UIVERSITY OF CALIFORIA

Santa Barbara
A Preliminary Study of The Meaning of "Yoga" in Sangharaka's Yogicirabhfmi and
Its Context
A thesis submitted in parial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree Master of Arts
in Religious Studies
by
Gregory Max Seton
Committee in charge:
Professor Vesna Wallace, Chair
Professor Jose Cabez6n
Professor William Powell
June 2009
The thesis of Gregory Max Seton is approved.

William Powell
Vesna Wallace, Committee Chair
June 2009
A Prelimary Stdy of The Meaning of "Yoga" in Saigharaka' s Yogfcfrabhumi
Copyright 2009
by
Gregory Max Seton
111
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thans to Professor Wallace, whose knowledge, wisdom, guidance and support
led me to undertake this research, to lear a geat deal more tha I knew, and to write
about it. Not only did she painstakingly read through, corect and edit numerous drafts
of this paper, but she also tirelessly encouraged me throughout the process. Without her,
this thesis would be unthinkable.
I am gratefl also to Professor Jose Cabez6n, whose carefl reading and precise
feedback has helped me to formulate my ideas more clearly and to improve my own
grasp of the material, and to Profesor William Powell, whose excitement about my own
ideas was contagious.
Thans to my fiends and colleagues Nate Rich, Zoran Lazovic, Zachary Johson,
Nathan McGover, Joel Gruber, and Katie Tsuji, who read or listened to my various
drafs and gave me usefl feedback and support.
A general thas to Professor Rudiger Busto, who provided me with guidance,
friendship and encouragement throughout the process, to Professor Tom Carlson, who
helped me improve as a writer and thin careflly, to Professor Roger Friedland, who
challenged me to thin outside the box and to David White, for pushing me to thk
differently about the j ob of the historian.
.
A frther mention should be made here of the Deparment of Religious Studies, who
awarded me the Rowny Fellowship, which has fnancially supported me during tese
thee years of study and to Sally Lombrozo for her kind ad cheerfl assistance in
administrative matters.
Thanks also to Dzigar Kongtrl Rnoche for his encouragement, my paents for their
suppor, and a fnal special thanks to my paner, Michael McIlmurray, who has cared
for and supported me though many demanding years of graduate stdies. Without him, I
would not have been able to work so hard for so long.
IV
ABSTRCT
A Preliminar Study of The Meaning of "Yoga" in Sangharak$a' s YogCcCrabhumi
by
Gregory Max Seton
This paper examines Sangharak$a's YogCcCrabhumi and its context and asks
whether the scholarly characterization of it as "Sravakayana" should not be re-evaluated
i light of recent studies of the proto-Mahayana period. I argue that the usage of the
term yoga in Sangharak$a' s YogCcCrabhimi should be understood as a semantic marker
for a proto-Mahayana soteriology, because the textual and contextal evidence suggests
that Sangharak$a, like other early Sarvastivadinyoga practitioners, conceived of yoga as
a proto-Mahayaika "process of unifcation" rather than as a Sravakayanika way to
"discipline the mind. " In other words, pre_4t
h
centry Sarvastivadinyoga practioners
regarded this yoga qua "process of unifcation" as a means for taveling to the
Suddhavasa real i order to attain the quality of a buddha.
(A sumary of Sangharak$a' s YogCcCrabhumi is also included in the Appendix) .
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abbreviations
vii
Introduction
1
The Background of the Buddhist Usage of the Term Yoga 5
1 . The Pli Nilya Context 5
2. The Brahmanic Context: From Vedas to Upaliads 7
The Yogicirabhimi ofSangharaka 14
1 . The Compilation History of Two Separate Yogacarabhumis 1 4
2. The Various Fors ofBuddhanusri 25
The Practitioners of Yoga 29
1 . General historical description 29
2. Yoga Practitioners Who Practice Buddhanusri Directed at Maitreya 3 1
Conclusion 37
Appendix 40
VI
Ab breviations
Yogacarabhumi (Sangharak$a)
Yogacarabhumi (Maitreya)
Yogacarabhumi (Buddhasena)
Bodhisattvabhumi
Maitri Upani$ad
A$/asahasrika-Prajfaparamita-sutra
Pratutannasamadhi-sutra
Vll
YBS
YB
YBB
BB
MaUri
A$ta
PraS
Introduction
During the last twenty fve years of scholarship on the origins of Mahayana,
many prior presuppositions have been questioned and many untenable theories have
been debuned.
1
One of the most imporant questions that has been asked is whether the
doxographical classifcation of three, clearly separated, early Buddhist schools-namely
the SarvastivadinVaibhaika School (supposedly Sravakayanika), the Sautrantika School
(supposedly proto-Mahayanika), ad the Yogacara Schoo1
2
(supposedly early
Mahayanika)-is historically corect.
3
Although it would be diffcult to fmd a
contemporary scholar who subscribes to such a simplistic scheme, these rigid
classifcations still linger,
4
because scholars have been unable to make sense of the most
recent data. For instance, since the ter Sautrantia does not appear to have been
mentioned before Vasubandhu, many scholas have suggested the name Sautratikas
was not a referent for an independent school, but merely a later designation for an
interpretive strand that existed within the Sarvastivada Vaibhaika school.
s
On the other
hand, Kitzer has shown that the Abhidarmakosabhi.ya (which lays out the Sarvastivada
Vaibhaika views) was based on passages found only in the Yogicirabhumi.
It is beyond the purview of this paper to address all of these theories and demonstrate their failures and/or
successes.
I will capitalize yogicara only when it specifcally refers to the philosophical school known by that
name, i . e. Yogacara School.
Robert Kitzer, Vasubandhu and the Yogicarabhimi : Yogicira Elements in the
Abhidharmakoabhiya, Studia Philologica Buddhica. Monograph Series ; 1 8 (Tokyo: Interational
Institte for Buddhist Studies of tae Interational College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies, 2005), xi. Of
course, in later India and Tibet, it has always been obvious tat (Mula-) Sarvastivada and so on were terms
for describing a particular lines of vinaya transmission, not philosophical views . Nonetheless, the early
Wester historians have assumed tat a Nikaya affliation meant non-Mahayana even in the early centuries
of te common era.
Ibid.
Florin Deleanu, The Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikamarga) in the
S
rivakabhimi : A Trihngual
Edition (Sanskit, Tibetan, Chinese), Annotated Translation, and Intoductor Stdy, Studia Phil ologica
Buddhica. Monograph Series; 20 (Tokyo: Interational Institute for Buddhist Studies of the Interational
College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies, 2006), 1 59.
1
Meanwhile, Schthausen has shown that early Yogacara School texts (4th century c.E.
and later) relied heavily upon the (MUla-) Sarvastivadin
A
gama tradition. Finally,
Deleanu and Yamabe have suggested that A Shigao-the 2n
d
centuy translator of
"Sarvastivadin" meditation texts into Chinese-was likely conected with a milieu of
meditation practitioners, called yogacaras, who were the probable forerners to the
Yogacara Schoo1.
6
Moreover, Deleanu notes that te Abhidharmamahiibha.asastra
(ad other early Vaibhaika texts) ofen refers to the views of "Y ogacaras" in a
respectfl manner as though these "Y ogacaras" were not a school apart fom Vaibhaika,
but rather were a loosely formed goup of mons who specialized in spiritual cultivation.
In other words, scholars have discovered that the tree designations-Sarvastivadin,
Sautratika, Y ogacara-all could have been applied to a single given individual, in order
to indicate thee separate faces vi his identi'cspectively, the vinaya that he
practiced, the philosophical strand ofVaibhaika that he followed, and, perhaps, the
relationship to formal meditation practice.
7
Yet, despite the classifcatory reformulation
required by these fndings, many traces of the rigid classifcations have yet to be
removed. 8
One of the lingering traces of rigidity in scholarly classifcation is the persistent
scholarly practice of the calling the Yogacarabhimi (YBS)
9
of Saf.gharaka a
Kritzer, Vasubandhu and the Yogicirabhumi " Yogicira Elements in the Abhidharmakoabhiya, xi. cf.
Deleanu, The Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikamirga) in the
S
rivakabhumi " A frilingual Edition
(Sanskit, Tibetan, Chinese), Annotated Translation, and Introductor Study, 1 57-62.
7
Few scholars have attempted to answer the question what type of affliation the name yogacara might
have originally suggested. Hopeflly, this paper will move the conversation forward.
cfKritzer, Vasubandhu and the Yogicirabhumi " Yogicira Elements in the Abhidharmakoabhiya, xi .
where Kritzer states, "Still traces of the taditional rigid classifcations linger i n our minds. "
9
The Chinese title of the YBS is Xi
u
xing dao dijing. Demieville offers a phil ological argument in support
of tanslating the title Yogicirabhumi. Furthermore, due to the great similarit between this text and the
later text known as Yogicirabhfmi (particularly the
S
rivakabhumi section), the sanskrit title of YBS
seems even more likely. Thus, since most scho lars of Chinese have accepted Demieville' s arguments for
2
Sravakayanika text.
1 0
Of course, I do dispute that the fact that the YBS has many
"Sravakayaka" elements . However, I would argue that an outmoded classifcatory
scheme has led scholars to overlook a number of iportat proto-Mahayana elements.
And, in this paper, I intend to examine a number of these proto-Mahayana elements
namely, the usage ofthe ter yoga to indicate a notion of meditation as "unifcation,"
the visionary practice of buddhfnusmrti ("calling buddha to mind"), the soteriological
importance of traveling to the Buddha's domain, te meditative emphasis on emptiness,
and the mention of great compassion. Fuherore, based on these proto-Mahayana
"textual" elements and the available "contextal" evidence I shall adduce (below), I will
argue that the YBS should be understood, not as a Sravakayanika text, but rather as
proto-Mahayana text,
l
1
so that, though this "re-framing, " a new avenue for
understanding of the development of the Mahayaa will be opened up for future
research.
1 2
Academic scholarship by Boucher, Harison, Deleanu, and Demieville has
already illuminated the important role played by meditating forest dwellers in the
creation of Mahayana sutras. Hence, attention has already been paid to the proliferation
of new forms of samidhi in the Mahayana though the visionary practice of
this title and the philological evidence of its title, I will refer to it in this paper as Yogicirabhumi without
the preceding asterisk or by the abbreviation YBS.
Deleanu, The Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikamirga) in the
S
rivakabhumi : A Trilingual
Edition (Sanskit, Tibetan, Chinese), Annotated Translation, and Intoductor Study, 1 58 .
IIDating is difficult and notions of a "proto-Mahayfla" ae teleological and problematic. Nonetheless, I
am roughly following Deleanu' s lal out of two periods: a proto-Mahayaa period (2n
d
centur-5thcentury)
and early Mahayaa (5th centry-t centry). Still, it should be understood that the beginnig of the
Proto-Mahayaa period is much contested and I myself suspect it started started prior to 2n
d
century.
Richard Gombrich has also suggested that the Mahayana sitras were literary, rather tan oral
constructions. Since the Mahayana sutras are structurally complex, he argues that they arose due to te
compositional advantages of writing (compared to the oral tradition of the Pali canon). Thus, he dates the
beginning of the Mahayaa sutras as being no earlier than the advent of writing in India (2n
d
B. C. E. ?). His
theory does not convincigly account for the fact that oral versions of sutras might have been passed down
prior to this time and only taken on their written form later.
3
buddhanusmrti. In any event, since the connection between buddhinusmrti and the rise
of the Mahayana is well established, there is no need to rehash and reprove that
relationship here. However, a topic that has not been addressed elsewhere, satisfactorily
at least, is whether the YBS' s distinctive proto-Maayana usage of the ter yoga can be
understood as a semantic marker of proto-Mahayana soteriological distinctions.
1
3
In this paper, in order to addess these questions (and raise some more), the
proto-Mahayana usage of the term yoga will be examined against the backdrop of
various other usages in Brahanic and non-Bramanic texts and contexts, so that the
distinctiveness of the proto Mahayana usage of the term not only comes to the fore, but
also reveals a distinctive notion of Buddhist meditation that is focused on "the process of
unifcation. " In so doing, I hope to suggest, then, tat this very notion of yoga qua
"process of unifcation" played a signifcant role in forming the early Mahayana goal of
becoming a buddha and the proliferation of Mahayaa sutas with this soteriology.
1
4
In order to problematize the issues relevant to such a study, this paper will, frst,
sketch out a general history of usage of the term yoga and identif the contexts in which
it was used generally to mea "meditation" (as opposed to discipline),
1
5
next analyze the
1
3 To my knowledge, no one has addressed this specifc usage. Although Jonathan Silk does analyze the
occurrence of the term yogacaa, his stdy focuses only on the term's textual occurrence, noton the
content and context which it occurs. cf. Silk's article inJonathan A. Si lk, " Wisdom, Compassion, and the
Search for Understanding : The Buddhist Stdies Legacy of Gadjin M. Nagao, " in Studies in the Buddhist
Traditions, ed. Gajin Nagao (Honolulu: Universit of Hawaii Press, 2000).
1
4There are methodological problems associated with such a broad analysis of what I am calling "semantic
markers" (after Birgit Kellner' s suggestion}-especially since the religious and linguistic Indian landscape
i s mied, since the surviving evidence is mostly i n Chinese, and since language and usage evolved
differently in different contexts. Nonetheless, this brief paper is meant primarily to fame the questions,
not answer them, and hence, the rules of metodology are less pertinent. In this regard, I am heartened by
the dictum, there are no stupid questions, just stupid aswers . Furthermore, it is regretfl tat Jain and
other non-brahmanical contexts can not be covered in this paper, but would need to be included in any
more comprehensive stdies .
1
50ne of the most basic buddhist path distinctions seems to have been the threefold distinction between
teachings on discipline, on meditation, and on wisdom. Although these three are said to work together, the
precise relationship between them can be explained in different ways . Generally speaking, in this paper, I
4
specifc YBS usage of term yoga to indicate a meditative "process of unifcation" and its
connection to the visionary practice of buddhinusmrti ("calling buddha to mind").
Then, I will present passages from the YES and its historical context, in order to raises
questions to regarding the scholarly characterization of the YBS as a so-called
Sravakayana practice text and to highlight the specifc role that early groups of proto-
Mahayana yoga practitioners (ogicira) might have played in the development of early
Mahayana doctrines.
1
6
In order to make bring these points out, however, much
background must be laid out frst.
The Background of the Buddhist Usage of the Term Yoga
1 . The Pali Nikaa Context
Scholars have ceased to dichotomize the Pali Nikayas as the homogenous standard
against which Mahayana scriptures can be measured for heterogeneous innovation. Still,
the tendency among Pali scholars to regard Pali terinology as orhodox continues .
Despite the fact that many studies have debunked this Pali-centrism, the prelimiary
reference to a "orhodox" Pali canon can still provide a usefl staring point for broad
comparisons regarding the so-called Sravakayana and Mahayana.
In his article "The Concept of Yoga in the Nikayas, " Shozen Kumoi has analyzed
the canonical usage of the term yoga and has concluded that in canonical Pali texts, the
will use the ten meditation here to refer to practices, that would fonally (but not exclusively) be
undertaken in seated position, while engaging in mental cultivation techniques. The emphasis on this
fonal practice should not be understood as excluding the post-meditative resultant mental , psychological,
or spiritual states, but rather as separating it from the practice of discipline or the realization ofthe actal
wisdom bor from hearing, contemplating, or meditating.
1
6
It should be noted that, since this study is merely preliminary ad based entirely on secondary
scholarship, the focus below will be primarily to raise questions for the sake of orienting my own and
others ' fture research, rather than to develop speculative theories in detail.
5
term yoga was used to mean only the "contolling the senses" by means of "fxing of a
mind" upon an obj ect.
1 7
In hs study, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation, Alexander
Wyne confrms a similar usage of the term within the PaJi Nikayas. However,
according to Wynne, the canonical usage of the ter yoga referred only "to the ' work'
or ' discipline' of iner concentration" and not to the concentration itself, which was
indicated by the term samidhi.
1
8
Despite the subtle distinctions between their
conclusions, both scholars agree that, even in early non-canonical Pali literature, the
term yoga was rarely used (if ever) I 9 to refer to meditation?O Furthermore, regarding the
4
th
century Pali commentator Buddhaghosa, who used the term yoga to refer to
meditative concentration,
21
both scholars suggest that it was a late usage adopted from
non-Buddhists that arose due to the direct infuence from early Brahmanic sources.
22
Although we will see (below) that Kumoi and Wynne ignored early Buddhist usage of
He focuses, in particular, on te wel l attested occurrence ofyogakhema (ogakema). Shozen Kumoi,
"The Concept of Yoga in the Nikayas," in BauddhavidyCsudhCkara/: Studies in Honour oJHeinz Bechert
on the Occasion oj His 65th Birthday., ed. Bangwei Wang (Swisttal-Oldendorf: Indica Et Tibetica Verlag,
1 997), 407.
Alexander Wynne, The Origin of Buddhist Meditation (London ; New York: Routledge, 2007), 8 .
Wynne also suggests that this meaning was the brahmanical meaning. However, the Maitri meanings
(examined below) clearly discount Wynne' s generalization.
Wynne suggests these usages are extremely rare and ipeachable. A close philological analysis would
be needed to determine whether the rare usages of the term yoga qua meditation were indeed later
accretions.
`
Wynne, The Origin oj Buddhist Meditation, 8, 29. See Katha Upaniad (II. 3. 1 0, 1 1 a-b, 1 2) in S.
Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upaniads (London, New York,: G. Allen & Unwin; Humanities Press,
1 969). Wynne and Kumoi also mention other passages in Katha.

