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Saṅkhāra
Saṅkhāra (Pali; संखार; Sanskrit: संस्कार or saṃskāra) is a term figuring prominently in Buddhism. The word means 'formations' or 'that which has been put together' and 'that which puts together'.
In the first (passive) sense, saṅkhāra refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental "dispositions". These are called 'volitional formations' both because they are formed as a result of volition and because they are causes for the arising of future volitional actions. English translations for saṅkhāra in the first sense of the word include 'conditioned things,' 'determinations,' 'fabrications' and 'formations' (or, particularly when referring to mental processes, 'volitional formations').
In the second (active) sense of the word, saṅkhāra refers to karma (sankhara-khandha) that leads to conditioned arising, dependent origination.
Saṅkhāra is a Pali word that is cognate with the Sanskrit word saṃskāra. The latter word is not a Vedic Sanskrit term, but found extensively in classical and epic era Sanskrit in all Indian philosophies. Saṃskāra is found in the Upanishads such as in verse 2.6 of Kaushitaki Upanishad, 4.16.2–4 of Chandogya Upanishad, 6.3.1 of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as well as mentioned by the ancient Indian scholar Panini and many others. Saṅkhāra appears in the Buddhist Pitaka texts with a variety of meanings and contexts, somewhat different from the Upanishadic texts, particularly for anything to predicate impermanence.
It is a complex concept, with no single-word English translation, that fuses "object and subject" as interdependent parts of each human's consciousness and epistemological process. It connotes "impression, disposition, conditioning, forming, perfecting in one's mind, influencing one's sensory and conceptual faculty" as well as any "preparation, sacrament" that "impresses, disposes, influences or conditions" how one thinks, conceives or feels.
In the first (passive) sense, saṅkhāra refers to "conditioned things" or "dispositions, mental imprint". All aggregates in the world – physical or mental concomitants, and all phenomena, state early Buddhist texts, are conditioned things. It can refer to any compound form in the universe whether a tree, a cloud, a human being, a thought or a molecule. All these are saṅkhāras, as well as everything that is physical and visible in the phenomenal world are conditioned things, or aggregate of mental conditions. The Buddha taught that all saṅkhāras are impermanent and essenceless. These subjective dispositions, states Buddhist scholar David Kalupahana, "prevented the Buddha from attempting to formulate an ultimately objective view of the world".
Since conditioned things and dispositions are perceptions and do not have real essence, they are not reliable sources of pleasure and they are impermanent. Understanding the significance of this reality is wisdom. This "conditioned things" sense of the word Saṅkhāra appears in Four Noble Truths and in Buddhist theory of dependent origination, that is how ignorance or misconceptions about impermanence and non-self leads to Taṇhā and rebirths. The Samyutta Nikaya II.12.1 presents one such explanation, as do other Pali texts.
The last words of the Buddha, according to the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta, were "Disciples, this I declare to you: All conditioned things are subject to disintegration – strive on untiringly for your liberation." (Pali: "handa'dāni bhikkhave āmantayāmi vo, vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā ti.").
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Saṅkhāra
Saṅkhāra (Pali; संखार; Sanskrit: संस्कार or saṃskāra) is a term figuring prominently in Buddhism. The word means 'formations' or 'that which has been put together' and 'that which puts together'.
In the first (passive) sense, saṅkhāra refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental "dispositions". These are called 'volitional formations' both because they are formed as a result of volition and because they are causes for the arising of future volitional actions. English translations for saṅkhāra in the first sense of the word include 'conditioned things,' 'determinations,' 'fabrications' and 'formations' (or, particularly when referring to mental processes, 'volitional formations').
In the second (active) sense of the word, saṅkhāra refers to karma (sankhara-khandha) that leads to conditioned arising, dependent origination.
Saṅkhāra is a Pali word that is cognate with the Sanskrit word saṃskāra. The latter word is not a Vedic Sanskrit term, but found extensively in classical and epic era Sanskrit in all Indian philosophies. Saṃskāra is found in the Upanishads such as in verse 2.6 of Kaushitaki Upanishad, 4.16.2–4 of Chandogya Upanishad, 6.3.1 of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as well as mentioned by the ancient Indian scholar Panini and many others. Saṅkhāra appears in the Buddhist Pitaka texts with a variety of meanings and contexts, somewhat different from the Upanishadic texts, particularly for anything to predicate impermanence.
It is a complex concept, with no single-word English translation, that fuses "object and subject" as interdependent parts of each human's consciousness and epistemological process. It connotes "impression, disposition, conditioning, forming, perfecting in one's mind, influencing one's sensory and conceptual faculty" as well as any "preparation, sacrament" that "impresses, disposes, influences or conditions" how one thinks, conceives or feels.
In the first (passive) sense, saṅkhāra refers to "conditioned things" or "dispositions, mental imprint". All aggregates in the world – physical or mental concomitants, and all phenomena, state early Buddhist texts, are conditioned things. It can refer to any compound form in the universe whether a tree, a cloud, a human being, a thought or a molecule. All these are saṅkhāras, as well as everything that is physical and visible in the phenomenal world are conditioned things, or aggregate of mental conditions. The Buddha taught that all saṅkhāras are impermanent and essenceless. These subjective dispositions, states Buddhist scholar David Kalupahana, "prevented the Buddha from attempting to formulate an ultimately objective view of the world".
Since conditioned things and dispositions are perceptions and do not have real essence, they are not reliable sources of pleasure and they are impermanent. Understanding the significance of this reality is wisdom. This "conditioned things" sense of the word Saṅkhāra appears in Four Noble Truths and in Buddhist theory of dependent origination, that is how ignorance or misconceptions about impermanence and non-self leads to Taṇhā and rebirths. The Samyutta Nikaya II.12.1 presents one such explanation, as do other Pali texts.
The last words of the Buddha, according to the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta, were "Disciples, this I declare to you: All conditioned things are subject to disintegration – strive on untiringly for your liberation." (Pali: "handa'dāni bhikkhave āmantayāmi vo, vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā ti.").