Buddhist Psychology and Meditation
By Cheng, Chen-huang
Buddhist psychology in Mahayana Buddhism is called Vijnapti-matrata in Sanskrit or mental representation. The consciousness consists of four levels and eight functions. The basic level of consciousness is called alaya consciousness or the eighth consciousness which has the functions of collecting the imprints of whatever one thinks, speaks and does as well as emerging the past imprints when conditions are ripened. From alaya consciousness springs the mano consciousness or the seventh consciousness which has the function of ego-centeredness. The sixth or thinking consciousness is based on the mano consciousness which has the function of speculating. The five organ consciousnesses are administrated by the sixth consciousness and have the functions of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. According to Buddhist psychology, the world is nothing but the projection of our mind which has the very complicated mechanism of the eight consciousnesses. Because of our individualistic understanding of the world, our interpretation of the world is always biased, prejudiced, and personalized. This is the cause of the problems in life.By Cheng, Chen-huang
In order to broaden our full understanding of the world and thus to eliminate our afflictions and problems, we have to develop our wisdom so that we may see clearly the truth of the world. Wisdom is obtained from the peaceful mind which in turn comes from meditation. Meditation consists of two parts: concentration meditation and insight meditation. Concentration meditation is aimed to focus our wandering mind onto certain object while insight meditation applies the concentrated mind to investigate the world so that to get the truth. Once we realize the truth, we will be free from ignorance and sorrow.