'
Personal communication by Dr. Lance Cousins.
Although both Kumoi and Wynne also trace the NikCya meaning of yoga to the Katha Upaniad (and
perhaps earlier), the meaning of yoga in the Ka!ha [paniad seems to differ from their idea of it as
"discipline. " See Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upaniads, 645-8. In Ka.tha Upaniad (IIe 3 1 0, 1 1 ) where
it says : "When the fve (senses) know ledges together with the mind cease (fom their normal activities)
and the intellect itself does not sti, that they say, is the highest state. This, they consider to be Yoga, the
steady control of the senses. Then one becomes undistracted for Yoga comes and goes. " If this alone
were the defnition, it would be understandabl e how Wynne and Kumoi (and Deussen before them) could
take the Katha Upaniad s ense of yoga to mean merely "control of the senses" and how they could have
correlated this to the Pali Nikaya sense of the word. Unfortunately, the very next set of verses explain how
this yoga leads to a kind of "oneness" where knowledge is gained of "the whol e rule of Yoga" through
which "Brahman" is attained. Hence, Katha Upaniad itself was likely not a direct source.
6
the term to refer to meditation, it might be worthwhile frst to examine the Brahmanic
context to which they attribute the usage of yoga qua meditation.
2. The Brahanic Context: From Vedas to Upanisads
As a surrising contrast to Wyne' s and Kumoi ' s presuppositions regarding the
Brahanic usage of the ter, the well known yoga historian, David White has suggested
that, fom the earliest Vedic times though the Upaniads, the Brahmanic ter yoga was
employed primarily in the sense of "yoking animals" and specifcally refered to the
strapping down of animals for sacrifce on a stretching device known as a "tantra.,,
23
According to White, it was only in the later Upaniadic times that the ter yoga came to
be used in conection with the practice of "yoking" of persons, where it indicated the
practice of becoming possessed by a god, such as Surya. Although White's explanation
has yet to gain widespread scholarly acceptance, his research has made it clear that the
Vedic usage of the term yoga was prmarily found in the context of sacrifce rituals.
Furthermore, since yoga qua "yoking" (the later UpaIiadic usage) presupposed a Vedic
and Brahmanic soteriology, White has argued that yoga simply never implied a form of
meditation in either Brahmanic or non-Brahmanic contexts until much later i its hstory.
Perhaps complementing Wite' s theory, however, is the theory presented by
Edward Crangle in his book The Origin and Development of Early Indian Contemplative
Practices. Here, Crangle attempts to trace the lin between the early Vedic practice of
From a pre-release copy of Sinister Yogis by David White, (University of Chicago Press, 2008) i
"Hindu Tantra"-given out in a class offered at UCSB in fall of 2006. Cf. David Gordon White, Kiss of
the Yoginf: "Tantric Sex" In Its South Asian Contexts (Chicago ; London: University of Chicago Press,
2003).
7
upasana,,
24
and later forms of Upaliadic yoga qua meditation practice. According to
Crangle, the Vedic practice of upasana, (pre_8t
h
century B. C. E. ), involved a meditative
aspect in which the worshipper (upasaka) focused his mind on the elements or on
imperceptible obj ects (such as the breath, the sense organs or the utterance of verbal
symbols) and pronounced the names and epithets of a particular Vedic deity (such as
Agni, Sirya, or Indra) in order to invoke and seek "communion with that deity by means
of exteral offerings. ,
,
25
In this way, Crangle suggests, the upasaka attempted to realize
Brahman.
26
Furthermore, Crangle suggests that, although upasana was practiced "in
parallel" to yoga in early times, by the later Upaniads, that upasana had become
"synthesized" with the practice of yoga.
2
7
Even though some might argue with Crangle' s chaacterization of this synthesis
This term literally means sitting near but means to attend or serve. In this context, it means to attend to
the gods or implies "worship. " The ter had different meanings in the buddhist context, where it was
applied to lay persons who lived close to the ordained monastic community. cfEdward Fitzpatrick
Crangle, The Origin and Development of Early Indian Contemplative Practices, Studies in Oriental
Religions, V. 29 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 1 994), 8 8 .
Ibid., 76- 80. White points to may passages where this practice can be understood as a form o f "(self
)possession" (ave.a). This notion of yoga practice qua self-possession may well have been prevalent in
Hindu circles, but I will not delve far into it here, since it does not correlate to the meditational aspect
clearly adopted by Buddhist usage of the term, which as we will see below, may precede the meditational
aspect of the Hindu usage in some regards. Cf Frederick M. Smith, The Sel Possessed : Deit and Spirit
Possession in South Asian Literature and Civiliation (New York, N. Y. ; Chichester: Columbia Universit
Press, 2006).
Klemens Karlsson, "Face to Face with the Absent Buddha. The Formation of Buddhist Aniconic Art"
(Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2000), 6 1 . Karlsson cites Crangle, The Origin and Development of Early
Indian Contemplative Practices, 72-82. The Maitri has also been referred to the Maitayalfa Upani:ad.
Though I am not able to dis cuss the precise dates for these names, it would be interesting to examine this
evolution in regard to the practioners not just of yoga (ogacara) but also the practitioners of upasana (i. e.
upasaka). Deleanu notes that upasaka does not mean laity. They were devoted lay practitioners, who
engaged in a serious degree of practice, somewhat akin to semi-professional s. The Ugradattapariprccha
sitra revolves aromld the upasaka Ugradatta in an interesting way.
Crangle, The Origin and Development of Early Indian Contemplative Practices, 87. See also Karlsson,
"Face to Face with the Absent Buddha. The Formation of Buddhist Aniconic Art" , 62. Some scholars
have suggested that it was not Brahmanic but Buddhist notions of meditation that infuenced the later
Upaniadic thought. However, there are many historiographic difficulties in tracing whether there was
indeed a buddhist influence on the yoga described in the either the earlier and later Upaniads and it
should be noted that some contemporary scholars might read this infuence differently. Since the methods
of transmission and textual history make it difcult to discern early layers and later accretions of these
texts, a genuine philological and contextual analysis of the Maitri Upani:ad would be necessar for
greater precision in addressing these issues. This is beyond the puriew of this paper.
8
as "contemplative practice,
,
,
2
8 Crangle's theory of sythesis makes sense in light of the
description of the sixfold yoga ($acanga yoga) practice in the Maitri Upani.ad
2
9
In
particular, three verses from the "Yoga Method" chapter of the Maitri Upani.ad suggest
that the term yoga and upisani (as described by Crangle) might have indeed merged:
3
0
Thus it is said "Because in his maner he j oins the breath, the syllable
aum and all this world in its manifoldness . . . this [process of meditation] is
called Yoga [the process of unifcation] . The resultant unity of the breath,
the mind and likewise of the senses and the abandonment of all
conditions of existence, this is designated as Yoga.
3
1
The rule for achieving this [the resultant unity] is said to be the sixfold yoga:
control of the breath (raniyima), withdrawal of te senses (ratihira),
meditation (dhyina), concentration (dhirana), contemplative inquiry (tarka) and
absorption (samidhi). When, by this (oga), the [practitioner] beholds the gold
colored maker, the lord, the person, the Brahma source, then the sage, shaking
off good and evil, makes everyhing into the resultant unity in the supreme
indestructible.
3
2
In these Maitri descriptions of yoga, we can distinguish three basic meanings of yoga:
( 1 ) the sixfold process where yoga means "the process of unifing" the breath, the mind
and the senses (2) the "resultant unity" of the frst (above) paagraph where this sixfold
process of yoga means the "unity" that occurs when the breath, mind and senses have
been j oined and (3) the "meeting" where a practitioner beholds "the gold-colored maker,
the lord, the person, the Brahma source" and achieves resultant unity in the supreme
Z
For White, this yoga probably does not entail the meanings implied in "contemplative practice."
For example, see note above on Katha, which both Kumoi and Wynne attribute with being the source of
the non-nikaya term' s usage in the post-Nikaya literature, where, Wynne admits, the ter evolves and is
used in relation to meditation.
I have used Radhakrishnan' s translation, since it is the most readable and accessible. A close
philological comparison and a critical edition might yield slight nuances, but for the most part, it seems
accurate enough when compared with the available sanskrit edition to warant its usage in this broad
preliminary study.
The brackets are not mine. Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upani:ads, 835.
Ibid. , 830. Without changing words or meaning, I have reorganized Radhakrishnan' s phrases into a
proper English sentence (not Sanskrit word order) for the sake of clarity.
9
indestructible.
33
Thus, although the passage glosses yoga in three ways, two of these
glosses are two different types of "unity." The frst "unity" is the unity of breath, body .
and mind and is a prelimina part ofthe sixfold yoga. The second "unity" indicates the
"resultant unity" of afer beholding "the Brahma source. " This second tye of resultat
unity is specifed in the Maitri Upani$ad 6.3 as a meditation on the sun (sura) and its
light,
3
4
and thus appears to be the meditative equivalent of the Vedic upisani practice
where the sun is worshipped through exteral offergs.
35
This third tye of unity does
not particularly suggest becoming the Brahma source, just meeting and beholding it.
The key semantic shif to note here, then, is that the term, which once meant discipline
as in the Pali context, is now conected with meditative meeting with an enlightening
presence of some sort.
Since the Maitri Upani$ad was not written down until 4th centu C.B. many
scholars (such as David Wite) might discount these passages as possessing later
accretions and suggest that they read very differently in early times.
36
However, it must
be noted that I am not attempting here to establish the early date of this passage or
analyze it historicity so much as I am using it to sketch out the semantic range of this
ten in the literary context of the Upani$ads. Thus, whether or not we accept Crangle's
suggestion that upisani and yoga were separate practices in Vedic times and became
sythesized as "contemplative practice" only in the later Upaniads, these thee related
There is no space to examine alterate readings of this passage here, like those more in line with David
Wbite' s readings of similar passages.
Although I read through a modem sanskrit edition of thi s text to verif the translation, I do not presently
have access to the sanskrit text at this time and regretflly, cannot provide the exact citation or sanskrit
lines. Since it is not a historically unimpeachable version of the text and since it is only being used here as
a general backdrop, this omission will hopeflly be excused.
Crangle, The Origin and Development ofEarly Indian Contemplative Practices, 1 1 1 , 33.
I n fact, David White' s statements i n hi s class "Tantra" i s the source of this 4th century date. Further
research would be required to detenine whether this date is indeed widely accepted.
1 0
(but distinct) meaings of yoga should be kept in mind, since they will infon our
examination (below) of a similar, but more datable, early Buddhist usage of yoga qua
meditation.
3
7
3 . Buddhist Yoga qua Meditation
Although there is some evidence that the ten yoga appeared in the Buddhist igamas
and even occasionally in Sarvistividi Abhidhana texts (probably) dating from at least
the 2nd century B. C. E. ,
3
8
Satgharaka' s Yogicirabhumi (YBS)
39
provides perhaps one
of the earliest datable non-Pili-Nikaya usages of the ten "yoga" qua meditation in any
Buddhist context. For this reason, we will focus primarily on examning this text and its
context within the remainder of this paper.
4
0
Interestingly, the YBS, whose title means
On the other hand, the Ka/ha Upani$ad (suggested by Kumoi and Wynne as the source of yoga qua
meditation) seems to refect a usage of the term yoga that was not explicitly connected wit upisani (as it
was in the Maitri Upani$ad passage examined above) . The Ka!ha Upani$ad appears to have involved only
to types of yoga, te "joining" process and the resulting "oneness". This paper is not the place for
analyzing this passage more careflly. However, it appears to me that Wynne and Kumoi have either
ignored or interpreted away the second part of the defnition, which is translated (above) as: "Then one
becomes undistracted for Yoga comes and goes" (apramattas tadi bhavati, yogo hi prabhavipyayau). The
compound prabhavipyayau, that is translated here as the obscure phrase "comes and goes" (literally that
which has "coming and going") can mean many other things, including "creation and dissolution" (which
suggests deity-yoga notions) or perhaps even, the "source and juncture" (which suggests a Maitri
Upaniad-like distinction between joining and oneness with the source). Without a philological study, it is
hard to know te provenance and usage here.
As mentioned above, the Mahivibhi$aSistra refers to yoglcaas. Although this text may have been
composed earlier, it is diffcult to date it prior to the 3r
d
or even 4th centry C.E. However, the root text,
i . e. the Mahivibhi$a, itself seems to be a very old text, with parts stemming fom at least the 2n
d
century
B. C. E. However, most of the content and language of the extant text are not datable until the 5th century
C. E.
The terminus ante quem for tHis text i s 148 C.E. , the date An Shigao came to China and translated i t into
Chinese. Any date before that is a matter for carefl philological comparison which is beyond the purview
of this paper.
It should be noted that the evidence in these YBS rns counter to David White' s research and offers
evidence divergent from his more general conclusions about te Indian religious landscape. In my
personal discussion with David White, he has mainly argued that the term yogin was not specifically
applied to persons prior to its appearance in the Sinti Pirvan, for whi ch he gives a terminus ante quem of
the the 4th century. Although he is not primarily concered with buddhist notions of the term, his theory of
the terms yoga and yogin tends to generalize across religious boundaries which he has only cursorily
investigated. Many of the obvious Hindu usages of the terms yoga qua meditation or yogi qua meditator
1 1
"Stages of Yoga Practitioners, , ,
4
1
is dedicated to describing the precise meaning of yoga
in its Sarvastivadin context.
4
2
A analysis of the YBS shows that multiple meditation
practices were included under the rubric of yoga, suggesting that it was merely a general
term meaning "meditation. "
4
3
Although this general meaning of yoga as "meditation" is
attested in later Indian commentaries,
44
the Ugradattapariprccha-sftra suggests that the
ter yoga might have meant something slightly more specifc in early Mahayana. In
particular, a list of persons in the Ugra distinguishes between two tpes of mons,
namely a meditator (dhyiin) and a yoga practitioner (ogacara) .
45
It is perhaps safe to
assume that both the dhyiin and the yogacara are doing something we can call
meditation; however a frther examination is requied to see whether yoga as a ter can
be frther distinguished from dhyana in early contexts.
are refted based on lack of unimpeachable written evidence of early times. Although White' s strict
textual dating standards are admirable and force historians to justify their dating more precisely, the
Yogicirabhumi and the A9ta are two examples of Chinese tanslations which show strong evidence of
these meditational usages and need to be address ed by him in fture studies. This is not to say that
White' s conclusions are not accurate with respect to certain segments of the non-buddhist population in
ancient India.
yogicira is ofen glossed as an exoteric, bahuvrTi compound meaning "one for who there is practice of
yoga. " Hence, a yoga pracitioner.
Paul Demieville, fiLe Yogacarabhimi De Saigharalsa, " Bulletin de L'Ecole Franraise XLIV, no. 1
( 1 9 5 1 ) : 339-40. Demieville also mentions the possibility that the title Yogacarabhumi could mean "la terre
de la pratique" (lit. "the level of meditation practice") and this is Silk' s provisional reading of the title.
However, based on Demieville' s study and based on the other glosses we get from the text itself-not
mention tose in the Srivakabhimi and Bodhisattvabhimi which also clearly refer to practitioners-it
seems more likely that yogicara here refers to a practitioner. Silk seems overly conservative when he
says we would need an example of *yogacaaka (which is unattested anyhere) in order to be certain that
this is a bahuvrTi.
4
3
Etienne Lamotte, Histor of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Saka Era (Louvain-la-Neuve:
Universitbcatholique de Louvain Institut orientaliste, 1 9 8 8), 2 1 7. Lamotte suggests that yoga is
synonymous with samadhi.
In his Aloka, Haribhadra (800 C. E. ) says "yoga is a distinctive [kind of samadhi," whereas
Ratnakarasanti ( 1 1 th century) says, in the opening lines of his Prajiiparamiti-Bhivani-upadeSa, mal
sbyor dang sgom pa ni ming gi mam grangs dag go, i . e. yoga is equivalent to bhivani. See shes rab ki
pha rol tu phyin pa bsgom pa'i man ngag ([prajJApAramitbhAvanopadeza. ]) [D. No. ] 4545, jo bo' i chos
chung, gi 1 73b2- 1 75a6. [NJ gi 1 96a2-1 98a6. [KinshaJ 3458, gi 248b6 (p. 1 25-3-6).
Jonathan Silk notes this l ist, but does not t to unpack this early occurrence through an analysis of the
context in which it occurs. I will attempt to do just that below.
1 2
Below, I will argue that in the YBS, the term yoga seems to fnction as a general
semantic marker for: (1) the "process of unifcation"of the mind, the breath and the
senses (2) the "resultant unit
,
46
of body and mind tat results through realizing their
emptiness and (3) the "resultant meetig" with the domain of the Buddha through the
practice of buddhinusmrti (i.e. "calling the Buddha to mind,,).
47
I other words, yoga in
the YBS is a multivalent ter that encompasses meanings similar to those described in
the Maitri Upani.ad and explained by Crangle as the synthesis of Vedic upisani and
yoga practice.
48
Furthermore, it is a term that specifcally refers to meditative practice,
through which one meets with the quality of the Buddha.
49
Although I will suggest,
below, that this idea of yoga qua "process of unifcation" led to Mahayana soteriology of
becoming a buddha, I do not intend ever to argue here that the idea of unifcation or
unity (at this early stage) meant becoming a Buddha.
Nonetheless, given what is lown about other Buddhist and non-Buddhist
contexts, one might ask, how is it that a Sarvastivadin text, roughly contemporaneous
with the Pali-Nikayas,
50
came to use the term yoga i such a different way from the PaU-
Nikayas? And, how is it that we only see the similar usage in the Pali teryogiacira
arising in Pali post-canonical works, such as Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga, after the

