Ālayavijñāna

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Key Term	ālayavijñāna
In Tibetan Script	ཀུན་གཞིའི་རྣམ་ཤེས་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	kun gzhi'i rnam shes
Devanagari Sanskrit Script	आलयविज्ञान
Romanized Sanskrit	ālayavijñāna
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering	kunshi namshe
Chinese Script	阿賴耶識‎; 藏識
Chinese Pinyin	ā lài yé shí; cáng shí ‎
Japanese Transliteration	arayashiki; zōshiki
Karl Brunnhölzl's English Term	ālaya-consciousness
Richard Barron's English Term	consciousness as the basis/ ground of all (ordinary) experience; conscious aspect of the basis/ ground of all experience
Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term	storehouse-consciousness; foundation-consciousness
Ives Waldo's English Term	all-ground consciousness
Alternate Spellings	kun gzhi'i rnam par shes pa; kun gzhi rnam par shes pa; kun gzhi rnam shes
Term Type	Noun
Source Language	Sanskrit
Basic Meaning	A neutral base consciousness that is posited as the storehouse for the seeds of past karmic actions in which they remain in a latent state until the circumstances arise for them to ripen as karmic consequences.
Has the Sense of	A central tenet of the Yogācāra school in which it is listed as the eighth consciousness. It also sometimes equated with tathāgathagarbha, in particular in its latent or impure form at the stage of ordinary sentient beings.
Definitions
Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism	In Sanskrit, “storehouse consciousness” or “foundational consciousness”; the eighth of the eight types of consciousness (vijñāna) posited in the Yogācāra school. All forms of Buddhist thought must be able to uphold (1) the principle of the cause and effect of actions (karman), the structure of saṃsāra, and the process of liberation (vimokṣa) from it, while also upholding (2) the fundamental doctrines of impermanence (anitya) and the lack of a perduring self (anātman). The most famous and comprehensive solution to the range of problems created by these apparently contradictory elements is the ālayavijñāna, often translated as the “storehouse consciousness.” This doctrinal concept derives in India from the Yogācāra school, especially from Asaṅga and Vasubandhu and their commentators... (p. 31)
Rangjung Yeshe's English Term	All-ground consciousness, as one of the eight collections of cognitions; consciousness as ground of all (ordinary/ samsaric) experience.
Tshig mdzod Chen mo	rnam shes tshogs brgyad kyi nang gses/ ma bsgribs lung ma bstan pa'i gtso bo'i rnam shes gang zhig bag chags kyi bgo gzhir gyur pa rnam smin dang sa bon thams cad kyi rten du gyur cing don gyi ngo bo rig pa
Other Definitions	Ālaya-vijñāna (storehouse consciousness) refers to a level of subliminal mental processes that occur uninterruptedly throughout one’s life and, in the Buddhist view, one’s multiple lifetimes. It represents, in effect, one’s personal continuity along with the continuity of one’s accumulated karmic potential (hence, “storehouse”). Ālaya-vijñāna—along with Consciousness-Only (vijñapti-mātra) and the Three Natures (trisvabhāva)—is one of the distinguishing doctrines of the Yogācāra (“Practitioners of Yoga”) school of Indian Buddhism. The Yogācāra school flourished in India from the 3rd to 5th centuries of the Common Era and influenced all later types of Buddhism, particularly in Tibet and East Asia; the development of the concept of ālaya-vijñāna parallels this history. Initially, ālaya-vijñāna addressed a series of problems created by the Abhidharmic emphasis on the momentary nature of all mental processes, mostly concerning personal continuity: the continuity of karmic potential and the afflictions (kleśa) in a latent state, the gradual path to liberation, and the problem of rebirth. Once articulated, this underlying level of subliminal consciousness also allowed for a more robust explanation of the constructed nature of perception (“consciousness-,” “representation-,” or “appearance-only,” vijñapti-mātra) as well as the commonality of our experienced world (bhājana-loka). And since it represents the “store” of one’s past karma, ālaya-vijñāna is what must be eliminated, transformed, or purified on the path to liberation, when it becomes a “stainless consciousness” (amala-vijñāna). In some texts, it is even equated with tathāgatha-garbha (roughly, “buddha-nature”), a relationship later Tibetan and Chinese Buddhists developed along with other aspects of the Yogācāra traditions they received from India. More recently, ālaya-vijñāna has been compared with theories of unconscious mental processes in depth psychology and cognitive science. - William S. Waldron

Although it is commonly used as an abbreviation of ālayavijñāna (kun gzhi'i rnam shes), in later Tibetan traditions, particularly that of the Kagyu and the Nyingma, it came to denote an ultimate or pure basis of mind, as opposed to the ordinary, deluded consciousness represented by the ālayavijñāna. Alternatively, in the Jonang tradition, this pure version is referred to as ālaya-wisdom (kun gzhi'i ye shes).

Although it is commonly used as an abbreviation of ālayavijñāna (kun gzhi'i rnam shes), in later Tibetan traditions, particularly that of the Kagyu and the Nyingma, it came to denote an ultimate or pure basis of mind, as opposed to the ordinary, deluded consciousness represented by the ālayavijñāna. Alternatively, in the Jonang tradition, this pure version is referred to as ālaya-wisdom (kun gzhi'i ye shes).

A neutral base consciousness that is posited as the storehouse for the seeds of past karmic actions in which they remain in a latent state until the circumstances arise for them to ripen as karmic consequences.

A neutral base consciousness that is posited as the storehouse for the seeds of past karmic actions in which they remain in a latent state until the circumstances arise for them to ripen as karmic consequences.

A neutral base consciousness that is posited as the storehouse for the seeds of past karmic actions in which they remain in a latent state until the circumstances arise for them to ripen as karmic consequences.

Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana).

A neutral base consciousness that is posited as the storehouse for the seeds of past karmic actions in which they remain in a latent state until the circumstances arise for them to ripen as karmic consequences.

Essence or the most basic, fundamental nature or natural state of being. It is often used as a synonym for rang bzhin.

According to the Yogācāra school, all phenomena can be divided into three natures or characteristics: the imaginary nature (parikalpitasvabhāva), the dependent nature (paratantrasvabhāva), and the perfect or absolute nature (pariniṣpannasvabhāva).

Often referred to as poisons, these are a class of disturbing or disruptive emotional states that when aroused negatively affect or taint the mind.