Whenever you see an unpleasant mental formation manifesting, call on the seed of mindfulness to manifest as a second energy in your mind. Mindfulness is like a mother, gently embracing a crying baby the unpleasant mental formation.
Thich Nhat Hanh
According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a samskara is said to be a subtle, latent impression, mental trace or subconscious imprint left behind by every thought, action or experience. The AI generated definition on google describes them this way.
They are the residual effects of past experiences stored in the subconscious mind (chitta), which influence future habits, tendencies, and behaviours.
These samskaras can be pleasant, or unpleasant. I basically describe samskaras in these terms, referring to the yogic understanding. Does it differ in the Buddhist understanding? You tell me.
51 Mental Fromations/Factors
In Buddhist tradition a samskara is a mental formation...it is a particle of mental form that arises in the mind. There are said to be 51 mental formations, factors, or mind particles. We should, according to Thich Nhat Hanh, be able to recognize and name each one should they arise within ourselves so we can look deeply into them, allow them, understand them and then release them with great compassion should they not serve us or the world. We do want to release many of these babies when they arise in our mind so they do not impact our lives in a less than wholesome way. It begins with being mindful of them.
These formations may be deemed positive, negative, or indiscriminant and are listed under six different categories: Five Omnipresent Factors (Universal); Five factors with a Determinant Object (Particulars); Eleven Virtuous Factors (Wholesome); Six Root Mental Afflictions (Unwholesome roots); Twenty Secondary Mental Afflictions; and Four Variable Mental Factors.
Let's look at the Five Universal Formations. These include contact (the initial meeting between the sense object and the senses, between the mind and the world), attention (what we selectively focus the mind on), intention (volition or will in our focus), perception(the interpretation of what that sense object means to the body and mind based on past experiences), and feeling (Is the vibration of information we picked up with the senses pleasant, unpleasant or neutral?) These formations are said to arise with every moment of consciousness and are the essential elements shaping our experience of the world.
What are the Five Particulars?\
The Five factors with a determinant object are said to be relative, meaning they can be considered to be wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral depending on the situation. Desire or aspiration, of course, could be wholesome or unwholesome depending on what we are desiring and how attached we are to our object of desire. Resolution and appreciation for what is, is considered to be a very wholesome way to approach life. (Not to be confused with indifference). Mindfulness...being aware and maintaining focus on that which is our conscious experience, seeing through a balanced perspective is wholesome if we are embracing reality. Being mindful of only the so-called negative or the so-called positive in our experience is not helpful. Concentration can serve us by training the mind to focus steadily on one thing instead of wandering off in many directions as it tends to do. Insight/Wisdom/ and Understanding can be very wholesome when we are willing to look deeply into what we have stored inside and learn from it.
Then there are the 11 Virtuous or Wholesome factors that we should be always attempting to nurture and grow within ourselves. These include faith, self-respect ( now it is interesting to note in the Vietamese translation it is called shame...Being someone who writes a lot about the toxic effect of shame in our lives, I had a hard time with that. What was meant, I discovered in my research, was that we were to be respectful but humble, free of arrogance, free os self-rigtheousness), decorum/consideration/shame to others/embarrassment (this too kind of hit me hard...again it speaks to the need to be free of pride, for humility in comparison to others. Not to set oneself apart as special or better than...I think humility would be a better word but who am I to say that lol? ), non-attachment, non-hatred/ loving kindness, non-ignorance/nondelsuion/wisdom, diligence/effort, pliancy/flexibility, conscientiousness/heedfulness/care of the mind, equanimity/balanced perspective, and nonviolence/harmlessness/compassion.
Afflictions?
The Six Root Afflictions are said to be the major cause of all human suffering. They include Attachment/craving, anger/aversion, pride, ignorance, skeptical doubt, and afflicted views such as wrong view. These are the roots to all afflictions or causes of suffering. These roots give birth to the Twenty Secondary Mental Afflictions: rage, resentment, hypocrisy, spite, jealousy, greed, pretense, sly deception.arrogance, shamelessness/pride, unembarrasment/brazenness, dullness, excitation/restlessness, faithlessness, laziness/sloth, heedlessness/carelessness, forgetfullness, lack of meta-awareness, and distraction (natural, external, internal, involving distinguishing marks, nonvirtuous tendencie or attention).
The Four Variables or Changeable mental factors can also be wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral depending on mental state and motivation. They include sleep, regret, Inguiry/looking deeply into self to gain insight, and analysis to understand Truth and gain wisdom.
51 mind particle energies stored in store conscious (the subconscious) with the potential of arising to the surface of conscious awareness and impacting our lives. Don't know about you, but that sounds like a samskara to me.
I think in our mission to purify we should understand these 51 factors a little better and be alert to their arising within our minds. The last thing we want to do is suppress and repress them farther, creating more blockages. We do not need to force them out of our awareness....nor do we need to act on them in an unwholesome way. We simply need to be aware of them and their potential, be willing to look deeply into them, understand them with compassion and mindfulness, and release them when they are ready to be released.
Hmm!
All is well
Thich Nhat Hanh/Plum Village (August 21, 2020) Our Mind and Mental Formations.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-copiRlX1s&t=4s
Wisdom Exeperience....How the Mind Works Asanga 51 Mental Factors List. https://wisdomexperience.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/how-the-mind-works-Asanga-51-mental-factors-list.pdf
Google AI Overview
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