Yogachara (Sanskrit Yogācāra) is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through the interior lens of meditation and philosophical reasoning (hetuvidyā) [1, 2].
Yogachara was one of the two most influential traditions in Mahayana Buddhism in India, along with Madhyamaka [3].
The compound Yogā-cāra literally means "practice of yoga" or "one whose practice is yoga." Hence, the name of the school is literally "the School of the Yogins" [4, 3].
Yogācāra was also variously termed Vijñānavāda (the Consciousness Doctrine), Vijñaptivāda (the Ideas or Perceptions Doctrine), or Vijñaptimātratā-vāda (the "Mere Representation" Doctrine), which is also the name given to its major theory of mind that seeks to deconstruct how we perceive the world.
There are several interpretations of this main theory, which include various forms of idealism as well as phenomenology or representationalism.
Aside from this, Yogācāra also developed an elaborate analysis of consciousness (vijñāna) and mental phenomena (dharmas, "things"), as well as an extensive system of Buddhist spiritual practice, namely, yoga [1],
The movement has been traced to the first centuries of the common era and seems to have evolved as some yogis of the Sarvāstivāda and Sautrāntika traditions in North India adopted Mahayana Buddhism [5, 6].
The brothers Asaṅga and Vasubandhu (circa 4-5th century) are considered the classic philosophers and systematizers of this school, while it is also traditionally attributed by Buddhist believers to the figure of Maitreya-nātha [7].
Yogācāra was later imported to Tibet and East Asia by figures like Shantaraksita (8th century) and Xuanzang (7th century).
Today, Yogācāra ideas and texts continue to be influential subjects of study for Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism. More
The meditative music was soothing and immediately set a calming and peaceful tone. Mandy held a mudra of welcome, honoring Zoom participants. She not only spoke of peace but embodied it with a guided meditation/visualization. The format is ever-evolving. It's free. It's weekly. And space is open to come and investigate next Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, at 6:00 pm.
So it holds a very honored place in the Dharma and in American life, at least in the Sixties (because of the Peace Movement and the Hippies) and earlier due to the influence of the timeless Quakers, Transcendentalists, Christian Gnostics, and Catholic monastics, particularly the Franciscans and Carmelites.
In a language spoken by the Buddha (Pali), "peace" (passaddhi) is a noun (Sanskrit prasrabhi, Tibetan ཤིན་ཏུ་སྦྱང་བ་, shin tu sbyang ba) variously translated as "serenity," "calmness," "tranquility," "repose" [1]. The verb is passambhati ([rest], calm, quiet) [2].
In Buddhism, peace refers to tranquility of body, speech, and mind (thoughts and consciousness) on the path to enlightenment. As part of the seven mental factors to be cultivated, peace is preceded by rapture (pīti,bliss, joy, supersensual pleasure) and precedes stillness (samādhi, focus, concentration). More
What can one person do to foster world peace? How does one person's state of mind [heart] affect the state of the world? How can the ideal of nonviolence be manifested in daily life?
Buddhists have been exploring questions like these for 25 centuries, and they are still timely today. Inner Peace, World Peace is the first work in any Western language to examine the Buddhist approach to nonviolence.
Warriors for Peace? Buddhist Peace Walk
Well-known Buddhist scholars, a noted authority on nonviolent struggle, a prominent Thai Theravada Buddhist activist, and other leaders in their fields collaborate to show the contemporary relevance of the Buddhist tradition.
It is also a record of what life is like as our spiritual nature begins to live more fully within the body. Each of Kahn’s poems begins with earnest inquiry and ends with an ecstatic moment of communion with the part of the self that is connected to all things. Holy Doors: Poems by Mandy Kahn
Uncover the historical truth about Buddhist warrior monks with this informative and enlightening book.
Exploring the origins of Buddhism and the ethos of the Japanese samurai, martial arts practitioner Professor Jeffrey Mann traces the close connection between the Buddhist way of compassion (karuna) and the way of the warrior.
This Zen book serves as a basic introduction to the history, philosophy, and current practice of Zen as it relates to the Japanese martial arts.
It examines the elements of Zen that have found a place in budo(bujutsu or bugei)—the "Martial Way"—such as zazen, mushin, zanshin, and fudoshin, then goes on to discuss the ethics and practice of budo as a modern sport.
Offering insights into how qualities integral to the true martial artist are interwoven with this ancient religious philosophy, this book on Buddhism helps practitioners reconnect to an authentic spiritual discipline of martial arts.
Film, television, and popular fiction have long exploited the image of the serene Buddhist monk who is master of the deadly craft of hand-to-hand combat.
While these media overly romanticize the relationship between a philosophy of non-violence and the art of fighting, When Buddhists Attack: The Curious Relationship Between Zen and the Martial Arts shows this link to be nevertheless real, even natural.
ABOUT: The author Jeffrey K. Mann is a professor and the chair of the Religious Studies Department at [the Protestant Evangelical Lutheran] Susquehanna University (susqu.edu) in Pennsylvania. He earned his doctorate in religious studies from Vanderbilt University and has also served as a visiting professor of religion at Senshu University in Ikuta, Japan. A longtime student of Japanese martial arts, he has trained and competed in karate tournaments throughout North America, Japan, Okinawa, and the Philippines. He is an instructor of the Susquehanna Goju-ryu Karate-do Club, a school affiliated with the International Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-do Federation.
The shocking truth about the Buddha they never told us
(Silent Flame) For centuries, we’ve been bowing, chanting, and meditating…. But did we ever stop to ask, Who was the Buddha — really? Was he a man who simply awakened? A divine being who walked among mortals? Or something far beyond both ideas?
This deeper dive is a controversial video as Silent Flame takes us on a journey through ancient Buddhist texts, modern science, cosmic metaphysics, and brutal honesty — to finally answer the question no monastic dares ask out loud, 🔥 Was the Buddha a God…or just a man?
✅ DISCOVER:
Why early texts portray him as a human — and why that matters
The hidden [Mahayana] doctrine of the Three Bodies of the Buddha
The shocking Mahayana view that Buddha never passed away into final nirvana (what the world mistakenly calls dying, even though dying always entails rebirth so this could not be a common death the unenlightened experience)
What neuroscience, quantum physics, and psychedelics reveal today
How we should relate to the Buddha in real life — worship or walk?
If one has ever meditated, bowed before a statue, or just wondered what “enlightenment” really means… 🧘♂️ this is the video that connects the dots — and burns away illusions.
Was the Buddha a [Creator] God? Divine? A miracle-worker? Great gurus say, "No one saves us but ourselves; no one can, and no one may; we ourselves must walk the Path; buddhas only point the way."
We as earthling humans have been depending on gods and God for too long, waiting for them to return and rule, with we peons and pawns to their larger designs, such as the Anunnaki, the Greek, Roman, and Indian pantheons.
🔔 Subscribe for brutally honest Buddhist truth every week. 👇 Comment your truth: Is Buddha a god or are we just afraid to awaken? #Buddhism #Buddha #IsBuddhaGod #DharmaTalk #SilentFlame #Enlightenment #BuddhistPhilosophy #ThreeBodiesOfBuddha #NoSelf #Anatta #Awakening #BuddhistWisdom #SpiritualAwakening #Mysticism #ReligionVsSpirituality #QuantumBuddhism #BuddhismExplained #BuddhaTruth #TheRealBuddha #LongformContent #YouTubeDharma #Consciousness #BreakTheIllusion
Silent Flame, YouTube.com, May 21, 2025; The 14th Dalai Lama; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Bhikkhu Bodhi's surprising and profound description of nirvana (nibbana)
(Daniel Aitken) In this profound Dharma Chat, renowned American Theravada Buddhist monk, scholar, and translator Bhikkhu Bodhi sheds light on the ultimate goal of the Buddhist path: nirvana (nibbana). Join him as he navigates the intricacies of this elusive concept in three ways, unveiling its multifaceted nature and dispelling common foolish misconceptions about this reality. Watch the full episode at dharmachats.com.
Nirvana (the Unformed)
Arhats in nirvana are not in nothingness
The beautiful thing about this short answer is that it is what Bhikkhu Bodhi was saying decades ago in his landmark series As It Is, ten taped lectures. The "Nibbana" lecture (Number 6) goes into detail to show that nirvana is NOT nothingness as so many people have concluded. It is not "emptiness." It is not negative, though described by excluding what it is not, which makes it sound like exactly that. Anyone wishing to intellectually grasp nirvana, because direct realization of it (which is the best way of understanding it) is a little way off, will enjoy this talk:
The LOST Greek Buddhists: The Untold Story of Alexander's Monks
(Buddha's Wisdom) 🗡️ When Greek Warriors Became Buddhist Monks: History's Greatest Plot Twist. In 326 BCE, Alexander's unstoppable army met something their swords couldn't conquer -- the wisdom of naked monks (Gymnosophists). Greek warriors laid down their weapons to follow the Buddha's path, sparking one of history's most fascinating cultural fusions.
Discover how fierce Greek soldiers became peaceful Buddhist monks, why they created the world's first Buddha statues, and what happened when Greek philosophy met Buddhist enlightenment.
From lost kingdoms to hidden [Central Asian] monasteries, uncover the epic story that changed both East and West forever.
🗡️MAJOR REVEALS
The warrior who dropped his sword and changed history
The Greek king who chose enlightenment over empire
Recently discovered scrolls that reveal ancient secrets
The stunning truth about the Buddha's familiar face
New evidence of undiscovered monasteries
🎯 KEY MOMENTS
0:00 Introduction
2:03 Warriors Meet Wisdom
6:38 The Naked Truth
9:18 Kingdom of Two World
13:08 The Face of Buddha
17:10 The Lost Scrolls
23:05 Legacy of the Lost Monks
17:59 Conclusion
Support this channel:
Buy us a coffee ☕: buymeacoffee.com/buddhaswisdom.
Join in as archaeology meets adventure in this untold tale of warriors, wisdom, and one of history's greatest transformations.
#Buddhism #History #AncientGreece #Philosophy #Archaeology
What is "zen"? It is jhana (Sanskrit dhyana, Chinese chan) or "meditative absorption" (WQ).
The simplest and most advanced form of art
Alan Watts is a British-American Zen genius
Alan Watts is translating haiku, which is regarded as the more sophisticated for its apparent artlessness, direct and unadorned.
Haiku is not anything one wants to say in 17 syllables, as we are taught in the US, nor is it a rhyme. It is 17 on (phonetic units in Japanese) with no English equivalent. So, lacking an equivalent (of what linguists might call a phoneme or chunk), we have substituted syllables.
Why are haiku good? They are following many rules we are not told in English, where we just count syllables and chase pseudo-depth with something snappy and terse. "Brevity is the heart of wisdom." And of all the great haiku that ever came from the West, I have never heard something to rival the great American gay Jewish NAMBLA memberBeat PoetAllen Ginsberg, author of Howl, or was it one-time Buddhist Jack Kerouac, author of The Dharma Bums and On the Road, perhaps Sephardic Jew Lawrence Ferlinghetti or American humorist Kurt Vonnegut.
Someone in the 1960s wrote a genius three-word punchline (copied by droll comedian or reprehensible copycat Michael Lowenberg, who dared submit it as an original thought in 2022) that repeated Internet searches do not find. I am forced to compose a facsimile from memory:
Yoko Sakamoto (channeled by Sheron Bellio): Obstacles do not block the path; they are the path. Life isn't as serious as the mind makes it out to be. A piece of bamboo bends but does not break. Only the hand that erases can write the truth.
Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything exists in relation to everything else.
A world, a torch, and without, torch drop -- a world of trouble. A haiku a brought to you by Sue Beh'rue. I write, I erase, rewrite, erase again, and then [put a spell on you].
The past has no past.
A picture of a rice cake does not fulfill. To seek is to suffer; to seek nothing is bliss.
Tim Conway: I understand that your husband, Vic, is a worldly guy. He traveled the world. He spent a lot of time in Tibet, India, China, Vietnam, [Japan but] he said you met at Dalt's?
Yoko: Dalt's, the Dojo of the Smoothie...together we are One, filling each other up. *Gong*
Tim: You've got a little gong, too?
Yoko: A ding-dong with you, Tim Conway, a ding-dong.
Haiku lessons for American poets
Kokuu, Canterbury, UK (ARTS: How to Haiku, 1: What is not a haiku) edited by Wisdom Quarterly
(Treeleaf.org) I can’t speak for other languages, but haiku poetry taught at school in English is almost universally bad.
The basic instruction my 13-year-old daughter recently received was that a haiku is a three-line Japanese poem comprising 17 syllables in lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively.
If one is lucky, one might be told that it is usually about nature and our relationship with the natural world. Is this correct?
Well, it is not totally incorrect, but it focusses the attention in completely the wrong direction and thereby misses out several important factors.
It is true that in Japanese, a count of 17 sound units (morae) are employed in a three-line sequence.
"Quietly, quietly,/yellow mountain roses fall –sound of the rapids" (Matsuo Bashō)
However, an English syllable tends to be longer than a Japanese sound unit, so English Language Haiku (ELH) written in 17 syllables often to feel too bloated and long compared to their Japanese equivalents.
Moreover, most people writing haiku with the 5-7-5 structure in mind pay far more attention to getting the right number of syllables than forming a good poem. Few modern day ELH poets write in 5-7-5. Some do.
Most bad haiku (the plural of haiku is haiku) on the internet are written in 5-7-5. The syllable count is often achieved by adding adjectives until the magic 17 is reached.
The three-line structure is also not a good way to think about haiku. It is better understood as a poem composed of two essential parts – a phrase (two lines usually containing a verb) and a fragment (one line). This can either be fragment-phrase or phrase-fragment. More about this later.
Also a haiku isn’t a bunch of ideas and concepts. It is essentially a poetic form based on images, often coming from nature. Concepts can be included as well as images, but just concepts is far too heady and not nearly visual enough. Source: treeleaf.org
AlanWatts.org, Jan. 17, 2015; KFI racist comedy duo Producer Sheron Bellio (impersonator) as "Yoko Sakamoto," wife of Vic the Brick Jacob, in conversation with suspended radio talk show host Tim Conway Jr.; composed, abbreviated, and edited by Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(Ken Pruitt) Gordon Gekko (Oliver Stone's Wall Street) unknowingly describes the problems facing today's private sector (industry), while blasting the bureaucracy (governance) responsible for said problems in the first place. This is classic speech, both the in film and in economic thought. This is for people who think Saipan is a free market.
This is a famous pro-capitalist speech. Buddhism says the root of all unskillful action (unwholesome karma) and misery is due to three things: greed, hatred (and fear), and delusion.
This, of course, is a rough translation of what the Buddha taught since he used the terms lobha, dosa (bhava), and moha. These technical terms in Pali and Sanskrit have much broader definitions than our translated English words. Better words might have been avarice, aversion (cowardice), and nescience. But who knows what those mean? All the attraction and liking are subsumed in lobha. Dosa refers to all forms of aversion and disliking, which includes fear. And moha is ignorance of all kinds.
We say greed, hatred (fear), and delusion because it makes it more obvious in English that these things are bad. Then Gordon comes around and glorifies "greed." Greed is somewhat good, in a way, at least in the way Gordon is using it. How? Well, consider what we in English mean by "good." It's not always a moral judgment.
But, Buddha, c'mon, it's so much cash money!
Sometimes it's a functional assessment with one test -- getting what we want. If something gets us what we want, we accurately call that "good." I want to kill myself, I say. I tell Dr. Kevorkian that I'm thinking of using a 45. And he says, "That's good," meaning "that will work." He might add, "That's overkill. Why not just use my poison contraption?" Why, I ask him. "Because that's better," he answers. How so, I say. And the Doctor of Death explains that not everyone dies from a shot to the head, which is news to me. Some blow off their jaw, others get brain damage and deafness on one side. Others get a facelift and become paraplegics. He starts making a lot of sense, and his death device IS "good" in that it always works and never fails, and if I really want to kill myself (which is bad and a mistake) his way is "good." That's normal English.
Think about it. You say, "I want to get rich. I'm thinking of going to an Ivy League school, majoring in business, and stealing it from a company I raid by pumping and dumping its stock, screwing over all the other workers and investors there." And I say, That's good. I'm not making a moral judgment, and you know that. All I'm doing is saying, That'll work. Right? There's a better way, but your parents have their heart set on you going to an Ivy, so you and Gordon and Wall Street bankers can all have a great time with other lowlifes in New York. And you say, "What, you have a better idea?"
