What is storehouse consciousness? I've been reading Peter Harvey's Introduction the Buddhism and I've come across the concept of storehouse consciousness. It's in relation to Yogācāra and Chan Buddhism - originally with Yogācāra. It contains karmic seeds (not sure what they are to be fair). Can anyone give me an explanation of this concept. At the moment it seems to me to be some sort of real existence that underpins reality but I'm sure that's not it.  

I appreciate that there is an explanation on wikipedia about it but I'm not finding that hugely illuminating.
Shinshu Buddhism also refers to this
http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2011/12/alaya-storehouse-consciousness-and.html


  The alaya consciousness or storehouse consciousness is the place where
  all the actions and experiences in this life and the previous lives
  generated by the seven consciousnesses are stored as karma, being the
  only consciousness which comes along with every birth. This
  consciousness influences at the same time the workings of the other
  seven consciousnesses.
  
  We take this alaya consciousness with us in all our births in the
  various realms of existence. It contains the seeds of various types of
  karma, and it is the storehouse of the habitual evil karmic tendencies
  that we have cultivated for eons. Because of the karmic seeds
  contained in the alaya consciousness one may die a premature death, be
  stricken with unexpected disease or inexplicable misfortune, overcome
  by strong desires, aversions and obsessions, can think and do things
  that one should never even imagine, etc. So strong is the influence of
  the alaya consciousness. .. When Shinran is recorded as saying in
  chapter 13th of Tannisho: “a person may not wish to harm anyone and
  yet end up killing a hundred or a thousand people”, he is in fact
  referring to the influence of past karma contained in the alaya
  consciousness.
  
  Blockquote


So this storehouse consciousness sounds like the karma dump or receptacle where all the seeds of previous intentions and actions reside. It sounds like just a different way of categorizing one of the basic principals of karma and the seeds that generate more illusory experiences. It is only creating a category for where the karma remains until it manifests.

THere is further info that might be useful further down on the page of the link above.

Hope this helps some.