Cittamātra

Cittamātra (Sanskrit), " only esprit" , is one of the schools of the Bouddhisme Mahâyâna. It is sometimes named Vijñānavāda , way of the conscience, Vijñānaptimātra , the conscience alone, or Yogācāra , practitioners of the Yoga.

Origins

The Cittamātra school appears at the 4th century; its founders would be Asanga, Maitreyanatha and Vasubandhu.

Cittamātrin teaching

Idealism

The teaching of Cittamātra is known as " idealistic " : there is only perception. Those are called natural " dépendante" , to only exist really; on the contrary, the duality subject-object, is a " nature imaginaire" and the inexistence of a subject which would perceive is known as " nature établie".

A seed does not produce a growth, but to the perception of a seed the perception of a growth follows. The world is included/understood according to the images of the Rêve and the Optical illusion.

Asaṅga proclaims:
" According to their class, demons starveling, animal, men and gods have, on the same object, different ideas. Therefore, one concludes from it that the object does not exist ". (Translation Etienne Lamotte)

Ālayavijñāna

Two currents of Cittamātra

After the founders, the school is divided into two currents:

the current founded by Dharmapala and whose center was the university of Nalanda taught a integral Idéalisme. It is the doctrines of the " all is imagination ".
the current founded by Gunamati and represented by Sthiramati had its center with Valabhî. He taught a moderate idealism founded on the synthesis of will yogacara with the concept of Vacuité developed by the Madhyamika.

Cittamātra and Madhyamika

Buddhism Madhyamaka constitutes another branch, older, of the Bouddhisme mahâyâna. He refused the Cittamātra theory, not accepting the real existence:

of the spirit, which according to Mādhyamika, is itself illusion;
of the phenomena tested by the spirit.

If, according to Mādhyamika, the Vacuité is illusion indépassable, it is for Cittamātra the assertion that only the spirit exists. According to Cittamātra, Mādhyamika must thus be taxed with Nihilisme.

This controversy has in fact historically led to the creation of a new school of Mādhyamika.

Development in China

Development in Japan

Development in Tibet

References

Dominique Trotignon, Paul Magnin, Stephan Arguillère, Francoise Bonardel, the conditioned coproduction , in the Buddhist books, European Buddhist University, n° December 2nd, th and th 2005.

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