Living Dhamma > Essential Buddhism > Connection Between Saṅkhāra and Viññāṇa

January 11, 2018

1. In a recent post, “Viññāṇa – Consciousness Together With Future Expectations,” I discussed how viññāṇa or “future expectations” are established when one gets attached to something and starts doing saṅkhāra (conscious thinking, speech, and actions) about it.

▪In this post, I will elaborate more on the importance of saṅkhāra and the connection to viññāṇa. In a few posts, I will try to explain how we create our own future suffering by engaging in abhisaṅkhāra or “strong saṅkhāra.”

▪These abhisaṅkhāra are nothing but how we think about, speak about, and take actions on moral/immoral issues. If we do any of the dasa akusala, then we are generating “bad abhisaṅkhāra” or “apuñña abhisaṅkhāra” (abbreviated as “apuññābhisaṅkhāra”).

▪Those apuññābhisaṅkhāra lead to suffering. Therefore, key to stop future suffering is to gradually reduce apuññābhisaṅkhāra and eventually to stop them.

2. In addition to what we discussed in that previous post, another key point is to realize that all our speech and bodily actions are started by the mind.

▪Can you do anything, if you (or your mind) does not want to do?

▪You may be in the middle of doing something (say walking to the kitchen), but you can decide you don’t really want to go the kitchen and instead walk to the living room. If you start saying something, you can stop in mid-sentence if you want to.

▪Some people have strange ideas about humans not having free will. They should try what I just suggested above. It is not that hard to verify.

3. All the progress that science has made is based on the “mind power” of the humans (scientists coming up with breakthrough innovations in their minds). Mind comes first and this is what is expressed in the very first Dhammapada gāthā: “manopubbangamā dhammā..” or “mind is at the forefront.”

▪A child’s future depends on how well he learns. If the mind of the child goes in the wrong direction, he/she could become a drug addict or even a murderer.

▪In the same way, we determine our own LONG TERM future in the rebirth process by the ways in which we think, speak, and act. That is what is really explained in Paṭicca Samuppāda (normally translated as “Dependent Origination”; again, it is much better to use the Pāli term and understand what is really meant by it).

4. From the moment we wake up in the morning, we do nothing but generate saṅkhāra.

▪When we just experience a sense input (seeing, hearing, etc) , “mano saṅkhāra” are automatically generated.

▪The Buddha said, “vedanā, saññā are mano saṅkhāra”: we just experience the sense input by recognizing it and generating a “sukha, dukkha, or neutral feeling about it.”

5. When we start thinking consciously about a particular sense input (what we saw, heard, tasted, etc), we start generating vacī saṅkhāra; we may also speak with vacī saṅkhāra. Here, vacī is pronounced “vachee.”

▪For example, if we see a nice car and start thinking about how nice it would be to own such a car, how we can impress our friends with it, etc, we are fully aware of such thoughts.

▪Such conscious generation of thoughts about “what to do about a given sense input and how to go about it”, for example, are vacī saṅkhāra. Actual speech is also vacī saṅkhāra.

▪The Buddha said, “vitakka, vicāra are vacī saṅkhāra”: stay on the given sense input and generating thoughts about it or related things.

▪Furthermore, we can keep going with such “day dreaming” or we can stop them. If it is something we like, it may be hard to stop thinking about it, i.e., it may take will power.

▪That is what is involved in Ānāpānasati/Satipaṭṭhāna: stopping bad vacī saṅkhāra.

6. If we just proceed with those vacī saṅkhāra, our emotions may get strong and we may start speaking out (stronger vacī saṅkhāra). If we get “really worked up” we may do bodily actions with such emotions, then those are done with kāya saṅkhāra.

▪For example, let us say two people get into an argument and start shouting at each other. Each person is speaking harsh words (generated via vacī saṅkhāra).

▪Then one of them (person X) gets “really worked up”, loses all restraint, and hits the other person. That “hitting action” was done with kāya saṅkhāra (generating thoughts to raise the hand and hit that person).

7. It is important to realize that both speech and bodily actions are initiated by the mind.

▪In the above example, both people were engaged in generating “bad vacī saṅkhāra,” which are nothing but “bad speech”, the opposite of “Sammā Vācā” or “correct speech.”

▪Then person X took did an even worse thing by hitting the other person. That was a “bad action”, opposite of “Sammā Kammanta.”

▪Therefore, they were both acting with “avijjā” or ignorance of the consequences of their actions. That is “avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra,” the first step in Paṭicca Samuppāda.

