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Wŏnhyo's Theory of “One Mind”: A Korean Way of Interpreting Mind
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
Abstract
This paper outlines Wŏnhyo's theory of the One Mind as it is presented in his over 20 extant works. According to Wŏnhyo, the One Mind manifests itself in two aspects: “true-thusness” and “arising-and-ceasing.” In the first aspect, the One Mind is intrinsically pure and unchanging, able to see all things equally and without discrimination. However, in the second aspect the One Mind is subject to causality and manifests itself in various delusions, thereby appearing impure and ephemeral. Thus, the One Mind is the source of both enlightenment and delusion. We analyze the paradoxical relationship between these two aspects and how they open the path to enlightenment. Here Wŏnhyo distinguishes between original enlightenment, non-enlightenment and actualizing enlightenment. In the final section, we show what kind of subjective personhood is implied in Wŏnhyo's understanding of the One Mind and the various kinds of enlightenment.
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References
Notes
1. All citations are taken from the Han’guk Pulgyo Chŏnsŏ (韓國佛教全書, Complete Works of Korean Buddhism. Seoul: Dongguk UP, 1986, hereafter abbreviated as HPC).
2. Buddhism was introduced to Korea through China around the third century CE, only one or two centuries after it had spread to China from India through Central Asia. Since its inception, it has enjoyed a broad base of support: it was the national religion throughout the periods of Unified Silla (668–935) and the Koryŏ Dynasty (918–1392). Though it was subsequently suppressed during the Chosŏn Dynasty (1392–1897), it has still survived to the present as the most important religious tradition in Korea. Wŏnhyo stands as a paragon of eloquence and philosophical sophistication within this tradition.
3. Wŏnhyo wrote two commentaries on the Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith: the Commentary (起信論疏) and the Expository Notes (大乘起信論別記). It is presumed that the Expository Notes preceded the Commentary due to phrases from the former appearing in the latter. Though many other scholar-monks wrote commentaries on the Awakening of Faith, Wŏnhyo's are some of the most renowned. It is well known that the Dasheng qixinlun yiji (大乘起信論義記), a commentary on the Awakening of Faith by the Chinese master of Buddhist theory Fazang, relies on the theories presented by Wŏnhyo's Commentary and Expository Notes.
4. Though the traditional view states the Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith was written by the Indian monk Aśvaghoṣa in the second century CE, translated in China and subsequently spread to the rest of East Asia, its doctrinal trends and the lack of a Sanskrit language original strongly suggest that it was in fact composed in China.
5. There may be some questions raised on the significance of commentary in the Eastern intellectual tradition, and why Eastern thinkers chose to write voluminous commentaries on others’ works rather than put their creative thoughts to their own writing. Commentary is a unique scholastic methodology that allows the expression of one's own thought by analyzing others’, while simultaneously participating in a vast tradition of thought transmitted throughout the ages. In other words, it is a way of collaborating in a universal discourse while still revealing individual uniqueness of thought. In East Asia, many scholars wrote commentaries on the classical texts of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism; this constellation of literature formed an enormous system of intellectual discourse in the sinosphere.
6. Dharma is a concept that has many meanings: with a capital D, Dharma refers to the teachings of the Buddha or the truth of Buddhism. Here with a lowercase d, it means phenomena or the elements of existence.
7. Expository Notes on the Awakening of Faith, HPC01.0679a22–b01.
8. Wŏnhyo explains this phrase of the Awakening of Faith further in the Commentary to the Kŭmgang sammae kyŏng, HPC01.0612a13–b05.
9. Commentary on the Awakening of Faith, HPC01.0704a08–14.
10. Expository Notes on the Awakening of Faith, HPC01.0679b01–03.
11. The Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith, hpc01.0739c15-16; Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō, T32.1667.0584b25–26.
12. Commentary on the Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith, HPC01.0705a21–24.
13. Commentary on the Kŭmgang sammae kyŏng, HPC01.0615c.
14. Commentary on the Kŭmgang sammae kyŏng, HPC01.0639c17.
15. Doctrinal Essentials of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, HPC01.0533a03.
16. Commentary on the Kŭmgang sammae kyŏng, HPC01.0604b.
17. Commentary on the Kŭmgang sammae kyŏng, HPC01.0616a24–b04.
18. Commentary on the Awakening of Faith, HPC01.0736c18–24.
19. Expository Notes on the Awakening of Faith, HPC01.0682a14–b07.
20. Commentary on the Kŭmgang sammae kyŏng, HPC01.0610a13–15.
21. Commentary on the Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith, HPC01.0700a12–14.
22. Commentary on the Kŭmgang sammae kyŏng, HPC01.0610a17–b01.
23. Commentary on the Awakening of Faith, HPC01.0716c09–10.
24. The word ‘evil’ is not used in Buddhism. The term “unwholesome” is usually preferred instead.
25. Expository Notes on the Awakening of Faith, HPC01.0748c.
26. Expository Notes on the Awakening of Faith, HPC01.0749a.
27. Doctrinal Essentials of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, HPC01.0525c11–24.
28. Commentary to the Bodhisattvas’ Diadem Primary Activities Sutra, HPC01.0511a03.
29. Doctrinal Essentials of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, HPC01.0538c19–21.