A CONCISE SYLLABUS OF THE COMPLETE YOGĀCĀRA BODHISATTVA PATH

[Leo Rivers]

A CONCISE SYLLABUS OF THE COMPLETE MAHĀYĀNA BODHISATTVA PATH
AS TAUGHT BY THE YOGĀCĀRA SCHOOL
in the Bodhisattvabhūmi section
of the great Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra
attributed to Asanga, (4th century CE)
extracted from
A Comprehensive Commentary on the Heart Sutra
by K'uei-chi,
and Translated by Heng-ching Shih with Dan Lusthaus,
Numata Center for Buddhist Translation.


Table of Contents
Introduction:
Brief Bibliography:
Part One
The Situation for Us as described from the Viewpoint of the Madhyamika and the Yogācāra
The Ground of Practice are these two natures:
(1) On having an Innate nature
(2) On having an Acquired nature
I. The stage of accumulating provisions (sambhārāvasthā).
II. The stage of intensified effort (prayogāvasthā).
III. The stage of penetrating understanding (prativedhāvasthā).
IV. The path of cultivation (bhāvanā-mārga)
V. The stage of ultimate realization (niṣṭhāvasthā).
Before the Practice: Preparations
(1) The ten supreme virtues and the three profound vipaśyanās (contemplations).
a. The ten supreme virtues
b. The three profound vipaśyanās
(2) Generating one's initial aspiration
THE ABRIDGED TYPE OF PRACTICE
(1) the sphere or Field of Objects to be Contemplated
The trisvabhāva are defined:
One interpretation
There is another interpretation
(2) the actual practice of transformation
1. Eradicating the false and maintaining the true.
2. Rejecting the false and preserving the pure.
3. Gathering the branches (parts) into the root (foundation).
4. Concealing the inferior and revealing the superior.
5. Eradicating forms and realizing its self-nature.
(3) the results obtained from attainment
I. In the stage of cultivation
II. In the stage of intensified effort
III. In the stage of penetrating understanding
IV. In the stage of practice in traversing the Bhumis
In the fifth bhūmi
In the seventh bhūmi
Beyond the eighth bhūmi
In the stage of complete realization
THE UNABRIDGED TYPE OF PRACTICE
(1) the sphere or Field of Objects to be Contemplated
1. Regarding those to be trained.
2. Regarding beneficial deeds.
3. Regarding true meaning.
4. Regarding power.
5. Regarding bodhi.
(2) the actual practice of transformation
On Taking the Qualities of the Dharma Wisdom and Worldly Wisdom into Consideration for Practicing
As for inner thought, one should vigorously and enthusiastically seek to hear [the Buddha-Dharma].
the [five fields of knowledge (pañca-vidyā):
On Taking the Qualities of the Dharma into Consideration for Practicing
On Taking One's own Qualities into Consideration for Practicing
On Taking the Qualities of those to be Taught into Consideration for Practicing
The Practice Itself: Practicing with the 6 pāramitās.
I. The Practice of Giving
II. The Practice of Morality
1. First is the morality of discipline.
2. Second is the morality that consists of positive actions.
3. Third is the morality of wishing to greatly benefit sentient beings.
IV. The Practice of Patience
1. The patience of enduring enmity and harm.
2. The patience of enduring suffering.
3. The patience of true insight into the Dharma.
IV. The Practice of Effort
1. Increasing effort.
2. Effort in accumulating merits.
3. Effort benefiting sentient beings.
V. The Practice of Concentration
VI. The Practice of Wisdom
First is the wisdom that realizes the truth of things as they are.
Second is profound wisdom pertaining to the five fields of knowledge and the three kinds of concentration.
Third is the wisdom of developing compassion and benefiting beings.
[ed. Note: The Section on the Collections of Aspirations]
Part Two
(3) the results obtained from attainment (or, The Qualities of those that can learn these dharmas)
A bodhisattva's practice comprises twelve abodes that encompass all bodhisattva stages.
Differing Qualities of the passage in the various Abodes.
The five kinds of births for Bodhisattvas to take:
The Four Acts of a Bodhisattva which include Sentient Beings into their Field of Merit *
The 13 Abodes as attributed to the Seven Bhumis
Looking Backward from Buddha-hood: Some Questions as Answered by both the Mādhyamikans and the Yogācārins
(1) Why are the practices said to be "profound"?
(2) What is meant by "when" [in the second line of the Prajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya-sūtra]?

[Indrajala]

Care to provide a link?

[Will]

https://www.bdkamerica.org/default.aspx ... nguageid=1

As I have this 2001 edition of the Heart Sutra commentary, I checked Leo's outline and cannot find his pages given that match my book.

Was there some other edition or could you have extracted the syllabus from some other Numata title?

[Leo Rivers]

Oh! I intended it to be a table of themes. I ought to have deleted the page numbers. I just wanted to share the table of contents it provided in the text in the initial sentences of the sections. And do watch the 3 parts of the YouTube lecture.

Explanation: I extracted the Explanation with ReadIris OCR from the end of Part one and the beginning of Part Two in the book and made a textfile PDF with page numbers by pouring the raw scanned text into Open Office and saving as a formatted PDF.

This "OCR extracted explanation material" is a list of outline-formatted themes with text content now.

What you are seeing is a Table of Contents created in NeoOffice from and OCR generated textfile of the relevant section of what may be the earliest Commentary of the Heart Sutra.

Now I am in the process of matching the text to the section headings in the bodhisattva-bhūmi section of the Yogācārabhūmi, (The stage of Bodhisattva - bodhisattva-bhūmi菩薩地. (fascicles 35-50) ) in Dan Lusthaus and Charles Muller's Summary of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra Outline, (http://www.acmuller.net/yogacara/outlin ... y-utf8.htm).

Then I will generate a test file with the bodhisattva-bhūmi exposition of the Path from Kuiji's A Comprehensive Commentary on the Heart Sutra with section heads and their locations from the The stage of Bodhisattva as a section header overlay as a way to co-ordinate my reading of the text.

Next I will interpose matching quotes from Asanga's The Summary of the Great Vehicle [http://www.amazon.com/Summary-Vehicle-English-Tripitaka-Translation/dp/1886439214/ref=pd_sim_b_2} and Vasubandhu to further explain what I am reading and show those places the Chinese Yogacara drifted or improved on the Gandhāra Yogacara.

This is my approach to getting Yogacara 101 level look at the materials. A syllubus and Text in one eTxt_heap.

The end result I wanna have ---> A big stuffed scrapbook YOGACARASTUFF pdf printed out to scribble on.

PS: I have learned not to enthuse about my project with my Dharma acquaintances.

[Will]

OK, now some of the fog is rising. I see that the italicized headings sprinkled throughout the BDK-Numata text are what you are using.

But dear Leo, in future please slow down & tidy up your Dharma offerings before posting them.

[Leo Rivers]

please slow down & tidy up your Dharma offerings before posting them.

What could I have done here better? Both in this posting and in others? I am very aware that I am unskilled at presenting material. What are my most common egregious affronts?

in advance.