Most scholars would, of course, agree that the later Buddhist Vajrayla usage of the ten yoga meant
the process of "the process of unification" with the result of "the resultant unity." However, we are
focused on very early usage of the ten here.
Here, I do not intend to suggest that the Vajrayana notion of "the resultant unity" or that the so-called
Mahayana notion of "the resultant-unity" were the same as the one expressed here.
Whether one characterizes the yoga in Maitri passage as "contemplative practice" (Crangle) or not
(White) is not important in this regard, since the YBS clearly portrays a yoga focused on meditation.
Pointing out the general "similarit" of two passages is not being intended as evidence of any borrowing
from one side or other. Rather, the distinctive YBS usage of the term will be read below within specifc
contexts in which they occur. Other studies might address issues of borrowing.
Pali Nikayas certainly purport to report the word of the buddha as it was spoken. However, since they
themselves purport to have been written down in approximately 50 B. C.E., they were written down around
the same time as the writing down of the Agamas, may of which are presently being studied by Richard
Salomon.
13
tum of the s
th
century?
51
Is yoga qua meditation a semantic marker that necessarily
indicates proto-Mahayana soteriology? If so, when did it begin to be used as such?
In order to build towards an answer to this question in the remainder of this
paper, I will frst sketch out the textual history surrounding the compilation of the YBS,
then attempt to point out a few relevant and signifcant passages describing practice, and
fnally, fll in the portait of the comunity surrouding this usage of the teryoga with
some of the biogaphcal, anecdotal, and archeological information. Nonetheless, in
order develop a sense of the relevance and signifcance of the YBS, some basic
background information regarding the Yogacarabhumi (YB) might provide a usefl
means for highlighting the hstorical pecularities of the YBS, especially since both texts
later come to be conected with the practice of yoga qua meditation.
The Yogicirabhimi of Sa.gharaka
1. The Compilation History of Two Separate Yogacarabhumis
52
According to most scholars,
s
3
the Yogacarabhumi (B)-attributed by the Tibetans to
Asaiga and by the Chinese to Maitreya-was actually compiled in the s
th
centur from
various pre-existing materials.
54
Nonetheless, the oldest of the YB's sections, called the
S
ravakabhumi, is said to contain primarily
S
ravakayana materials that date at least to the
Personal comunication with Lance Cousins.
Studying the compilation history of YB based on Chinese catalogues of translations is problematic and
does not provide an unimpeachable basis for surveying Indian intellectual history. Here, however, dates
and methods are being reported for the sake of preliminary reference only and are not a central part of this
paper' s argument.
For example, Schmithausen, Deleanu, and Kritzer.
Not all scholars believe that Asaiga was responsible for the [mal compilation, since this would mean
that it was completed in the late fourth century.
14
2nd centry C.E.
55
The YB's next oldest section, according to Deleanu, Schmithausen
and others, is the Bodhisattabhumi (BB). According to Davidson, when the BB was
frst translated into Chinese by the yogicira GUlavan an in 431 c.E., it was cast in the
form of an independent sutra (by placing the intoductory chapter of the
Upilipariprcchi-sutra at the beginning).
56
Based on this (and other facts), Davidson and
other scholars have suggested that the
S
raakabhumi and the BB were gradually written
and compiled into the YB along with other independent texts in the early 6t
h
century. In
535 C.E., when the YB in its entirety (as it is known today) was fnally translated into
Chinese, the YB had absorbed the
S
raakabhumi, Bodhisattvabhumi, the so-called
Maulya Bhumi,
57
the Viniscayasar!grahanz and oter sections. In doing so, it was no
longer a text focused on meditation; rather, it had become a compendium of Mahayana
views, epistemologies, stories, and practices and was formally attibuted to Maitreya.
58
The less well known Yogicirabhumi (YBS), mentioned above, was purorted to
have been writtencompiled by Sangharalsa (in the early 2nd centry).
59
Deleanu states
t
h
at the YBS is very simila to Y's
S
ravakabhumi in terms of cont
e
nt, but ver
different in terms of style. Because of this, Deleanu suggests that the YBS is
contemporaneous with the
S
ravakabhumi and not a direct foreruner to it. The early
This theory requires us to assume that the Sravakabhumi section was initially called te Yogacarabhumi,
but received its name at the time of compilation.
Ronald M. Davidson, " Buddhist Systems of Transformation:
A
sraya-Paravrttil-Paravrtti among the
Yogacara" (University of Califoria Berkeley, 1 985), 25, 9.
Though Deleanu mentions that there i s some evidence of this term having been used t o refer t o these
"root" sections, it did not seem to be a name established in India, although Schmithausen coined as such.
Davidson, " Buddhist Systems of Transformation:
A
sraya-Paravrttil-Paravrtti among the Yogacara", 23 .
This ascription turs out to have been the earliest written ascription of any text to either Maitreya or
Asanga. Since it took centuries for the famous "fve treatises" to be attributed to Maitreya / Asanga", the
Yogacarabhfmi, which is considered at best to be a redaction by Asanga, provides perhaps the most
reliable evidence of Asanga' s own Mahayaa views.
Deleanu and Demieville both agree with this attribution to Salgharaka and hence, I will follow them
here.
1 5
date of the YBS is attested by its translation into Chinese between 1 48-70 C.B.
60
In 284
C.B. Dhararalc$a (who was also a translator of Mahayana texts, such as the
Saddharmapwrarzka-sutra)
6 1
re-translated the YBS into Chinese. Despite
Dharmarak$a's own personal Mahayana afliation, his translation accurately
coresponds with A Shigao' s prior translation of it. According to Demieville and
others, the YBS is clearly a
S
ravaayana meditation text associated with the Dar$tantika
views of the Kashiri Sarvastivadin school. Interestingly, Dhamarak$a's original
translation of YBS
62
appears to have been 27 chapters 10ng.
63
However, in 3 84 c.E.,
when Dao-an wrote the preface to the YBS, he noted that thee additional chapters had
been added, making a total of 3 0 chapters.
64
These three additional chapters, according
to Demieville, actually fnction as a small Mahayaa sutra on the three types of
practitioners-Arhats, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas-and contain several parables
demonstrating the particular infuence of the Saddharmapulrarzka-sutra and its
Demieville, " Le Yogacarabhimi De Saigharalsa, " 343-4. Although tis version appears to have been
only a partial translation of the exact same Yogidirabhumi that would be tanslated in its entiret into
Chinese one hundred fift years later, in 284 C. E. by Dharmaraka, Demieville has presented convincing
arguments for why the later YBS translation should be regarded as unchanged. In bri ef, his argument is :
the earliest translation of Salgharaka' s text had only seven chapters of the "complete text" of
Dhanarakka. In particular, only the contents of 7 chapters 1 -5, 22, 24 were translated i n fll . However,
since tis early translation also included alln chapter titles of Dharmaraksa' s translation in 284 C. E. and
since the texts correspond it many other ways, Demieville argues that the frst seven chapters represent
merely an excerpt from the larger text which must already have been extant in 1 48 C. E. He argues frther,
convincingly, that Dharmaraka' s version of the chapters missing in the 1 48 C. E translation, can be taken
as dating from the 2nd century. The main point to understand here is that, despite there being two
tanslations within the period of one hundred and fft years, there appears to have been only one original
YBS text (dating from the 2nd century) that was used.
'
Ibid. : 343 .
Davidson also lists Dharmaraka as the nae of a translator of Bodhisattvabhimi in the 5th centry.
Further research is required to determine whether this is another Dharmaraka or an errOL

Demieville, " Le Yogacaabhimi De Saigharalsa," 339n2 Cf Davidson, " Buddhist Systems of

Transformation: Asraya-Paravrttil-Paravrtti among the Yogacara" , 1 27-9. Davidson finds other evidence
of Gandhai Vaibhasika infuence.
Demieville, " Le Yogacarabhimi De Saigharasa, " 349.
1 6
distinctive Mahayana soteriology.
65
Since it appears that these thee chapters were
added only after Dharmaraka' s translation was catalogued, it is not clear when and by
whom these chapters came to be appended to the YBS. However, according to
Demieville, attaching Mahayana sutras to
S
ravakayaa practice texts was not unusual
occur ence in the 3r
d
century. In fact, the translation records of the 2n
d
centry show that
translations of
S
ravakayana and Mahayana texts had often been kept separate. However,
starting from Dhararalqa's tanslations in the 3r
d
century onward, one fds many texts
dealing specifcally with
S
ravaayana yoga practices being cast as sutras and appended
with separate Mahayana sutas.
66
Thus, accordig to the Chinese translations, it was
only in the begining of the 5t century that the texts translated by KumarajIva began to
present
S
ravakayaa practices side by side with two Mahayana components, namely the
Bodhisattva ideal (instead of the Arhat ideal) and Mahayaa notion of higher faculties
(abhiFi, instead of the
S
ravakayaa notion of these). Because of this, many scholars
have suggested that the translation history of the YBS provides an illumnating glimpse
of a tradition midwal
7
between
S
ravakayana and Mahayana 68
However, this brief overview also raises several questions. For instance, it is
well known that certain Mahayana practices had already been translated into Chinese in
6
5 Ibid. : , 340, 429n1 . Demieville points at only one distinctive Mahayana soteriological el ement, i . e. the
occurrence of the Mahayana idea of "jumping ahead" on the path. He explains the Chinese term meaning
' jumping ahead" was probably vyutkrantaka cara, It is interesting to note that the Tibetan tanslation of
the yogacara text known as te abhisamayalankara contains a similar notion which it translates as "thod
gal".
66Ibid. : 3 52-4, Since there is no specific evidence of this practice of appending Mahayana texts i India,
some have suggested that this practi ce began i China. Although this is a convenient assumption, the
tanslation and catologuing practices i China would have been overseen (at least in part) by the
translators from greater India, Hence, it may very well have been a practice imported from India,
6
7
Demieville lit calls it a mi-chemin Kitzer calls it the text a bridge. It might be worthwhile to
emphasize here that these scholars did not call the text a "mi-chemin" and so on because of its earliest
content, but because of its later translation history, Cf.Kitzer, Vasubandhu and the Yogacarabhumi :
Yogacara Elements in the Abhidharmakosabhasya, xxvii.

It is only the translation history, not the content of the YBS that makes Demieville and Deleanu say this.
They both place the content of the text squarely i n the Sravakayana.
1 7
the 2n
d
century. 69 Why, then, would Mahayana appendices be added specifcally onto
S
ravakayana' s ' 'oga' ' practice texts? Demieville notes frther that, when the Mahayaa
appendices were made, they were introduced with statements like, "That was for those
with weak faculties, but for those who have the past merit and the prajfa & 4 4 ,
,
70
Were
these coments merely an attempt to inspire practitioners to Mahayana practice? If so,
why did Dharmaraka not simply tanslate only Mahayana texts (and forget about the
S
ravakayana ones)? Was it because the Mahayana did not have a separate practice from
S
ravakayana in general? If so, why do we see these appendices occurring especially
with yoga texts? The answer to this question will be addressed below. But frst, perhaps
it would be good to get a bit more acquaine
d
with some o
f the so-called
S
ravakayana
yoga practices actualy described in the YBS itself
2. Sigfcant Statements in the YBS
It is difcult to get an accurate overview of the entire text without carefl study.
Nonetheless, by glancing at the titles of the 27 chapters, we can see that the YBS
possesses a relatively familiar
S
ravakayana structure.
71
That is to say, none of the
practices described in the YBS appear to be different from the normal
S
ravakayaa
practices. However, if we look more closely at the way the ter yoga is used in these
so-called
S
ravakayana chapters, we [md many hints of Mahayana practice and usages
similar to those in the Maitri Upani9adi.e. the "process of unifcation" and the two
6
9 For instance, the Pratutpannabuddhasammukkha-sutra.
7

Demieville, " Le YogacarabhUmi De Sangharalsa, " 354-5.

