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What made this new school, with part of its roots strongly anchored in an orthodox Śrāvakayāna tradition, develop a totally new outlook? Obviously, the answer is not simple, and the origins of this novel perspective are complex. From the standpoint of the textual history, however, one could reasonably argue that what lies between the traditional views of the Śrāvakabhūmi and the revolutionary ideas presented in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra are the Bodhisattvabhūmi and the earlier parts of the Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇī The former is a treatise (or rather anthology) dedicated to the philosophy and practice of the ideal Mahāyāna virtuoso (bodhisattva) treading along the messianic path of liberating all sentient beings and of perfecting himself for the attainment of the Awakening. Like the Śrāvakabhūmi, this text also became part of the Yogācārabhūmi. The Viniścaya-saṃgrahaṇī is the auto-commentarial portion of the Yogācārabhūmi which glosses and elaborates upon terms and subjects in the preceding (and most likely, earlier) parts of the text.
It is tempting to refer to the Bodhisattvabhūmi as a 'missing link'. 'Link' it is but 'missing' would be an overstatement. Modern scholars, mainly in Japan, have examined many of its philosophical and philological facets. Nevertheless, to the best of my knowledge, a systematic examination of the meditative practices in the Bodhisattvabhūmi has not been undertaken so far. The present paper attempts to fill in this gap, albeit in a very limited fashion and scope. (Source: "Meditative Practices in the Bodhisattvabhūmi," 884–85)Scholarship on
Traditionally attributed to Ārya Asaṅga (c. fourth–fifth century CE) through revelation from the future buddha Maitreya, the text likely represents a compilation of earlier materials (c. 230–300 CE) that predates the fully developed Yogācāra philosophical system. Its existence in multiple Chinese translations from the early fifth century onward confirms its early date and widespread influence across Asian Buddhism.
