SuttaCentral
Venerables & friends,
In SN12.2 we read:
There are three kinds of choices.
Tayome, bhikkhave, saṅkhārā
Choices by way of body, speech, and mind
kāyasaṅkhāro, vacīsaṅkhāro, cittasaṅkhāro
Elsewhere, as in MN43, āyusaṅkhārā is mentioned as a separate type of saṅkhārā from the three types mentioned above. Is it a subcategory of the three types of saṅkhārā? and if so, which one? If it is a separate category, then why it is not taught in SN12.2 or SN41.6 for example?
Thank you
It is separate category of sankharas, and the reasons that they are not discussed much in Suttas is simple, they are not connected with avijja or ignorance.
Sankharas were translated by Ven Nanamoli as determiations, things on which other things depend. In this particular case ayusankhara don’t determine anything which can be taken as a “self” and so aren’t really important, at least in the sense, that abandoning of sakkayaditthi doesn’t depend on understanding of ayusankhara.
I think āyusaṅkhārā determines the knowledge Anicca vata sankhara. Would not that mean that such knowledge would remain uncertain for those who attain the cessation of perception and feelings? we experience the death of another, but never our own.
Hi Bundokji. I looked at these suttas. Ayu is taught in SN 41.6. I found a possible answer to your question in MN 43. MN 43 says the vital forces (āyusaṅkhārā) and the phenomena that are felt are different things. The āyusaṅkhārā is not felt by the mind and continues to exist when there is no perception & feeling. That is why āyusaṅkhārā is separated from the three other sankhara that cease in the cessation of perception & feeling. I hope this helps.
MN 43 When a mendicant has attained the cessation of perception and feeling, their physical, verbal, and mental processes have ceased and stilled. But their vitality (ayu) is not spent; their warmth is not dissipated; and their faculties are very clear.
Ayu is also in SN 12.2.
SN 12.2 The old age, decrepitude, broken teeth, grey hair, wrinkly skin, diminished vitality, and failing faculties of the various sentient beings in the various orders of sentient beings.
We imagine, fear & are even terrified of our own death, which causes great suffering. I think is why the Buddha taught to give up the notion of “our own”.
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Just when you think that you’ve read and heard all possible combinations with sankhara - there sure is one that pops up you’ve never heard of 
I btw found “life-element” as a translation.
Hi Rabbit,
In SN41.6 it is stated clearly that perception and feeling are mental saṅkhārās:
“Breathing is a physical process. Placing the mind and keeping it connected are verbal processes. Perception and feeling are mental processes.”
“Assāsapassāsā kho, gahapati, kāyasaṅkhāro, vitakkavicārā vacīsaṅkhāro, saññā ca vedanā ca cittasaṅkhāro”ti.
So, explaining the cessation of perception and feeling should have been adequate though citta saṅkhārā without adding a fourth type of saṅkhārā.
In MN43, the introduction of āyusaṅkhārā was justified by the following:
Are the vital forces the same things as the phenomena that are felt? Or are they different things?
Teva nu kho, āvuso, āyusaṅkhārā, te vedaniyā dhammā udāhu aññe āyusaṅkhārā aññe vedaniyā dhammā”ti?
The vital forces are not the same things as the phenomena that are felt.
Na kho, āvuso, teva āyusaṅkhārā te vedaniyā dhammā.
For if the vital forces and the phenomena that are felt were the same things, a mendicant who had attained the cessation of perception and feeling would not emerge from it.
Te ca hāvuso, āyusaṅkhārā abhaviṁsu te vedaniyā dhammā, na yidaṁ saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ samāpannassa bhikkhuno vuṭṭhānaṁ paññāyetha.
So, introducing another type of saṅkhārā seems to be completely redundant, especially when the same sutta teaches the following:
What do these five faculties, with their different domains and ranges, have recourse to? What experiences their domains and ranges?”
Imesaṁ kho, āvuso, pañcannaṁ indriyānaṁ nānāvisayānaṁ nānāgocarānaṁ, na aññamaññassa gocaravisayaṁ paccanubhontānaṁ, kiṁ paṭisaraṇaṁ, ko ca nesaṁ gocaravisayaṁ paccanubhotī”ti?