7 1
Rather than interrupt the fow with a detailed explanation here, the Appendix to this paper includes a
summary of YBS chapters along with tanslations of other important quotes, so that readers might be able
to refer to it and get a better feel for contents in the text.
1 8
types of "resultant unity. "
n
The "simultaneous ' process of unifcation' of body and mind" consists of
the following: the body is seated straight, but the mind is not at all slack;
the sense faculties are pacifed interally, they do not move exterally
anymore to obey the play of causes and conditions; the body and spirit are
joined indestructibly, equally, and identically; they are in perfectly
"mutal correspondence. " In this way, one arives rapidly to Niria.
73
Beyond the similarity in usage, the YBS also explains yoga as "the process of
unifying" body and mind though techniques similar to the "sixfold method" of
yoga described in the Maitri Upani.ad. Although the YBS itself provides
detailed explanations of how yoga as "unity" is achieved, it might also be worth
noting here that all six methods of the sixfold yoga in the Maitri Upani.adhave
+
1 b
1
74
some sor OJ eqUlvalents 1 C 5pter tIt es.
Furtherore, the YBS also describes a yoga in some ways siilar to the upisani
type of yoga, or the "resultant unity" with Surya, the light maker. In particular, it says
(Chapter 1 0) should contemplating the four seals until he "recogzes indeed that he
himself is capable of obtaining the four fruits and the quality of Buddha:,
7
5
Then,
(Chapter 1 5 , "The Divine Eye") that after persisting beyond obstacles and mastering the
senses, the yoga practitioner begins to develop the extrasensory perceptions (abhini) by
doing the following:
[The yoga practitioner] meditates on light until the point at which it
illuminates his mind, even when his eyes are closed. In ths way, he
obtains the "Dharma-eye" with equalized vision, transcends all distances,
7
2
In this paragraph, the Maiti uses forms of the verbal root yuj for joining etc. and connects this to unity
(ekata) .
7
3
Demieville, " Le YogacaabhUmi De Sangharalsa, " 404. Demieville translates (siang ying) as
"correspondance mutuel le. "
7
4
The similarity beteen these six methods i s too long and complex t o compare and contrast here at
length. There is no room for discussion ofthese here.
7
5
Demieville, " Le YogacarabhUmi De Sangharasa, " 405. The four fruits here mean stream enterer up
through arhat The "qualit of a buddha" is admittedly enigmatic here, but the immediately subsequent
sections put this in more context. See appendix for a complete sense of the yoga' s progression.
1 9
arrives at the heaven of the
S
uddhavasa gods, covers the fve births and
the entire tichiliocosme. He realiz
e
s the divine eye . . .
76
A
f
ter describing the development of the other fve higher kowledges (abhinas) through
anusmrti on the breath and on the impure (asubhabhiana) in order to "abandon the
conditions of the world" (as in the Maitri Upaniad passage above), the meditation
culminates when "within the moment of one thougt, he covers the whole domain of
Buddha back and forh.
,
,
77
Although the MaUri Upanisad and the YBS differ in ters of meditative method
and soteriology, it might be worle here to highlight the broad similarities here
between their ideas of the process of unifcation.
78
Early in the YBS, the practitioner
goes though the various stages of breath, etc. but is enjoined to "bring to mnd the
excellence of the Tathagata's merits, his image, the Dharma ad the Sangha. " Then, in
the context of this meditation, the practitioner begis by imagining "light" (which is a
well known visualization techique).
79
Then, though developing the Divine Eye and
7
6 Ibid. : 407. Buddhaghosa and Bhikkhu Nalamoli, The Path of Purication: Visuddhimagga, ed.
Buddhist Publication Societ, 5th ed. (Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 1 99 1 ) , 3 99 .
Buddhaghosa, writing o n the divine eye four hundred years later, describes light perception as a specifc
means for reaching brahma' s realm. Buddhaghosa (399-400) "Remaining here and extending light, he sees
the visible form of Brahma. " See Appendix where, Chapter 22, in the last paragraph states, one goes
"through practice, to the heaven of Brahma and the palace of Suddhlvasa. " This arrival in the heaven of
the Suddhavasa gods is redescribed several times in the text. Each time it becomes more clear that the
practitioner of yoga gains unity not with a god, but is mentally and physically transported to directly
experience the "quality of the Buddha. "
77
Demieville, " Le YogacarabhUmi De Sangharasa, " 4 1 0 . . Demieville suggests that this is not a buddha
feld (buddhak<etra), but perhaps a precursor to it. Unfortunately, I do not have access to the Chinese to
double check the terminology.
7
8 The Maitri showed and adept meeting SUrya, the Brahma source. Here, the adept reaches the Brahma
realm and then the buddha' s domain (although no description of a Buddha is given) .
7
9 See appendix. This marks the beginning of Chapter 1 5 on developing the Divine Eye. Four hundred
years later, Buddhaghosa also mentioned similar visualization practices. See for instance Bhikkhu
Nalamoli and Bodhi, The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha : A New Translation of the Majjhima
Nikaya, Teachings of the Buddha (Boston: Wisdom Publications in association with the Barre Center for
Buddhist Stdies, 1 995), 22 1 -2.
20
other abhifa, the practitioner passes beyond the Braha realm.
8o
Finally, the
practitioner develops the power to reach the "Bud
d
a's domain., ,
8 1
And, at this point, he
has concluded the process set up by recognizing hmself to obtain the "quality of the
Buddha." In other words, like the yoga described in the Maitri, there is a yoga (qua
visualization) practice involving light rays that leads to the meeting with a dharma-
source, which in this case, is a buddha.
8
2
Thus, although Demieville does not seem to
read the Chinese ter here as indicating specifcally a fll blown Mahayana "Buddha-
feld", it does not seem much of a stretch see these visualization techniques, which lead
to a "Buddha's domain," as indicating that the YBS should not simly be classifed as a
S
ravakayana practice text (as scholars until now have done).
In fact, the 27 chapters of the YBS (which scholars call
S
ravakayana) possess
much interal evidence to suggest that the author hmself was concered particularly
with meeting with Buddhas and with the contemplation of emptiness. For instance, afer
mentioning that yoga practitioners can reach and travel "the whole domain of Buddha,
,
,
83
the YBS critiques ordinary practitioners who cannot even "penetrate the mansion. "
s4
In
another very telling passage, the YBS states that recollection of the Buddha, Dhana,
and Sangha indeed constittes the primary factor for distinguishing the "yoga
practitioner" fom the "ordinary practitioner" who appears to do the same practices:
8
0
A later passage says that yoga practioners penetrate "to the heaven of Brahma and the palace of
Suddhavasa. " For the complete context fo this quote, see the Appendix in the last paragraph before
Chapter 23.
8
1
This suprasses MaUri 's "Brahma source" and probably correlates to the Realm of Suddhavasa.
8
2
For comparison with the stages of unifcation in the Maitri, one should re-read the Maitri passages from
pages 9- 1 1 (above) .
83
Demieville, " Le Yogacaabhimi De Sangharals:sa, " 41 1 .
8
4
Ibid. : 41 0. cf. Deleanu, The Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikamirga) in the Srivakabhumi : A
Trilingual Edition (Sanskit, Tibetan, Chinese), Annotated Translation, and Intoductor Study, 1 58.
Deleanu reads the Chinese word for prthagina as "novice" buddhists, rather than non-Buddhists as
Demieville did. Demieville' s explanation and the context within the text make it quite clear that these are
non-Buddhists here. I will follow Demievill e' s reading.
21
a. Ordinar Practitioners
8 5
Ordinary practitioners arrive at qui
e
scence though focusing their minds
on their counted breaths. They destroy the obstacle of the aggregates
(skandha), arrive at detachent, and enter into the frst Dhyina state,
where they strive to obtain the higher knowledges (abhiFi) and in
paricular, the magical powers, though which they become the masters of
the fourth Dhyina state. Thoughout these exercises, the ordinay
practitioner's mind has no other notion besides the breaths themselves.
[whereas . J
b. Yoga Practitioners
The yoga practitioner has present before his mind te notion of the merits
of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha (buddha-dharma-sangha
anusmrti) and the meaning of the Four Noble Trts, through whose
blessings, he obtains the four roots of vie (kusala mula) .
In other words, the YBS explains that the difference between the ordinary meditation
practitioner and the yoga practitioner lies precisely in the fact that a yoga practitioner has
the ability to keep "present before his mind the notion of the merits of the Buddha,
Dharma, and Sangha together with the meaing of the Four Noble Truths. ,
,
86
Does this
mean that yoga is conected with the practice of recollecting the Buddha, Dharma, and
Sangha?
87
Since the text also mentions (earlier) that the practice of recollecting is to be
done with the "image" of the Buddha, does this indicate that a statue (or painting) might
have been used as a suppor for a vizualization practice?
If so, it is paricularly interesting that, afer describing the accomplishment of the
practice, the so-called Hlnayana section of YBS also conects this practice with a
description of insight that sounds similar to a Mahayana realization of emptiness. The
Deleanu, The Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikamirga) in the Srivakabhumi : A Trilingual
Edition (Sanskit, Tibetan, Chinese), Annotated Trnslation, and Intoductor Study, 1 5 8 . Deleanu
presents arguments for reading this as Novice and Yogacaa master whereas Demieville seems to imply
the Non-buddhist and buddhist distinction-though I may be wrong. In any event, I have utilized the
phrase "ordinar practitioners" to accommodate both readings.
Demieville, " Le Yogacarabhimi De Sangharalsa, " 4 1 7. This is not called samatha in the passage but
comes within tat general discussion.
I am not sure what the merits of the Buddha, etc. are. It is possible that this was a Chinese word to
indicate marks or signs, but I canot investigate this possibility frther without Chinese.
22
YBS says that the yoga practitioner realizes that all "tangible forms" and "his own body"
are "identical" with "emptiness" like "milk and water. " 88
Like certain Mahayaa
schools, the YBS also notes that the practitioner's physical body can disappear
completely at this point. Is this indicating that a yoga practitioner is to be distinguished
from ordinary practitioners not only through his recollecting the Buddha, but also by his
resultant realization of the emptiness of his own for? Since this is the fnal realization
described, one must ask whether yoga does not specifcally mean here the unity of form
and emptiness?
Emptiess cerainly is emphasized in the YBS and, according to Demieville, its
longest chapter is the chapter on emptiness. At the chapter's conclusion, it reads:
Having realized that there is no ' !, in the elements, skandhas, and
aatanas, the yoga practitioner arives at (the thee samadhis called) the
Three Doors of Liberation: emptiness, desirelessness, and absence of
particular characteristics. I have examined the Dharma of the Buddha's
sutras, in search of liberation, the eteral peace.
The meaning is profound, and the exposition is vast, for
those [practitioners] inspired by great compassion.
89
In order to sharen the intelligence of practitioners, I have
elaborately explained this [chapter on] emptiness.
90
Although the concept of the Three Doors of Liberation is well attested in
S
ravakayana
texts, it is the emphasis placed on this topic that deserves particular attention here. Even
88 Demieville, " Le Yogacarabhimi De SangharaIsa, " 4 1 0- 1 . This discussion onhe "form" and the void is
adduced from a later pol emic moment in the text but, reading the text as a whole, the two polemics seem
to be two halves of the same discussion, which I have merely paraphrased here. It is not clear in tis
instance that Demieville' s "Void' is indeed a discussion of the Mahayana notion of emptiness, and in fact,
it probably is not. However, this section does indeed resemble a discussion one might see in the A$,a.
89 Not knowing the exact Chinese term, I have translated Demieville' s "to tale" as "great" since the
semantic range of the word "totale" in French differs slightly from "total" in English and since the term
"great" is commonly used for the "absolute" idea to which "totale" seems to be pointing.
9
0
Demieville, " Le Yogacarabhimi De SangharaIsa, " 409.This is my rough translation fom Demieville' s
French version.
23
more unusual is the fact that the chapter on emptiness (which is part of the early so-
called
S
ravakayaa section) ends with a verse on "great compassion" another Mahayana
theme.
9 1
Finally, as noted above, this chapter on emptiness is sandwiched between two
sections discussing what seem to be abbreviated these descriptions of visualization
practice stage (mentioned above). Can we conclude from these hints that the YBS's
usage of the term yoga had Mahayana connotations? Why else would it emphasize
emptiness (sunyata), lin it with compassion, and also mention (what seems to be a)
visionary practice of recollecting the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha (buddha-dharma-
sanghanusmrti)? Does this mean that what most other scholars have called a
S
ravakayana yoga practice text actually has Mahayana elements? Certainly, emptiness,
the Thee Doors, geat compassion, and buddhanusmrti are not unknown in
S
ravakayana
literature, but can the complex of these thee togeter be considered idicative of Proto-
Mahayana?
Before moving on to examine the specifc type of yoga practice described in the
YBS, it might help generally to gain an overiew of the categories of buddhanusmrti
practice, and specifcally, to conect this with the evidence of Mahayaa visionary
practice (combined with rhetoric about emptiness) that was translated into Chinese just a
few years later.

The frst chapter of the text is called "Assemblage and Dissolution"-a term associated generally with
Mahayana visualization practice-seems oddly p laced here at te beginning of the text. Even if it is not
particularly connected to visualization practice here, it seems suggests a notion of yoga as a process of
unifcation.
2
4
2. The Various Forms of Buddhanusmrti
By the second centu C. B. , there had emerged in te Indian Buddhist landscape
thee distinct forms of buddhfnusmrti, which might be (roughly) characterized as
"inspirational,"
92
"aspirational," and "visionary.
,,
93
The inspirational form of buddhCnusmrti practice might be exemplifed by those
descriptions in the canonical Pali sources, where it is listed as the frst of ten
recollections (P. anussati, Skt. anusmrti) under the heading ofjhCna (Skt. dhyCna). The
ten recollections are: the Buddha, the dhamma, the sangha, virtue (Sfla), renunciation
(cCga), the devas, in-breathing and out-breathing (CnCpCna), death (marala), the bodily
constituents (kCyagata), and tranquility (upasama) .
94
Although the Pali canon offers few
detailed descriptions of the mechanics of "recollecting the Buddha," for the most part,
the Pali buddhCnumsmrti practice seems to have consisted of refecting upon
S
lamuni
Buddha's ten attributes (adhivacana) for the sake of protection from fear.
95
Later non-
canonical Pali sources also connected this inspirational form of buddhCnusmrti practice
to the accumulation of merit and to the deVelopment of access concentration
9
2
Karlsson, " Face to Face with the Absent Buddha. The Formation of Buddhist Aniconic Art" , 62.
Karlsson states that the Suttanipata and Dharapada both refer to the buddhanusmrti practice and are
considered by many to come from early pars of the canon. These follow the inspirational model.
9
3
These are my characterizations based on what I understand from general reading and specifcally, from
Paul Harrison in: Lokakema et al. , The Pratutpanna Samadhi Sutra (Berkeley, CA: Numata Center,
1 998), 2. In my contact with Harrison in 2008 at Asilomar, he told me personally that he had revised his
thinking on some of these points, but he did not explain what he changed. So, I will continue to utilize his
old famework (i. e. inspirational, aspirational, visionary) here, s ince it is usefl and mirrors what others say
about the topic. Cf Alan Sponberg and Helen Hardacre, eds . , Maitreya, the Future Buddha
(Cambridge Cambridgeshire ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1 98 8) .
9
4
Karlsson, " Face t o Face with the Absent Buddha. The Formation of Buddhist Aniconic Art" , 63 .
According to Karlsson, the number of recollections (anusaW) varies throughout the Nikayas . For a
reference to si recollections, see, instance, Dlgha-nikaya (III: 250, III: 280). For ten recollections, s ee, for
instance, Aiguttara-nikaya (1 : 30, 1 :42) . There are only a few references to four or five recollections and
Karlsson does not cite them.

