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The Object of Perception: Subject and Object Are Not Two
Mahāyānasaṃgrahaśāstra (Treatise on the Summary of the Great Vehicle, Taisho Revised Tripitaka 1594) was composed by Asaṅga and translated by Xuanzang, accompanied by the English version “Summary of the Great Vehicle” and the French version “Le sommaire du Mahāyāna.” Chapter 1, “General Exposition,” is omitted; from Chapter 2, Object of Cognition (sở tri y), the analysis of the teachings begins.
“Object of Cognition” is the object of knowing (the known) together with its support (the support), corresponding to the subject of knowing (the knower). Each time cognition arises, the subject and object manifest simultaneously, in each instant, like frames in a film: the two aspects of subject and object cannot be separated.
Buddhist scriptures include
- sūtra (discourses)
- vinaya (precepts)
-
abhidharma (higher teachings)
but in the Mahāyānasaṃgrahaśāstra, the four Western branches of philosophy (psychology, logic, metaphysics, ethics) are integrated as one. The analysis of name and form, the five aggregates, is only a skillful means for practice; one must let go of dualistic attachment when insight is attained.