Bunhwang Wonhyo(芬皇 元曉, 617~686) was a philosopher
in the Korean Shilla Dynasty. He was a successor to the
Buddha's wise thought and merciful life on the basis of
One Mind(一心)-Reconcilement(和會)-Interfusion(無碍). His
One Mind philosophy opened a new way for researching
the human abyss and world essence. The breadth of his
enlightenment also enabled many people to live in the vast
sea of Buddha dharma, as his manner of thinking and living
opened up completely new, unique, and encompassing vistas
well beyond the conventional limits of his age, people,
religion and philosophy.
Wohyo’s One Mind philosophy was based on the OneMind-Two Approaches(一心二門) formulation described in
Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith . He was not restricted by
the commonly accepted view of Awakening of Mahāyāna
Faith , wherein One Mind is understood in light of dualistic
opposition of the Combined Consciousness of True and
False(眞妄和合識).28) On the contrary, he applied a different
view of One Mind to Combined Consciousness, unlike the
Ālaya-vijñāna view of the Consciousness-Only school
that tried to understand One Mind as True Consciousness
of Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom(大圓鏡智). Therefore, his
understanding of One Mind is very dynamic and elastic.
The dynamics and elasticity are also caused by the
dualistic structure of Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith (大
乘起信論), that divides One Mind into two characteristics
such as white-clean and dirty-contaminated. Wonhyo,
who investigated deeply into the suffering mind in order
to determine whether to classify the unenlightened person
and Buddha as two or whether to unify them, also made
One Mind open to the Ninth Consciousness(九識) without
restricting the range of it to Eight Consciousnesses(八識).
This ground of understanding is due to Wonhyo’s dynamics
and Mystical Understanding.
28) abbreviation of Combined Consciousness of True and False(眞妄和合識)Wonhyo connects One Mind to Tathāgata-garbha(如來藏),
while saying that ‘it is called Tathāgata-garbha because the
body of One Mind is defined as Original Enlightenment(本
覺) and it causes phenomenon depending on ignorance.’
In order to explain this, he ‘coins’ the expression of
Mystical Understanding and provides expands the existing
understanding of One Mind by adding the meaning of
Mystical Understanding to the understanding of One Mind.
And he explains Mystical Understanding on the basis
of the property of Nirmāna-kāya that does not adopt
inanimate objectivity, which shows that Wonhyo's One
Mind exposes the changeable meaning of an absolute
aspect and the unchangeable meaning of a phenomenal
aspect at the same time. Wonhyo quoted the concept of
Miraculous Understanding in order to explain changeability
of an absolute aspect rather than its unchangeability, and
unchangeability of a phenomenal aspect rather than its
changeability. And finally, Wonhyo’s Mystical Understanding
of One Mind shows that the real nature of Original
Enlightenment is miraculous by itself. And the meaning of
Mystical Understanding belongs in the Ninth Consciousness,
Amala-vijñāna, rather than being restricted to the eighth
consciousness, Ālaya-vijñāna.
In this way, Wonhyo harmonizes the Eight Consciousnesses theory of Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith and the Nine
Consciousnesses theory of Vājrasamādhi–Sūtra(金剛三昧經論)
through dynamics and Mystical Understanding of One Mind.
As a result, Wonhyo enlarged the extension of One Mind
understanding by granting the meaning of dynamics and
Mystical Understanding to One Mind, which challenged the
existing interpretation of his time.
Bunhwang Wonhyo(芬皇 元曉, 617~686) was a philosopher
in the Korean Shilla Dynasty. He was a successor to the
Buddha's wise thought and merciful life on the basis of
One Mind(一心)-Reconcilement(和會)-Interfusion(無碍). His
One Mind philosophy opened a new way for researching
the human abyss and world essence. The breadth of his
enlightenment also enabled many people to live in the vast
sea of Buddha dharma, as his manner of thinking and living
opened up completely new, unique, and encompassing vistas
well beyond the conventional limits of his age, people,
religion and philosophy.
Wohyo’s One Mind philosophy was based on the OneMind-Two Approaches(一心二門) formulation described in
Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith . He was not restricted by
the commonly accepted view of Awakening of Mahāyāna
Faith , wherein One Mind is understood in light of dualistic
opposition of the Combined Consciousness of True and
False(眞妄和合識).28) On the contrary, he applied a different
view of One Mind to Combined Consciousness, unlike the
Ālaya-vijñāna view of the Consciousness-Only school
that tried to understand One Mind as True Consciousness
of Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom(大圓鏡智). Therefore, his
understanding of One Mind is very dynamic and elastic.
The dynamics and elasticity are also caused by the
dualistic structure of Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith (大
乘起信論), that divides One Mind into two characteristics
such as white-clean and dirty-contaminated. Wonhyo,
who investigated deeply into the suffering mind in order
to determine whether to classify the unenlightened person
and Buddha as two or whether to unify them, also made
One Mind open to the Ninth Consciousness(九識) without
restricting the range of it to Eight Consciousnesses(八識).
This ground of understanding is due to Wonhyo’s dynamics
and Mystical Understanding.
28) abbreviation of Combined Consciousness of True and False(眞妄和合識)Wonhyo connects One Mind to Tathāgata-garbha(如來藏),
while saying that ‘it is called Tathāgata-garbha because the
body of One Mind is defined as Original Enlightenment(本
覺) and it causes phenomenon depending on ignorance.’
In order to explain this, he ‘coins’ the expression of
Mystical Understanding and provides expands the existing
understanding of One Mind by adding the meaning of
Mystical Understanding to the understanding of One Mind.
And he explains Mystical Understanding on the basis
of the property of Nirmāna-kāya that does not adopt
inanimate objectivity, which shows that Wonhyo's One
Mind exposes the changeable meaning of an absolute
aspect and the unchangeable meaning of a phenomenal
aspect at the same time. Wonhyo quoted the concept of
Miraculous Understanding in order to explain changeability
of an absolute aspect rather than its unchangeability, and
unchangeability of a phenomenal aspect rather than its
changeability. And finally, Wonhyo’s Mystical Understanding
of One Mind shows that the real nature of Original
Enlightenment is miraculous by itself. And the meaning of
Mystical Understanding belongs in the Ninth Consciousness,
Amala-vijñāna, rather than being restricted to the eighth
consciousness, Ālaya-vijñāna.
In this way, Wonhyo harmonizes the Eight Consciousnesses theory of Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith and the Nine
Consciousnesses theory of Vājrasamādhi–Sūtra(金剛三昧經論)
through dynamics and Mystical Understanding of One Mind.
As a result, Wonhyo enlarged the extension of One Mind
understanding by granting the meaning of dynamics and
Mystical Understanding to One Mind, which challenged the
existing interpretation of his time.