Asaṅga

Asaṅga on the DRL

Classical Indian Authors

ཐོགས་མེད་

Wylie	thogs med
Romanized Sanskrit	Asaṅga

Line Drawing by Robert Beer Courtesy of The Robert Beer Online Galleries

Other names

• སློབ་དཔོན་ཐོགས་མེད་

• slob dpon thogs med

Alternate names

• Āryāsaṅga

Dates

Birth:	4th Century
Notes on dates:	The dates for this master are uncertain, though it is generally assumed that he lived in the 4th or 5th centuries.

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Religious Affiliation

Yogācāra; Cittamātra; Vijñānavāda

Familial Relations

Vasubandhu

Other Biographical info:

Links

BDRC Link

https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P6117

Wiki Pages

• Asaṅga on the DRL
• Asaṅga on the DNZ
• Asaṅga on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

Traditionally counted among the Seventeen Great Paṇḍitas of Nālandā, Asaṅga was an illustrious Indian scholar who, along with his brother Vasubhandu, is credited with the founding of the Yogācāra school and the introduction of their associated theories of mind-only (cittamātra), the storehouse consciousness (ālayavijñāna), and the three natures (trisvabhāva) into the milieu of Indian Buddhist philosophical discourse. He is most famously eulogized in the Tibetan tradition for his association with the Five Treatises of Maitreya (byams chos sde lnga), which he is reported to have received directly from the Bodhisattva Maitreya. In terms of the Uttaratantra, the Tibetan tradition asserts that he was the author of the prose commentarial sections (vyākhyā) of this work, while Maitreya, himself, is the author of the actual verses of the treatise (śāstra).

Expand to see this person's philosophical positions on Buddha-nature.

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
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All beings have Buddha-nature
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If "Qualified", explain:
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Which Wheel Turning
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Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
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Zhentong vs Rangtong
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Promotes how many vehicles?
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Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
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What is Buddha-nature?
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Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
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Causal nature of the vajrapāda
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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).

According to the Yogācāra school, all phenomena can be divided into three natures or characteristics: the imaginary nature (parikalpitasvabhāva), the dependent nature (paratantrasvabhāva), and the perfect or absolute nature (pariniṣpannasvabhāva).

According to the Yogācāra school, all phenomena can be divided into three natures or characteristics: the imaginary nature (parikalpitasvabhāva), the dependent nature (paratantrasvabhāva), and the perfect or absolute nature (pariniṣpannasvabhāva).

This refers to a series of five texts that, according to the Tibetan tradition, Asaṅga received directly from Maitreya in the pure realm of Tuṣita.

A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to Buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have Bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses.

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.

Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true.

Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

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.

The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena.

Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana.