Rebirth and Causation in the Yogācāra Abhidharma

The book develops its argument through six major chapters. The first chapter introduces the background of conditioned origination, the question of Asaṅga’s authorship, the sources of the Abhidharmasamuccaya exposition, and the relationship between Yogācāra Abhidharma and the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. The second chapter provides a translation of the exposition of pratītyasamutpāda in the Abhidharmasamuccaya and Abhidharmasamuccayabhāṣya, including analysis of the twelve members, their functions, order, varieties, import, and classification. The third chapter studies the two-lifetimes/singlefold theory of causation through comparison with the Daśabhūmikasūtra, its commentary, and the Savitarkādibhūmi of the Yogācārabhūmi. The fourth chapter examines the individual members of dependent origination, including ignorance, karmic forces, individual existence, the six senses, contact, feeling, and subconscious desire. The fifth chapter compares the Abhidharmasamuccaya and Vasubandhu on the relation between karmic formations and consciousness, especially in connection with rebirth-consciousness and Yogācāra causal theory. The final chapter studies pratītyasamutpāda and the cittaviprayuktasaṃskāras, contrasting Sarvāstivādin and Yogācāra interpretations and showing how Yogācāra treats many causal categories as designations rather than real dharmas.