A 10-year-old boy meets a hungry stray cat. He feels sorry and asks his parents to get cat food to feed her. They buy him a small packet of food, and he happily feeds and plays with the cat. The cat responds with a soft purr and acknowledges the kid for his kind act. The action performed is karma.
The same boy often sees the stray cat in his vicinity and continues to feed her. This has become a daily activity, and the boy feeds the cat and plays with her for some time. The habit formed is samskara.
The boy grows up and travels a lot around the country. Whenever he sees a stray cat, he tries to give some food and pet him/her. Strangely enough, wherever he travels, he stumbles upon a stray cat on the road. It feels like there is an attraction or an energy that brings him and the cat together. The constant engagement with this habit has now turned into his tendency or vasana.
This vasana continues with him for the rest of his life. The more he engages with it, the more likely he will carry this tendency forward to his next life.
Every karma we do has the likelihood of turning into a vasana.
Vasanas are the basis of our unconscious responses. Vasanas are the foundation based on which our consciousness gets conditioned.
Let's be mindful of our habits and pay more attention to the ones that affect our physical and mental health - smoking, alcohol, binge-watching TV, addictions, excess social media, overeating, excess shopping, overindulging our senses, hoarding stuff, anger, rage, etc. They not only deteriorate the quality of our present life but also have the potential to be carried forward to subsequent lives with more intensity.