Citta Sankara means Vedana Sañña ...?

Q & A
1

Hello, I have a question that has been doing my head in for some years. In the ānāpāna formula we have citta sankāra which is said to mean vedanā and saññā (see cūlavedalla sutta, and others) my question is why say citta sankāra, citta being synonymous with viññāna the 5th aggregate and sankāra the 4th aggregate to mean vedana the 2nd aggregate and saññā the 3rd aggregate. If citta sankāra has the meaning of vedanā and saññā why not just say vedanā and saññā?

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This is Abidhamma and not Sutta. Citta in Sutta is the mind with defilement or without defilement. I read this in MN 10 and Pabhassara Sutta: Luminous . It is probably best to study MN 10 and Pabhassara Sutta: Luminous instead of internet Abhidhamma.

MN 44 states thought is the creator or sustainer of speech. In the same way, perception & feeling read as though they are the creator or sustainer of defilements of the citta. If there is pleasant feeling, there can be greed in the citta. If there is no pleasant feeling, there cannot be greed in the citta. If there is unpleasant feeling, there can be anger in the citta. If there is no unpleasant feeling, it is not possible for there to be anger in the citta. I think logically this is what citta sankara means. In Anapana, I think citta sankhara refers to feeling and to how the feeling creates, sustains or influences mental reactions of greed, anger & delusion towards the feelings. I read this also in MN 148, which you can also study. To study is good & fun. :slightly_smiling_face:

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3

Namo Buddhaya!

This question requires seeing the big picture in how the terms are used

For exmple consciousness is conjoined with perception but a difference is delineated because one has to formulate an expression of mainly two things

  • Dependent Origination
  • The successive categories of meditative attainments

One has to explain these things using much similar terminology, in a coherent manner and without contradition.

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Thanks for the responses :sunglasses: I had another look at Bhante Sujato’s translation of MN 44 and to me it reads more clearly in the translation than in the Pāli. He translates citta sankāra as mental processes and then the sutta explains that feeling and perception are mental processes. I guess I need to keep studying Pāli to understand these nuances, although in reference to the ānāpāna sutta’s usage of citta sankāra in the feeling section of the tetrad I would much prefer to see the words perception and feeling used directly instead of indirectly.