14
THE CONSCIOUSNESS-ONLY SCHOOL
An introduction and a brief comparison with
Jung’s psychology
Moriya Okano
Since the early 1970s I have worked for the synthesis of Buddhism, especially Zen
and Consciousness-only, and Western psychology. I am now the director of Sangraha
Institute for Psychological and Spiritual Studies, whose purpose is to deepen our
studies in this direction, sharing results with many people. While there have been
many comparative studies between Zen and psychology, I believe the
Consciousness-only School is the most psychologically refined of all Buddhist
teachings, offering a penetrating and efficient understanding of human beings. First,
I present its outline, and then, I suggest succinctly how it is possible to synthesize it
with Jungian psychology.
The founders of the Consciousness-only SchoolConsciousness-only (vijñapti-mƗtratƗ) is the doctrine of the Yogacara School, a
stream of Mahayana Buddhism that first developed in the second to fourth century
of the Common Era. Indian Mahayana Buddhism reached the peak with this school
as well as with the Madhyamika School.
The expression ‘Consciousness-only’ derives from the basic ideas of the Yogacara
School that the appearance of all things depends upon the mind, and further that all
things appear as the mind depicts. The outlook of this school is so filled with
psychological insights that resonate with modern Western psychodynamic
psychology that I call it the Mahayana-Buddhist version of depth psychology. The
oldest existing text of the Yogacara School is Sa dhinirmocana-snjtra. As is the case
with many other Buddhist texts, the author is unknown. Opinions differ widely with
regard to the date when it was written, ranging from c.150 to c.300.
Yogacara psychology is not the creation of a single individual but was gradually
systematized, especially by three philosophers: Maitreya, Asanga, and Vasubandhu.
It is not clear whether Maitreya (?–430 or 270–350) was a mythical or a historical
figure. Those scholars who assume his historical reality ascribe to him the encyclopedic
work of Yogacara-bhumi. Asanga (?–470 or 320–400) was born in Purusapura of
Ghandara in North India, and at first belonged to Theravadin Buddhism. Later
studying with Maitreya and realizing Emptiness (Ğnjnyata), he was converted to
Mahayana. The most representative of his writings is MahƗyƗna-sa graha, which is
a systematic presentation of Mahayana Buddhism from the viewpoint of the Yogacara