Ibid. , 64. For instance, s ee Pittikasufta (DN : III: 5), Vatthupamasutfa (M 1 : 37), Sakkasutta (SN I: 1 1 8-
1 1 9) . Karlsson has found one reference to mentally seeig the Buddha face to face, but this was not
specifcally in relation to buddhanusmrti practice and seems more the exception that proves the rule.
25
(upacarasamadhi), but they also saw it as unable to lead a practitioner directly to the
development of the jhana states.
96
In other words, ths fon of buddhanusmrti practice
calmed the mind and inspired the practitioner. However, since it did not purort to cause
anything like an actual meeting with the
S
akyamuni Buddha, it might be characterized as
merely a "inspirational" exercise.
The aspirational fon of buddhanusmrti practice might be exemplifed by
descriptions fom the larger and smaller Sukhiatfvuha-sutras and the so-called
Amitayur-dhyana-suta. These sutas describe the "compassionate action of the foner
Bodhisattva Dharmakara and show the faithfl the way to rebirth in SukhaatI, the
glorious Buddha-feld of the Buddha Aitabhal Aitayus.
,,
97
Here, Buddha A
m
itabha
is considered to be a presently existent Buddha, but in order for the practitioner to meet
h, he must "call him to mnd" (anusmrti)
98
and actively aspire to be rebor in his
Buddha feld, SukhavatI.
99
Through this practice, when Buddha Aitabha does appear to
the practitioner, this appearance is "depicted as a actual event, taking place
(necessarily) at the hour of death and followed by rebirth in Sukhavati. "
] OO
In other
words, although Amitabha is presently existent in a Buddha-feld, he is not presently
accessible in the human world. Thus, this fon of buddhanusmrti can be called
aspirational, because the practitioner can actually meet the Buddha at death. Since this
aspirational buddhanusmrti implies specifc soteric results different fom those
g
David Donald Drewes, " Mahayana SUas and Their Preachers: Rethinking the Nature of a Religious
Tradition" (PhD, University of Virginia, 2006), 4 1 .
[
Paul Harrison, "Buddhausmrti in the Pratyutpanna-Buddha-Sarmukhavasthita-Samadhi-Sutra, "
Joural ofIndian Philosophy 6 ( 1 978): 2.
j
Ibid. : 1 8. I n this practice, the appearance of Aitabha i s not understood as being "produced" by the
anusmrti, although it is dependent upon the faithfl perforance of that act.

Ibid. : 3 .
0U
Ibid. : 1 8 .
26
connected with the inspirational type of buddhinusmrti, it can be distinguished from
that for.
The visionar for of buddhinusmrti practice might be best exemplifed by the
descriptions in the Prayutanna-buddha-sm!mukha-avasthita-samidhi-sutra ("Sia on
the Meditation of Direct Encounter with the Buddhas of the Present) : (PraS). In the
introduction to his translation of this sutra, Paul Harrison distinguishes it from the early
sutras often associated later with the Pure Land sects, saying:
The object of this "calling to mind" or visualization may accordingly be
all or any of the myriad Buddhas of the present and although the text of
the PraS mentions Amitabha by nae, he is merely adduced as an
example, as the Buddha of the present par excellence. The practitioner of
the meditation might just as well visualize the Buddha of the east,
Ak$obhya, in his buddhafeld of Abhrati.
In other words, Harison explains that a practitioner can obtain "visions" of any or all of
the "Buddhas of the present" and these are all considered "valid perceptions. " Because
these visions are explained in connection with the doctrine of emptiness (
S
unyati), they
are also considered "empty" at the same time.
1 0 1
Hence, although this tye of
buddhinusmrti is also "aspirational," it might be better characterized as visionar,
because it is oriented towards visionary encounters with empt Buddhas (and their
Dhara) in both the present and the future.
1 02
Since this form of buddhinusmrti
represents a frther soteric shif fom the inspirational type of buddhinusmrti, visionary
buddhinusmrti is ofen understood as a Mahayana practice. In fact, although the PraS
was translated into Chinese in 1 79 C.E., Harison goes frther in saying that the PraS
description of buddhinusmrti "foreshadows one of the fndamental principles of the
0
Ibid. : 3 .
0Z
Afer reading an earlier draft of this paper, Jos e Cabezon proposed another scheme for classifying these
practices, i. e. fnctionally (in terms of what they get you) and metaphysically (in terms of the ontological
status of the thing you eventually encounter (real as opposed to empty buddhas).
27
deity-yoga regarded as tyical of Vajrayfma or Tantric Buddhism."
l o3
In other words,
although this buddhanusmrti is certainly distinguishable from Vaj rayana' s deity-yoga
both might be described as a "process of unifcation" in order to achieve some notion of
"resultant unity. " Thus, although it is fa fom clear how these thee different fors of
buddhanusmrti practice developed and how that development specifcally might relate
(or not) to the so-called synthesis of upasana and yoga in the Maitri Upani.ad or to the
context of the YSB yoga practice, it appears that only the aspirational and visionar
forms of buddhanusmrti involved the "process of unifcation"; whereas the solely
inspirational tye lacked the aspiration to actually meet a buddha or to achieve any sor
of "unity" with him.
l o4
Furtherore, since there is evidence that early yoga practitioners
practiced a similar visionary for of buddhanusmrti and were actually called yogacaras
(in Pali sources, yogavacara),
1
0
5
it SEems that the YBS' s mention of recollecting the
Buddha' s "image" is signifcat, because it points to the soteriological context in which
the YBS was written.
Since the buddhanusmrti practice is only mentioned in connection with the
practices described in the YBS, it is quite clear that the YBS is not a text "about"
1 03
Harrison, " Buddhfsmrti in the Pratyutanna-Buddha-Salmukhavasthita-Samadhi-Sutra, " 3 . Cf
1 04
The inspirational model ofbuddhanusmrti was a subset of the other two. In other words, the
inspirational aspect was indeed connected with both the aspirational and visionary, but the visionary and
aspirational were not included in te inspirational.
1 05
See YBS translation below, "If the yogicira, i n hi s heritage or i n isolated place, suddenly
conceives a fear that causes his body hair and clothes to raise up, he should bring to mind the excellence of
the Tathagata' s merits, his image, the Dharma and the Salgha. " Although this might be taken as
suggesting that the YBS is working with an inspirational model of anusmrti for the sake of protection, this
inspirational aspect was indeed incorporated into the visionary model. By the 5th century, Buddhaghosa
even makes this connection. See, for instance,Buddhaghosa and Nalamoli, The Path ofPurication:
Visuddhimagga, 22 1 -2. Also, in the Pali canon, there is mention of visualization of corpses in the
asubhabhivani practice and of the Buddha "mentally creating" all the other Buddhas of the past around
himself (Dr. Saah Shaw, personal communication) And, the mystic Pali tradition of the yogavacira were
quite connected with similar Mahayana type visualization practice. See Dieter Schlingloff, Ein
Buddhistisches Yogalehrbuch, 2 vols. , Sanskrittexte Aus Den Turfanfnden ; 7-7a (Berlin: Akademie
Verlag, 1 964).
28
buddhanusmrti. Nonetheless, based on contextual evidence (below), I would argue that
even the brief mention of buddhanusmrti provides an imporant clue for understanding
the usage of the ter yoga in the YBS and for re-characterizing this text as proto-
Mahayana.
1
0
6
In other words, I a not arguing that yoga means buddhanusmrti or
becoming a "unity" with a buddha. Rather, I am suggesting that yoga in the YBS was a
process by which one entered
S
uddhavasa realm (also called, the domain of the Buddha)
and encountered the qualities of a buddha. Still, one might ask, if this is early Mahyaa
practice was actually practiced by yoga practitioners in the 2
n
d
century, then why did A
Shigao not tanslate any texts on visualization (or on emptiness) into Chinese along with
it? i 07 Ths is a question that has confounded historias and will certainly not be
answered decisively here. However, some lighT may be shed upon the issue by
considering some of the contextual evidence surrounding the YBS.
The Practtoners of Yoga
1 . General historical description
According to Buddhabhadra's 5
th
century C.B. history of the Y ogacara, the practice of
yoga stretches back to Upagupta
(3
rd
centry B.C.E). Buddhabhadra says that, afer the
great sarJgha schism, an original group of yoga practitioners (ogacara) split into fve
UO
U[
The termyogacara occurs in the Ata (see, for instance Mitra, 92), since the PraS is only available to
me in translation, I cannot point to exact usages of the term yoga within that text. Since the Chinese term
tao was used in archaic translations to mean either yoga or bodhi or marga and since Harrison provides a
footnote that suggests his he translated tao most ofen as "Way," it seems possible that the term yoga
might have been included among the many various references to "Way" in Harrison' s translation. I hope
to verif this point with him in the fture, if I get a chance. See Lokakema et al . , The Pratutanna
Samadhi Sutra, 6, 1 09 .
29
different schools, each of which developed its own yoga text.
l OS
Some scholars are
disinclined to accept these aspects of Buddhabhadra's history. And, cerainly, the
attribution of the yoga practice tradition to the seminal fgure of Upagupta should not be
taken too seriously. However, it appears fom the catalogue evidence that
Buddhabhadra's own teacher Buddhasena compiled a Yogacarabhumi (YBB) that was
translated into Chinese in the 3
r
d
century.
l 09
Though we do not have this or the other
texts that Buddhabhadra mentioned, we do have knowledge of the YBS, the YBB and
the YB, hence the idea of two other YB texts seems at least plausible. Although the
none of these Yogacarabhumi texts appears to have discussed buddhanusmrti,
Buddhabhadra is well kown to have been a practitioner of buddhanusmrti.
1 1
0
Furthermore, his notion of an early split among yoga practitioners is quite plausible,
especially if these texts-namely, the YSB, YB, YES-are ildeed three of fve different
(but related) evolutionar streas of yoga texts.
I I I
Moreover, there are the later legends of Tibetan and Chinese tradition of the YB,
which generally assert that Asanga founded the so-called Y ogacara philosophical school
based on texts revealed to hi by the ftue Buddha Maitreya in Tuita heaven.
Wether Asanga or Maitreya had anything to do with the founding of the Y ogacara
philosophical school, the idea that Asanga (or another author/compiler) received these
texts in a vision from Maitreya after a long yoga retreat is not that far fetched. From at
Uo
Lamotte, Histor of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins t o the Saka Era, 595. Lamotte argues that
Buddhabhadra is not to be believed since the text names he mentions are not all yoga texts . However,
,
fom his comments, it s eems that Lamotte' s idea of a yoga text was too limited. He did not believe that
Mahavibhasa could have been a yogacara text. However, it might well have been considered so in early
times , particularly since the Mahavibhasasastra mentions yogacaas frequently with respect. Further
research into these five texts would help clarif this point.
UV
Demieville, " Le Yogacarabhumi De Sangharalsa, " 395.
! U
Ibid. : 3 82.

Further research of this point is needed to determine the text names and details indicated in
Buddhabhadra' s history.
3 0
least the mid-4
th
centy onwards, the Mahayana portions of the YB (atibuted to
Asaiga) seemed to have thived in and around Northwest area where Asaiga lived.
I 1
2
So, whether or not the YB is ascribed to Asaiga, Maitreya or someone else, it is likely
that the compiler sprang fom a pre-existing Northwest mileu of early "yoga
practitioners" (ogiciras), who preserved the YB and compiled it.
1 1 3
In order to
understand this milieu better, we will now examine the evidence for an early group of
practioners with a soteriology centered around a particular yoga of the "process of
unifcation" and achieving the "resultant unity" with the ftue Buddha Maitreya.
Although this early notion of "resultant unit" with Buddha Maitreya was not the same
as that of the later Mahayana notion of becoming a Buddha, it does indeed seem to have
been a proto-Mahayaa notion of meeting a buddha directly through meditation.
2. Yoga Practitioners Wo Practice Buddhanusmrti Directed at Maitreya
In his 1 932 study Shin, Shik, Funbetsu to Konpon Funbetsu: Citta, viiina,
vikala, and mula-vikalpa,
1 l 4
Shosen Miyamoto showed that, althoughyogicira were
monlcs conected with various vinayas, they were geographically concentrated mostly in
Kashmir and in the surrounding Northwest region, which (as noted above) were the
areas where the YB and YBS were preserved and passed down until the 4th century.
I I S
1 1
2
Deleanu, The Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikamarga) in the Srivakabhumi : A Trilingual
Edition (Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese), Annotated Translation, and Intoductor Study, 1 58.
1 1
3
I do not intend to suggest here that Asaiga was the writer/compiler of the YB or had anything to do
with the YBS. The point here is that the Northwester Maitreya tradition, in general, produced the
YogCcCrabhfmi-s around this time period.
1 1
4
Davidson, "Buddhist Systems of Transformation: Asraya-Paravjti/-Parlvrtti among the Yoglclra" , 23 .
Davidson cites Sh6sen Miyamoto, " Shin, Shiki, Funbetsu to Konpon Funbetsu
Citta, Vijfla, Vikalpa, and Mila-Vikalpa, " Shfk8 Kenku 9, no. 5 ( 1 932).
1 1
5
Jonathan A. Silk and Gadjin M. Nagao, "From Mldhyamika to Yoglcla, " Joural o/Interational
Association 0/Buddhist Studies 2, no. 1 ( 1 979) : 274. Silk cites Miyamoto, " Shin, Shiki, Funbetsu to
Konpon Funbetsu
3 1
Deleanu has suggested that Sarvastivadins were perhaps the most "active tradition" of
yoga practitioners in Kashmir.
I 1 6
Nonetheless, on the basis of numismatic evidence fom
the 2
n
d
century C. E. (various Maitreya coins from Kanika's era)
! 1 7
and on the basis of
Faxian's (3 99-41 4 C. B. ) eye-witness account of ancient Maitreya statues from the
Kuala era in Dardistan, we kow that their soteriology was widespread thoughout the
norhwest.
I I S
Hence, it seems safe to assume that Maitreya was well-established i the
Northwester consciousness and likely in the soteriology developed there.
l l 9
Demieville goes frther to suggest that, begining perhaps as early as the second
century C.E. ,
1
2
0
a tradition of Sarvastivadinyoga practitioners specifcally conected
with YBS had developed a visionary tye of buddhinusmrti
l
2
1
focused on the Buddha
Maitreya.
1
22
According to Ronald Davidson, some scholars might understand the many
Citta, VUfana, Vikalpa, and Mila-Vikalpa, " 773 . , but notes that there is a reprinted version of the article
in Shosen Miyamoto, "Konpon Funbetsu No Kenkyi Mila-Vikalpa " in Hakase Bukogaku Ronshu:
Bukkogaku No Konpon Mondai ed. Saigusa Mitsuyoshi and Takasaki Jikido Hirakawa Akira, eds.
(Tokyo: Shunjisha, 1 985; reprint, Reprint of Miyamoto, Shoson, "Tokiwa Hakase Kanreki Kinen: Bikkyo
Ronso", Tokiwa Hakase Kanreki Kinen: Bikkyo Ronso l 933. 353-498 (esp. 376-409 .
O
Deleanu, The Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikaarga) in the Sravakabhumi : A Trilingual
Edition (Sanskit, Tibetan, Chinese), Annotated Translation, and Intoductor Study, 1 5 8 .
! !
Jan Nattier, A Fe Good Men : The Bodhisattva Path According to the Inquir of Ugra
(Ugrapariprccha) : A Study and Translation (Honolulu: Universit of Hawaii Press, 2003), 44.
! !
Faxian and James Legge, A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms : Being a n Account by the Chinese Monk
Fa-Hien of His Travels in India and Ceylon (A. D. 399-414) in Search of the Buddhist Book of Discipline
(New York: Dover Publications, 1 991 ), 24- 5. Although Faxian' s account suggests that the states are
ancient, there is no way to date those specifc statues to the Kuila era. For an example of other
Northwester, Kuata era Maitreya statues, see
htt: //ww . columbia. edu/itc/mealac/pritchettOOroutesdata/O 1 00_0 1 99!kushanartmaitreya/maitreya. htmL
V
Si lk, " Wisdom, Compassion, and the Search for Understanding : The Buddhist Stdies Legacy of
Gadj in M. Nagao, " 274. Cf. Miyamoto, " Shin, Shiki, Funbetsu to Konpon Funbetsu
Citta, Vijfana, Vikalpa, and Mila-Vikalpa. " According to Nattier, the numismatic evidence shows several
different spellings of Maitreya.
ZU
Davidson, "Buddhist Systems of Transformation: Asraya-Paravrttil-Paravrtti among the Yogacara" .
Z
Ibid. , 22. At the very least, it might have started out "aspirational" in the second century and become
"visionary" by the third centry.
ZZ
Demieville, " Le Yogacarabhimi De SangharaIsa, " 341 . Demieville' s argument for saying that
Satgharaka was a Maitreya devotee, involves a complex triangulation beteen several distinct sources
and hinges on reports made about Satgharaka' s corpse as having been "unburable"-except perhaps by
it own fre-which is a post-mortem sign of yoga practice attested in Maitreya oriented sections of the
Sdhinirmocana-sutra. While his argument is intriguing, it is not central to my thesis. Further research
32
references to buddhanusmrti in Mahiyana sitas as describing a meditation techique
originally directed toward "obtaining a vision of
S
akyamuni,,
1 2
3
or some other "present
buddha.
,,
1 2
4
However, the Kashmiri Savastivadin legends tell of many ''ogacara
masters having traveled, either physically or psychically, to the heaven of Tuita" to
view Maitreya in order to receive teachirgs or spiritual advice from him
1 25
and in order
to secure a fture rebirth in his domain. Moreover, the evidence shows that these
yogacaras not only had visions of Maitreya through their yoga, but also that many 3
rd
centry Y ogacara masters were said to have miraculously obtained fom Maitreya
through their miraculous powers (rddhi pada) a vaiety of instrctions pertaining to
d

