Vijñaptimātratā and the Abhidharma context of rarly Yogācāra

Contemporary accounts of early Mahāyāna Buddhist schools like the Madhyamaka and the Yogācāra tend to portray them as generally antithetical to the Abhidharma of non‐Mahāyāna schools such as the Theravāda and the Sarvāstivāda. This paper attempts to locate early Yogācāra philosophical speculation firmly within the broader context of Abhidharma debates. Certain key Yogācāra concepts such as ālayavijñāna, vijñapti‐mātratā and citta‐mātra are discussed insofar as they relate to pre‐existing concepts and issues found in the Vaibhāsika and Sautrāntika schools, with specific reference to the Abhidharmako?a and the corresponding bhāsya of Vasubandhu. Finally, some remarks are made about the, benefits of approaching the history of religious ideas without the benefits and distortions of hindsight, particularly as this relates to the attribution of an idealistic position to the early Yogācāra literature.     

Switching attention between the ears to monitor tones Nigel Harvey

Alternating dichotic presentation of tones was compared with monaural presentation in two different perceptual tasks. When Ss were asked to detect higher frequency target tones in fists of six background tones, they missed less than 5%. However, when the presentation was fast (10/sec) and the tones alternated dichotically, Ss reported “hearing” only three or four tones. In two further experiments, Ss were asked to judge the number of tones or to report their spatial and temporal positions; these tasks were much less accurately performed, for the dichotic lists, than the target detection task. The differing effects of switching rate on these tasks are discussed in relation to the types of processing they require.     

ETHICS CONCERNING LEISURE

In the United States, non-work, or non-productive activity can produce ego anxiety within a person who considers work as the primary index of self-worth. This anxiety can become extreme when a person retires or is forced into unemployment. One cause of this anxiety is society's standards concerning acceptable activity; particularly the work-oriented attiude formulated in the “Protestant Ethic.” However, the “Protestant Ethic” is neither Protestant nor religious. Rather, it is a set of national mores, which justify our work-oriented economy in religious terms. Situational ethics, which reflect both sound counseling practice and contemporary theology, can be formulated concerning the problem of leisure. And, we propose a guideline for such an ethic.     

A continuous interference-filter monochromator

An inexpensive continuous interference-filter monochromator is described.     

An automated swim alley for small animals: II. Training and procedures

Experiments were conducted to establish training procedures and testing conditions that produce uniform and reliable swimming performance of rats in an automated swim alley. Data are given on the effect of water temperature and of platform rest interval on swimming speeds. In this system, rats will swim intermittently for as long as 24 h for a distance of more than 7 km.