Life
Asanga was a major fourth-century Buddhist thinker associated by tradition with Gandhara and with Vasubandhu, often described as his half-brother. Accounts of prolonged meditation and teachings received from Maitreya are central to his religious biography. They should be identified as traditional narratives rather than presented as independently documented encounters.
Contribution
He helped systematise Yogacara accounts of experience and the bodhisattva path. These connect cognition, habits and transformation: how experience is structured matters because mistaken patterns can be perpetuated or gradually changed. His work combines philosophical analysis with an extensive account of ethical and contemplative development.
Key works
- Mahāyānasaṃgraha
- A major synthesis of Mahayana thought and practice.
- Abhidharmasamuccaya
- A systematic treatment of Buddhist analytical categories.
- Works associated with Maitreya and Asanga
- Attribution and transmission differ among traditions; the whole related corpus should not be assigned to one author without qualification.
Legacy
Asanga’s influence extends through Indian scholasticism and later Tibetan and East Asian traditions. He helps readers see that Yogacara is not adequately described by the slogan “everything is only in my mind.” Its theories address the formation of experience and the cultivation of wisdom within a path directed toward the welfare of others.
What would it take to change the habits through which you experience the world?
Sources
- Reference
Yogācāra — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (opens in a new tab)
plato.stanford.edu
- TranslationEnglish with parallel Pali available
SN 56.11 — Setting the wheel of Dhamma in motion (opens in a new tab)
SuttaCentral · nonprofit textual repository
How to read itTranslation by Bhikkhu Bodhi. Presents the four truths and middle path. Translation copyright and reuse terms remain those of the repository.
- Original textPali, multiple scripts
Pāḷi Tipiṭaka — Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana edition (opens in a new tab)
Vipassana Research Institute · independent research institute
How to read itCanonical texts, commentaries and subcommentaries are separate collections. This represents a Theravāda textual tradition, not every Buddhist canon.