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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
250
Atman and Molega
He writes —"This represents a disguised return from the theory of a stream of thought to the doctrine of a substantial soul. In the stream of thought every preceding moment of consciousness is the cause of the next following one. This relation, called samanantara -- pratyaya is now replaced by the relation of the store-consciousness (alaya) to its modifications (pariņāma), "1 Thus, in the vehemance of denying the existence of individual souls the Vijñānavādins went to the other extreme, and established the existence of a spiritual entity which is very much akin to the idea of universal Self. By the logic of thought the Yogācāras were compelled to project the existence of a fictitious entity i.e. the ălaya-vijñāna as the ideal substratum of all individual ideas just as Berkeley ascribed all ideas to the mind of God. Yogācāra system resembles much the subjectivism of Berkeley. Inspite of its positive nature Stcherbatsky calls it nairātmya or soullessness. He remarks in the following words -"Asvaghoşa conceived soul. lessness as a kind of general consciousness (alaya. vijñana ) of whom the separate elements were so many aspects, thus giving to the primitive teaching an idealistic interpretation."?
The Madhyamika (74f) School - The most important personality whose name is associated with the Madhyamika school is Nagarjuna. The
1 Stcherbatsky Th.: The Conception of Buddhist Nirvāna, p. 33.
2 Stcherbatsky Th. : The Soul Theory of the Buddhists, p. 826.
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