The Awakening of Faith

is a Yogacara text that Zongmi used as the basis for his Analysis of Mind

Ashvaghosa, the author of the Awakening of Faith, clearly stated in his introduction that is purpose for writing was to explain the principles and the practice of Mahayana clearly and simply for the benefit of common people. Even so the text is a difficult read and requires a great deal of study in order to grasp its basic tenets. Beginners must not expect to expect to fully understand it by a cursory once over. It must be studied and thought about over and over again, but if it is faithfully and persevering studied and meditated upon, it’s teaching will awaken and unfolding faith and confidence in the principle of the Tathagata, and will encourage one to set their feet on the path that leads to Buddhahood.

Excerpts from the course outline

Chapter 1
Introduction
The goal of the of this work is:

• To explain the principle and practice of Mahayana Buddhism
• To rid practitioners of adherence to false doctrines
• To unfold and explain the true path
• To awaken faith and wipe out wrong habits of greed, anger, and delusion
• To encourage the orthodox practice of Dhyana (concentration)
• To promote the opportunity common people may mentally benefit by the study of meditation

Chapter 2
Ignorance As the Source of Personality
Personal within the Universal – Recognizing the reality of the Universal Mind
Ignorance

• Ignorance is the first step of the Twelve Links of the Chain of Causation
• From Ignorance all mental processes arise
• Ignorance keeps people in bondage by its constant succession of confused subjective states
• Ignorance is used in two senses: mental process arises from within Ignorance; ignorance originates in the physical organism
• On account of unenlightenment habits are fixed, karma accumulated, and the distinction is created between that which apprehends and that which is apprehended

Enlightenment

• Enlightenment is realization of one’s own Mind-essence
• Enlightenment can not be accumulated but only discovered because it is Mind-essence itself
• Mind-essence is universal and eternal…forever calm and tranquil. Ignorance… in its blindness is oblivious of pure enlightenment
• People hold three things in fear and dread: Ignorance, personality, and suffering. Against those three Buddhism arrays Wisdom, Buddhahood, and Nirvana. They are the ultimate principles of Tathagata.

Chapter 3
Mind-Essence as Manifesting Personality
Universal within the Personal – Establishing an intuitive engagement with the Universal Mind

To nonthinking minds, personality appears as a conscious entity emerging… and having relations with the external world that is considered real. This will now be shown to be an illusion of the mind itself.
Ālayavijñāna Storehouse Consciousness, also known as the Universal Mind, in its Essential Nature is pure and immaculate, but never loses nor suffers the destruction of karma.

The three domains of thought:

• External world of sensual experience: when the mind is quieted, the multiplicities of things disappear.
• The mind world of thought and consciousness builds up and clings to the products of its own mental activities.
• The inner world of egoism (selfness): The truth of the ego-self is that it is wholly mind-made and arises from ignorance and unenlightenment.

In personality we may distinguish two aspects of Mind:

• Mind as the manifested in the changing world of appearances
• Mind in its ultimate nature as Essence and Emptiness