A Study of the Relationship between Single-Practice Samadhi and the Two Kinds of Birth-and-Death from the Perspective of Yogacara

Abstract

Single-Practice Samadhi is an important contemplative method in Mahayana Buddhism, while segmental birth-and-death and transformational birth-and-death are key doctrinal categories through which Mahayana Yogacara explains the samsaric continuity of sentient beings and the still-incomplete state of saints before perfect awakening. Examining these three themes within one doctrinal framework helps clarify the inner relation among meditative practice, transformation of consciousness, and transcendence of birth-and-death. Drawing primarily on the Manjusri-pariprccha Prajnaparamita Sutra, the Cheng weishi lun, the Mahayanasamgraha, the Dasheng baifa mingmen lun, the Srimaladevi-simhanada Sutra, the Lankavatara Sutra, the Samdhinirmocana Sutra, the Yogacarabhumi, and the Zongjing lu, this paper first traces the scriptural origin of Single-Practice Samadhi and its basic meaning of “the one mark of the dharmadhatu” and “directing attention to the dharmadhatu.” It then interprets the mechanism of its cultivation in terms of the eight consciousnesses, the three natures and three kinds of non-self-nature, the two obstructions and two karmic modes, and the transformation of consciousness into wisdom. On this basis, it further analyzes the causes, nature, support, stages of elimination, and differences between segmental birth-and-death and transformational birth-and-death. The paper argues that Single-Practice Samadhi is not an isolated technique of concentration but a contemplation of reality that can be explained and supported by Yogacara theories of consciousness and practice. The two kinds of birth-and-death are not merely nominal classifications; rather, they constitute a soteriological framework closely connected with the afflictive obstruction, the cognitive obstruction, and the process of transformation of the basis. From a Yogacara perspective, Single-Practice Samadhi thus illuminates the Mahayana path from calming distraction and overcoming self-grasping to dissolving dharma-grasping and perfecting transformation of the basis. This study may also serve as a reference for understanding the structure of “correspondence between principle and practice” in Buddhist doctrinal learning and for teaching Yogacara, meditation, and Buddhist views of life and death in contemporary Buddhist colleges.