“These five faculties, with their different domains and ranges, have recourse to the mind. And the mind experiences their domains and ranges.”
Imesaṁ kho, āvuso, pañcannaṁ indriyānaṁ nānāvisayānaṁ nānāgocarānaṁ, na aññamaññassa gocaravisayaṁ paccanubhontānaṁ, mano paṭisaraṇaṁ, mano ca nesaṁ gocaravisayaṁ paccanubhotī”ti.
So, the vital forces are not the same things as the phenomena that are felt simply because the five faculties have different scopes and ranges and they do not experience each other. They have their recourse to the mind, hence people do not experience their own death, but the death of another.
The whole business of āyusaṅkhārā seems to be fishy to me, something that has to do with Mara. In AN8.70, the Buddha kept on giving hints to Ven. Ananda that he can prolong his life for the rest of the kappa. The Ven. did not get the hint and the Buddha surrendered the “fabricated!” life force - after having a conversation with Mara.
In DN16, once again, Ven. Ananda is portrayed as not having a clue:
Then Venerable Ānanda said to Venerable Anuruddha,
Atha kho āyasmā ānando āyasmantaṁ anuruddhaṁ etadavoca:
“Honorable Anuruddha, has the Buddha become fully quenched?”
“parinibbuto, bhante anuruddha, bhagavā”ti.
“No, Reverend Ānanda. He has entered the cessation of perception and feeling.”
“Nāvuso ānanda, bhagavā parinibbuto, saññāvedayitanirodhaṁ samāpanno”ti.
It is unclear why the Buddha has entered the cessation of perception and feeling at that point, but he seems to have been declared “fully extinguished” when his kāyasaṅkhāro ceased (i.e the fourth Jhana):
Then the Buddha emerged from the cessation of perception and feeling and entered the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. Emerging from that, he successively entered into and emerged from the dimension of nothingness, the dimension of infinite consciousness, the dimension of infinite space, the fourth absorption, the third absorption, the second absorption, and the first absorption. Emerging from that, he successively entered into and emerged from the second absorption and the third absorption. Then he entered the fourth absorption. Emerging from that the Buddha immediately became fully extinguished.
Atha kho bhagavā saññāvedayitanirodhasamāpattiyā vuṭṭhahitvā nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṁ samāpajji, nevasaññānāsaññāyatanasamāpattiyā vuṭṭhahitvā ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ samāpajji, ākiñcaññāyatanasamāpattiyā vuṭṭhahitvā viññāṇañcāyatanaṁ samāpajji, viññāṇañcāyatanasamāpattiyā vuṭṭhahitvā ākāsānañcāyatanaṁ samāpajji, ākāsānañcāyatanasamāpattiyā vuṭṭhahitvā catutthaṁ jhānaṁ samāpajji, catutthajjhānā vuṭṭhahitvā tatiyaṁ jhānaṁ samāpajji, tatiyajjhānā vuṭṭhahitvā dutiyaṁ jhānaṁ samāpajji, dutiyajjhānā vuṭṭhahitvā paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ samāpajji, paṭhamajjhānā vuṭṭhahitvā dutiyaṁ jhānaṁ samāpajji, dutiyajjhānā vuṭṭhahitvā tatiyaṁ jhānaṁ samāpajji, tatiyajjhānā vuṭṭhahitvā catutthaṁ jhānaṁ samāpajji, catutthajjhānā vuṭṭhahitvā samanantarā bhagavā parinibbāyi.
Any guess as to what does emerging from fourth Jhana means? to me, it means that others saw his breathing ceased. If anyone has better explanation, i would be grateful.
Last but not least, āyusaṅkhārā seems to be the working of Mara by virtue of his control of soma. It is akin to the filthy Jordan River that flows down to the Dead Sea and people still go and baptize there. Ve, Sujato has an article about it:
In AN8.70. āyusaṅkhāraṁ ossajjati is listed as the seventh cause for earthquakes, whereas nibbānadhātuyā parinibbāyati is listed as the eighth.
Where did you find the “life element” translation if you do not mind me asking?
here: The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary
e. g. āyusaṅkhāra, life-element D ii.106