The starting point of the Consciousness-Only School is that everything is created from the Mind as is “Consciousness-Only”. Everything, from birth and death to the cause of Attaining Nirvana, is based upon the coming into being and the ceasing to be of consciousness, that is, of distinctions in the Mind. Consciousness-Only Doctrine is characterized by its extensive and sophisticated inquiry into the Characteristics of Dharmas. For if we can distinguish what is real from what is unreal, if we can distinguish what is distinction-making consciousness and not mistake it for the Originally Clear, Pure, bright enlightened Mind, then we can quickly leave the former and Dwell in the latter. Chan Master Han Shan (AD 1546-1623) has said, “When Consciousness-Only was made known to them (i.e., those of the Hinayana Vehicles), they knew that all Dharmas had no existence inDependent from their own Minds. If one does not see the Mind with the Mind, then no Characteristic can be got at. Therefore, in developing the spiritual skill necessary for meditative inquiry, people are taught to look into what is apart from Heart, Mind, and consciousness and to seek for what is apart from the states of unreal (polluted) thinking.”
The founder of the Consciousness-Only School was the Bodhisattva Maitreya, who transmitted its teaching to the Venerable Asanga. The School was spread in China primarily because of the efforts of Tripitaka Master Xuan Zang.
1) Chinese: Wei shi zong , 2) Sanskrit: Vijnanavada (Yogachara), Chittamatra, 3) Pali —-, 4) Alternate translations: mere consciousness, ideation only.
See Also: *Maitreya, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Xuan Zang, One Hundred Dharmas
BTTS References: HD; FAS-PII]](2) 79-89; “The transformation of consciousness into Wisdom: the Path of the Bodhisattva according to the Cheng Wei Shi Lun, VBS
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