Concept Of Mind In The Yogācāra School: A Study

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Dr. Jayda Begum

Abstract

The important writers of the Yogācāra School are - Asaṅga, Vasubandhu, Diṅnāga, Dharmakīrti, Sāntarakṣita and Kamalaśila. The Yogācāra reduces the external object to mere cognitions. They do not recognize the reality of them. The Laṅkāvatārasūtra asserts that external objects have no real existence. They are unreal, false appearance like dreams, misperception, hallucinations etc. It is the manifestation of our consciousness. This consciousness, according to Vasubandhu, is the only reality. For the Yogācāras, cognition is self- luminous. The perception of the world is the self-consistence of cognition. Our all cognitional activities are the modifications of consciousness. So, it is seen that all creations are mental. Our mind alone exists. The empirical world is not real. Because of transcendental illusion, we consider it real. All categories of understanding are the constructions of our thought. In this paper an attempt is made to discuss the concept of mind or consciousness of the Yogācāra School. An attempt is also made to discuss the nature of the world according to the yogacara.

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