.
1 1 26
d
.
1 2
7
or matlOn, ntua s, or octrme.
Among the many early legends that reached Chira in the latter half of the
4
t
h
century C.E. (primarily by means of the Kashiri monle Sanghabhadra),
1 2
8
the legends
of four Kashmiri yoga practitioners (who lived in the 1
st
though 3
rd
centuries C. E. ) were
recorded by the Chirese master Dao-an. In these hagiographies, the Sarvastivadin
would be required to decide whether Demieville is correct about Salgharak:a being a devotee of Maitreya.
For now, I will follow Demieville.
Zj
Davidson, " Buddhist Systems of Transformation: Asraya-Paravrtti/-Parlvrtti among the Y oglcla", 20.
Z4
Ibid. , 1 9.
ZJ
Ibid. , 22. Italics for "next" are my own and are added for emphasis . Cf Paul Harrison, " Buddhism: A
Religion of Revelation afer All ?, " Numen 34, no. 2 ( 1 987): 262-3 . Harrison cites Gombrich as observing
that there are some Buddhists today who bel ieve that there have been no arhats since the time of the
Buddha, because it is only through direct contact with a Buddha that one can be freed. It would be
interesting to investigate the lineage histories of these Buddhists (who are devotees of Maitreya) tG see
what connection they might have, if any, to the early Yoglcaras.
Zg
Davidson, " Buddhist Systems of Transforation: Asraya-Paravrtti-Parlvrtti among the Yogacla", 20-
2.
Z[
Ibid. , 1 39.
Zj
Demieville, " Le YogacarabhUmi De Saigharalsa, " 364-6. Although Tao-an' s preface to the
Yog3c3rabhimi written in 384 C. B. apparently reports an oral tadition that he purports to have obtained
from the Kashmiri monk Sanghabhadra, Demieville raises questions concering this monk' s identit in
relation to other reports of Sanghabhadra. Also, Demieville rightly questions what parts of the
hagiography of Sangharak:a should be taken as historic.
33
masters-Vasuitra, MaitreyasrI, Sangharalsa,
1 2
9
and Dharatrata-were all "declared
as bodhisattvas" who had ascended to Tuita heaven and were waiting in line to take
their births as fture Buddhas.
1 3 0
Aside fom these early yogiciras, the 4
th
century
Kashri master Buddhabhadra wrote of his Yogada teacher Buddhasena' s
accomplishent as well as his own visit t o Tuita ad his attainent of the stage of a
non-retumer.
l 3 l
Even Chinese masters who had traveled to Kashmir told of their own
visionary experiences. Dao-an hmself (a contemporary of Buddhabhadra) claimed to
have personally satisfed his doubts about doctrine by "praying" to Maitreya.
1 3
2
And
Chih-yen, another Chinese disciple of Buddhasena, reported having received a answer
to a question he posed to a Kashiri arhat only afer that arhat had entered samidhi,
traveled to Tuita, and consulted with Maitreya.
1 33
Is it possible that the legend about
Asaiga could have sprng from this mileu?
1 34
Was the Maitri Upani$ad (also known as
the MaitriYa7fa Upani$ad related to this milieu as well?
1 3 5
How far back does the
Maitreya cult go?
Demieville presents a nuanced and convincing argument for why these legends
(when taken with other circumstantial evidence) indicate that the visionary
buddhinusmrti towards Maitreya stretches back (at least) to the Kuaa master
1 2
9 Etienne Lamotte, Samdhinirmocana Sitra, L'explication Des Mysteres (Louvain: Bibliotheque
Nationall 1 935), 85, 206, 7.
1 30
Demieville, 1 95 1 #76@341 ,390-5 }
1 3
1 Demieville, "Le YogacarabhUmi De Sangharalsa, " 3 62, 78-87. According to Demieville, Buddhasena
was the author of another Yogacarabhumi teatise usually attributed to Dharmastrata.
1 32
Davidson, " Buddhist Systems of Transformation: Asraya-Paravrtti/-Paravrtti among the Yogacara", 2 1 .
1 33
Ibid.
1 3
4 We do not need to answer this defnitively as his authorship is not part of the argument of this paper.
1 35
The YBS has a long section on development of loving kindness practice (maitri) . Although this is not
unusual for early buddhist practice or the texts that describe them, it might be worth noting the interesting
etmological connections between the words Maitri, Maitreya, and Maitrayalfa.
34
Sangharalqa (the presumed writericompiler of the YBS) . 1 3 6 However, even if we do not
agree with Demieville' s argument that Sangharaka himself practiced a visionary form
of buddhinusmrti directed at Maitreya, Demieville's evidence suggests that many
similarly early yoga masters connected with YBS did indeed engage in this practice.
Since the A.{a uses the word yogacara (and yogin) and since even the Pali version of the
Milindapanha contains (207 occurrences of the word yogaacara.
1
37 Was this sira
related to yoga practitioners? By the end of the 3
r
d
century, since actual Mahayana
sutras also began to be appended to the YBS and other yoga practice texts in China, we
must ask whether or not this occured in India as well since these texts' translators were
mainly from the Northwest and were connected with buddhinusmrti practice.
1
3
8
this
community of yogiciras had a hand in producing some of those very Mahayaa sutras?
The answer to such a question might be sought through Mahayana sutras
themselves. For instance, fom the 1 79 C.E. Mahayana sutra translations of
Lokakema, we see several notable early mentions of yoga and of various fgures-such
as Maitreya, Manjusri, Akobhya and Amitabha. I the case of some sutras, like the
A.{a, we see more than one of these buddhabodhisatta names mentioned. Many
scholars have understood the occurrence of these buddhalbodhisattva names as
demonstrating a Mahayaa soteriological shif. Can they also be connected with the
practice of visionary yoga? Can these sutras be connected with the comnties of
1
3
6
However, his argument is too complex to be recapitulated here.
1
3
7
Personal communication from Dr. Lance Cousins . It has been suggested by several scholars that
yogivacara is the Pali version of the yogicira. Dr. Cousins has also said that many of these references
come from some from the oldest parts of this sutta.
1
3
8
Buddhasena, the translator of the YBS i 3 00 C. E. was himself a Kashmii who was a famous Yogacara
with a well documented connection to buddhanusl1 ti. It seems quite possible that he, being Indian and
well known, was not the only Indian to see tis Mahayana appendix practice as permissibl e. See
Demieville, "Le Yogacarabhumi De SaIgharalsa, " 396.
35
early yoga practitioners? Derieville notes that the A.ta translated by Lokakema calls
the frst chapter Tch 'au san tsang ki tsi, which (Demieville says) could translate
Yogicira-sutra. Although Demieville says that this was merely the convention for all
later Chinese translations of the A.ta' s frst chapter (called Sarvikarajnati in India), it
seems worth pointing out that this association might not have been accidental. In fact,
the A#a itself refers to yoga in the context of yogicira.
1 3 9
And, as mentioned above, the
PraS (another text translated by the Northwester based Lokakema in 1 79 c. E.)
mentions visualization of various Buddhas though whom one receives teachings, which
should be propounded to others. Although it is clear that the word yoga meant many
things in many places, we might ask whether in Kashmir it did not come to mean
specifcally meeting with Maitreya (or perhaps another deity) and receiving some
knowledge that could be propounded to others? If so, it possible that the practices
described in this YBS text represented yoga in the sense of a "process of unifcation" but
that the "resultant unity" qua buddhinusmrti practice would have been described
elsewhere in some sort of esoteric text or visualization sutra?
In fact, the Smrtupasthina-sutra, which was translated into Chinese (in the
4th
centry?), includes a section on buddhinusmrti , wich its counterart, the Pali
Satipatthina-sutta (50 B.C.E.)
1 40
makes no mention of it at all.
1 41
Since this sutra was
conected with the Norther Sarvastivadin tadition, it possible that at the tie of
writing the YBS, the Sarvastivadin writers considered the buddhinusmrti a related
practice to be done side by side but discussed separately? Since YBS merely makes
1 39 Silk and Nagao, "From Madhyamika to Yogacaa. "
1 40
Schopen has suggested that this date be understood as merely a terminus a quo for the writing ofthe
Pali sitras .
1 4 1
Vesna Wallace has informed me that the Chinese version of Smrtupas/hana-sufa matches other
extant sanskrit versions and is not unusual in this regard.
3
6
mention of visionary buddhinusmrti in the context of the smrtupasthina qua yoga, it
does not explain its practice in detail. Can we infer that buddhinusmrti was initially an
important, but not central pa of yoga qua unifcation, but only later (perhaps in the 4
t
century) became offcially included within the direct discussion of the other
h

