This paper is concerned about the theoretical foundation of the abiding of the mind-body complex. Based on the ?gama-sūtras, the Jñānālokālaṃkāra, the Lavkāvatāra-sūtra and the A??asāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā-sūtra, I would like to offer a Buddhist doctrine of abiding-places as a theoretical foundation to construct theories of the mind-body complex and philosophy of life. The originality of this paper lies in the following two points. Instead of being entrapped in terminology, matter, or phenomena associated with body or mind, this paper extends the theoretical thinking concerning the mind-body complex and philosophy of life as far as possible. In addition, this paper goes deep into examining its theoretical foundation rather than accepting descriptions derived from phenomena.The structure of this paper is composed of eight sections. The first section, Introduction, brings out the theme and the outline of the paper. The second one elaborates key concepts as the basis for the following discussion. The ideas include abiding-place as a conception or ideation as well as a theoretical foundation and the abiding of dharma (dharma-sthiti) or the abiding reality. The third one explains what a system of teachings is and what a theoretical foundation is. By way of comparison, I present the features of the A??asāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra as a system of teaching the mind-body complex. The fourth section evinces that the abiding of dharma is constituted by “non-abiding” and “constant abiding.” Based on the idea of the abiding of dharma, this section also formulates a doctrine of abiding-places in terms of a theoretical foundation for the abiding of the mind-body complex in the ?gamasūtras. In the fifth section, following the idea of “the state of being generated from causes and conditions” (pratyaya-hetu-janitatva), I bring out ideas of “not born” (a-jāta), “ultimately not born” (atyanta-a-jāta), “not apprehended” (an-upalabdhi), and “sameness or equality” (samatā). After that, I will come to the main idea that all dharmas are “constant abiding” and “not leaning (or relying) on anything” (a-ni?rayatā; a-ni?rita), and then enunciate the doctrine of abiding-places in terms of a theoretical foundation for the abiding of the mind-body complex in the Jñānālokālaṃkāra. In the sixth one, based on the ideas of emptiness, non-abiding, and the state of being the dharma, I bring in another idea, the abiding of dharma, to explain the doctrine of abiding-places in terms of a theoretical foundation for the abiding of the mind-body complex in the Lavkāvatāra-sūtra. In the seventh section, following the ideas of “dependent co-arising” (pratītya-samutpāda), “with reference to emptiness” (?ūnyatām ā-rabhya), “born after the Tathāgata” (anujātas tathāgatasya), and “disciple of the Bhagavant” (bhagavatah ?rāvakah), I will bring out the main ideas of “the suchness of the Tathāgata” (tathāgata-tathatā), “the suchness of Subhūti” (subhūtitathatā), and “the abiding of the suchness” (tathatāyāh sthititā) to manifest the unconditioned characteristics of “such coherent abiding of dharma” and evince the doctrine of abiding-places in terms of a theoretical foundation for the abiding of the mind-body complex in the A??asāhasri
