<p>To fill out R Barzell's comment more and to venture my own answer in the hope of being corrected. It seems like the most satisfying explanation of this is from this <a href="http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddhismglossaryy/g/yogacaradef.htm" rel="nofollow">source</a> </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>the reality we think we perceive does not exist except as as a process
  of knowing. Phenomena, anything that can be experienced, have no
  reality in themselves. At the same time, there is no "experiencer" who
  experiences except as a process of mind.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>My further understanding of this though is that the Yogācāra school was a very practically based school and any philosophical discussions would have been secondary to meditation and personal enquiry so this kind of statement would have been provisional on this. This would contrast with the rival <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhyamaka" rel="nofollow">Madhyamika</a> school which had a greater emphasis on philosophical discourse. Peter Harvey in an <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/An_Introduction_to_Buddhism.html?id=bj-ds_jd8QYC" rel="nofollow">Introduction to Buddhism</a> (pp129 2nd Edition) says of this</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Madhyamika has an analytical, dialectical approach [...] emphasizing
  wisdom; the Yogacara's emphasized samadhi (meditative concentration)</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-04T17:57:02.143Z
2015-01-04T18:03:16.660Z
2015-01-04T18:03:16.660Z
Crab Bucket
<p>I've heard the Yogācāra school of Buddhism called 'mind only'. What does that refer to? Does this school believe that the mind has a real inherent existence but nothing else does? Alternatively is it a more metaphorical designation or perhaps a provisional description of a deeper notion or maybe a name given to it by other schools (in the same way as Hinayana was used by Mahayanan schools)?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-29T22:39:10.473Z
This may answer your question: http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddhismglossaryy/g/yogacaradef.htm
R. Barzell
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-29T11:35:02.760Z
To be kept in mind that 'mind only' doesn't mean 'only mind'.
Tenzin Dorje
<philosophy><early-buddhism><yogacara>
Why is the Yogācāra school called 'mind only'?
# Why is the Yogācāra school called 'mind only'?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-11-17)

I've heard the Yogācāra school of Buddhism called 'mind only'. What does that refer to? Does this school believe that the mind has a real inherent existence but nothing else does? Alternatively is it a more metaphorical designation or perhaps a provisional description of a deeper notion or maybe a name given to it by other schools (in the same way as Hinayana was used by Mahayanan schools)?

**Tags:** philosophy, early-buddhism, yogacara

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This may answer your question: http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddhismglossaryy/g/yogacaradef.htm  
> **username_2**: To be kept in mind that 'mind only' doesn't mean 'only mind'.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2015-01-04. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

To fill out R Barzell's comment more and to venture my own answer in the hope of being corrected. It seems like the most satisfying explanation of this is from this [source](http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddhismglossaryy/g/yogacaradef.htm)

> the reality we think we perceive does not exist except as as a process
> of knowing. Phenomena, anything that can be experienced, have no
> reality in themselves. At the same time, there is no "experiencer" who
> experiences except as a process of mind.

My further understanding of this though is that the Yogācāra school was a very practically based school and any philosophical discussions would have been secondary to meditation and personal enquiry so this kind of statement would have been provisional on this. This would contrast with the rival [Madhyamika](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhyamaka) school which had a greater emphasis on philosophical discourse. Peter Harvey in an [Introduction to Buddhism](http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/An_Introduction_to_Buddhism.html?id=bj-ds_jd8QYC) (pp129 2nd Edition) says of this

> Madhyamika has an analytical, dialectical approach [...] emphasizing
> wisdom; the Yogacara's emphasized samadhi (meditative concentration)


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