Dependent Arising 5: Saṅkhārā & Consciousness

“From saṅkhārā as condition arises conditioned consciousness ... with the cessation of saṅkhārā, conditioned consciousness ceases.” — Bodhi Sutta The term saṅkhārā has connotations of deception or spuriousness. In Vedic culture, it was associated with costuming, makeup, staging and other preparations for a drama. Saṅkhārā can be bodily, verbal or mental. The magic show of consciousness is kept up by saṅkhāras. They also sustain the vortex between consciousness and name-and-form. Not understanding the relation between consciousness and name-and-form is itself avijjā. The spin, the whirling round resulting from that ignorance is saṅkhāra. Ignorance of this mental conditionality is also avijjā or ignorance, and the consequent fumbling or groping about in that darkness is saṅkhārā or fabrications. “And why do you call saṅkhārā fabrications? Because they fabricate fabricated things, thus they are called fabrications. What do they fabricate as a fabricated thing? For the sake of form, they fabricate form as a fabricated thing. For the sake of feeling, they fabricate feeling as a fabricated thing. For the sake of consciousness, they fabricate consciousness as a fabricated thing. Because they fabricate fabricated things, they are called fabrications.” — Khajjaniya Sutta