The Lankavatara Sutra proved a real game-changer, planting seeds that would blossom into both Yogācāra’s elaborate mind-only system and the Tathāgatagarbha school’s vision of innate Buddhahood. Its insistence on vijñapti-mātra—or “consciousness-only”—became the bedrock for Asaṅga and Vasubandhu as they sketched out eight layers of mind, including the groundbreaking ālaya-vijñāna (storehouse consciousness). By portraying all appearances as mental projections, the sutra gave Yogācāra scholars a springboard to explore perception, cognition and the very architecture of experience—ideas that still resonate today as neuroscience and philosophy dive into the nature of mind.

At the same time, its luminous portrayal of Buddha-nature struck a chord with later thinkers who preferred a heart-warming message that every sentient being already harbors awakening at its core. Passages that liken the pure mind to a hidden jewel inspired the Tathāgatagarbha treatises—most famously the Ratnagotravibhāga—that parade Buddha-essence as an ever-present treasure obscured only by adventitious stains. In effect, the Lankavatara Sutra served up both a razor-sharp analysis of consciousness and a comforting assurance that purity awaits beneath veils of ignorance.

This two-pronged influence can be spotted in contemporary Buddhist circles too. Modern meditation teachers often riff on Yogācāra’s “mind-only” techniques to deconstruct thought patterns; at the same time, retreats emphasize the Tathāgatagarbha promise that insight isn’t about becoming something new, but uncovering what’s already there. Even neuroscience initiatives like the Mind & Life Institute echo this dual legacy: probing how the brain generates experiences, while celebrating the mind’s untapped potential for compassion and clarity.

By weaving analytical rigor with an almost poetic celebration of inner purity, the Lankavatara Sutra didn’t just shape medieval debates—it still lights the way for anyone curious about consciousness, self and that ever-present Buddha spark hiding in plain sight.