I start with an outline of the central Yogācārin doctrine of the ineffability of
ultimate truth and explain this with reference to the doctrine of Three Self-Natures
(trisvabhāva).
The generally positive flavour of Yogācārin thought will emerge in their
reinstatement of svabhāva as ultimate reality, while their agreement with Madhyamaka
can be seen in the belief that this cannot be captured with words.
While Yogācārin philosophers seem reluctant, at times, to assert either existence or nonexistence, a central,although rather cryptic phrase in Vasubandhu‘s works talks about the existence, the nonexistence, and finally, the existence of that nonexistence. Therefore, as we also see in the doctrine of the Three Self-Natures, instead of using a dual system, like Nāgārjuna does with his Two Truths, the Yogācāra resort to a triad. I argue that in this way, the Yogācāra is able to bring out the positive aspect of the experience of emptiness; rather than making an ontological claim, the phrase is to be understood as emphasizing an encounter with ultimate reality.
I then turn to a common misinterpretation of the Yogācāra that construes them as
idealists; as arguing for the reality of the mind, or for the nonexistence of external
objects. I argue that this reading arises through misunderstanding Vasubandhu‘s
arguments to be ontological claims, rather than instructions on how to realize emptiness.
Vasubandhu, it has been argued, often sets up provisional constructs, which he then
dissolves, and to grasp at these as implying either existence or nonexistence is to misread his intentions altogether. I hope to show that, in general, Mādhyamika and Yogācārin philosophy tend to cohere well, and therefore, if it is true that Nāgārjuna‘s thought is consistent with the Buddha‘s original message, as suggested in the previous section, it will also be true of the Yogācāra.
Yogācāra and the Ineffable Self-Nature