Chittamatra
Chittamatra - Mind Only.The Chittamatra (Skt. Cittamātra; Tib. སེམས་ཙམ་པ་, Semtsampa; Wyl. sems tsam pa) or 'Mind Only School is a Mahayana school founded by Asanga.
Its followers say that all phenomena are merely mind—the all-ground consciousness manifesting as environment, objects and the physical body, as a result of habitual tendencies stored within the all-ground.
sems tsam - Mind Only school, Chittamatra; the doctrine of Mind-Only; founded by Maitreya and Asanga, idealist-mentalist, just displays of mind.
Def. by Jamgön Kongtrül: ([[gzung 'dzin gnyis las grol ba'i rnam shes cha med skad cig re re ba don dam pa'i bden par 'dod pas rnam rig pa 'am sems tsam pa zhes bya dang gzung 'dzin gnyis med kyi shes pa rang rig rang gsal don dam pa nyid gnyis snang gyi sgrib pas bsgribs pas 'phags chos thob pa'i tshe yang de nyid gnyis snang dang bral ba tsam du 'dod do]]) [RY]
sems tsam - Chittamatra/ Mind-Only school [RB]
sems tsam pa - Mind-Only School, Chittamatra.
A Mahayana school of Buddhist philosophy propagated by the great master Asanga and his followers.
Founded on the Lankavatara Sutra and other scriptures, its main premise is that all phenomena are only mind, i.e. mental perceptions that appear within the All-ground consciousness due to habitual tendencies.
Positively, this view relinquishes the fixation on a solid reality. Negatively, there is still clinging to a truly existing 'mind' within which everything takes place [RY]
sems tsam pa - proponent of Mind-Only School/ Chittamatrin; Chittamatra.
A 'Mind-only' Adherent, an idealist, Mind-only school. Def. Jamgön Kongtrül: (sems las gzhan pa'i dngos po ni gang yang med la sems rnam rig tsam ni bden pa'i dngos por grub par 'dod pas sems tsam pa 'am rnam rig pa);
Mind-only School, Chittamatrin, a follower of the Mind Only doctrine, (Syn. Yogacharin) [RY]
lang kar gshegs pa'i mdo - Lankavatara Sutra. A sutra of the third turning of the Wheel of the Dharma. Used as basis for Yogachara and Chittamatra
Tenets
The Three Natures
They divide all phenomena into the ‘three natures’:
The Chittamatra View of the Two Truths
Khenpo Ngakchung says:
- All the dualistic phenomena of the imputed nature and the mind and mental phenomena of the dependent nature are the deceiving phenomena of delusion, the relative truth.
The essence of the dependent nature, which is the naturally luminous consciousness, and the fully established nature, which is the fact that this [i.e., the dependent nature is empty of the dualistic projections of the imputed nature—comprising the nature of reality and wisdom—are said to be the absolute truth.
Subschools
There are two subschools of Mind Only:
One of the four major schools of Buddhist philosophy, characterized by emphasis on mental events. The lower of the two schools of Mahayana tenets. `Chittamatra’ means `mind only’.
They are so-called because they assert that all phenomena are merely the nature of mind. A Chittamatrin is a proponent of Chittamatra tenets.
sems tsam - Mind Only school, Chittamatra; the doctrine of Mind-Only; founded by Maitreya and Asanga, idealist-mentalist, just displays of mind. Def. by Jamgön Kongtrül:
([[gzung 'dzin gnyis las grol ba'i rnam shes cha med skad cig re re ba don dam pa'i bden par 'dod pas rnam rig pa'am sems tsam pa zhes bya dang gzung 'dzin gnyis med kyi shes pa rang rig rang gsal don dam pa nyid gnyis snang gyi sgrib pas bsgribs pas 'phags chos thob pa'i tshe yang de nyid gnyis snang dang bral ba tsam du 'dod do]]) [RY]
sems tsam - Chittamatra/ Mind-Only school [RB]
sems tsam pa - Mind-Only School, Chittamatra. A Mahayana school of Buddhist philosophy propagated by the great master Asanga and his followers.
Founded on the Lankavatara Sutra and other scriptures, its main premise is that all phenomena are only mind, i.e. mental perceptions that appear within the All-ground consciousness due to habitual tendencies. Positively, this view relinquishes the fixation on a solid reality.
Negatively, there is still clinging to a truly existing 'mind' within which everything takes place [RY]
sems tsam pa - proponent of Mind-Only School/ Chittamatrin; Chittamatra. A 'Mind-only' Adherent, an idealist, Mind-only school. Def. Jamgön Kongtrül: {sems las gzhan pa'i dngos po ni gang yang med la sems rnam rig tsam ni bden pa'i dngos por grub par 'dod pas sems tsam pa'am rnam rig pa}; Mind-only School, Chittamatrin, a follower of the Mind Only doctrine, (Syn. Yogacharin) [RY]
lang kar gshegs pa'i mdo - Lankavatara Sutra. A sutra of the third turning of the Wheel of the Dharma. Used as basis for Yogachara and Chittamatra
