On the Notion of the “One Mind” （yi xin） in Sengwei’s Shi zhu jing hanzhu xu

This paper studies the notion of the “one mind” （yi xin） as advanced in Shi Sengwei’s 釈僧衛 （fl. late fourth and early fifth centuries） Shizhu jing hanzhu xu 十住経含注序. In this preface to his own commentary on the Daśabhūmika-sūtra, Sengwei proposes a metaphysical theory according to which the totality of sentient beings’ minds is referred to as the “one mind.” According to Sengwei, different types of existents in the sensible realm manifest themselves due to the different states in which this “one mind” functions. This paper furthermore raises the possibility of the influence of Sengwei’s notion of the “one mind” on the notion of the “one mind” in the Sinitic apocryphal treatise Dasheng qi xin lun 大乗起信論.