How Innovative is the Ālayavijñāna? The Ālayavijñāna in the Context of Canonical and Abhidharma Vijñāna Theory

The article is organized into three major sections. The first section examines canonical conceptions of vijñāna, especially its role as consciousness, cognition, a condition within dependent origination, and a basis for saṃsāric continuity. The second section analyzes Abhidharma debates concerning momentariness and continuity, including karma, kleśa, seeds, bhavaṅga-citta, meditative cessation, and the difficulty of explaining long-term causal processes through momentary dharmas alone. The third section turns to Yogācāra sources such as the Yogācārabhūmi, Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, and Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, showing how ālayavijñāna was gradually systematized as a foundational consciousness that preserves karmic potential, supports the body-mind complex, and interacts with ordinary cognitive consciousnesses.