8. Now, we can see what is meant by “saṅkhāra” (and “abhisaṅkhāra”).

▪In the above example, both vacī saṅkhāra and kāya saṅkhāra generated by person X were “abhisaṅkhāra” or “strong saṅkhāra.”

▪If those two people were just taking about something kammically neutral, say about the weather, then that would involve just “saṅkhāra.”

▪If they were talking about weather, while walking, then that would involve both vacī and kāya saṅkhāra that are NOT of “abhisaṅkhāra” type. That speech and action did not involve generation of “kammic energy.”

9. Therefore, it is important to understand the difference between just saṅkhāra and abhisaṅkhāra. In the suttā, or in Paṭicca Samuppāda, the word “saṅkhāra” is used often without specifically saying whether it is just “saṅkhāra” or “abhisaṅkhāra.”

▪Depending on the context, we should be able to determine whether it is just “saṅkhāra” or “abhisaṅkhāra.”

▪Not only that, but abhisaṅkhāra are also two types: puññābhisaṅkhāra (puñña abhisaṅkhāra or “good deeds”) and apuññābhisaṅkhāra (apuñña abhisaṅkhāra or “bad deeds”).

▪Here by “deeds” we include all three types of saṅkhāra: mano, vacī, and kāya. We should AVOID all three types of apuññābhisaṅkhāra or immoral thoughts, speech, and actions.

10. It is again important to emphasize that mano saṅkhāra arise AUTOMATICALLY based on two things: (1) the sense input, and (2) one’s own gati or gathi (character/habits), as we discussed in the post: “Introduction to Citta, Vedanā, Saññā, Saṅkhāra, and Viññāṇa.”

▪For example, if someone has a bad temper (that is a bad gati), then that person can be made angry by the slightest provocation.

▪On the other hand, there are people who are calm and measured and are not easy to become angry. It will take much stronger provocation to make them angry.

▪In the same way, some people are greedy and are easily attached to tasty foods. Some people are kind and quick to come to help for others in need, etc.

11. The key to making progress in the Path of the Buddha is to cultivate “good gati” and gradually reduce “bad gati.”

▪If one is “quick to anger”, that is a bad gati. One important way to reduce that bad gati is to stop generating vacī and kāya saṅkhāra by will power when they start arising.

▪For example, some people get angry even when they hear the name of a person they do not like. Then they start thinking about all the bad things that person has done in the past. That is generating “bad vacī saṅkhāra.”

▪Even though one may not be saying a single bad word, just consciously think about bad thoughts about another person will feed that bad habit. So, it is important to realize that generating such “silent bad thoughts” is as bad as saying harsh words.

▪Of course actually speaking out (also vacī saṅkhāra) and doing bad things to person (hitting for example), are also bad abhisaṅkhāra.

12. This “feeding bad habits” via (apuññābhi)saṅkhāra generation is explained via the step, “saṅkhāra paccayā viññāṇa” in Paṭicca Samuppāda.

▪When person X has a “grudge against person Y”, person X has a “viññāṇa” or an expectation in his mind to “get back to Y or hurt Y” whenever an opportunity arises.

▪That viññāṇa “gets food to grow” each time X starts generating bad thoughts about Y, speak against Y, or do something to hurt Y. Those all belong to vacī and kāya saṅkhāra.

▪On the other hand, mano saṅkhāra about Y arise automatically in X’s mind when X sees Y or even when Y’s name is mentioned by someone else. Then X is likely to start generating vacī saṅkhāra or “conscious thoughts about Y.”

▪The key to progress is to STOP such vacī saṅkhāra AS SOON AS one becomes aware of them.

13. Just like a person, an animal, or even a tree would grow when given food on a regular basis, one’s viññāṇa would grow when “it is fed on a regular basis” by generating vacī and kāya saṅkhāra.

▪It works backwards too. If food is reduced, a tree will not grow well. If food and water are totally stopped, the tree will die.

▪In the same way, if one stops feeding a given “viññāṇa” (or a “future expectation”) by stopping vacī and kāya saṅkhāra, that viññāṇa will die with time.

▪In the same way, we want to “feed a good viññāṇa,” say to act kindly towards other people and animals. So, we should INCREASE vacī and saṅkhāra generation: generate more compassionate thoughts and engage in compassionate activities like giving.

14. So, hopefully, we now have a good idea about what saṅkhāra (and abhisaṅkhāra) are and how they lead to good or bad viññāṇa.

▪We will discuss more on viññāṇa in the next post. In the mean time, please do not hesitate to ask questions. It is important to understand these basic concepts.