Sanskara

In Hinduism sanskaras (singular: sanskara) (Sanskrit: impression; under the impulse of previous impressions) are the imprints left on the subconscious mind by experience in this or previous lives, which then color all of life, one's nature, responses, states of mind, etc. [ [http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Samskara/id/61934 The Hinduism Dictionary] ]

In Buddhism, similarly sanskaras are considered to be the source of conditioned mind and the product of ignorance. In early Buddhism the Pāli term "Saṅkhāra" is used, denoting a complex causal structure involved in karma and pratītyasamutpāda.

Overview

Sanskaras are impressions derived from past experiences that form desires that influence future responses and behavior (karma). Extensive writing on the impressional sanskara has been done by the Indian author Meher Baba, who discusses the concept in depth in his books "God Speaks" and "Discourses". According to him sanskaras are imprints left on the subconscious by experiences in past lives, or the present life, and which determine and condition one’s desires and actions. [ [http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/glosss.html The Master's Glossary] ] They are not entities with substance or shape, nor are they forces, but are understood in psychological terms only. In "Discourses" Meher Baba writes:

The mental processes are partly dependent upon the immediately given objective situation, and partly dependent upon the functioning of accumulated sanskaras or impressions of previous experience... From the psychogenetic point of view, human actions are based upon the operation of the impressions stored in the mind through previous experience. ["Discourses", Volume I Page 54, "The Formation and Function of Sanskaras", Meher Baba, 1967 [http://discoursesbymeherbaba.org/v1-54.php] ]

Sanskaras, once acquired and accumulated, form what can be compared to a lens through which the subjective aspects of our experience arise. ["Infinite Intelligence", Meher Baba, Sheriar Press, 2007] Thus when we "perceive" (either thoughts or external objects) we "apperceive" those objects through the lens of past experience. We perceive through the imprint or conditioning of past impressions or sanskaras.

According to Meher Baba, in the course of evolution sanskaras play a vital role in that they aid in the formation of conscious experience, and thus eventually bring about self-awareness in the human form, but then serve no further purpose. According to Baba they are actually a hindrance once full consciousness is achieved in the human form because they slant our experience of things as they are. The goal for the human being then is to be rid of them by "unwinding" them or through "shakings" caused by progressive variously opposite life experiences over many human lives in reincarnation, thereby eventually unveiling and revealing the true nature of reality and the true identity of the self. According to Meher Baba the ridding of sanskaras can be quickened by the help or guidance of a perfected master or satguru. ["Discourses", Volume I Page 70, Meher Baba, 1967]

The idea of the sanskara holds implications for metaphysics, psychology, and process philosophy by offering a verb-like or dynamic way to account for experience rather than a purely substance or entity-based model. In this view the 'what' of the object of perception is the result of the 'how' of the act of perceiving. What one sees is determined by the condition of one's mind influencing how one is seeing. In this view experience supervenes to produce objects; objects do not supervene to produce experience - the current western view. (See Physicalism)

ee also

* Saṅkhāra (Buddhist concept)
* Saṃskāra (Hindu rites of passage)
* Samskara (Ayurvedic) (Ayurvedic medicinal process)

References

External links

* [http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Samskara/id/61934 Hinduism Dictionary]
* [http://www.advaita.org.uk/sanskrit/terms_rs.htm Dictionary of Sanskrit Terms]
* [http://en.mimi.hu/yoga/samskara.html Mimi.hu - definitions of sanskara]