Cheng Weishi Lun

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The Cheng Weishi Lun (Chinese: 成唯識論; pinyin: Chéng wéishì lùn), or Discourse on the Perfection of Consciousness-only is a comprehensive discourse on the central teachings of Yogacara, framed around Vasubandhu's seminal Yogacara work Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā ("Thirty Verses on Consciousness-only"). It was written by the Chinese monk Xuanzang in the 7th century CE. It is sometimes referred to as Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi, its equivalent name in the Sanskrit language.

Origins and importance

When Xuanzang was studying Buddhism in India at Nālandā University, he discovered ten commentaries on Vasubandhu's Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā. He drew upon these commentaries, especially the commentary of Dharmapāla, when writing his own detailed explanation of the Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā, which became the Cheng Weishi Lun.^[1]

The Cheng Weishi Lun became one of the key texts of the Faxiang (Chinese Yogacara) school, and is also frequently quoted in the writings of Hossō (Japanese Yogacara) school, where it is referred to as the Jōyuishikiron.

English translations and scholarship

Wei Tat translated the Ch'eng Wei-Shih Lun into English for the first time in Hong Kong in 1973. This translation is based upon Louis de La Vallée Poussin's early translation of the Cheng Weishi Lun into French (Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi: La Siddhi de Hiuan-Tsang). Wei's translation is now out of print and difficult to find. More recently, Francis Cook made a new English translation of the text for the Numata Center's Taisho Tripitaka translation effort.

To date, the following English translations of the Cheng Weishi Lun have been rendered:

• Wei Tat, Ch'eng Wei-Shih Lun: Doctrine of Mere-Consciousness, Hardcover. 1973 ISBN unknown
• Francis H. Cook, Three Texts on Consciousness Only, Hardcover. 1999 ISBN 1-88643-904-4

Dan Lusthaus of the University of Missouri has written a modern commentary on the Cheng Weishi Lun.

See also

• Thirty Verses on Consciousness-only
• Louis de La Vallée-Poussin

References

1. ^ Cook, Francis. Three Texts on Consciousness Only. Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 1999

External links

• Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (log in with userID "guest")
• excerpt--The Treatise on the Establishment of the Doctrine of Consciousness-Only
• Wei Tat (tr.) : Ch'eng wei-shih lun: The doctrine of mere-consciousness
• Epstein, Ronald. 1985. The Transformation of Consciousness into Wisdom in the Chinese Consciousness-Only School According to the Cheng Wei-Shi Lun.
• Wei Tat tr. : Cheng Wei-Shih Lun ( Doctrine of Mere-Consciousness) ebook