Living Yogacara: An Introduction to Consciousness-Only Buddhism

While Yogacara Buddhism did not endure on a major scale as a distinct tradition in India, Tibet, and East Asia, its teachings on the nature of consciousness made a profound impact on the forms of Buddhism that developed in those regions, and served as the basis for the development of the doctrines of karma and liberation in many other schools. Part of the reason for Yogacara's failure to achieve enduring popularity is no doubt the perception that its complex system of viewpoints, paths, and categories is difficult to grasp. Here, Tagawa Shun'ei makes sense of its seeming unwieldiness. He shows what the Yogacara masters are talking about are, in many cases, everyday experiences shared by all, and that the structures of consciousness that they articulated are things we all take for granted but for which we have no real explanation. Eloquent and approachable, Living Yogacara deepens the reader's understanding of the development of Buddhism's interpretation of the human psyche.