Alaya

ālaya (T. kun gzhi ཀུན་གཞི་). Literally, the "foundation of all things." Typically translated as: "all-ground", "basis of all", "ground-of-all", etc.

This word has different meanings in different contexts and should be understood accordingly.

1. Sometimes it is synonymous with buddha nature or dharmakaya, the recognition of which is the basis for all pure phenomena;
2. other times, as in the case of the 'ignorant all-ground,' it refers to a neutral state of dualistic mind that has not been embraced by innate wakefulness and thus is the basis for samsaric experience.