Part 7 - Mental Fabrication: The First Movement of Identity
“Formations are conditioners.”
— SN 22.79
What is a “formation” (saṅkhāra)?
A formation is an intentional mental action
that shapes experience in a particular direction.
It is the first movement of mind:
- not yet a self
- but already heading toward “me” and “mine”
It is the mind taking a stance toward the world.
Why formations come after ignorance
Ignorance produces a misreading of experience.
Formations are the reactions based on that misreading.
Sequence:
1️⃣ Misperception: “something dangerous or desirable to me”
2️⃣ Fabrication: “I must respond!”
Formations are:
- the push to control experience
- the fuel for becoming
- the builder of identity
Ignorance blinds → formations build.
Volitional nature of formations
Formations are not free choices.
They are conditioned choices.
They arise from:
- habit
- fear
- desire
- self-protection
- identity momentum
The mind acts as if there is a “someone” to protect.
Formations are kamma in motion.
They plant the seeds of:
- craving
- clinging
- becoming
They are the construction crew of the self.
How fabrications feel in practice
Formations show up as:
- tension around wanting
- impulse to defend self-image
- striving to secure control
- subtle “leaning forward” of mind
In meditation:
- before thought, a tone of push
- before emotion, a preference
- before identity, a move to define
Notice this and you have found the birthplace of “me.”
Why formations matter for liberation
Every moment of fabrication:
- reinforces the illusion of a controller
- generates future conditions
- guarantees further becoming
Thus:
Stop fabricating identity →
the rest of the chain cannot form.
Undo the first movement →
the entire direction changes.
This is why Right Intention is central:
- not to create more becoming
- but to stop the momentum of fabrication
Culmination Link for Part 7
Ignorance misreads conditions.
Formations react to that misreading.
This reaction:
- builds identity
- sustains suffering
- drives the chain forward
Thus:
Dependent Origination begins
with a mistake about reality
and a movement based on that mistake.
Understanding and disrupting formations
is the earliest and most pivotal way
to break the chain.