<p>Ideation creates views. Ideation belongs to the domain of thought, which in Buddhism is defined to be one of the six senses, all prone to grasping and therefore suffering. The Buddha discusses the net of ideation/views in <a href="https://suttacentral.net/dn1/en/sujato" rel="nofollow noreferrer">DN1. The Prime Net</a>, which emphasizes how ideation/views can trap us.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When a mendicant truly understands the six fields of contacts’ origin, ending, gratification, drawback, and escape, they understand what lies beyond all these things.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Notice that, in the above, the Buddha points beyond all these things. The Buddha points beyond ideation. The Buddha points beyond views.</p>
<p>And this leads to a problem with a question that asks about &quot;everything&quot;. It's a problem because &quot;everything&quot;, which is literally &quot;every&quot; conceivable &quot;thing&quot;, is a very slippery term, much like &quot;infinity&quot;. Is everything countable? Some infinities are countable. Others are not.</p>
<p>The Buddha taught four Noble Truths. These truths all deal with suffering. In fact, the four Noble Truths deal with <em>all</em> suffering. They do not deal with &quot;everything&quot; unless we define &quot;everything&quot; as &quot;all suffering&quot;. And in this one special case of &quot;everything as all suffering&quot;, then yes, every <em>thing</em> is indeed suffering and there is also an end to suffering. Ideation belongs to the realm of forms. And the escape from forms is the formless, which lies beyond ideation.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/dn34/en/sujato#dn34:1.4.27" rel="nofollow noreferrer">DN34:1.4.27</a>: Renunciation is the escape from sensual pleasures. The formless is the escape from form. Cessation is the escape from whatever is created, conditioned, and dependently originated.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-02T14:20:49.013Z
2021-04-02T14:20:49.013Z
OyaMist
<blockquote>
<p>Dependent on eye &amp; forms, eye-consciousness arises...</p>
<p>Dependent on ear &amp; sounds, ear-consciousness arises...</p>
<p>Dependent on nose &amp; aromas, nose-consciousness arises...</p>
<p>Dependent on tongue &amp; flavors, tongue-consciousness arises...</p>
<p>Dependent on body &amp; tactile sensations, body-consciousness arises...</p>
<p>Madhupindika Sutta</p>
</blockquote>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>Were someone to say, 'I will describe a coming, a going, a passing
away, an arising, a growth, an increase, or a proliferation of
consciousness apart from form, from feeling, from perception, from
fabrications,' that would be impossible.</p>
<p>Upaya Sutta</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-03T13:00:57.363Z
That is, Mahayana Buddhism says that the external physical world exists independently of our mind?
Rodney
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-03T12:19:17.213Z
2021-03-03T12:19:17.213Z
Dhamma Dhatu
<p>Does Mahayana Buddhism or any other school of Buddhism posit the idea that the physical world does not exist apart from an observer's frame of reference, as in everything exists only in the mind as imagination?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-03T10:52:01.427Z
hi Rodney. please define "idealism" in your question. thank you
Dhamma Dhatu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-03T10:57:46.617Z
Objective and subjective idealism. The idea that the physical world does not exist, but everything exists only in the mind as imagination
Rodney
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-03T12:51:09.213Z
Please see: [What is the difference between Yogacara Buddhism and Idealism?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/10925/471), [Do Cittamatra / Yogacara explicitly refute the existence of an external world?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/13790/471), [What are the arguments Yogacara makes to deny the reality of sensory objects?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/40977/471)
ruben2020
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-03T13:43:13.067Z
Is Mahayana Buddhism idealism, or does it say that the entire physical world exists independently of the minds of living beings?
Rodney
<mahayana><academic-buddhism>
Do the texts of Mahayana Buddhism or those of any other school posit that everything is to be regarded as ideation? (Idealism)
# Do the texts of Mahayana Buddhism or those of any other school posit that everything is to be regarded as ideation? (Idealism)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-03-03)

Does Mahayana Buddhism or any other school of Buddhism posit the idea that the physical world does not exist apart from an observer's frame of reference, as in everything exists only in the mind as imagination?

**Tags:** mahayana, academic-buddhism

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: hi username_0. please define "idealism" in your question. thank you  
> **username_0**: Objective and subjective idealism. The idea that the physical world does not exist, but everything exists only in the mind as imagination  
> **username_2**: Please see: [What is the difference between Yogacara Buddhism and Idealism?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/10925/471), [Do Cittamatra / Yogacara explicitly refute the existence of an external world?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/13790/471), [What are the arguments Yogacara makes to deny the reality of sensory objects?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/40977/471)  
> **username_0**: Is Mahayana Buddhism idealism, or does it say that the entire physical world exists independently of the minds of living beings?  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-04-02. Score: 0

Ideation creates views. Ideation belongs to the domain of thought, which in Buddhism is defined to be one of the six senses, all prone to grasping and therefore suffering. The Buddha discusses the net of ideation/views in [DN1. The Prime Net](https://suttacentral.net/dn1/en/sujato), which emphasizes how ideation/views can trap us.

> When a mendicant truly understands the six fields of contacts’ origin, ending, gratification, drawback, and escape, they understand what lies beyond all these things.

Notice that, in the above, the Buddha points beyond all these things. The Buddha points beyond ideation. The Buddha points beyond views.

And this leads to a problem with a question that asks about "everything". It's a problem because "everything", which is literally "every" conceivable "thing", is a very slippery term, much like "infinity". Is everything countable? Some infinities are countable. Others are not.

The Buddha taught four Noble Truths. These truths all deal with suffering. In fact, the four Noble Truths deal with *all* suffering. They do not deal with "everything" unless we define "everything" as "all suffering". And in this one special case of "everything as all suffering", then yes, every *thing* is indeed suffering and there is also an end to suffering. Ideation belongs to the realm of forms. And the escape from forms is the formless, which lies beyond ideation.

> [DN34:1.4.27](https://suttacentral.net/dn34/en/sujato#dn34:1.4.27): Renunciation is the escape from sensual pleasures. The formless is the escape from form. Cessation is the escape from whatever is created, conditioned, and dependently originated.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2021-03-03. Score: 0

> Dependent on eye & forms, eye-consciousness arises...
>
> Dependent on ear & sounds, ear-consciousness arises...
>
> Dependent on nose & aromas, nose-consciousness arises...
>
> Dependent on tongue & flavors, tongue-consciousness arises...
>
> Dependent on body & tactile sensations, body-consciousness arises...
>
> Madhupindika Sutta

---

> Were someone to say, 'I will describe a coming, a going, a passing
> away, an arising, a growth, an increase, or a proliferation of
> consciousness apart from form, from feeling, from perception, from
> fabrications,' that would be impossible.
>
> Upaya Sutta

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: That is, Mahayana Buddhism says that the external physical world exists independently of our mind?  

---

