Saṃskāras are latent impressions laid down by every action and experience. They lie dormant and ripen as tendencies, memories and new actions, so that the past shapes the present. Yoga seeks to replace afflicted impressions with those of stillness until even these are dissolved. In Buddhism the term names the volitional formations, the fourth aggregate.
Saṃskāra
An impression left by experience in the mind, which shapes future thought and action.
Also: Samskara, sankhara