Mind Only: A Philosophical and Doctrinal Analysis of the Vijnanavada

The Vijnanavadins have long been characterized as believing in an Absolute. Thomas Wood investigates the extent to which this characterization is true. Through a detailed analysis of some of their fundamental texts, Dr. Wood demonstrates that Vijnanavadins were in fact ambivalent – and in some cases even inconsistent – in their philosophical views on this point.

This monograph is directed primarily to scholars of Indian philosophy and religion interested in the schools of Mahayana Buddhism and in its doctrinal relation to Vedanta; but with its treatment of philosophical topics of universal interest-idealism, solipsism, the nature of the inference to other minds – it is of interest to Western and comparative scholars as well.

Review(s)

*The presentation of the arguments is lucid and the language is readable. – K. Kunjunni Raja, The Adyar Library Bulletin, 1994.

In his elaborate examination of the Vijnanavada, Dr. Wood makes a valid distinction between the doctrinal position of the Vi

About the Author(s)

Thomas E. Wood received his B.A. and Ph. D. in Philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley. He has taught Eastern and Western Philosophy at the California State University at Fresno and the State University of New York at New Paltz.