The Process from Death to Rebirth in the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha

Abstract

In this paper, I deal with the role of ‘ālaya-vijñāna,’ the deepest layer of mind as the ontological base for living things, in the process from death to rebirth by tracing the descriptions in the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha. Ālaya-vijñāna has various functions and many other names that derive from each of the functions. Those names are as follows: ‘sarvabījaka-vijñāna’ (the mind that possesses all the potentialities called ‘seeds’), ‘ādāna-vijñāna’ (the mind that is attached to the physical body), ‘vipāka-vijñāna’ (the mind that matures into the different nature). How do these three minds work in the process from death to rebirth? By finding out the role of each of the three, I will make clear the overall role of ālaya-vijñāna in that process.