Eight Consciousnesses

The Eight Consciousnesses (Skt. aṣṭa vijñānakāyāḥ) are 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), and finally the fundamental store-house consciousness (ālāyavijñāna), which is the basis of the other seven. 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.

Eightfold network of primary consciousnesses

All surviving schools of Buddhist thought accept – "in common" – the existence of the first six primary consciousnesses (Sanskrit: vijñāna, Tibetan: རྣམ་ཤེས་, Wylie: rnam-shes). The internally coherent Yogācāra school associated with Maitreya, Asaṅga, and Vasubandhu, however, uniquely – or "uncommonly" – also posits the existence of two additional primary consciousnesses, kliṣṭamanovijñāna and ālayavijñāna, in order to explain the workings of karma. The first six of these primary consciousnesses comprise the five sensory faculties together with mental consciousness, which is counted as the sixth. The kliṣṭamanovijñāna is described as an afflicted consciousness, which exhibits an ongoing subtle clinging to self that provides the basis for the ego and disturbing emotions. Based on the Kangyur, the Kagyu scholar 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje additionally points out that it must also have an immediate aspect, with the power to give rise to the six primary consciousnesses.

According to Gareth Sparham, The ālaya-vijñāna doctrine arose on the Indian subcontinent about one thousand years before Tsong kha pa.