.
h
' ?142
smrtupast anas il t IS sutra.
Whether or not these questions can be answered, it does seem that a large number
of Mahayana sutras can best be understood as deriving from meditative experience.
Ad, indeed, the sistras seem to be a later atempt to sor out the sutras' doctrinal
implications into a unifed Mahayana soteriology. Would it not be worthwhile then,
perhaps, to re-evaluate the notion that Mahayana ideas were formulated and spread
simply through sutras and their statements? In fact, does it not seem likely that
visionary yoga (as described above, and sometimes fnding expression in sastric
literature like the YBS) was a wellspring from which fowed the inspiration for a number
of extended (vaipulya) Mahayana sutras?
1 43
Should tese so-called Sravakayana practice
texts translated by A Shigao be re-examined for clues of proto-Mahayaa and early
Mahayana doctrinal developments?
Conclusion
Many speculative theories could be formulated in response to the many questions posed
above. However, since this paper was written in order to problematize the usage of the
term yoga in YBS and to raise questions about the text ' s characterization as
1 42
It is curious that Buddhaghosa, who is now seen by Pali scholars as having incorporated many non
canonical teachings into his Visuddhimagga (5th century) includes "deity recollection" practice as one of
six recollections. Was he infuence by the yogacaa tradition?
1 43
The Mahayana, of course, classifies its own sltras as falling within the category of the extended
(vaipulya) and regards anything well said (subha:ita) as Dharma.
37
Sravakayana, I will not attempt such a speculative narative here. Nonetheless, based on
the evidence presented above, it does seem likely tat, although the termyoga was
indeed a general term to refer to meditation and although its usage was not restricted to a
specifc doctrine or religious practitioner, yoga was more than just a chance term applied
to meditation in the YBS. Rather, it seems to have been used to refer to specifc yoga
practitioners in the Norhwest to indicate a paricular notion of meditation, one which
contained may proto-Mahayaa elements. If we provisionally accept Buddhabhadra' s
description o f the original schism into fve yogacara comunities, scholars might be
able to explain how so many yogacaa moncs came to be sprinlded thoughout the
Northwest and China and how so may different visionary practices of buddhcmusmrti
(perhaps beginning before the common era with buddhinusmrti to Maitreya) came to
develop around so many different buddha fgures.
1
44
Furthermore, altough scholars have previously labeled the YBS, and all other
practice texts translated by Parhan A Shigao, as straightforard Sravakayaa texts,
1
4
5
these scholars have not adequately explained how te Mahayana sutras, the PraS and the
A.ta, could have been translated only thirty years later by the Scythian Lokalema or
how the fst chapter of the A.ta came to be called "Y ogacarasutra" (instead of
Sarikarajfata)-thereby establishing a precedent for subsequent A.ta translators, most
1
44
I have not addred here the of repeated idea that Nagajuna somehow found the Prajfipiramiti sutras
in the South, brought them northward, and in thi s way began the Mahayana .. Although textal statements
regarding the souther origin of Prajfipiramiti are not to be taken at face value, still any arguments for
an original role being play by Northwester yogacaras would have to take this into account Such
explanations might be possible in a monograph, but the scope of this paper is not meant to suggest a
source for Mahayaa sutas. Furtermore, there has been l ittle consideration of other non-brahmanic yoga
traditions, such as J ainism. The evidence from these could easily reveal incorect assumptions taken for
granted in this paper.
1
4
5
Most scholars of An Shigao have assumed this Sravakayana affliation for some time, but recently some
have become more open to the idea that he was connected with Mahayana in some way. cf. Harrison and
Yamabe. http: //www. iias. nl/iiasnII 2/egionaIl1 2CEAE05 .html
3 8
of whom seem to have been associated with the northwester yogacara milleu discussed
above.
The evidence presented above begs us to question our doxographical
assumptions. Watever reasons the YBS translator, A Shigao, might have had for not
translating the Mahayaa sutras, it might be worth re-examining the other early texts
that he translated, like the YBS, to see whether these texts also contain proto-Mahayana
elements. If these any of these other texts present more clues of the advent and usage of
the term yoga, it might help reframe the research and refne the historical narative
regarding the means by which the early Mahayana movement developed. In other
words, we might fmd evidence that a "yogacara" existed initially within outwardly
Sravakayana milieus, but though a different conception of meditation as a "process of
unifcation" (rather than as a way of disciplining of senses) his descendents gave rise to a
shif in soteriological focus that eventually led to te Mahayaa idea of becoming a
buddha.
3 9
Appendix
The following summary of the YBS is intended as a reference for:
1
46
( 1 ) the overall structure of the YBS though its chapter titles and brief accompaying
notes.
(2) the context ad usage of the term yoga.
(3) other content surounding the material cited in the body of this paper, which might be
interesting to some readers but which could not be addressed in detail within the body of
the paper or the footnotes.
Summar of the Yogacarabhumi of Sangharaksa (YBS)
1
4
7
The Five Skandhas
Chapter 1 - Assemblage and dissolution
1
4
8
} 4g
The following is not a complete translation of YBS, but rather a translation of the Chapter titles and a
few relevant highlights only. Nonetheless, it might seem odd and unscholarly to present here an english
translation of a French translation of a Chinese tanslation of a Parthian text, that was presemably a
translation from and Indian prakrit original. Also, for the purposes of this master' s thesis, some might
wonder whether this inclusion might be excessive. From my perspective however, I have already
translated these sections for my own use, it would be a shame not to at least make that available for the
interested readers, who either cannot read French or who are interested in the highlights, but not willing to
sif through Demievill e' s large and complex work for a more thorough understanding of the text. If any
readers actually have tat level of interest and abilit to read French, I stongly recommend reading
Demieville' s excellent translation along with his study of the text. In fact, I hope this translation
encourages an appetite to do so.
} 4[
Demieville, " Le Yogacaabhimi De Sangharalsa, " 397-43 5 . Quotation marks indicate direct translation
of Demieville as opposed to summary. However, my own additions for the sake of clarit are bracketed. I
made this preliminar english translation from Paul Demievil l e' s French translation of Dharmaraka' s
Chinese translation, i n order t o serve the purpose of providing "non-French reading" readers with a basic
overview of the oldest sections of the text. This summary primarily draws important excerpts from
Demieville' s translation. All sentences that occur within the quotation marks are my attempt at a literal
translation. Any sentences outside the quotation marks I have merely summarized in my own words based
on Demieville' s comments . Only the headings of the frst five chapters (which are rather basic) and the
fnal three chapters (which correlate to later Mahayana additions) were translated, but few if any of the
contents have been tanslated (for now) . The chapter headings next to the chapter numbers are fom the
original text; those section headings center on the page are my own-added for clarity. Following this
footnote, the rest of the text will have in-text parentheticals to mark partiCUlar page locations when
important. However, unless I indicate that I have included a "note" fom Demieville, everything in this
summary has been drawn from Demieville' s actal translation.
} 4j
Demievill e suggests the sanskrit for this term is Cyavyaya and gives a l ong and interesting note on the
term' s translation into Chinese and its relationship to prajfapaamita usage. Ultimately, he says he does
not understand why it is being used here. More research would be needed to analyze its usage here. One
possible connection might be found in Buddhaghosa, who mentions a appearing and vanishing in the
context of superormal powers, several times. See, for instance,Buddhaghosa and Na1amoli, The Path of
Puriication: Visuddhimagga, 386.
40
"The [general] defnition ofyogacara: [for whom there is] the practice of cultivation
1
49
and the exercises.
,
,
1
5
0
.
"The defnition of yogacarabhumi: that which the practitioner of yoga practices, it is the
ground of the practitioner. "
Chapter 2 "The Origin of the Five Skandhas"
Chapter 3 "The characteristics of the Five Skandhas"
Chapter 4 "Discriminating the Five Skandhas"
Chapter 5 "Constitting the Five Skandhas"
The Trainings
Chapter 6 "Maitrf'
Through rej ecting anger, the yoga practitioner must cultivate the mind of loving
kindness (Maitrl-citta) . MaitrI does not need to be only verbal or mentaL . . the diverse
practices of MaitrI upon whch the yogacara must meditate are explained in prose. (402)
Chapter 7 "Eliminating Fear"
If the yogacara, in his heritage or in an isolated place, suddenly conceives a fear that
causes his body hair and clothes to raise up, he should bring to mind the excellence of
the tathlgata' s merits, his image, the Dharma and the Sangha. He should refect on the
antidotes and prohibitions. He should comprehend emptiness distinctly. He should
lmow the six dhatus and the twelve nidanas. He should cultivate compassion. Even ifhe
is [ actally] overpowered [by something] , he will no longer fear those things.
Chapter 8 "Discriminating the characteristics"
"The classifcations of yogacaras, according to their cultivation of the stages of yoga
practitioners : ( 1 ) ofthe body, without the mind following (2) of the mind, without the
body following (3) of body and mind together. . . The third category is t4e only
ireproachable one. The "simultaneous 'j oining' (oga) of body ad mind" consists of
the following: the body is seated straight, but the mind is not at all slack; the sense
faculties are pacifed interally, they do not move exterally anymore to obey the play of
causes and conditions; the body and spirit are j oined indestructibly, equally, and
1 4
9Demieville does not elaborate on this word, presumably he is referring to bhavana.
] 0
Demieville explains in the footote tat this is a bahuvrihi, meaning yoga practitioner. Aside fom tis
explanation, the terms shows up throughout the text meaning "practitioner of yoga".
41
identically; they are in perfect "mutual corespondence. " In this way, one arrives rapidly
in Nirvala. " (Dem 404)
.
Demieville notes that the Chinese term translated as "mutal correspondence" (siang
ying) is the equivalent of the later usage of the term yoga that meant "the techniques of
body" as much as it means the mind (Dem 404 n8).
Chapter 9 "Mental Efforts"
Text explains that one develops the proper mind by taming it through the "Fou
Foundations of Mindflness" (smrtupasthana) .
Chapter 1 0 "Avoiding Mistakes"
The text explains the four mistakes as taking "( 1 ) the imperanent for peraent, (2)
pain for pleasure, (3) non-self for self, and (4) the empty for the real .
1
5
1
The yogacara
guards against these and meditates instead upon the fndamental inexistence of all
(permanence etc. ) . He recognizes indeed that he himself is capable of obtaining the four
fruits [of the steam enterer up through the arhat] ad the quality of Buddha. " (405) .
{Note: I a not sure what the above phrase ' the quality of Buddha' meas here, nor
what it translates from Chinese or Sanskrit}
Chapter 1 1 "Understanding Nourishment"
The chapter suggests that a practitioner not over-eat or starve to death.
Chapter 1 2 "Mastering the Senses"
This chapter explains that "the yoga practitioner must tame the senses, prevent them
fom following the sense obj ects, and force them to ret if they wander. It wars that
some practitioners might be [prematuely] fooled (by the weakened state of their faults)
ito thining that they have obtained perfection ojyoga
1 52
at this point and hence, relax
their minds, letting them wander among the objects of the senses . "
Chapter 1 3 "Tolerace"
The text explains how the practitioner tolerates various forms of har by meditating on
their emptiness.
Chapter 1 4 "Renouncig Negative Action"
Demieville notes that tis fourth mistake is usually ' taking impure for pure. '
Demieville suggests that the term tao-to in this context can also mean the Path (marga) or basically
paramita (perfection).
42
"If during his practice the practitioner is victim to any bodily maltreatment, he meditates
on the superfuous nature of all names and forms (namarupa) : the beating and the beater
are equally nonexistent. Likewise, anger and the obj ect of one' s anger are equally
nonexistent. He guards hmself against any anger or grudge. Beyond that, he would
never avenge himself towards any of his enemies : he would not take revenge on
serpents, centipedes, bugs and insects who molest him exterally, nor the one hunded
and four illnesses and eighty [directions]
1
53
who torent him interally. "
The Five Higher Knowledges" (Abhijna)
Chapter 1 5 "The Divine Eye that sees all"
The chapter stars by explaining "how one protects against sleepiness
l 5
4
; "wash your
hands and face, in order to tame one' s mind, [and] walk around, adjust your seat, etc. "
"thin of approaching death and the torments of sarsara" "look towards the fou
.
. d b '
,
.
d
l 55
h t " h onentatlOns, an nng one s mm to t e s ars t en . . .
"He meditates on light until the point at which it illuminates his mind, even when his
eyes are closed. In this way, he will obtain the "Divine eye"-whose vision becomes
equal [to the light?] ,
1
56
transcends all distances, arrives at the heaven of the Suddhavasa
gods, covers the fve births and the entire trichiliocosme. He realizes the divine eye. "
1
5
7
(Note: Demieville adds here that the imaginary (hotique) meditation prepares one for
the divine eye which is obtained at the stage of the dhyana. )
Chapter 1 6 "The Divine Ear"
This section says that the "higher knowledge (abhina) of the divine ear is produced
completely naturally following afer the production of the Divine Eye-just as, one,
while searching for one treasure, fmds another" (407) . Here the verse compares the
teachings on the Divine Ear to a good "drug" prescribed by a doctor.
1
53 The word vers in Demieville' s tanslation is strange. It means "towards" so I have translated it as
directions . Whatever tis means, Demieville' s notes that the enumeration of these "80 vers" is retrievable
from Lin Li-kouang, p. l l 0, n. 3.
1
54
Demieville summarized these three sentences i n a different order. Though I have no ability at this point
to check the order in the Chinese version, the logic of te section seems to follow common practice logic,
i . e. frst deal with physical, then motivation, then mental obj ects, i. e. "walk around, adjust your seat etc"
then "think of death . . . " then "look to the four orientations, etc. " It woulc take frther study to verif my
hunch on the organization of this passage.
1
55 Demieville translates as "contemplate" but explains elsewhere that this refers to vipasyana practice.
1
5
6
This could be related to what Buddhaghosa describes light perception and bliss perception as conascent
with adept' s consciousness . See Buddhaghosa and Nalamoli, The Path a/Purication: Visuddhimagga,
400.
1
5
7
Buddhaghos, writing on the divine eye, describes light perception as a means for reaching brahma' s
realm. "Remaining here and extending light, he sees the visible form of Brahma. " Ibid. , 399. See
Appendix where, Chapter 22, i n the last paragraph states, "through practice, to the heaven of Brahma and
the palace of Suddhlvasa.
43
Chapter 1 7 "The remembrance of past lives"
"By grace of the Divine Eye, the practitioner has te vision of his past lives. "
Chapter 1 8 "The knowledge of the thoughts of others"
This higher knowledge is "equally connected to the Divine eye" and one meditates upon
the births (gati) of animals and pretas" (408).
Chapter 19 "The hells"
"The meditation on the hells and the acts which lead one to be rebor there. The
circumstatial description of the eight great hells (hot) and of some of the sixteen
neighboring hells conected to each of these" (408) . This seems to be the last of fve
higher lmowledges. "
Aother Reminder
Chapter 20 "Encouragement towads contentment"
"If the yoga practitioner has thoughts of weakness, he must remind himself that he has
already obtained the advantages, i. e. he has avoided the eight diffculties, met a Buddha,
ad worshipped the three j ewels . He has realized the absence of sex (brahmacara),
ted towards the path, and soon he will be a son of the Dharma-Kng ad arive at the
city of Nifa, etc. The contentment he receives fom these observations encourages
him to persevere" (408) .
The Practice
Chapter 2 1 "Practicing emptiness"
"While meditating on uversal emptiness, one detaches from the notion of , me' . " The
text tells the story of "a clown grieving his mother, who must respond to the call of the
Icing and perform j ests on comand. In the end, he forgets his sorrow. In the same way,
the yoga practitioner, by j oining hs mind wit emptiness, forgets his "me" in the end. "
"The belief in a ' me' is due to the belief in a body. One eliminates this belief by
meditating on the unreality of the body that is nothng but an aggregation of the six
elements. " Here, the text explains the interal and exeral elements at length.
"Having realized that there is no ' me' in the elements, skandhas, and ayatanas, the yoga
practitioner arrives at (the thee samadhis called) the Thee Doors of Liberation:
emptiness, absence of wish, and absence of particular characteristics . I have examined
the Dharma of the Buddha' s sutas, in search of liberation, the eteral peace.
The meaning is profound, and the exposition is vast, for they are inspired
44
b
1 58
Y great compaSSIOn.
In order to sharen the intelligence of practitioners, I have elaborately
explained this [ chapter on] emptiness.
Chapter 22 "The Grounds of Magical Power"
"The yogacara obtains the grounds of miraculous power, frst though quiescence
(Samatha), then though contemplation (vipaiana), then in the reverse sequence. "
Defnitions
"The Defnition of Samatha: The md is fxed, immobile, without distraction or
negligence. "
"The Defnition of Vipasyana: following the quiescence, the mind contemplates the true
dhara, examines what there is and sees the fndamental nonexistence. "
Illustratig Examples
"Samatha is illustrated by comparson to the buyer of gold who, having seen the gold,
does not discuss any of its qualities.
Vipasyana is illustrated by comparison to the buyer who examines the gold,
distinguishes its country of origin, the title, the autenticity, the value. "
OR another example is:
"Samatha is like the havester when he grabs stalks with his lef hand, while Vipasyana
