of the mind that lead to Enlightenment: belief (ĞraddhƗ), sense of shame (hrƯ), sense
of integrity (apatrapƗ), non-covetousness (alobha), non-anger (adversƗ), non-delusion
(amoha), zeal of diligence (virya), composure of mind (prasrabdhi), vigilance
(apramƗda), equanimity (upekƗ), and harmlessness or non-injury (ahi sa).
These virtues express that the mind is functioning, realizing its connection with
itself and others. Non-foolishness in particular means the wisdom that begins with
connection and moves toward unity.
Unlike modern psychology, the Yogacara School had no intention to describe
human mental phenomena in general; it is primarily concerned with Enlightenment
as the liberation from vexing passions. Therefore, in my view, it compensates for
depth that is lacking in modern psychology.
The Yogacara School’s dealing with vexing passions is not content with the
description of minor vexing passions but penetrates into the primary vexing passions
(mnjla-kleĞa), and further divides them into six superficial fundamental vexing
passions: covetousness (rƗga), anger (pratigha), delusion (moha), conceit (mƗna),
doubt (vicikitsƗ) and false views (kud i), and four deeper fundamental vexing
passions: self-delusion (atmamoha), self-belief (Ɨtmad i), self-conceit (Ɨtmanana),
and self-love (Ɨtmasneha).
The theories of eight consciousnesses and the four wisdomsThe Yogacara School discovered the unconscious more than a thousand years earlier
than Freud with the theory of eight consciousnesses in which the human mind is
divided into eight spheres. First, the five consciousnesses refer to the spheres of five
senses: eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body. Beyond these five is consciousness
(mano-vijñƗna), considered as a sense whose function is to perceive outer objects.
Until the Yogacara School the human mind was identified only with the six functions.
The Yogacara School assumes that behind these six is a seventh, the
manas-consciousness (manas-vijñƗna) which substantiates and centralizes the ego and
attaches to it. Manas is a Sanskrit word that denotes calculation or conjecture. The
manas-consciousness refers to the sphere of the mind that calculates the ego as an
entity.
The four deeper primary vexing passions mentioned earlier are the functions of
the manas-consciousness. It is this consciousness that makes us ignore non-self and
Emptiness (Japanese: gachi), believe in the self (gaken), be proud of and dependent
upon it (gaman) and attach ourselves to it (gaai). So, in the view of the Yogacara
School, this manas-consciousness is manifest as ignorance of the fact that the ego only
exists in connection with others and therefore is empty in itself, and as the assumption
that the ego is an entity and the center of the world. The manas-consciousness is the
mind that divides self and non-self and excessively adheres to the former.
Yogacara psychology further posits the alaya-consciousness (Ɨlaya-vijñƗna) as the
eighth consciousness that is the deepest sphere of the mind. Alaya is a Sanskrit word
that means storehouse. So the alaya-consciousness refers to the sphere where seeds
(bƯja) of all beings and all lives are stored. With the ancient Indian Weltanschauung,
MORIYA OKANO 223