And I say, Yes. Try Buddhist business. "What in the world is that," and I talk about the Sigala Sutta (DN 31) and the Buddha's business advice to young householder Sigala. I mean, imagine it. What if there were a way to grow rich, enjoy it, experience all the sensuality and worldliness you want, and it wouldn't lead to regret hereafter. And there will be a hereafter, no matter how much you drink and blot out that possibility, sinking yourself in science books and ignoring all the evidence that there's more, much more, to this life than what we see and touch and can remember.
But then in what sense is "greed" good? There is the possibility of translating other Buddhist terms as "greed." It's a stretch, but it is possible in the larger sense. All desire is disappointing, unsatisfactory, suffering. Why, how? When a craving, yearning, pining, desire, inclination, lust arises, immediately with the arising of it, we suffer (are discomfited, are pained, thirst, hunger, pine, long, yearn, agonize) in the absence of it. One way to get rid of this pain is to get the thing we want; another way is to stop wanting it, but that is not nearly as easy to do. Any desire results in this kind of "suffering" (dukkha, which is a very broad term encompassing everything from agitation to agony). But, of course, we desire enlightenment/awakening (bodhi), reality/an end to suffering (nirvana), liberation (moksha), and so on. We want the bliss of the meditative absorptions. We want magical powers (iddhi, abhinna). We want wisdom (prajna, panna), happiness (sukha). We want to meditate and so on. We desire purification (visuddhi). We want deliverance (vimokkha). These kinds of desires are desires -- and they will result in distress as soon as they arise -- but they are not called craving (tanha) to distinguish them from commonplace sensual desires. These are called by other terms -- resolve, determination, zeal, intention, or will. The term used is chanda.
Chanda: intention, desire, will. 1. As an ethically neutral psychological term, in the sense of "intention," it is a general mental factor (cetasika, q.v. Tab. II) taught in the Abhidhamma, the Dharma in Ultimate Terms, the moral quality of which is determined by the character of the volition (cetanā) associated with it. The Commentary explains chanda as "a wish to do" (kattu-kamyatā-chanda). If intensified, it acts also as a "predominance condition" (see paccaya 3). 2. As an unwholesome quality, it has the meaning of "desire" and is frequently coupled with terms for "sensuality," "greed," etc., for instance: kāma-cchanda, "sensual desire," one of the Five Hindrances (see nīvarana); chanda-rāga, "lustful desire" (see kāma). Chanda is one of the four wrong paths (see agati). 3. As a wholesome quality, it is a righteous will or zeal (dhamma-chanda) and occurs, e.g. in the formula of the Four Right Efforts (see padhāna): "The meditator rouses will (chandam janeti)...." If intensified, it is one of the Four Roads to Power (see iddhippada). (Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines).
So in that sense "greed" (chanda) is good, but it's terrible and misleading to say so because it is a matter of semantics. "Greed" is always bad as we understand the word in English, but "will" is not necessarily bad in the larger sense while still being bad (if we define "bad" as "whatever leads to suffering"). An apparent paradox arises that good things can lead to suffering, and the resolution is this: Some things lead to suffering now and much happiness later, so they are "good." Some things lead to a little respite from suffering now and much suffering later, so they are bad. For example, striving in meditation can hurt, be boring, be frustrating, be painful, can seem fruitless, and so on, but when successful we will be glad we went through all that for what it yielded. Taking a break and enjoying sensual pleasures can seem a harmless pastime, something we deserve for working so hard, but our never ending addiction to them, the danger inherent in them, the fact that they can never by their nature bring us to satisfaction, fulfillment, satiation but always instead demand more and more, greater and greater diversity (papanca, proliferation), urge us on in samsara, the endless wandering in search of satisfaction, and this is the antithesis of nirvana (release, the highest happiness, the end of all suffering, ultimate reality.
All materials on this site are submitted by editors and readers. All images, unless otherwise noted, were taken from the Internet and are assumed to be in the public domain.
In the event that there is still a problem, issue, or error with copyrighted material, the break of the copyright is unintentional and noncommercial, and the material will be removed immediately upon presented proof.
Contact us by submitting a comment marked "private."
Do not follow this journal if you are under vinaya or parental restrictions. Secure protection by Sucuri.
Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at creativecommons.org/about/licenses.
%20wiki.jpeg)
.jpg){kind=link}
