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Negative Theology of The Yogavasistha and The Lankavatara Sutra
Negative Theology of The Yogavasistha and The Lankavatara Sutra
1-1-1981
Repository Citation
Chapple, Christopher Key, "Negative Theology of the Yogavasistha and the Lankavatara Sutra" (1981). Theological Studies Faculty
Works. 166.
http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/theo_fac/166
Recommended Citation
Chapple, Christopher Key. "Negative Theology of the Yogavasistha and the Lankavatara Sutra." Journal of Dharma. Vol. V, No. 1
(1981), pp. 34-45.
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i
1:
Christopher Chapple
University of New York, 1
i,, The first step towards liberation is the perception that all things
proceed from the mind .. Vas.i~tha informs Rama that :
Once it has been ascertained that the world is based .on conception,
the mind piust be puri~ed. The world-crea;ing pro':ess is only set
in motion by a deluded and ~~pure mind :
The " practice of purity " hinges on the acceptance of the mir.-d-on1y
dynamic ; it is only by recognizing that impurity results from the
working of one's own mind that suffering can be overcome.. The
negation of the "real" status of the world as independent of the mind
is a prerequisite to the liberated fife, as indicated by Vasi~th'a's advice
to Rama:
J
follows:
' ..., ' ..
As long as knowledge is associated with obj~ctivity,
there is bondage. Only when obectivity is pacified,
,,then ,there is liberation (YV Vlb ,190 : 1).
If it'is s~en that all exper~ence depehds upon the mind and if one
desire's)ib~ration, 'then the pacification of the mind follows; through
which "tlie 1 'Yorld and its reHuisite bondage are elitninate4. Tlie mind
is essential for phenomenal existel'.Ce '; when the via negativa of mind-
only is pursued, the dissolution of the mind (vilaya) follows, resulting
in liberation. '
In 9ther places in the text, it is said that one achieves a god-like statu.s.6
In fact, B. L. Atreya refer~ to the state of jivan mukta ~ts' deificatiori/f6
a term used by Western myst.ics to describe their "final attaip.ment lfr
the Absolute " after undergoing the via negatfra of western spirittlM
practice. 7 .i
1
. ;
s7ep that the " real " world do~s not have an inhe:ent existence, then
the notions o{ subject ano ol:>ject break down :
Wheb 'the idea of inherently real thiil,gs is abandoned, then they are
seen to be merely thought, or mind-only.
All conceptionr of the Absolute are negated ; even the notion of the
B;ddha himself is rejected :
,. fa
... the nature of the Tathagata: is 'stored within: the living being's
mind, intrinsically pure in nature, 1ut 9bscu'red by "duJi "
1
(klesas) as if buried in the earth. 9 '
the " self'' in all beings, has transcended duality. The negation of
Uie \vol'ld and: ultimately, the negation of the paih, fead to the spiritual
IifJ par excellence, the stage of the saint or that' of. the bodh'i'sattva.
The point of mind-only is not that the person is the sole determining
factor in reality. Rather, the point is precisely the opposite : neither
the person nor the world bear any inherent, lasting truth.
17. Edward Conze, Buddhist Thought in India (Ann Arbor, Mi. : The Universiti
of Michigan Pr~ss, 1967), p. 252.
18. Ibid., p. 253.
19. Thomas A. Kochumuttam, Vasubandhu the Yogiicarin : A New Trans/atioh
and Interpretation of Some of his BOflc Works (Doctoral Disser!ation,
Vniversity of Lancaster, U,K., 1978), p. 263,
Negative Theology of Yogav{isi~{ha and Lafzkiiva tiira Sfttra 45
'l
20: J;lllice ~ean Willis, On Knowing Reality: TIJe Tattvartha Chapter of Asarlga's
Boc;\b1sattvllbh0mj , (N~w Yorlc; Col\lmbi~ Vniv~rsity Press,i 1979~ 1 p. 2$,