Abstract
In 1987, Lambert Schmithausen published an important extensive monograph on the origin of ālayavijñāna (Ālayavijñāna: On the Origin and the Early Development of a Central Concept of Yogācāra Philosophy). In his opinion, the introduction of ālayavijñāna was closely linked to nirodhasamāpatti, but it was not meditative experience itself that directly lead to the introduction of this new concept. Rather, according to Schmithausen, it was dogmatic speculation on a sūtra passage about nirodhasamāpatti. My own hypothesis is that the introduction of ālayavijñāna was more directly based on meditative experiences. Focusing on the “Proof Portion” of the Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇī of the Yogācārabhūmi, the present paper examines this hypothesis. My examination reveals that ālayavijñāna is the physiological basis of the body, and as such it is correlated to the state of the body and mind. When one’s body and mind are transformed from an inert to a well-functioning state through meditative practice, the transformation seems to hinge on the transformation of ālayavijñāna itself. It appears that Yogācāra meditators intuitively realized this mechanism at the stage of darśanamārga. This paper also responds to some points raised by Schmithausen on my hypothesis in his recent monograph on early Yogācāra (The Genesis of Yogācāra-Vijñānavāda: Responses and Reflections, 2014). Through these discussions, this paper sheds light on the importance of the correlation between body and mind in meditative contexts and proposes that this was the key issue in the introduction of the ālayavijñāna theory.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Primary Sources
Bhattacharya, V. (Ed.). (1957). The Yogācārabhūmi of Ācārya Asaṅga. Calcutta: University of Calcutta.
Buescher, H. (Ed.). (2007). Sthiramati’s Triṃśikāvijñaptibhāṣya. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Delhey, M. (Ed.). (2009). Samāhitā Bhūmiḥ: Das Kapitel über die meditative Versenkung im Grundteil der Yogācārabhūmi (Vol. 1). Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien.
Kramer, J. (Ed.). (2013). Sthiramati’s Pañcaskandhakavibhāṣā. Part I: Critical Edition. Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
Pradhan, P. (Ed.). (1967). Abhidharmakoshabhāṣya of Vasubandhu. Patna: K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute.
Shōmonji Kenkyūkai (Taishō Daigaku Sōgō Bukkyō Kenkyūjo). (Ed.). (2007). Yugaron Shōmonji daini yugasho fu Hi sanmakita ji, Monshojō ji, Shishojō ji – Sansukuritto go tekisuto to wayaku 瑜伽論 声聞地 第二瑜伽処 付 非三摩呬多地・聞所成地・思所成地—サンスクリット語テキストと和訳— (Śrāvakabhūmi, the Second Chapter with Asamāhitāā bhūmiḥ, Śrutamayī bhūmiḥ, Cintāmayī bhūmiḥ, Revised Sanskrit Text and Japanese Translation). Tokyo: Sankibō Busshorin 山喜房仏書林.
Shukla, K. (Ed.). (1973). Śrāvakabhūmi of Ācārya Asaṅga. Patna: K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute.
Tatia, N. (Ed.). (1976). Abhidharmasamuccaya-bhāṣyam. Patna: Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute.
Li, X., and Steinkellner, E., eds. (2008). Vasubandhu’s Pañcaskandhaka. Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
Yugagyō Shisō Kenkyūkai. (Ed.). (2003). Bon Zō Kan taikō E-Text “Abhidharmasamuccaya” and “Abhidharmasamuccayabhāṣya” 梵蔵漢対校 E-Text Abhidharmasamuccaya and Abhidharmasamuccayabhāṣya. 3 vols. (http://www.shiga-med.ac.jp/public/yugagyo/AS.html, accessed December 14, 2015 [no more available])
Secondary Sources
Abe, T. (2008). Kannōshō karmaṇyatāe ni tsuite — Shōmonji o chūshin to shite 堪能性 karmaṇyatāに ついてー『声聞地』を中心として. Indogaku bukkyōgaku kenkyū 印度學佛教學研究 (Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies) 57(1): 379--384.
Anālayo, Bhikkhu (2014). Perspectives on the Body in Early Buddhist Meditation. In Buddhist Meditative Traditions: Their Origin and Development, edited by Kuo-pin Chuang and Pei-shin Lo (pp. 21–49). Taipei: Shin Wen Feng.
Buescher, H. (2008). The Inception of Yogācāra-Vijñānavāda. Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Griffiths, P. J. (1986). On Being Mindless: Buddhist Meditation and the Mind-Body Problem. La Salle, IL: Open Court.
Hakamaya, N. ([1978] 2001). Ārayashiki sonzai no hachi ronshō ni kansuru shobunken アーラヤ識存在の八論証に関する諸文献. Reprint in Yuishiki shisō ronkō 唯識思想論考 (pp. 321–361). Tokyo: Daizō Shuppan 大蔵出版.
Hakamaya, N. ([1979] 2001). Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇī ni okeru ārayashiki no kitei, Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇīにおけるアーラヤ識の規定. Reprint in Yuishiki shisō ronkō 唯識思想論考 (pp. 362–445). Tokyo: Daizō Shuppan 大蔵出版.
