The textual history of the
Yogācāra tradition begins with the
Śrāvakabhūmi, an exposition of the theory and praxis of the spiritual path along lines common to a few Northern
Śrāvakayāna schools, most notably the
Sarvāstivāda. In less than a century from the conclusion of its formation, this work became part of the
Yogācārabhūmi, a monumental encyclopedic treatise which laid the foundations of a brand-new
Mahāyāna tradition — the school of meditation adepts (
yogācāra), mainly known for its theory on consciousness (
vijñānavāda) According to it, our common representation (
vijñapti) of the world is the only (
mātra) entity actually existing. And to make things worse, its workings distort the possibility of a true insight into Reality (
tathatā). Though far from being spelled out in all its details, the first clearly identifiable statement of this new view is found in the
Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra, a scripture which seems to have been independently compiled but was later incorporated into the
Yogācārabhūmi.
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)
