Pali study - the meaning of 'sankhara'

DhammaDhatu

Dear sutta students,

Below is a post I wish to share about the Pali word 'sankhara'. Please note it is just my opinion given the various translators translate this term differently.

sankhara can be a thing, a process or activity

for example, in the pali phrase 'sabbe sankhara anicca', sankhara means all conditioned things, eg. rocks, eyes, thoughts, etc

277. "All conditioned things are impermanent" — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification.

278. "All conditioned things are unsatisfactory" — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification.

279. "All things are not-self" — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification.

Dhammapada

in the term, sankhara khanda, sankhara is the aggregate or function of mind that concocts emotions, thoughts, etc

Bhikkhus, why do they speak of sankhara? Bhikkhus, this nature naturally concocts concocted things (abhisankharonti), for this reason it is called "sankhara." What does it concoct? It concocts rupa as something concocted with "formness," it concocts vedana as something concocted with "feelingness," it concocts sanya as something concocted with "recognition-ness," it concocts sankhara as something concocted with "concoctingness," it concocts vinyana as something concocted with "cognition-ness." Bhikkhus, this nature naturally concocts concocted things, for this reason it is called "sankhara."

SN 22.79

or the term sankhara can mean the activity of concocting or proliferating itself

sankhara paramam dukham; nibbanam paramam sukham

203. mental concocting is the worst suffering; Nibbana [the stilling of concocting] is the highest bliss.

Dhammapada

in dependent origination, sankhara are the things that condition the body, speech and mind

"And what are fabricators? These three are fabricators: bodily fabricators, verbal fabricators, mental fabricators. These are called fabricators. SN 12.2

"Now, lady, what are fabricators?"

"These three fabricators, friend Visakha: bodily fabricators, verbal fabricators & mental fabricators."

"But what are bodily fabricators? What are verbal fabricators? What are mental fabricators?"
"In-&-out breaths are bodily fabricators. Directed thought & evaluation are verbal fabricators. Perceptions & feelings are mental fabricators."

"But why are in-&-out breaths bodily fabricators? Why are directed thought & evaluation verbal fabricators? Why are perceptions & feelings mental fabricators?"

"In-&-out breaths are bodily; these are things tied up with the body. That's why in-&-out breaths are bodily fabrications. Having first directed one's thoughts and made an evaluation, one then breaks out into speech. That's why directed thought & evaluation are verbal fabricators. Perceptions & feelings are mental; these are things tied up with the mind. That's why perceptions & feelings are mental fabricators." MN 44

With contact as a requisite condition, there is feeling. What one feels, one perceives (labels in the mind). What one perceives, one thinks about. What one thinks about, one complicates. Based on what a person complicates, the perceptions & categories of complication assail him/her with regard to past, present, & future... MN 18

It is the last application of sankhara, namely in dependent origination, which the scholars & translators do not understand. As MN 44 and MN 18 show, thought fabricates speech and perception & feeling fabricate the mind, namely, cravings, thoughts, mental suffering, etc. Thought is not the 'verbal fabrication' and feeling & perception are not the 'mental fabrication'. Thought is the verbal fabricator and feeling & perception are the mental fabricator. The same with the in breath & out breath. This is not the 'body fabrication' but the body fabricator.

I would like to take this opportunity to discuss all the meanings of the term "sankhara." This is a very common and important word in the Pali scriptures, but many people have problems with it due to its different uses and meanings. The single word "sankhara" can mean "conditioner," the cause that conditions; it can mean "condition," the result of the action of conditioning; and it can mean "'conditioning," the activity or process of conditioning. We use the same word for the subject of the conditioning, "the concocter," as well as the object, "the concoction." We even use it for the activity, "the concocting," itself. This may be a bit confusing for you, so please remember that "sankhara" has three meanings. The correct meaning depends on the context. This knowledge will be valuable in your further studies.
In the first steps of this practice, those concerned with the kaya (body), we study the breath in a special way. We note every kind of breath that occurs and study what each is like. Long breaths, short breaths, calm breaths, violent breaths, fast breaths and slow breaths: we must know them all. Of all the different kinds of breath which arise, know what nature each one has, know its characteristics and know its functions.

