6. Ignorance - Formations

When a lay follower has gone for refuge over a long time to the Buddha, the dhamma, and the sangha, how could he go to the nether world? For if one speaking rightly was to say of anyone: He was a lay follower who had gone for refuge over a long time to the Buddha, dhamma, and the sangha, it is of Sarakàni the Sakyan that one could rightly say this. Sarakàni the Sakyan had gone for refuge over a long time to the Buddha, dhamma, and the saïgha, so how could he go to the nether world?

The Buddha addresses the Sakyan’s doubts – Sarakàni Sutta

David: I’m shooting myself in the foot with this question. All the same, since we are ostensibly talking about the process dependent origination, which states, dependent on ignorance, sankhàras arise then, what exactly is a sankhàra?

Pemasiri Thera: The meaning of the term sankhàra depends upon the context in which it is used. The type of sankhàra that you mentioned, where a sankhàra is the fruit of ignorance, is only one of many different types of sankhàras. Sankhàras are either active in forming things together, or passive as the formation itself, the thing that is formed together. In the widest sense of the term, sankhàras are all conditioned material and immaterial phenomena that exist in the world. Teacups, stones, sweeping the leaves in the yard, a garbage heap, and a human being each and every one is a sankhàra. You must have read the verse in the Dhammapada where the Buddha states, “sabb¹ sankhàra anicca,” which translates as all conditioned things are impermanent. Here, the Buddha is using the term sankhàra in a completely general sense that includes all types of conditioned things. At the Buddha’s final Nibbàna, Sakka, lord of the devas, also uses the term sankhàra to mean anything formed and conditioned.

In the context of the process of dependent origination, however, we’re not talking about sankhàras being teacups or stones or sweeping the leaves. In dependent origination, sankhàras are specifically the fruit of ignorance, avijjà. The formula states, “Dependent on ignorance, formations arise; avijjà-paccayà sankhàra.” A sankhàra is the fruit of ignorance.

Okay, then what is this fruit?

Lobha, dosa, and moha, that’s greed, aversion, and delusion, the way these three combine, we call them the fruit, the saïkhàras. Ignorance produces sankhàras. Simple as that. With our ignorance as a cause, our greed, aversion, and delusion arise as the result. In the Nidàna Samyutta, the Buddha lists three types of sankhàras that apply to the process of dependent origination:

1. Body formation, kàya-sankhàra
2. Speech formation, vacã-sankhàra
3. Mental formation, mano-sankhàra

Sounds like greed, aversion, and delusion are just other names for ignorance.

If you are sincerely interested in understanding dependent origination, you’ll find it useful to read the Book of Causation in the Samyutta Nikàya. And it’s best that you read the whole of the Samyutta Nikàya, as reading one sutta here and another sutta there only leads to confusion. Better to get a complete picture.

I find it an extremely difficult and unpleasant task to read these ancient texts.

You have no difficulty reading the newspaper or a murder mystery for hours on end, often reading late into the night. The reduction of suffering requires making some effort! In the Kàmabhå Sutta, body formation is given as in-breathing and out-breathing; speech formation is applied and sustained thought; and mental formation is feeling and perception. You’ll also find the topic of sankhàras amongst the questions the lay follower Visàkha posed to the bhikkhuni Dhammadinnà in the Cåëavedalla Sutta in the Majjhima Nikàya.

Speech formation, vacã-sankhàra, is considered by many people to be the words we speak. This is a misconception. Speech formation is rather the applied and sustained thoughts, the vitakka-vicàra, that are connected with speech. If you think about it, you can see that the production of speech is different from the physical act of speaking. The formations that arise in our minds to produce words are not quite the same as the words that come out of our mouths. In our dreams, we have vacã-saïkhàra; even a mute person has speech formation. It’s a way of recognizing what is on our minds.

