The term “Yogācāra” is a Sanskrit expression that literally means “the practice of yoga” or “yoga conduct,” that is, “one whose practice is yoga.” It joins *yoga*—discipline or union—with *ācāra*—practice or conduct—to indicate a path defined by disciplined spiritual cultivation. In this sense, the name itself points to a way of life shaped by meditative discipline rather than a merely theoretical standpoint. The emphasis falls on practice as the living embodiment of insight, not on abstract speculation.

Within the Buddhist tradition, Yogācāra designates a major Mahāyāna school that takes meditative practice as the primary means of realizing the nature of consciousness. Its teachings center on what is often called the “mind-only” perspective, expressed in terms such as *vijñapti-mātra* or *citta-mātra*, which describe phenomena as manifestations or projections of consciousness rather than independently existing entities. By sustained contemplative discipline, practitioners seek a direct perception of this truth, seeing through the apparent duality of subject and object. Thus, the very name “Yogācāra” encapsulates both the method—yogic, meditative practice—and the aim: a transformative insight into the nature of mind and reality.