識Vasubandhu

316-396 · Indo-Tibetan Buddhism · Known

Vasubandhu was a synthesizer of Indian Buddhism who wrote the Abhidharmakosa, the standard encyclopedia of Buddhist scholastic doctrine, then changed schools and joined the Yogacara. In his Twenty and Thirty Verses he argued that the objects you take to stand outside you are consciousness taking a shape. He sorts every phenomenon into three: what you imagine, what depends on causes, and what is there.

Signature

The position Vasubandhu is most identified with in the Profiler:

Mind

strongly leans Beyond Brain

Perception

Idealism

Positions on the 5 axes the sources answer

Mind

strongly leans Beyond Brain (97 on a 0–100 scale from Brain Only to Beyond Brain)

The Divine

leans Indescribable (75 on a 0–100 scale from Describable to Indescribable)

Meaning

leans Inherent (75 on a 0–100 scale from Constructed to Inherent)

Nature of Reality

leans Unity (25 on a 0–100 scale from Unity to Multiplicity)

Ground of Being

leans Transcendence (75 on a 0–100 scale from Immanence to Transcendence)

15 of 20 axes are left blank: the sources do not answer them, or Vasubandhu refused the framing. Nothing is imputed; a blank is not a middling score.

Foundational questions

Theology

Atheism
What is your position on the existence and nature of God or gods?

Highest Good

Other
What is the highest good?

Good and Evil

Karmic Balance
What is the fundamental nature of good and evil?

Perception

Idealism
What do we directly perceive?

Knowledge

Intuition
What is the ultimate foundation of knowledge?

Ethics Basis

Intention
What is the ultimate basis of ethics?

Agency

Non-Self
What is the nature of human agency and freedom?

Beginning of Things

Cyclical Recurrence / Mind-Only
What is the origin of reality?

Time

Cyclical Return
What is the fundamental shape of time?

Authority

Sacred Tradition
What is the legitimate source of authority?

Paradox

Apophatic Pointer
What is the status of paradox?

Death

Karmic Cycle
What happens at death?

Human Nature

No-Self
What is human nature?

Primary Bond

All Beings
What is your primary bond and loyalty?

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