Three Perspectives on the Doctrine of Seed (Bīja) in Abhidharma Texts: Static or Dynamic?

Abstract

After the time of the Buddha, the Buddhist scholarly schools (Sanskrit. Abhidharma; Pāli. Abhidhamma) faced a serious paradox, how a secular person can be awakened. Also, given the Buddhist doctrine of non-eternity (Sanskrit. anitya; Pāli. anicca), another question that may be asked is how can continuity be established? These problems were to be articulated in one dry and doctrinal sentence, “How unwholesome minds (Sanskrit. akuśala; Pāli. akusala) can be altered into wholesome minds (Sanskrit. kuśala; Pāli. kusala)?” Various schools suggested their own interpretations of and solutions to the question. Among them, the Sautrāntika School established a doctrine of seeds (bīja). The doctrine was enhanced by the use of a metaphor of seed-plants, which yield fruits. However, after the doctrine was developed, it began to change within the major texts of the Sautrāntika. The doctrine was more radically transformed by Chinese Buddhist scholars. This study surveys the development and diversity of the seeds-doctrine using three main texts: the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, the Karmasiddhiprakaraṇa (Ta-ch’eng ch’eng-yeh lun, 大乘成業論) and the Chü-she lun chi (俱舍論記).