For example, look at the production of my speech formation needed just to say your name. I start with a vague thought to say your name, a vague thought from past sankhàras, and then I sustain and develop this vague and weak thought into a clearly formed thought. At this point, however, you can’t say for sure what’s on my mind; you still don’t know whether or not I will actually say your name. I am now finished producing the speech formation to say your name. Yes, it’s complete and I am just about to say your name and it’s on the tip of my tongue. But, and here’s the rub, despite a fully produced speech formation in my mind, you have yet to know this formation. For that to happen, for you to know this speech formation, I must combine it with the four primary elements earth, water, fire, and air and then say your name out loud, “David!” Only now do you know this speech formation, know that I had your name on my mind. You now know my mind. The words that we speak out loud are not speech formations. They are material formations, rupa-sankhàras.

BENEFICIAL AND HARMFUL FORMATIONS

Keeping your desire for practical advice in mind, well focus in on mental formations, mano-sankhàras, because what goes on in our minds determines the quality of our lives now as well as in the future. Our mano-sankhàras give rise to various other sankhàras. At this point, we won’t try to make any connections between sankhàras and materiality, rupa. No. Instead, we’ll stick to mental formations and the process of developing vague and weak mental formations up to the level of volition and kamma. Vague and weak, volition, or kamma, our mental formations arise at one of these three levels.

There are lots of vague and weak mental formations that sit only momentarily in our minds and are not in any way dangerous. Ideas come and go. Most are completely inactive and never amount to anything at all. In spite of most mental formations being harmless, the level of mano-sankhàra that arises in our minds corresponds to the level of ignorance that we allow to arise. When our ignorance arises to a high level of strength, our mental formations will also generally arise to the same high level. Thus, as is usually the case, when our ignorance runs unchecked up to high levels, we develop our vague and weak mental formations into clearly formed mental formations. Vague ideas become volition. Nevertheless, just because we developed our vague mental formations up to the level of volition, we haven’t necessarily developed them to the level of kamma, not as yet there is still hope. It’s only by allowing an even higher level of ignorance to arise that we develop our volitional mental formations up to the level of kamma, and then that kamma has already been performed.

If we weren’t ignorant, would we ever act? I don’t understand the difference between volition and kamma.

Discussing the nature of volition, cetanà in Pali, and kamma is another topic that will take us away from our discussion on ignorance and the fruit of ignorance. There’s a difference between volition and kamma and we’ll just have to leave it at that for now. Sankhàras conditioned by ignorance, the sankhàras arising from ignorance, fall into two broad categories:

1. Beneficial and wholesome formations, kusala-sankhàras
2. Harmful and unwholesome formations, akusala-sankhàras

Ignorance is in us completely. When we cultivate beneficial formations, kusala-sankhàras, beneficial results arise; and when we cultivate harmful formations, akusala-sankhàras, harmful results arise. We’re talking about ignorance, the nature of being human, and why we are entangled in sansàra; beneficial and harmful sankhàras play an active role in this process of dependent origination. And though both kusala and akusala-sankhàras are the fruit of ignorance, it’s important to remember that there is no permanent link between the ignorance and the sankhàras that arise. Ignorance and the fruit of ignorance, the sankhàras, are separate and distinct.

Why is it important to remember that there is no permanent link between ignorance and the formations that arise?