Observe what influence the different breaths have upon the flesh-body. The breath has a great influence on the rest of the physical body and this influence needs to be seen clearly. Observe both sides of the relationship until it is obvious that they are interconnected and inseparable. See that the breath-body conditions and concocts the flesh-body. That is the first step. Make a special study of the breath. Know the characteristics of all its different forms. Then understand that it is connected to this flesh-body too. This will allow us to regulate the flesh-body by means of regulating the breath.

In step three - "experiencing all bodies," experiencing both the breath and this flesh-body - each of these three meanings is practiced. First, we contemplate the flesh-body as the thing conditioned by the breath. Then, we see the breath as the conditioner of the flesh-body. Lastly, we observe the activity of conditioning that always exists simultaneously between the two of them. Thus, in the practice of step three we see the conditioner, the condition, and the action of conditioning. This conditioning of the body is the physical level of sankhara. We have not yet seen it on the mental level. Step three is this work of seeing these three things together, simultaneously and continuously, within the mind. Then, you will see everything concerning the term "sankhara," especially as it relates to the kaya and its activity, right here in step three.

When we have studied this fact until it is plainly, obviously and universally understood as explained above, then we will be able to experience all three of these facts together in one moment. Even for the duration of just one in-breath, or for just one out-breath, we can experience all three facts in just one stroke of the breath. If we are able to do so, then we have "fully experienced the kaya-sankhara (body-conditioner)" and step three is successfully completed.

The essence of practicing step three is to know that there are two kaya, and to be able to regulate one kaya through the other kaya. That is, we can regulate the flesh-body through the breath-body. Once we are certain or this, once we see it clearly, once we are convinced by our experience of this fact with each in-breath and out-breath, then we have realized success in our practice of step three.

Bhikkhu Buddhadasa

srivijaya

Dhamma Dhatu wrote: »

As MN 44 and MN 18 show, thought fabricates speech and perception & feeling fabricate the mind, namely, cravings, thoughts, mental suffering, etc. Thought is not the 'verbal fabrication' and feeling & perception are not the 'mental fabrication'. Thought is the verbal fabricator and feeling & perception are the mental fabricator. The same with the in breath & out breath. This is not the 'body fabrication' but the body fabricator.

Hi Dhamma Dhatu,
I find this very interesting indeed, as it places these teachings in a new (and may I say more logical light). Is this a translation only used by Bhikkhu Buddhadasa? It seems quite remarkable that there can be confusion between the words "fabrication" and "fabricator".
What is the general opinion within Theravadan circles to this?

Namaste

Floating_Abu

sankhara - that would mean your understandings also I presume.

DhammaDhatu

srivijaya wrote: »

Hi Dhamma Dhatu,
I find this very interesting indeed, as it places these teachings in a new (and may I say more logical light). Is this a translation only used by Bhikkhu Buddhadasa? It seems quite remarkable that there can be confusion between the words "fabrication" and "fabricator".
What is the general opinion within Theravadan circles to this?

Hi Srivijaya,

Nanavira Thera was on the same track as Buddhadasa but did not discern the subtlely of language in changing the term from 'determination' to 'determinator'. You may find discussions on E-Sangha where Dhammanando Bhikkhu has conceded the term 'fabricator' or 'conditioner' is valid. However, in Theravada, the standard remains as 'condition' rather than 'conditioner'.

Now the traditional interpretation says that sankhara in the paticcasamuppada context are kamma, being cetana. Are we therefore obliged to understand in-&-out-breaths, thinking-&-pondering, and perception and feeling, respectively, as bodily, verbal, and mental kamma (or cetana)? Is my present existence the result of my breathing in the preceding existence? Is thinking-&-pondering verbal action? Must we regard perception and feeling as intention, when the Suttas distinguish between them.