Harada, W. (2004). Yugashijiron ‘Ujin ushi tō sanji' no engisetsu『瑜伽師地論』「有尋有伺等三地」の縁起説(1): Tekisuto to wayaku テキストと和訳. Kyūshū Ryūkoku Tanki Daigaku kiyō 九州龍谷短期大学紀要 (Bulletin of Kyusyu Ryukoku Junior College) 50, 141–79.
Honjō, Y. (1983). Shamatadēva no tsutaeru Dai gōfunbetsu kyō to Hosse bikuni kyō シャマタデーヴァの傳へる『大業分別經』と『法施比丘尼經』. Bukkyō bunka kenkyū 佛教文化研究 28, 95–112.
Honjō, Y. (2014). Kusharon chū Upāikā no kenkyū: Yakuchū hen 倶舎論註ウパーイカーの研究 訳註篇. 2 vols. Tokyo: Daizō Shuppan 大蔵出版.
Hyōdō, K. (1980). Kusharon ni mieru Setsu issaiu bu to Kyōryō bu no ijukusetsu『倶舎論』に見える説一切有部と経量部の異熟説. In Bukkyō shisōshi 仏教思想史3: Bukkyō naibu ni okeru tairon Indo <仏教内部における対論>インド, edited by Ishigami Zennō and Tsukamoto Keishō (pp. 57–88). Kyoto: Heirakuji Shoten 平楽寺書店.
Kramer, J. (2016). Some Remarks on the Proofs of the “Store Mind” (Ālayavijñāna) and the Development of the Concept of Manas. In B. Dessein and W. Teng (Eds.), Text, History, and Philosophy: Abhidharma across Buddhist Scholastic Traditions (pp. 146–167). Leiden: Brill.
Matsuda, K. (2010). Gounron Sutiramati sho ni mirareru ārayashiki no sonzai ronshō 五蘊論スティラマティ疏に見られるアーラヤ識の存在論証. Indo ronrigaku kenkyū インド論理学研究 (Indian Logic) 1, 195–211.
Matsumoto, S. (2004). Āraya shiki ni kansuru ichi kōsatsu—ātma-bhāva to ālaya-vijñāna— アーラヤ識に関する一考察—ātma-bhāva と ālaya-vijñāna—. In Bukkyō shisō ron 仏教思想論 (Vol. 1, pp. 219–497). Tokyo: Daizō Shuppan 大蔵出版.
Matsumoto, S. (2015). Gounron funbetsu sho wayaku—ārayashiki to ādānashiki no gogi setsumei— 『五蘊論分別疏』和訳—アーラヤ識とアーダーナ識の語義説明—. Komazawa Daigaku Bukkyō Gakubu ronshū 駒澤大学佛教学部論集 (Journal of Buddhist Studies) 46, 389–400.
Nagao, G. M. (1982). “Shōdaijō ron”: Wayaku to chūkai 摂大乗論 和訳と注解 (Vol. 1). Tokyo: Kōdansha 講談社.
Ogawa, H. (2005). What is bhāva?: A Grammatical Analysis of the Term bhāva. Hikaku ronrigaku kenkyū 比較論理学研究 (The Annals of the Research Project Center for the Comparative Study of Logic) 3, 107–115.
Sakuma, H. S. (1990a). Yugashijiron ni okeru tennne shisō 『瑜伽師地論』における転依思想. Indogaku bukkyōgaku kenkyū 印度學佛教學研究 (Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies) 39(1), 432–440.
Sakuma, H. S. (1990b). Die Āśrayaparivṛtti-Theorie in der Yogācārabhūmi (2 parts). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner.
Sakuma, H. S. (1996). Sanskṛt Word-Index to the Abhidharmasamuccayabhāṣyam edited by N. Tatia with the Corrigenda. Tokyo: The Sankibo Press.
Sakurabe, H., Odani, N., & Honjō, Y. (2004). “Kusharon” no genten kenkyū, Chihon, Jōhon 倶舎論の原典研究 智品・定品. Daizō Shuppan 大蔵出版.
Sasaki, Y. (1982). Āraya shiki seiritsu no ichi yōin アーラヤ識成立の一要因. Tōyō gakujutsu kenkyū 東洋学術研究 21(1), 178–197.
Schmithausen, L. ([1987] 2007). Ālayavijñā na: On the Origin and the Early Development of a Central Concept of Yogā cā ra Philosophy (2 parts). Tokyo: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies.
Schmithausen, L. (2014). The Genesis of Yogācāra-Vijñānavāda: Responses and Reflections. Tokyo: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies of the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies.
Speijer, J. S. ([1886] 1973). Sanskrit Syntax. Reprint. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Unebe, T. (2015). Kotoba no shiyō no konkyo to shiteno ‘sonzai’ – Bunpōka ni totte no ‘sekai ninshiki no wakugumi’ to shiteno bhāva– 言葉の使用の根拠としての「存在」—文法家にとっての「世界認識の枠組み」としてのbhāva— (“Being” [bhāva] as Grounds for the Use of a Word [pravṛttinimitta]: The Grammarians’ Theory of the Framework of Cognition and Categorization). Indo tetsugaku bukkyōgaku kenkyū インド哲学仏教学研究 (Studies in Indian Philosophy and Buddhism) 22, 295–311.
