ABSTRACT

The essence of the Buddha Dharma consists of two parts: the wisdom about all the dharmas on the Path to Liberation, and the wisdom encompassing the True Suchness and Buddha-nature on the Path to Buddhahood. Moreover, the wisdom of the True Suchness and Buddha-nature, further categorized into the wisdom of prajñā-emptiness and the wisdom of the knowledge-of-all-aspects, is also referred to as the Hundred Dharmas, Thousand Dharmas, or Million Dharmas of the Yogācāra Buddhism by the Consciousness-Only doctrine. Founded upon the central concept of Consciousness-Only, the Buddhist scriptures and treatises translated and authored by Chinese Dharma Master Xuanzang in the Tang Dynasty demonstrate the basis of the Buddha Dharma—the eighth consciousness. The ideology of Consciousness-Only includes both the theoretical value and the realistic value. The valid realistic value is grounded in the attaining of actual awakening to the eighth consciousness. The eighth consciousness, in essence, encompasses the entirety of the Buddha Dharma—the Path to Liberation and the Path to Buddhahood.