Yogacara Buddhism and the illusion of phenomenal consciousness

The paper looks for the similarities between illusionism-a contemporary theory of phenomenal consciousness-and the Yog & amacr;c & amacr;ra<acute accent>s philosophy of consciousness presented in Vasubandhu<acute accent>s Treatise on the Three Natures. Despite substantial divergences in writing style, the commonalities between East and West regarding phenomenal consciousness are considerable. I claim that a particular reading of Vasubandhu<acute accent>s Treatise on the Three Natures reflects, in many respects, the contemporary illusionist program. Furthermore, I argue that there is not only a meeting point between their postulates about the illusory nature of phenomenal consciousness but also a strong coincidence in the proposed solutions to the most pressing problems that threaten the illusionist paradigm.