Key Vocabulary
Saṅkhārakkhandha: The aggregate of mental formations that includes all mental activities and volitional actions, excluding feelings (vedanā) and perceptions (saññā).
Cetasikas: Mental factors that accompany consciousness, totaling 50 in the context of saṅkhārakkhandha.
Kusala: Wholesome mental factors that are beneficial and lead to positive outcomes.
Akusala: Unwholesome mental factors that are harmful and lead to negative outcomes.
Abyākata: Neutral mental factors that are neither clearly wholesome nor unwholesome.
Cetanā: Volition or intention, a key mental factor that drives actions and decisions.
Phassa: Contact, the arising of awareness through the interaction of the sense organs with their objects.
Manasikāra: Attention, the mental process of focusing on particular objects or thoughts.
Vitakka: Initial application, the process of directing the mind towards an object.
Vicāra: Sustained application, maintaining focus on an object after the initial application.
Anicca: Impermanence, the characteristic that all phenomena are transient and subject to change.
Dukkha: Unsatisfactoriness, the inherent dissatisfaction present in all experiences.
Anattā: Non-self, the concept that there is no permanent, unchanging self in any phenomena.
Udayabbaya: The arising and passing away of phenomena, a fundamental aspect of understanding the nature of existence.
Nibbāna: The ultimate state of liberation and freedom from suffering in Buddhist teachings.
Sample Sentence
In studying the saṅkhārakkhandha, we learn that cetanā plays a crucial role in our kusala and akusala actions, while understanding the concepts of anicca, dukkha, and anattā helps us realize the nibbāna that comes from recognizing the udayabbaya of all cetasikas.
