Quotes About Alaya-vijnana

The eighth consciousness is called Alaya-vijnana, which is translated into Japanese as "zo-shiki." It alludes to the storehouse of life, where all of our past experiences are imprinted and where the possible motivations of all of our conduct are also said to be stored. Thus, we may safely regard Alaya-vijnana as equivalent to what Jung calls "collective unconsciousness.

The original cause of all our actions is stored in the eighth consciousness which is called Alaya-vijnana, but the seed of that original cause is by nature neither good nor bad. It is indeed deemed to be the operation of the seventh consciousness called Mana-vijnana that tinges the originally pure Alaya-vijnana with evil by involving it in the life of egocentric desires and passions.

Collective unconsciousness corresponding to Alaya-vijnana is regarded as the "Eighth Consciousness" embracing all possibilities, and yet it is not proper to identify it with the true self.