This work discusses the phenomenology of Jean-Paul Sartre in comparison with the Yogacara Buddhism of Maitreya, Asanga and Vasubandhu. It begins by comparing Sartrean and Buddhist ontologies. The development of Sartre's philosophy is traced to the Cartesian cogito, with the influence of Husserl and Heidegger. Buddhist philosophical development is traced from the anatman doctrine of the Buddha, through Theravada and Sarvastivada abhidharma, and then through the Mahayana developments of Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka and the Yogacara three-nature (tri-svabhava) theory. It is found that only with the Mahayana emphasis on sunyata is Buddhist ontology comparable to that of Sartre, with its emphasis on nothingness or nihilation.
The next comparison is between the models of consciousness in Sartre's Transcendence of the Ego and Being and Nothingness, with the Buddhist accounts of the five skandhas, eighteen dhatus, and the Yogacara eight vijnana model. In Sartre, pre-reflective consciousness is haunted by the Self, which is responsible for temporality, meaning and value. In the Yogacara, the alaya-vijnana similarly unites the momentary sensory consciousnesses through the reflective activity of manas. I include a discussion of Peter Caws' criticism of Sartre regarding the problem of agency. A possible solution is identified, based on the Buddhist notion of samskaras, which motivate consciousness without recourse to a transcendental ego.
The problem of a Sartrean metaphysics is then raised, and a solution offered based on the Buddhist "dependent coorigination" (pratitya-samutpada) as represented in the Wheel of Becoming. This includes a contrast of Sartre's understanding of "ignorance" and the Buddhist "avidya." The Wheel of Becoming, which was intended to explain the arising of suffering (duhkha) in Buddhism, is shown to provide a satisfactory metaphysical explanation for the similar description of suffering found in Sartre. The Yogacara discussion of pratitya-samutpada as samklesa, paratantra svabhava and abhuta parikalpa is included.
The final comparison concerns the change from bad faith and alienation to authenticity and autonomy in Sartre, and from samsara to nirvana in Buddhism. Sartre's "pure reflection" is discussed, based on the Notebooks for an Ethics. Important Buddhist concepts are asraya-paravrtti, upeksa, and the parinispanna svabhava.
