The Tree of Enlightenment

crimination – because it is by means of the afflicted mind that
discrimination takes place. e afflicted mind is the go-between
that mediates between the storehouse consciousness on the one
hand and the six empirical consciousnesses on the other hand.
We may call this afflicted mind the ego principle, the principle
of individuation, or discrimination.
e storehouse consciousness plays a particularly important
role because it not only exists as the tranquil depths of the ocean
do but also functions as a repository. is is why it is called a
storehouse – because it collects the seeds of sense impressions
and actions. erefore we can best understand the scheme of
the eight consciousnesses presented in the Lankavatara Sutra if
we picture them in a circle, just as we picture the constituents of
interdependent origination. In this sense we have an evolution
from the storehouse consciousness in its own nondual nature,
through the functioning of discrimination by means of the
agency of the afflicted mind, and on into the six empirical consciousnesses,
which in turn supply the storehouse consciousness
with the impressions of actions, or karma. us we have a cyclical
process wherein the storehouse consciousness evolves through
discrimination into six empirical consciousnesses, which in turn
sow the seeds of future actions in the fertile soil of the storehouse
consciousness.
e storehouse consciousness is particularly important for
the Lankavatara Sutra and, indeed, for this whole phase of
Mahayana Buddhism. It is significant that, in the Tibetan translation,
we find the storehouse consciousness called the ‘all-base
consciousness’ – the consciousness that is the substratum of all.
is implies that it has within it the potential for both samsara
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