Cittamātra

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Key Term	Cittamātra
Hover Popup Choices	Mind-Only; Mind Only; Consciousness Only; mere mind; Mere Mentalism; sems tsam
In Tibetan Script	སེམས་ཙམ་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	sems tsam
Devanagari Sanskrit Script	चित्तमात्र
Romanized Sanskrit	cittamātra
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering	sem tsam
Sanskrit Phonetic Rendering	chittamatra
Chinese Pinyin	weixin
Japanese Transliteration	yuishin
Korean Script	yusim
English Standard	Mind-Only
Karl Brunnhölzl's English Term	mere mind; Mere Mentalism
Richard Barron's English Term	Mind Only
Term Type	Noun
Source Language	Sanskrit
Basic Meaning	Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna.
Has the Sense of	It is a philosophical position that places mentation at the forefront of our experience of the world, rather than the seemingly real objects that consciousness perceives. It can also be used to refer to a Buddhist school, a genre of texts, or as a section of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. For instance, the Gyü Lama is in the sems tsam section of the Tibetan canon.
Did you know?	In Sanskrit sources it is more common to see this theory articulated as vijñaptimātra or consciousness only. Western scholars have associate this philosophy with a form of Idealism. In Tibet, the followers of zhentong made great efforts to distance themselves from this concept, while still utilizing many of the Yogācāra terms associated with it.
Related Terms	Yogācāra;ālayavijñāna
Definitions
Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism	See page 195: In Sanskrit, lit. “mind-only”; a term used in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra to describe the notion that the external world of the senses does not exist independently of the mind and that all phenomena are mere projections of consciousness. Because this doctrine is espoused by the Yogācāra, that school is sometimes referred to as cittamātra. The doctrine is closely associated with the eight consciousness (vijñāna) theory set forth in the Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇī of the Yogācārabhūmiśāstra and in the Mahāyānasaṃgraha and Abhidharmasamuccaya that are supplemental to that work.
Rangjung Yeshe's English Term	Mind Only school, Chittamatra; the doctrine of Mind Only; founded by Maitreya and Asaṅga, idealist-mentalist, just displays of mind.

Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna.

Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna.

Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna.

Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna.

Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna.

Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna.

Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana).

The Ultimate Continuum, or Gyü Lama, is often used as a short title in the Tibetan tradition for the key source text of buddha-nature teachings called the Ratnagotravibhāga of Maitreya/Asaṅga, also known as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra.

The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature.