抄録
In this paper, I examine how the theory of bijas (“seeds”) was interpreted in the Weishi School (Chinese Yogacara) in the early Tang.
The most authoritative exposition of seeds was articulated in vol. 2 of the Cheng weishi lun, translated into Chinese by Xuanzang in 659. The main point of this bija theory was to prove the existence of “uncontaminated seeds” (anasravabija). In particular, the idea of originally existing uncontaminated seeds (dharmatanasravabija) worked successfully to flesh out the theory of five different natures of religious capacity.
The purpose of presenting the theory of uncontaminated seeds in the Cheng weishi lun was not only to justify the theory of five different natures, but also to rescue the theory of “seeds that take thusness as causal referent” (tathatalambanapratyayabija) that was set forth in vol. 52 of the Yuqie shidi lun (Yogacarabhumi; translated by Xuanzang in 648).
This was done because the seeds that take thusness as causal referent were taken as buddha-nature (buddhadhatu) or Tathagatagarbha by the people who believed in the Mahaparinirvanasutra―which claimed that all sentient beings have the buddha-nature within themselves and that each and every one can reach Buddhahood.
Faced with this crisis, the Weishi school needed a new framework for its seed theory, in order to bring added nuance to its theory of seeds that take thusness as causal referent and the theory of five natures. Thus, the uncontaminated seeds postulated in the Cheng weishi lun superceded the thusnessreferential seeds.
