El modelo Yogachara de la mente

Today we'll talk about the Yogacara model of the mind, a model that is centuries old and, of course, quite different from those proposed by neuroscientists today. However, they are not incompatible. The Yogacara model of the mind aims to describe how the mind is perceived when analyzed from within by the mind itself, when the mind analyzes itself. Neuroscience models, in general, currently attempt to describe the mind through the analysis of its physical and physiological characteristics: neuronal connections, electrical circuits, excitations, the functional blocks or areas that perceive, and so on. It is remarkable that a religion like Buddhism has made the effort to describe the mind in such detail. It is unusual, and to my knowledge, it is the only model of its kind. Nor have there been any subsequent attempts in Buddhism to refine this model, which, by the way, is incredibly easy, and we could spend some time discussing all the shortcomings of this model of the mind. But well, this is part of the problem with religions: they tend to freeze up too easily, and any attempt at change or evolution is seen almost as sacrilege. This is slightly less common in Buddhism than in other revealed religions, but it does occur. Now, with that digression out of the way, let's see what the Yogacaras proposed, how they viewed the mind from within, in their stages of meditation, vipana analysis, and so on. They structured the mind into eight blocks that we now call consciousnesses. And in fact, the yoga model is found everywhere as the eight consciousnesses model. Well, this isn't entirely correct from the outset. Originally, they spoke of eight vijnanas (vijnana), and vijnanas are not consciousnesses. In fact, the word viñana, which can be used in this context and others, comes from the combination of Vi, meaning two, just like in our language, and ñana (jnana), meaning knowledge, a word commonly used in Sanskrit, in spirituality, both in Hinduism and Buddhism. That is, two and knowledge, dualistic knowledge. Viñana means dualistic knowledge. Dual because it occurs within the realm of the apparent subject and object in the Cartesian theater. Therefore, it is dualistic knowledge and it does occur, yes, certainly, in a space we usually call consciousness. But it is not exactly one or several consciousnesses. Now, although there are eight viñanas, we can organize them into four clearly differentiated groups.