The varying answers given to the single question of whether the mind is pure by nature or defiled by nature form a convenient lenses through which to view the development of Yogācāra thought. If the mind is pure, then where do the defilements originate? If it is defiled, where does purity originate? Though the classical formulation of Asaṇga and Vasubandhu sees
consciousness as paratantric, the source of defilement yet only the support of purity (an important distinction that necessitates an external source of purity), another view which was taken up by Yogācāran thinkers is that of the originally pure mind (viśuddhi cittaprakṛiti); a third schema brings the structure of consciousness together with that purity as seen, for example,
within the * Mahāyāna śraddhotpādaśāstra (The Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith).
The Defiled Mind
The Yogācāra formulation of the eight vijñānas is basically a chart of consciousness, of how delusion arises within that consciousness, and of the conversion of that consciousness to wisdom (jñāna). The ālaya-vijñāna or eighth consciousness is the storehouse consciousness because it appropriates or unifies the data of the other seven consciousnesses (ego or manas, the mind or mano, and the five sense-vijñāna). By this act of appropriating and storing the ālaya becomes the
source of delusion because, as the basis of the evolution of discriminating consciousness (vijñāna-parināma), it is the source of deluded thinking (parapañca). However, the ālaya is not the sole cause of vijñānaparināma, as is the basis of production in the Upanishadic sense; rather, it too is the result of the evolution of discriminating consciousness inasmuch as it is "perfumed" by that same evolution. The ālaya and the other consciousnesses arise together in a symbiotic or
synergistic relationship. Thus the structure of consciousness, for Asaṇga and Vasubandhu, arises co-dependently. Yogācāra thought, however, does not stop with the mere detailing of the arising of delusion, it also sought to contextualize wisdom within the theory of consciousness and to this end the three svabhāvas are taught.
According to this theory, the evolution of discriminating consciousness or consciousness in the mode of prapañca is termed parikalpita-svabhāva, "false imaginings." This mode of consciousness falsely projects existence on the non-existent, i.e., the rope which is mistaken for a snake, the hair in the eye of a man with cataracts, meaning as external to consciousness, and subject-object duality. Paratantra-svabhāva is the co-dependent nature of ālaya, arising in synergy with the other vijñāna. This is the most important of the three svabhāvas, as it is the co-dependent nature of consciousness which allows for the conversion of consciousness to wisdom. The third svabhāva, pariniṣpanna-svabhāva, is the absence of unreal imaginings, the abeyance of "extroverted consciousness."
As mentioned above, it is important to understand the pivotal role played by the paratantric nature, the synergistic or co-dependant structure of consciousness. It is because of
this nature that nonconsciousness can function in either an enlightened (pariniṣpanna) or deluded (parikalpita) mode. Thus all three natures are neither different nor identical. As Asaṇga states:
- “They are neither different nor identical. In one mode of being (parayana) paratantra is itself dependant on others. In another mode of being, it is parikalpita, and in another mode of being, it is pariniṣpanna.”2