is like the act of cutting [them] with a siclde in his right hand. "
"Saatha is synthetic equipoise (with eyes closed or open) upon the huan skeleton
within its ensemble; Vipasyaa is the detailed refection upon each of its parts. "
The Method
"For obtaining quiescience, there are two principle means: ( 1 ) the contemplation of the
impure and (2) the calculated control of the breath, inhaling and exhaling. Within this
chapter, only the frst of these procedures will be treated. [The other, i . e. breath practice
will be described in great detail in four subsequent chapters] .
First Samatha: Contemplating the Impure
"This method is described here in detail as basically: "inspecting the cadaver in a
cemetery, then identifing the living body with the corpse (fst one' s own body, then
others '. bodies) so that one sees [corpses] continuously and everyvhere ' as all the
currents of water go toward the sea' . In this way, one arrives at quiescence. "
The results of this [and the other] Samatha practice
Jo
Not knowing the exact Chinese term, I have translated Demieville' s "totale" as "great" s ince the
semantic range of the word "totale" in French differs slightly from "total" in English and since the term
"great" is commonly used for te "absolute" idea to which "total e" s eems to be pointing.
45
"From this quiescence, the frst dhyana state, characterized by (a) the elimnation of the
fve obstructions (nivarana) and the fve merits (dharma) [necessary to practice] (b) the
absence of all thought, desire, negative dharmas (c) the concentration of the mind frmly .
fxed in calm, j oy, etc. The non-buddhists are able to achieve tis Dhyana state, but they
are subj ect to leaks (i. e. falling down) . The non-buddhist Sages (ri) who have suppress
their desire and persist indefnitely in this dhyina state are still not able to "enter into the
mansion. " They are not the same as the disciples of Buddha because their manner of
cultivating this dhyina state is different. The three other dhyaa states are easily
attained following the fst, which like pulling on a bow is arduous at the beginning. "
"The yoga practitioner can indeed obtain the ground of miraculous powers. Towards this
end, he practices fst the contemplation of the void or of space.
1
5
9
This consists of
seeing the void everywhere: in the various parts and articulations of the body that
appear like a bag. The notion of tangible form, i. e. rupa, is eliminated by that of the
void (or at least, if one does continue to see the body, one no longer experiences any
attachent to it whatsoever) . One is fee to see or not to see the body and also free to
see or not see the void. The sight of the body and tat of the void become
interchangeable. Body and mind are not more than "one", like water mixed with milk,
they become identical, equal. The yogacara, afng his wish, mentally elevates his
body above his seat, while concentrating his thoughts on space, like a balance that is
suspended when the two sides are equalized with equal weights. In this way, he levitates
to the height of one tiny measure, then a sesame seed, then a large pea, jujube frit, then,
through practice, to the heaven of Braha and the palace of Suddhavasa. At the point
where Mount Sumeru itself is no longer a obstacle, he enters ito the sun without a
passageway ad exits without a hole, as though it were water. He circles though the air
in the fou orientations. He emits fre from the top of his body and water from the
bottom, or the reverse. His hair follicles are resplendent with multiple radiances . He
can multiply his body ad morh into any sort of aimal. Within the moment of one
thought, he travels the whole domain of Buddha roundtrip. Such are the miracles that
allow the realization of the grounds of magical power. These grounds are the result of
the four Dhyina states, which themselves result fom the contemplation of the impure
and the counting of breaths . " (Dem 41 1 - 1 2)
Chapter 23 "Controlled Counting of the Breath"
How the First Samatha, Contemplating the Impure, connects with the Vipasyana of
contemplating Emptiness
1
6
0
1
59 Here, for K' ongl hui kong, Demieville uses the term la vide and notes, in this specific context, it means
one of the akasasamapatti. Whereas elsewhere, he uses the term l a vacuite (emptiness) for Hing k' ong,
which he suggests is the equivalent for Sunyat-carya. See Demieville, "Le Yogacarabhlmi De
Sangharal}sa, " 408n6, 1 0nl 3 .
OU
Demieville reads Hing k' ong as Sunyata-carya and translates it as "Pratiquer la vacuite" hence, my
translation "contemplating emptiness. " This term differs from the Chinese term for La Vide. See Ibid. :
408.
46
Sanghraka frst explains how the yoga practitioner must keep his mind set on liberation:
"The yoga practitioner must meditate on the following questions : What is the frst
Dhyina state without leaking, and what does one call the disciple of the Bhagavat? If
his Dhyina state possesses leaks, he will have to say to himself: ' I have obtained the
frst Dhyina state, but I practice them with leaks. I could be bor into Brahma' s heaven,
but the merit one accumulates up there is miniscule. Upon my death, I will fall again
into hell or among the pretas, the animals or the humans. Birh in Brahma' s heaven will
not save me from rebirth in the lower realms. I will remain a common, profane person,
because I will not have any more [chance at] liberation. "
Here, many supporting examples of this are given.
Then, Sangharaka explains how the quiescence (samatha) of the skeleton and
contemplation (viasyana) of emptiness leads beyond the three realms altogether.
"Having realized the emptiness of the three realms and the inexistence of the fve
skandhas, one orients oneself toward the uncompounded (asalskta), towards Nirvana.
The mind becomes supple in the practice of yoga, it loses its hardness, it adapts itself to
the view of the trths, and the yoga practitioner becomes a saint, a noble one, (ira), an
non-returer (anigimin). "
More example are given.
The Second Saatha: Counting Breaths
Here the text goes on to explain what mindflness of breath (inipinasmrti) means here,
i. e. the four operations of a how it relates to the contemplation of the cadaver and how
these two differ from the similar practices that are perfored by non-buddhists (41 2-
4 1 6) . This is a very 10g chapter on mindflness (inipinasmrti) . Towards the end of
the chapter, the difference between Buddhist and non-Buddhist practice is explained as
follows:
a. Among Non-Buddhists
l 6
1
"Non-buddhists ar ive at quiescence through focusing their minds on their counted
breaths. They destroy the obstacle of the aggregates (skandha) , arrive at detachment,
and enter into the frst Dhyina state, where they strive to obtain the higher knowledges
(abhifi) and in paticular, the magical powers, though which they become the master
0 0
! O
The Chinese term here is not given by Demieville, but is stated as the equivalent ofprthagana.
Deleanu gives the Chinese symbols and the agrees on the sanskrit, but presents arguments for reading this
term as Novice (vs. Yogacira master) . Contra Deleanu, it seems the term Non-buddhist is a more
appropriate translation of prthagana here, given that the author makes explicit (below) that he is talking
about non-buddhists. I have not translated this section here, since it is too long. See Ibid. : 41 5 . Deleanu
may be reading into this text the usage in the
S
ravakabhumi context. Further research on this point is
needed to determine whether or not these two are using the same term differently. cfDeleanu, The
Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikamarga) in the
S
ravakabhumi .' A Trilingual Edition (Sanskit,
Tibetan, Chinese), Annotated Translation, and Introductor Study, 1 58.
47
of the fourth Dhyana state. Throughout these exercises, the non-Buddhist ' s mind has no
other notion besides the breaths themselves. "
b. Among Y ogacara Buddhists
"As for the yogacara Buddhist, he has present before his mind the notion of the merits of
te Buddha, the Dhara, and the Sangha ad of meaning of the four noble tuths,
through whose grace he obtains the fou viuous roots . . . "
{Note: According to Demieville, these four virtuous roots corespond to the levels of the
path of junction (i. e. warming (u$magata), peal, patience, highest worldly dharmas) and
result in the path of seeing that defnes the noble (ara) who is non-returing, etc, In
other words, the experience of these magic powers is trans forative and results in the
supreme realization from which the Buddhist yogacara does not fall back (and not the
divinity fom which the ordina practitioner does fallback) . }
Chapter 24 "The contemplation" (vipasyana)
{In his note, Demieville suggests that this chapter might relate to the Path of Meditation
that follows the culmination of quiescence at the Path of Seeing. However, he seems
uncerain whether this chapter might not be the completion of the Path of Seeing
somehow. }
"Defnition of vipasyana: meditating alone in his heritage, under a tree, the yogacara
sees the fve skandhas truly as they are (athibhuta)
. . , 1 62
They are nothing but pain,
void, impermanence, and selfess, and the body is fndamentally nonexistent. "
The text then lists and describes "the ffy fve metaphorical aspects of the body upon
which the yoga practitioner meditates". This includes many metaphors and examples.
Chapter 25 - The ground of training (Saik$a)
Not freed from Desire yet
"Having become a stream enterer (srota-apanna), te yogacara sees correctly, he
understands though thought, the impermanence of the pleasures (or desires) that cause
the fve sense obj ects : colors, sounds, odors, favors, and tangibles. However, he is not
completely freed from these desires. "
A example of how he is not feed i s given by the boy who having covered his fmgers
with dirt, thinks he is immune and, touching fIe, bums his fngers, then forgets that his
fngers are diry ad sticks them in his mouth.
Similarly, the desire of the yoga practitioner at this stage is easily re-stimulated by
seeing beautifl colors etc.
! OZ
Demieville translated this as "according to the trth" but suggests that the Chinese might be a
translation ofyathabhitam.
48
How to become fee from Desire
' Tn order to t off the light of his passions, that yoga practitioner must cultivate
continuously the contemplation of the impure. Though this, his passions, his love, his
anger, his delusion will diminish and become a once reter (saldagamin) . He only
must be rebor once more. He is purifed of desire, but still within him, the desires are
subtle. "
Here, an interesting example i s offered:
"There is a husband who adores his wife. She is very beautifl but someone wars him
that she is ogress (rak.asf. Right away, he refses to believe it but he decides to put it
to the test. One night, he acts asleep and follows her to the cemetery where he views her
in her demonic aspect, gorging herself on cadavers. He returs to bed and his wife
rej oins him shortly, taking on again that beauty towards which the husband does not
resist, but at the same time, when he thinks about what he saw at the cemetery, he is
terifed. It is the same with the once reter who is caught between the apparent
beauty of the body and the vision of the impure (the cadaver, skeleton) . Certainly the
thee obstacles of the sphere of desire (love, hate, and delusion) are subtle for him.
There is not much lef of these. Due to the grace of the four noble trths, he has seen the
stains, the impurity of desire. He is not anymore attached as the non-Buddhists are, who
are like the bugs attached to a cadaver. "
"In order to destroy without residue the three obstacles and obtain the dhyana state
without leakg, which will assure him the passage equivalent to that of the heaven of
Brahma, a calm equivalent to that of the gods Suddhavasa, he continues his
contemplation of the impure and becomes a non-returer. "
Then, a few examples show how he develops the wish to achieve arhathood.
Chapter 26 "The ground of non-learing"
"Already, on the ground of learing, the yoga practitioner lost all desire. When he no
longer covets anything in the three realms and when he transcends both the for and
forless realms, he has cut through all obstacles. Thus, he cultivates the 3 7 limbs of
enlightenent, fom the foundations of mindflness up through the limbs of bodhi. He
is pacifed by the wisdom of destruction (k.ayajnia) and is detached from form and
formless, the games and the pride. Indeed, he lmows that he, remaining still in the same
ground as the taining, he has become an arhat, that is to say, asaik.a. All leaking has
been exausted. He practices the pue brahic conduct; everyhing he had to do is done.
He has removed his heavy burden and gained his own welfare. He has cut the births and
deaths. He has obtained the wisdom of equality. He has destroyed the six higher
knowledges (abhina) .
1 63
The arhat is "worthy" to put on the clothes of the gods and to
Oj
The frst five higher knolwedges are available to non-buddhists. Only the sixth higher knowledge
"knowing the exhaustion of leaks" is available to Buddhists, i.e. arhats.
49
live in the palace of gods where food is spontaneous and where celestial music rej oices
him. Thus, getting up fom his seat (where he practiced his exercises), he cries out fll
of j oy "Look at me now, a son of the Buddha with the ten powers ! , ,
] 64
From that point, .
hhs a bhagavat for all beings, divine and human. Those who venerate him carry profts
towards the race of the gods and har towads the asuras . . . ' Having followed the
teachings of Buddha to the end, one says, he eared the ground of having nothing more
to lear. "
Chapter 27 "The non-learing stage"
Here, the two nirvalas, with and without remainder, are dealt with.
{According to Demieville, the following thee Mahayana chapters were added on at
some time between 284 C. E. and 3 84 C. B. and prior to Asaiga' s bodhisattvabhumi and
viniscaya-SaTlgrahi. None of the quotations in the body of the paper came from these
later chapters}
Chapter 28 "The practice of the three categories of disciples"
Chapter 29 "Pratyekabuddha"
Chapter 3 0 "The Bodhisattva"
! O4
It is interesting that te YBS seems never goes so far as to say that the adept becomes a buddha - only
an arhat, a "son of Buddha with the ten powers . "
50
Works Cited
Buddhaghosa, and BhkNaIamoli. The Path ofPurication: Visuddhimagga. Edited
by Buddhist Publication Society. 5th ed. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication
Society, 1 99 1 .
Crangle, Edward Fitzpatrick. The Origin and Development of Early Indian
Contemplative Practices, Studies in Oriental Religions, V. 29. Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz Verlag, 1 994.
Davidson, Ronald M. "Buddhist Systems of Transformation: Asraya-Paavrti/-Paavrtti
among the Yogacara. " University of Califoria Berkeley, 1 985.
Deleanu, Florin. The Chapter on the Mundane Path (Laukikamirga) in the
S
rivakabhumi : A Trilingual Edition (Sanskit, Tbetan, Chinese), Annotated
Translation, and Introductor Study, Studia Philologica Buddhica. Monograph
Series ; 20. Tokyo: Interational Institute for Buddst Studies of the
Interational College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies, 2006.
Demieville, Paul. "Le Y ogacarabhumi De Sangharalsa. " Bulletin de L '
E
cole Fram;aise
XLIV, no. 1 ( 1 95 1 ) : 339-436 .
Drewes, David Donald. "Mahayana Sutras and Their Preachers: Rethinking the Natue
of a Religious Tradition. " PhD, University of Virginia, 2006.
Faxian, and James Legge. A Record ofBuddhistic Kingdoms : Being an Account by the
Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of His Travels in India and Ceylon (A. D. 399-414) in
Search of the Buddhist Books ofDiscipline. New York: Dover Publications,
1 99 1 .
Harrison, Paul. "Buddhanusmrti in the Pratyutana-Buddha-Sarmavasthita
Samadhi-Sltra. " Joural of Indian Philosophy 6 ( 1 978) : 3 5-57.
. "Buddhism: A Religion of Revelation after All?" Numen 34, no. 2 ( 1 987) : 9.
Karlsson, KJ emens. "Face to Face with the Absent Buddha. The Formation of Buddhist
Aniconic A. " Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2000.
Kritzer, Robert. Vasubandhu and the Yogicirabhumi : Yogicira Elements in the
Abhidharmakosabhi$ya, Studia Philo logic a Buddhica. Monograph Series ; 1 8
.
Tokyo: Interational Institute for Buddhist Studies of the Interational College
for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies, 2005.
Kumoi, Shozen. "The Concept of Yoga in the Nikayas. " In Bauddhavidyisudhikara/:
Studies in Honour of Heinz Bechert on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday. , edited
by Bangwei Wang, 407-20. Swisttal-Oldendorf: Indica Et Tibetica Verlag, 1 997.
Lamotte, Etiene
.
Histor of Indian Buddhism . From the Origins to the
S
aka Era.
Louvain-la-Neuve: Universite catholique de Louvain Institut orientaliste, 1 988.
. Samdhinirmocana Siitr, L 'explication Des Myst. Louvain: Bibliotheque
Nationale 1 935,
Lokak-ema, Paul M. Harrison, KumarajIva, and John R. McRae. The Pratutanna
Samadhi Sutra. Berkeley, CA: Numata Center, 1 998.
Miyamoto, ShOsen. "Konpon Funbetsu No Ken MUla-Vikalpa " I n Hakase
Bukkogaku Ronshu: Bukkogaku No Konpon Mondai edited by Saigusa
Mitsuyoshi and Taasaki Jikid6 Hirakawa Alra, eds . , 1 62-80, 9 ] -97. Tokyo:
Shunjusha, 1 985. Reprint, Reprint of Miyamoto, Shos6n, "Tokiwa Hakase
5 1
Kamela Kinen: BUlccyo Ronso", Tolwa Hakase Kamela Kinen: Bukkyo
Ronso1 93 3 . 3 53-498 (esp. 376-409) .
. " Shin, Shih, Funbetsu to Konpon Funbetsu
Citta, Vijfana, Vikalpa, and MUla-Vikalpa. " Shuko Kenku 9, no. 5 ( 1 932) : 759-94.
NaQamoli, Bhikkh, and Bodhi. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha : A New
Translation of the MGjhima Nikaya, Teachings ofthe Buddha. Boston: Wisdom
Publications in association with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, 1 995.
Nattier, Jan. A Few Good Men : The Bodhisattva Path According to the Inquir ofUgra
(Ugraparirccha) .' A Study and Translation. Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press, 2003 .
Radhakrishan, S. The Princial Upani.ads. London, New York, : G. Allen & Unwin;
Humanities Press, 1 969.
Schlingloff, Dieter. Ein Buddhistisches Yogalehrbuch. 2 vols, Sanskrittexte Aus Den
Turfanfnden ; 7-7 a. Berlin: Akademie- Verlag, 1 964.
Silk, Jonathan A. "Wisdom, Compassion, and the Search for Understanding : The
Buddhist Studies Legacy of Gadj in M. Nagao. " In Studies in the Buddhist
Traditions, edited by Gajin Nagao, lx, 420. Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press, 2000.
Silk, Jonathan A. , and Gadjin M. Nagao. "From Madhyamika to Y ogacara. " Joural of
Interational Association of Buddhist Studies 2, no. 1 ( 1 979).
Smith, Frederick M. The Sel Possessed : Deit and Spirit Possession in South Asian
Literature and Civilization. New York, N. Y. ; Chichester: Columbia University
Press, 2006.
Sponberg, Alan, and Helen Hardacre, eds. Maitreya, the Future Buddha
. Edited by Alan Sponberg and Helen Hardacre. Cambridge Cambridgeshire ; New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1 988.
White, David Gordon. Kiss ofthe Yoginf .' "Tantic Sex" In Its South Asian Contexts.
Chicago ; London: Universit of Chicago Press, 2003 .
Wyne, Alexander. The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. London ; New York: Routledge,
2007.
52