Pristine wisdom and consciousness: A comparison between the Cheng weishi lun and the shentong view of the Jonang school

摘要

Cheng weishi lun, the Chinese Yogacara text, proposes that the "the thoroughly established nature alone really exists, because it is not established in reliance on other conditions," suggesting a view of emptiness that is similar to the Jonang school's shentong view of the Great Middle Way. This paper examines the works of Dolpopa Sherap Gyeltsen and Taranatha, as well as Cheng weishi lun and its related literature, to compare the similarities and differences between the two doctrinal systems, primarily in terms of their definitions of consciousness and pristine wisdom. It finds that the eighth consciousness — the mind entity itself and its components — is the central concept of both systems, and that the tathagatagarbha of the Jonang school and the true suchness in the Cheng weishi lun are both empty of other phenomena but not empty of itself. The findings suggest that the Cheng weishi lun and the shentong view of the Great Middle Way share the highly similar doctrinal framework, which could be two versions of the same teachings delivered to sentient beings living in different time and space.