We have both external and internal senses. Whatever is experienced through the senses creates an impression, or a saṁskāra, in the heart (citta). Cognition is of two types, namely fresh (anubhavātmaka) and recollective (smaraṇātmaka). Fresh experience comes from direct perception (pratyakṣa), inference (anumāna), or sound (śabda). Recollective experience arises from the saṁskāras stored in the citta. When a saṁskāra flashes into the mind, it is called a memory or recollection. A saṁskāra can become activated for various reasons, such as similarity with a present experience. The Nyāya Sūtra of Gautama (3.2.42) lists 26 factors that can activate a saṁskāra. Each of these can further be divided into two types: valid (pramā) or invalid (apramā).
Saṁskāras play a very important role in our lives. Indeed, it is only because of saṁskāras that we can function in our day-to-day life. When we perceive something directly through our senses, we not only experience sensations but also recognize them by matching the sensations with our past saṁskāras. For example, when you see a relative or friend, you not only perceive that person with your eyes but also use your saṁskāras to recognize them. This happens in a “split second” or “blink of an eye,” and therefore, we think that we are simply having an external perception.
Conversely, when we see an unfamiliar object for the first time, we do not know what it is because we do not have a saṁskāra with which to match it and therefore cannot recognize it. We perceive it but cannot identify it. Even when seeing a person or object that we have encountered previously, we may fail to recognize them if the relevant saṁskāra does not arise in the mind. Thus, sometimes we meet someone we have seen before yet fail to recognize them. However, if that person reminds us of our previous meeting, we may suddenly remember them. This is because their reminder activates our dormant saṁskāra. If the saṁskāra is buried deep within the citta, however, we may not remember even after being reminded.
This is exactly what happens in the case of people suffering from dementia. In severe cases, people may be unable to recognize even their closest relatives. The saṁskāras connected with those relatives do not become activated even when the relative is standing directly in front of them. It is not that the saṁskāras have been erased; rather, they do not become activated. One possible reason is that the person does not feel the love they would normally expect from their relatives, and this becomes so painful that the cognitive system shuts itself off. Interestingly, people suffering from dementia are often able to remember their childhood, because in childhood they experienced love, and that is what they wish to remember.
Another characteristic related to how a saṁskāra manifests is the weight of the saṁskāra. Just as in statistics, small numbers with a higher weight may carry more value than larger numbers with less weight, saṁskāras also differ in their strength. Another example is the United Nations Security Council, where some countries, such as the USA, have veto power while others do not. Even if the other member countries vote in favor of something, a single vote against it by a country with veto power takes precedence.
Similarly, saṁskāras do not all have equal strength; some are heavier than others. There are several factors that give strength to a saṁskāra. The first is repetition. If you do something repeatedly, the related saṁskāra becomes stronger. Therefore, when we want to memorize a formula, a Sanskrit verse, or a sūtra, we recite it repeatedly. The more repetition there is, the stronger the saṁskāra becomes.
Another factor is concentration. If we focus intensely on something, the corresponding saṁskārabecomes stronger. This concentration can be voluntary or involuntary. When we try to memorize Sanskrit ślokas, we voluntarily concentrate. But certain things naturally draw our attention without effort. Emotions have the power to capture our attention. Both positive and negative emotions can focus the mind deeply. Therefore, we tend to remember both pleasurable and traumatic experiences.
Anything we deeply enjoy leaves a strong saṁskāra in our citta. Two particularly powerful saṁskāras are related to food and sex, and therefore, it is not easy to become free from them. This is often experienced by people on a spiritual path who wish to overcome material conditioning connected with these impulses.
Traumatic experiences also create deep saṁskāras in the citta, especially those from childhood. We often forget the actual traumatic incident because it is too painful to remember, and the mind naturally tries to avoid pain. However, this does not mean that the saṁskāra of the trauma is erased or destroyed. It is commonly said that “time heals all wounds,” but this is not entirely accurate. Time does not heal; it only conceals. Saṁskāras remain hidden within the citta and can automatically influence our behavior in adult life, much like software programs running in a computer.
Under certain circumstances, a saṁskāra may become triggered without our awareness, and we then behave just as we did when the original event occurred in childhood. For example, someone who experienced fear in childhood may develop a phobia related to that experience in adulthood. When a situation triggers the phobia, the saṁskāra becomes activated, and the person may behave irrationally, almost as if they have become the child who originally experienced the fear.
On the spiritual path, saṁskāras can create obstacles. Because of them, we act in conditioned ways and become further implicated through actions that arise from this conditioning. This is called the bondage of karma. Two of the most common saṁskāras are rāga (attraction) and dveṣa (aversion). Therefore, Śrī Kṛṣṇa repeatedly advises us to act without rāga and dveṣa. Yet we must act, because no one can live without performing action. Therefore, Śrī Kṛṣṇa advises us to act without attachment:
tasmād asaktaḥ satataṁ kāryaṁ karma samācara
asakto hi ācaran karma param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ
“Therefore, always perform your prescribed duty efficiently without attachment to the results. By carrying out one’s prescribed duty without attachment, a person certainly attains the supreme goal.” (Gītā 3.20)
Generally, repeatedly performing an action would deepen its saṁskāra. However, if the action is performed without attachment, it does not add weight to the saṁskāra and therefore remains neutral. An ordinary person performs actions with some motive and therefore with attachment. Because of this, the resulting saṁskāras are not neutral and become the cause of bondage. Śrī Kṛṣṇa teaches us how to act without becoming bound by action. This is called karma-yoga.
Originally published at https://jiva.org/mechanisms-of-samskaras/
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