<TABLE borderColor=#ffffff width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>(Phuttho bhikkhave vedeti, phuttho ceteti, phuttho sanjanati... </TD><TD></TD><TD width=375>(Contacted, monks, one feels; contacted, one intends; contacted, one perceives;...) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Salāyatana Samy. ix,10 <S.IV,68>])? Certainly, sankhara may, upon occasion, be cetanā (e.g. Khandha Samy. vi,4 <S.III,60>URL="http://nanavira.xtreemhost.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=61&Itemid=90#3"][COLOR=#a8804d]3[/COLOR][/URL); but this is by no means always so. The Cūlavedallasutta tells us clearly in what sense in-&-out-breaths, thinking-&-pondering, and perception and feeling, are sankhara (i.e. in that body, speech, and mind [citta], are intimately connected with them, and do not occur without them); and it would do violence to the Sutta to interpret sankhārā here as cetanā.

NANAVIRA THERA: A NOTE ON PATICCASAMUPPaDA

The text from MN 44 clearly shows the term is 'conditioner', given MN 44 states the vacca sankhara causes one to break out into speech. This is consistent with Buddhadasa's explanation of the kaya & citta sankhara found in his book Anapanasati.

Now we come to step seven: "experiencing the mind­-conditioner (cittasankhara-patisamvedi)." If we have completed step six successfully, then we know all about the feelings of piti and sukha. What does the arising of piti do to the citta? What does the arising of sukha do tothe citta? What kind of thoughts does piti condition? What kind of thoughts does sukha condition? We have noted and scrutinized these effects since steps five and six. Once we come to step seven, it is easy to realize that, "Oh, piti and sukha are mind-conditioners." These vedana are mind-conditioners in the same way that the breath is the body-conditioner. The method of study and observation is the same as in step three. (107)

We have observed that piti is coarse and excited, whereas sukha is fine and peaceful. Thus, when piti conditions or brews up a thought, the thought is coarse. On the other hand, when sukha brews up a thought, it is calm and tranquil. This is how we realize that the vedana condition thoughts. Then we realize that the feelings condition both coarse thoughts and subtle thoughts. We call this activity "conditioning the mind." (108)

Regarding Dependent Origination, Buddhadasa defined these three sankharas as above in the only English book of his available on Dependent Origination but did not discuss them. However, apart from that, Buddhadasa rarely spoke about the sankharas (if ever) in his lectures he gave to Westerners on Dependent Origination. He generally started at contact (passa). In brief, he defined sankhara as "the power of concocting".

Further, Buddhadasa rarely quoted suttas. The sutta investigation is my own rather than Buddhadasa's. There are only a few suttas on these matters thus that both Nanavira Thera and myself discuss the same suttas is not a co-incidence. When MN 44 is read, it stands out.

The terms kaya & citta sankhara are also found in the Anapanasati Sutta, where Buddha instructs "calming the kaya sankhara; experiencing the citta sankhara (namely rapture & happiness) and calming the citta sankhara".

Calming these sankharas is necesary to prepare the mind for insight (vipassana), which eradicates ignorance. Thus, the interpretation above to me is a holistic view of the Dhamma. Going anti-clockwise rather than clockwise around the wheel, consciousness "the meditator" tranquilises the sankhara. The tranquilising of the sankhara allows the mind to end ignorance. Thus, this explanation is not so far fetched.

These dhammas are also found in the Rahogata Sutta.

"There are these six calmings. When one has attained the first jhana, speech has been calmed. When one has attained the second jhana, directed thought & evaluation have been calmed. When one has attained the third jhana, rapture has been calmed. When one has attained the fourth jhana, in-and-out breathing has been calmed. When one has attained the cessation of perception & feeling, perception & feeling have been calmed. When a monk's effluents have ended, passion has been calmed, aversion has been calmed, delusion has been calmed."

With metta

srivijaya

Good stuff. Always useful to get a different angle on the suttas.

DhammaDhatu

srivijaya wrote: »

Good stuff. Always useful to get a different angle on the suttas.

Hi Srivijaya

Here is my latest effort regarding the sankhara of Dependent Origination and a plain english explanation of the Maha Sakyamuni Gotamo Sutta:

The Bodhisatta asked: Where does suffering come from? Where do sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair come from? The answer is aging & death or change. When aging, death & change occur, human beings generally suffer.

Where does aging and death come from? The answer is birth. When human beings take birth by identifying themselves with this and that, to 'be' this and that, to possess this and that, to need this or that, to depend on this or that, then aging, death, change and loss will come to be.

