Hi Jelena, Here are my personal reflections on these 2 points: 1. ALAYAVIJNANA: When I stated that we "identify on a subtle level with the alaya", what I meant is that on a coarse level, we identify with all sorts of things: our body, our name, our gender, our ethnicity etc. etc. etc., you name it. But it is very easy to see that these are not really our true self: the body obviously changes, the name was given after birth and can be changed, gender is common to many etc. But there is a feeling that "I am the same self I was yesterday and last year, and I will be that same self tomorrow", isn't there? It is not the body, but it is there, a sort of presence that experiences this whole thing called "my life". So when we look at the components that make up our existence, the only thing that continues in such a way is this alaya-consciousness. However, it is not some "entity" we can cling to as real or unchanging, as it is a conditioned phenomenon that also changes momentarily. In terms of recognizing it: I think we have to distinguish between the alaya-vijnana and the alaya, as equivalent to the nature of mind. The alaya-vijnana is the all-base consciousness and has 2 aspects (both of which are samsara): seeds and fruition (or appearances). The seeds planted by our countless previous actions lie dormant in the mind and are not directly experienced. The fruition of these seeds are the experiences we are having, so in this sense, we experience the alaya-vijnana all the time. These two mutually function as cause and effect for each other: seeds produce the appearances, and the appearances are the causes to generate new seeds, and so it goes on and on. Remember that not all schools of Buddhism even accept the concept of alaya-vijnana. Even though it is a useful concept for the theory of karma and rebirth, I am not sure it is necessary for meditation practice per se. As far as I understand, it is not an object to be focused on in meditation. In terms of recognizing the alaya, as synonymous with mind nature (the union of luminosity and emptiness), this kind of question is very profound and should best be discussed with a qualified meditation teacher who has first-hand experience of the matter and who knows how to skillfully guide you. Otherwise, it can lead to all kinds of theories being thrown around and that leads nowhere. One thing I want to share, however, is that it is not always skillful to have the goal of wanting to recognize the alaya, because there is the danger of it becoming an object of clinging and thus a concept. This is why it is so important to have a qualified teacher for meditation. In the Sakya tradition, these subjects are explained in some detail in the teachings on shamatha and vipashyana in the Three Visions and in Parting from the Four Attachments (https://www.shambhala.com/three-visions-2414.html and commentary: https://wisdomexperience.org/product/three-levels-spiritual-perception/; and https://www.shambhala.com/parting-from-the-four-attachments-2317.html). According to the shamatha teachings, attention is developed until it becomes effortless and one-pointed, and then one focusses exclusively on the luminosity of the perceiving mind. In the vipashyana teachings, one then investigates the nature of appearances and the nature of the mind etc. What I think is a useful approach at any point, I feel, is to follow the meditation instructions we have received (say meditation on breathing) and cultivate the mind in this way. Then to take a step back and ask: what was the content of this experience? Is it nama or rupa? If it is nama: what are its characteristics? In this way we can see, understand, detach from the experience and let go. By letting go the mind becomes more peaceful. Eventually (so it is said), the mind becomes so peaceful that there is no more distinction between the object of concentration and the mind concentrating on it, and this is when the mind can enter the deeper states of absorption. When we reach this kind of purity of mind, then meditation instructions from an experienced master will be extremely powerful. 2. REBIRTH: The alaya-vijana indeed does continue, and yet it is not a self that is being reborn. Do you agree?