Asanga
 

 

Home First Dalai Lama Second Dalai Lama Third Dalai Lama Fourth Dalai Lama Fifth Dalai Lama Sixth Dalai Lama Seventh Dalai Lama Eighth Dalai Lama Ninth Dalai Lama 10th Dalai Lama 11th Dalai Lama 12th Dalai Lama 13th Dalai Lama 14th Dalai Lama Ananda Asanga Atisha Bodhidharma Buddha Chan China Druk-pa Lineage Dzogchen Gampopa Gelug-pa Lineage Japanese Buddhism Kagyu Lineage Karma Kagyu Kashyapa Machig Labdron Tib Mahayana Buddhism Marpa Milarepa Nagarjuna Naropa Nigrodha Nyingma-pa Padmasambhava Sakya-pa Lineage Shantarakshita Tendai Buddhism Theravada Buddhism Tilopa Tsonkhapa Upali Vajrayana Buddhism Vasubandhu Virupa Yeshey Tsogyel Links

Asanga (also called Aryasanga), born around 300 C.E., was a great exponent of the Yogacara.

Born in Gandhara in north India as a Brahmin's son, he was perhaps originally a member of the Mahīśāsaka or the Mūlasarvāstivāda school but later converted to Mahāyāna; after many years of intense meditation, during which time some traditions say that he often visited Tushita Heaven to receive teachings from Maitreya-nātha. He went on to write many of the key Yogācāra treatises such as the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, the Mahāyāna-samgraha and the Abhidharma-samuccaya as well as other works, although it should be noted that there are discrepancies between the Chinese and Tibetan traditons concerning which works are attributed to him and which to Maitreya-nātha.