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**poekfpojoibien** · 08-26-2012, 03:48 AM

I remember a teaching (I wish I could remember who, where and when) that said sankhara describes the whole of the Buddha's teaching on DO.

'Sankhara' is the broadest word in Buddhism. It has multiple meanings dependent on context. In respect to Dependent Origination, in the Mahayana/Nargajuna sense, it can mean everything is conditioned (cause & effect) phenomena because "conditioned phenomena" is one meaning of "sankhara". But it can also mean how sankhara aggregate mentally constructs things.

The quote below exhibits these two different meanings of sankhara, i.e., sankhara aggregate & conditioned phenomena.

Rūpaṃ kho, āvuso channa, aniccaṃ; vedanā aniccā; saññā aniccā; saṅkhārā aniccā; viññāṇaṃ aniccaṃ. Rūpaṃ anattā; vedanā… saññā… saṅkhārā… viññāṇaṃ anattā. Sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā; sabbe dhammā anattā’’ti

Form, friend Channa, is inconstant. Feeling is inconstant. Perception is inconstant. Fabrication is inconstant. Consciousness is inconstant. Form is not-self. Feeling is not-self. Perception is not-self. Fabrications are not-self. Consciousness is not-self. All conditioned things [i.e., all of the five aggregates] are inconstant. All phenomena [i.e., including the unconditioned Nibbana] are not-self.

SN 22.90 My question of inquiry in my previous post is about the functioning of sankhara khandha (rather than about sankhara as conditioned phenomena, such as water being a construction of two parts hydrogen & one part water).

I find the following quote interesting, difficult to discern & obviously something quite deep & profound:

And why do you call it 'fabrication'? Because it fabricates fabricated things, thus it is called 'fabrication.' What does it fabricate as a fabricated thing? For the sake of form-ness, it fabricates form as a fabricated thing. For the sake of feeling-ness, it fabricates feeling as a fabricated thing. For the sake of perception-hood... For the sake of fabrication-hood... For the sake of consciousness-hood, it fabricates consciousness as a fabricated thing. Because it fabricates fabricated things, it is called fabrication. alternate translation:

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."

08-26-2012, 03:48 AM	#11
poekfpojoibien Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 501 Senior Member	I remember a teaching (I wish I could remember who, where and when) that said sankhara describes the whole of the Buddha's teaching on DO. 'Sankhara' is the broadest word in Buddhism. It has multiple meanings dependent on context. In respect to Dependent Origination, in the Mahayana/Nargajuna sense, it can mean everything is conditioned (cause & effect) phenomena because "conditioned phenomena" is one meaning of "sankhara". But it can also mean how sankhara aggregate mentally constructs things. The quote below exhibits these two different meanings of sankhara, i.e., sankhara aggregate & conditioned phenomena. Rūpaṃ kho, āvuso channa, aniccaṃ; vedanā aniccā; saññā aniccā; saṅkhārā aniccā; viññāṇaṃ aniccaṃ. Rūpaṃ anattā; vedanā… saññā… saṅkhārā… viññāṇaṃ anattā. Sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā; sabbe dhammā anattā’’ti Form, friend Channa, is inconstant. Feeling is inconstant. Perception is inconstant. Fabrication is inconstant. Consciousness is inconstant. Form is not-self. Feeling is not-self. Perception is not-self. Fabrications are not-self. Consciousness is not-self. All conditioned things [i.e., all of the five aggregates] are inconstant. All phenomena [i.e., including the unconditioned Nibbana] are not-self. SN 22.90 My question of inquiry in my previous post is about the functioning of sankhara khandha (rather than about sankhara as conditioned phenomena, such as water being a construction of two parts hydrogen & one part water). I find the following quote interesting, difficult to discern & obviously something quite deep & profound: And why do you call it 'fabrication'? Because it fabricates fabricated things, thus it is called 'fabrication.' What does it fabricate as a fabricated thing? For the sake of form-ness, it fabricates form as a fabricated thing. For the sake of feeling-ness, it fabricates feeling as a fabricated thing. For the sake of perception-hood... For the sake of fabrication-hood... For the sake of consciousness-hood, it fabricates consciousness as a fabricated thing. Because it fabricates fabricated things, it is called fabrication. alternate translation: 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."
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