Asanga

Category: Patriarchs of Early Buddhism

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

Asanga (also Aryasanga), born around 300 C.E., was a great exponent of Yogacara school. Traditionally he and his brother Vasubandhu are regarded as the founders of this schhol.

Born in Gandhara in north India as a Brahmin's son, he was perhaps originally a member of the Mahīśāsaka or the Mūlasarvāstivāda school but later converted to Mahayana.

Receiving Teachings from Maitreya Bodhisattva

Asanga had been experiencing difficulty in gaining and unmistaken understanding of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras and decided that only from Maitreya could he receive the instructions he needed. He therefore entered into intensive retreat in hopes of gaining a direct vision of Maitreya.

After three years of intensive retreat with no success he quit this retreat. On his way back home he saw an old man trying to remove a huge stone by brushing it with a feather. Asanga took this as a sign that with enthusiastic perseverance, anything could be accomplished, so he reentered his retreat.

More years passed, without results. But each time Asanga gave up he would encounter someone doing an impossible task, and thus he would be re inspired again. But after 12 years with no results, Asanga gave up his practice for good. This time on his way home, he saw a starving dog on the ground, its wounds being eaten by maggots. Moved by compassion for the dog and maggots, he cut off a piece of his own flesh and bent down to transfer the maggots to the meat with his tongue so he would not hurt the maggots. He closed his eyes, but although he leaned over very far, he felt nothing. When he opened his eyes to see what was wrong, the dog had disappeared and in its place stood Maitreya in all his glory.

Asanga was shocked and asked: "Where were you all those years I was meditating in the cave?" Maitreya replied that he had been there next to him all that time and only delusions had prevented Asanga from seeing him. Asanga's compassionate act removed the veil of those delusions.

Since then, Asanga often visited Tushita Heaven to receive teachings from Maitreya. He wrote many texts, of the key Yogacara treatises such as the Yogacarabhumi Sastra, the Mahayana Samgraha and the Abhidharma Samuccaya as well as other works which he attributed the works as written by Maitreya-nātha.

References

• Doctrinal Affiliation of the Buddhist Master Asanga by Alex Wayman in Untying the Knots in Buddhism, ISBN 81-208-1321-9
• On Some Aspects of the Doctrines of Maitreya (natha) and the Asanga by Giuseppe Tucci, 1930