Since there isn’t a permament link between ignorance and the sankhàras that arise, there is a possibility of escape from sansàra. Very important! Once ignorance produces the sankhàras, the link between those sankhàras and the ignorance is broken, in much the same way as the link between mango fruit and the mango tree is broken. Once the tree produces a ripe and tasty mango, the mango breaks off the tree and falls to the ground. The mango is no longer connected to the tree, and the sankhàras are no longer connected to the ignorance. Then with the mango fruit on the ground, it always takes some time and the right conditions for the seed of the mango fruit to start sprouting on its own. Without proper support, say the mango lands on sandy soil, the mango seed soon dies. Maybe the seed doesn’t get enough sunshine it too dies a quick death. No further development. It’s the same with the vague and weak formations that arise in our minds. It takes time and the right conditions to develop them up to the level of volition and kamma. Thus, without the right supportive conditions, vague and weak sankhàras won’t develop up to the level of volition or kamma. It could be that our avijjà, our ignorance, is very strong, is operating at a high level, and we produce lots of vague and weak mental formations, good ones and bad ones. Yet, we do not produce the matching kamma formations. Even though the ignorance is present, some vague and weak sankhàras will develop further up to the level of volition and kamma, and some vague and weak formations will not develop any further at all. Our vague and weak sankhàras only develop up to the level of volition and then kamma when we provide them with the supportive conditions that they require for their development.

And what are the supportive conditions?

Greed, aversion, and delusion, lobha, dosa, moha. The Buddha recommended making four efforts restrain and abandon harmful and unwholesome formations, and then develop and maintain beneficial and wholesome formations. As long as we don’t mix our greed and aversion in with our harmful formations, our akusala-sankhàras, then our akusala-sankhàras won’t develop any further. They die. Anger need not develop into full blown hate. Instead of feeding our defilements, we practice kindness, compassion, and renunciation. Beneficial results arise when we develop and maintain beneficial formations. Good causes lead to good results.

There seems to be a disconnect here in the logic. Are lobha, dosa, moha also the conditions for wholesome formations?

Yes, even wholesome formations are based on delusion and bind us to the cycle of rebirth. Gradually, however, right effort moves us away from greed, aversion, and delusion, and moves us towards non-greed, non-aversion, and non-delusion, alobha, adosa, amoha. As unenlightened beings, it is in our nature to develop countless beneficial as well as countless harmful formations, kusala and akusala-sankhàras, up to the level of kamma. We must be careful what we develop. In the Thorough Investigation Sutta, the Buddha divides these formations into three groups:

1. Meritorious formations
2. Demeritorious formations
3. Imperturbable formations

Merit and demerit are the effects of kamma. Many people fail to differentiate between meritorious formations, the up¤¤àbhi-saïkhàras, and beneficial formations, the kusala-sankhàras. They are not the same. Meritorious formations include the beneficial formations and the kamma effects of the beneficial formations, which is the merit. With the meritorious formations, there’s been an accumulation of merit, an accumulation of the results of good kamma ripening. The rupa-jjhànas are an excellent example of a meritorious formation. A strong meditator undertakes a particular beneficial practice and experiences the meritorious formation of the rupa-jjhànas as a result. Similarly, demeritorious formations include the harmful formations, the akusala-sankhàras, and the effects of the harmful formations, the demerit. A demeritorious formation is the opposite of a meritorious formation; there’s been an accumulation of demerit, an accumulation of the results of bad kamma.

The imperturbable formation is another state of merit. It’s the state of mind of the meditator while abiding in the immaterial realm and it includes the fourth jhàna and the immaterial attainments. Unlike the meritorious and demeritorious formations, however, nothing new is produced from the imperturbable formation. And though the imperturbable is poles apart from our everyday experience of sleeping, the imperturbable does have something in common with sleeping no new causes arise. And without new causes, new effects won’t arise either. Once the meditator produces his or her mind to the level of the fourth jhàna and the immaterial, the mediators mind is just at that level of consciousness. No new causes and no new effects. The mind goes on and on and no in-between thoughts arise. If a passing thought arises, the meditator is no longer in the imperturbable formation, no longer in the immaterial realm. While in the imperturbable, there is only mind and there is no rupa, no materiality, which is also a little bit like sleeping. Again certainly, there is a difference between sleeping and abiding in the imperturbable. Whereas the person who is asleep sometimes directs his or her mind towards the body, the meditator who is in the imperturbable never directs his or her mind towards the body. Of course, he or she still has a material body. Yes, but like the water that’s unaware of being in a glass, the meditator is unaware of being in a body.