store consciousness; alaya-vijnana
Buddhist term for the eighth consciousness, the deepest layer of mind that stores all karmic seeds and underlies all experience.
In Yogacara thought, the store consciousness is considered the foundation of all experience.
The alaya-vijnana is said to store past karma as seeds.
The seventh consciousness, associated with self-attachment, which arises from the store consciousness.
The sixth consciousness, ordinary mental awareness, which is more superficial than the store consciousness.
From Sanskrit ālaya-vijñāna, translated into Chinese as 阿頼耶識 and adopted into Japanese. The exact derivation of the Chinese transliteration is uncertain.