devoid of karmic retribution since, bq definition. the aalayavij~naana represented the system of retribution.

66. The notion that mind is capable of Knowing its own processes as the natural evolution of mind toward its own self-discovry has been a predominant feature of much of Chinese thoueht. particularly notable in the analysis of hsing[ap] or the true nature of things.