The Origin of All Phenomena - Understanding Sankharas

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Sādhu, I’m glad to have run across your videos. This is very well said May you live long

Excellent video. Ajahn Geoeff states that the literal meaning of sankara is “co-doing,” which I always felt should just be the translation used. But when I read the Q & A sutta between Sariputta and another monk and he stated that the breath is the body sankara, it clicked that sankaras are the irreducible fundamental phenomena upon which more complex systems stand or depend. In that sense, Buddhism is a form of reductionism like Science, except external “objective” phenomena is of little concern because most of that stuff isn’t relevant to the 4NTs. Anyway, loved this video. Great stuff, as always .

Thank you Flaus. Excellent talk. Your explanation is very clear, particularly the example from MN 146 of the tree and the shadow. You have cleared up many years of confusion.

Brilliant channel!

It'd be interesting to see when and how the understanding of sankharas diverged from their sanskrit cognate, the Hindu / Vedic samskaras, which are basically the subconscious patterns of action / reaction formed throughout life that get activated / triggered in certain contexts and form the foundation of a personality, so to say (something modern day Cognitive Behavioural Therapy would work with by "rewiring" the inadequate samskaras having established a certain degree of mindfulness in the patient vis-a-vis said inadequate samsakaras)

Excellent Sir.🧐

I have a completely different approach to understanding sankharas. It is interesting to see it explained philosophically.

Great video!! I would suggest a follow up video looking at the meaning of sankhara in the context of the 12 links, in particular looking at the meaning of the cessation of sankhara 'here and now'. I think this is an area of great confusion, mixed in with centuries of confusion and commentarial dogmas.

Thoughts on the themed topic is very good, but the pitch of speech is high, if it had been slow, could have been more effective.

Posted by one of my facebook friends in response to your video: "Great descriptions of the meanings of sankhara, which should be useful in working out translations. I especially liked the first-floor, second-floor analogy, and the tree and its shadow. At 5:45 just after a mention of looking at the underlying causes and the fuels that keep the process going, you say, "...although the word sankhara is not too special..." but I disagree: it is special. Though you did a terrific job of looking at what it conveys, and at its semantic origin, I believe you've missed a critical layer of meaning provided by its contextual origins. The Sanskrit version is saṃskāra, and is still important today though in a less powerful version. These days it represents what we call "rites of passage" but in the Buddha's day it represented rituals of self creation, which is the essential lesson of dependent arising: how our habits of thought (beginning with contact, feeling, etc) cause us to generate what passes for a lasting self, those concepts of self are what leads to quarrels and disputes (dukkha). It is clear to me that the Buddha carefully chose the word for rituals of self-creation to help us see what he was pointing out -- but we have lost the contextual link. Restoring that context deepens insight into the underlying causes of our habitual thought patterns -- our rituals, so to speak. I commend to you Brian K Smith's book, "Reflections on Ritual, Resemblance, and Religion" which amply enriches understanding of why the Buddha used the terms he did, given the culture he and his listeners were steeped in."