Mahāyānasaṃgraha
Asaṅga's overview of Yogācāra.
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Exposition of the Mahāyānasaṃgraha
Background
The Mahāyānasaṃgraha is the scholarly work of Asaṅga (around the fourth century), one of the greatest patriarchs of the Yogācāra school. Asaṅga lived in India and systematized Yogācāra philosophy under the guidance of Bodhisattva Maitreya, according to tradition through the context of meditative wisdom and the direct reception of Dharma from the celestial realm.
This treatise was composed in order to synthesize the principal ideas of the Mahāyāna Buddha Dharma, especially the fundamental teachings on mind, consciousness, and the impermanent and non-self nature of all dharmas. It is a work of high practical guidance, not only expounding theoretical doctrine but also clearly indicating the bodhisattva path of cultivation from the arising of aspiration to the attainment of Buddhahood.
Main Content
The treatise gives an overview of three basic features of the Yogācāra teaching. First is the section on Consciousness-Only - affirming that all phenomena we experience are products of consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna, storehouse consciousness). No object outside the mind exists independently; all external worlds are fashioned by mind. This point does not deny objective phenomena, but makes clear that the way we perceive them is always mediated by mind and consciousness.
Second is the teaching on Impermanence and Non-Self. All phenomena are governed by the three Dharma seals: impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and non-self (anattā). There is no independent "self" that exists from the beginning; what we call the "self" is only a temporary aggregation of the five skandhas (pañca-skandha). Clearly understanding this truth is the foundation for liberation from afflictions.
Third is the Bodhisattva Path. Asaṅga presented in detail how a bodhisattva cultivates from the initial arousing of bodhicitta to the attainment of Buddhahood. At the center of this path is the cultivation of the six pāramitās (six perfections): generosity, moral discipline, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom.
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