作者為加拿大布洛克大學教授=Associate Professor, Humanities Research Institute of Brock University
摘要
The problem of whether Yogacara Buddhism is idealistic has become a focal topic in Western scholarship. An idealistic interpretation of Yogacara Buddhism usually finds its justification in the famous slogan of the Samdhinirmocana sutra that “the object of consciousness is the manifestation of consciousness only.” In fact, many Indian scholars simply translate “vijnaptimatrata” or “vijnanavada” as “idealism.” For example, A. K. Chatterjee’s work on Yogacara Buddhism was entitled The Yogacara Idealism. Even nowadays, in Japan such an idealistic understanding of Yogacara is still dominant. On the other hand, Yoshifumi Ueda proclaims a non-idealistic interpretation of Yogacara Buddhism. Besides, Lambert Schmithausen and Alex Wayman have argued for the thesis that the early Yogacra Buddhism is not idealistic. This line has been followed by Dan Lusthaus. In this paper, in terms of a comparison with Sartre’s phenomenology, we will clarify Ueda’s basic position. This will not only phenomenologically justify Ueda’s critique of Dharmapala’s doctrine of internal objects, but also indicate how Yogacara Buddhism can help Sartre to overcome the dualist predicament.
