Eight Consciousnesses

The Eight Consciousnesses (Skt. aṣṭa vijñānakāyāḥ^[1]) is a classification developed in the tradition of the Yogācāra school of Mahayana Buddhism. They enumerate the five sense consciousnesses, supplemented by the mental consciousness (manovijñāna), the defiled mental consciousness (kliṣṭamanovijñāna^[2]), and finally the fundamental store-house consciousness (ālāyavijñāna), which is the basis of the other seven.^[3] This eighth consciousness is said to store the impressions (vāsanāḥ) of previous experiences, which form the seeds (bīja) of future karma in this life and in the next after rebirth.

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^ Harivarman. "Sātyasiddhiśāstra"At vargaḥ 62 (nācaitasikavargaḥ): "ya ādhyātmiko 'sti vijñānakāyāḥ"{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Waldron, William S. The Buddhist Unconscious: The Alaya-vijñana in the context of Indian Buddhist Thought. Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism, 2003, page 97

[1] Harivarman. "Sātyasiddhiśāstra"At vargaḥ 62 (nācaitasikavargaḥ): "ya ādhyātmiko 'sti vijñānakāyāḥ"{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)

[:0-2] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[auto-3] Waldron, William S. The Buddhist Unconscious: The Alaya-vijñana in the context of Indian Buddhist Thought. Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism, 2003, page 97

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