20 Facts About Vasubandhu

Vasubandhu was a philosopher who wrote commentary on the Abhidharma, from the perspectives of the Sarvastivada and Sautrantika schools.

Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosakarika is widely used in Tibetan and East Asian Buddhism, as the major source for non-Mahayana Abhidharma philosophy.

Vasubandhu is one of the most influential thinkers in the Indian Buddhist philosophical tradition.

Vasubandhu initially studied with the Buddhist Sarvastivada school which was dominant in Gandhara, and later moved to Kashmir to study with the heads of the orthodox Sarvastivada branch there.

However Vasubandhu had begun to question Sarvastivada orthodoxy for some time, and had studied with the Sautantrika teacher, Manoratha.

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Vasubandhu is later said to have converted to Mahayana beliefs under the influence of his brother Asanga, whereupon he composed a number of voluminous treatises, especially on Yogacara doctrines and Mahayana sutras.

Vasubandhu wrote a texts on Buddhist Hermeneutics, the Proper Mode of Exposition .

Vasubandhu used the money he made from royal patronage and debating victories to build Buddhist monasteries and hospitals.

Vasubandhu was prolific, writing a large number of other works, including:.

Vasubandhu's critique of the self is a defence of Buddhist Anatman doctrine, and a critique of the Buddhist Personalist School and Hindu view of the soul.

Vasubandhu argues that because the Self is not causally efficient, it is mere convention and a “conceptual construction” .

Vasubandhu sees this as illogical, for him, the Self is made up of constantly changing sensory organs, sense impressions, ideas and mental processes.

Vasubandhu uses this analysis of the stream of consciousness to attack non-Buddhist Hindu views of the Atman.

The Sarvastivadin tradition which Vasubandhu studied held the view of the existence of dharmas in all three times .

Vasubandhu later wrote the Karma-siddhi-prakarana which expounded the momentariness view .

Vasubandhu uses the example of mass hallucinations to defend against those who would doubt that mental appearances can be shared.

Vasubandhu then turns to a mereological critique of physical theories, such as Buddhist atomism and Hindu Monism, showing that his appearance only view is much more parsimonious and rational.

Vasubandhu uses the analogy of a magician who uses a magic spell to make a piece of wood look like an elephant .

Vasubandhu contributed to Buddhist logic and is held to have been the origin of formal logic in the Indian logico-epistemological tradition.

Vasubandhu was particularly interested in formal logic to fortify his contributions to the traditions of dialectical contestability and debate.