Whitney, W. D. (1889). Sanskrit Grammar Including Both the Classical Language, and the Older Dialects, of Veda and Brahmana. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Yamabe, N. (1997). The Idea of Dhātu-vā da in Yogacara and Tathāgata-garbha Texts. In J. Hubbard & P. L. Swanson (Eds.), Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism (pp. 193–204, 441–452). Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
Yamabe, N. (2002). Shohyō to shōkai, Hakamaya Noriaki cho Yuishiki shisō ronkō 書評と紹介 袴谷憲昭著『唯識思想論考』. Shūkyō kenkyū 宗教研究 (Journal of Religious Studies) 76(2), 361–369.
Yamabe, N. (2012). Āraya shiki ron アーラヤ識論. Yuishiki to yugagyō 唯識と瑜伽行. Shirīzu Daijō Bukkyō シリーズ大乘仏教 (Vol. 7, pp. 181–219). Tokyo: Shujūsha 春秋社.
Yamabe, N. (2013). Parallel Passages between the Manobhūmi and the *Yogācārabhūmi of Saṃgharakṣa. In U. T. Kragh (Ed.), The Foundation for Yoga Practitioners: The Buddhist Yogā cā rabhūmi Treatise and Its Adaptation in India, East Asia, and Tibet (pp. 596–737). Cambridge, MA: The Department of South Asian Studies, Harvard University.
Yamabe, N. (2015a). A Reexamination of On Being Mindless: Possible Meditative Implications of the Eightfold Proof of Ālayavijñā na. In K. L. Dhammajoti (Ed.), Buddhist Meditative Praxis: Traditional Teachings & Modern Applications (pp. 137–176). Hong Kong: Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong.
Yamabe, N. (2015b). Yugashijiron Shōketsujakubun ni okeru ārayashiki no daiichi ronshō no kaishaku ni tsuite『瑜伽師地論』「摂決択分」におけるアーラヤ識の第一論証の解釈について (On the Interpretation of the First Proof of Ālayavijñāna in the Viniścayasaṃgraphaṇī of the Yogāāc ārabhūmi). Indo ronrigaku kenkyū インド論理学研究 (Indian Logic) 8, 123–143.
Yamabe, N. (2016). Ārayashiki setsu no jissenteki haikei ni tsuite アーラヤ識説の實踐的背景について (On the Practical Background of Ālayavijñā na). Tōyō no shisō to shūkyō 東洋の思想と宗教 (Thought and Religion of Asia) 33, 1–30.
Yokoyama, K. (1979). Yuishiki no tetsugaku 唯識の哲学. Heirakuji Shoten 平楽寺書店.
Yokoyama, K., & Hirosawa, T. (1996). Bon Zō Kan taishō Yugashijiron sōsakuin 漢梵蔵対照 瑜伽師地論総索引 (Index to the Yogācārabhūmi [Chinese-Sanskrit-Tibetan]). Sankibō Busshorin 山喜房佛書林.
Acknowledgement
This paper is based on the presentation I made at the international workshop, entitled, “Yogācāra Buddhism in Context: Approaches to Yogācāra Philosophy throughout Ages and Cultures,” held at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München on June 19–20, 2015. I thank Professor Jowita Kramer, Ms. Constanze Pabst von Ohain, and Mr. Marco Walther for organizing this fruitful workshop and for inviting me as one of the keynote speakers. Discussions with participants of the workshop, in particular with Professors Lambert Schmithausen and Daniel M. Stuart, were highly helpful for improving this paper. Professors Ogawa Hideyo and Matsumoto Shiro and the two anonymous reviewers gave me helpful comments. I further thank Professor Robert Kritzer for kindly checking the English of this paper. I thank Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München for providing travel expenses for attending this workshop. The research for this article was funded by Waseda University Grant for Special Research Projects (Project Number: 2015S-020) and JSPS Kakenhi Grant (Project Number: 17K02218).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
A Japanese version of the first portion (Introduction, §§1–2.6, Conclusion) of this paper has been published in Tōyō no shisō to shūkyō 東洋の思想と宗教 (Thought and Religion of Asia), no. 33 (2016), under the title “Āraya shiki setsu no jissenteki haikei ni tsuite” アーラヤ識説の實踐的背景について (On the Practical Background of Ālayavijñāna), and a Japanese version of the second portion (§3) has appeared in Indo ronrigaku kenkyū インド論理学研究 (Indian Logic), no. 8 (2015), under the title “Yugashijiron Shōketsujakubun ni okeru āraya shiki no daiichi ronshō no kaishaku ni tsuite”『瑜伽師地論』「摂決択分」におけるアーラヤ識の第一論証の解釈について (On the Interpretation of the First Proof of Ālayavijñāna in the Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇī of the Yogācārabhūmi).
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Yamabe, N. Ālayavijñāna from a Practical Point of View. J Indian Philos 46, 283–319 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-018-9347-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-018-9347-5