Sankhara (Pali) or Samskara (Sanskrit) is a complex and crucial concept in Buddhism that is very difficult to translate with a single English word.
It is generally translated as:
- Formations
- Fabrications
- Conditioned Things
- Mental Dispositions
- Volitional Formations
The term literally means "that which has been put together" and "that which puts together." It carries both an active and a passive meaning.
Here are the main contexts in which it is used:
- As the Fourth of the Five Aggregates (Khandhas):
- Here, sankhara specifically refers to mental formations or volitional formations (cetanā - volition/intention) and the host of mental factors that accompany them.
- This is the aggregate of all our psychological conditionings, impulses, habits, intentions, and reactions (like liking, disliking, or indifference) that arise in response to our sensory and mental experiences. It is the karmically active part of the mind.
- As the Second Link in the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination (Paṭicca-samuppāda):
- In this sequence, sankhara refers to karmic predispositions or volitional actions (of body, speech, and mind) that are conditioned by ignorance and in turn condition the arising of consciousness (in the next life).
- It is the driving force of karma that leads to continued rebirth in samsara.
- As "Conditioned Things" in General (General Usage):
- In a broader sense, sankhara refers to everything in the universe that is conditioned, constructed, or compounded—all things that arise due to causes and conditions.
- The famous saying, "All conditioned things (sankharas) are impermanent (anicca)," uses the term in this way. Only Nirvana is considered "unconditioned" (asankhata).