Where does birth come from? The answer is becoming. The mind creates or manifests itself to take birth in some established personality belief, self-image or defined identity. Just like the creative process of putting on make up to take birth as someone beautiful or to study & develop oneself to take birth in some profession, similarly birth occurs in a state of defined identity due to a mental process of becoming, creating or manifesting.

Where does becoming come from? The answer is attachment. The mind has grasped onto a sense object, including one’s own body & mind, and become engrossed, fixated or delighted upon that object. This attachment occurs due to fixation with pleasure (or pain), fixation with a view or opinion or fixation upon something regarded as relevant to “one self”.

Where does attachment does comes from? The answer is craving. The energy, urge, drive or power of craving has pushed, pulled & sustained the mind into attachment.

Where does craving come from? The answer is feeling. The feelings of pleasure, pain or neither has resulted in the arising of craving and tricked the mind into craving.

Where does feeling come from? The answer is sense contact. Please note, the sense contact here is not mere contact. The contact is disturbed contact.

Where does disturbed sense contact come from? The answer is disturbed sense organs. Disturbed sense contact comes from sense organs that are not serene, not composed and not inwardly peaceful.

Where do disturbed sense organs come from? The answer is a disturbed body & mind. Disturbed sense organs comes from a body-mind that is not serene, not composed and not inwardly peaceful.

Where does a disturbed body-mind come from? The answer is disturbed consciousness. A disturbed body-mind comes from consciousness that is not serene, not composed, not free, not lucid, not liberated and not peaceful.

Where does disturbed consciousness come from? The answer is disturbed sankhara. The sankhara are the inner meditation objects that a practitioner seeks to pacify. The sankhara, as mentioned in the previous discussion, are applied & sustained thought; the in breathing & out breathing; and perception & feeling. Disturbed consciousness comes from applied & sustained thought, in breathing & out breathing and perception & feeling that are not under control, lack wisdom and not inwardly peaceful.

Where does disturbed sankhara come from? The answer is ignorance and its associates, namely, the five hindrances, inborn & conditioned tendencies (anusaya) and outflows (asava).

The asava are the outflows or inner pressures of sensual desire, becoming, ignorance and views. They come from the inborn and developed tendencies (anusaya) towards these mental defilements.

upekka

a very important thread relevant to Five Aggregates with many suttas /written dhamma related to sankhara/kamma-formation

i think there is a possibility that we all can add a bit more to the thread as we have been reading/listening/discussing dhamma for nearly one year after the last post

fivebells

Darn, for a moment there, I thought maybe Dhatu had been reinstated.

upekka

fivebells wrote: »

Darn, for a moment there, I thought maybe Dhatu had been reinstated.

see, how quick the consciousness can delude us

andyrobyn

Element has posted recently and possibly could contacted here if anyone wanted to make contact ... http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries.com/forum/index.php

newtech

srivijaya wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dhamma Dhatu
As MN 44 and MN 18 show, thought fabricates speech and perception & feeling fabricate the mind, namely, cravings, thoughts, mental suffering, etc. Thought is not the 'verbal fabrication' and feeling & perception are not the 'mental fabrication'. Thought is the verbal fabricator and feeling & perception are the mental fabricator. The same with the in breath & out breath. This is not the 'body fabrication' but the body fabricator.


Hi Dhamma Dhatu,
I find this very interesting indeed, as it places these teachings in a new (and may I say more logical light). Is this a translation only used by Bhikkhu Buddhadasa? It seems quite remarkable that there can be confusion between the words "fabrication" and "fabricator".
What is the general opinion within Theravadan circles to this?

Namastee

Very very interesting, but i get confuzed...so according to this calming "body fabrication" or "body fabricator" means calming what???

Dazzle

Hi newtech,

srivijaya and Dhamma Dhatu (Element) don't post here any more.

Kind regards,

Dazzle



.

newtech

ooh thx, didnt see time this was posted -_-

DhammaDhatu

Hi Newtech

Theravadan circles generally follow tradition.

The breathing in & out is the body fabricator, as defined in MN 44.

Calming the body fabricator is calming the breath, as advised in MN 118.

Kind regards

DD

Awakening

Sankhara: San -inter- + khara -action- = Interaction