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Saṃjñā

 
Buddhism Dictionary: saṃjñā
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(Sanskrit; Pāli, saññā). The third of the five aggregates (skandha), saṃjñā is the psychological faculty of perception or discernment. Saṃjñā is said to recognize the distinctive characteristics of things, for example, by identifying different colours. It is sixfold, with respect to perception of the objects of the five senses plus the ideas perceived by the mind. Sometimes the term is used simply in the sense of ‘idea’ or ‘concept’, especially in lists of meditation topics (for example, anitya-saṃjñā as the concept of impermanence; see anitya).

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Wikipedia: Saṃjñā
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 The Five Aggregates (pañca khandha)
according to the Pali Canon.
 
 
form (rūpa)
  4 elements
(mahābhūta)		  
 
    ↓
    contact
(phassa)
    ↓ ↑
 
consciousness
(viññāna)
 
 
 
 
 
→
←
 
 
 
←
  mental factors (cetasika)  
 
feeling
(vedanā)
 
 
 
perception
(sañña)
 
 
 
formation
(saṅkhāra)
 
 
 
 
 Source: MN 109 (Thanissaro, 2001)  |  diagram details

Saṃjñā (Sanskrit; Devanagiri: संज्ञा) and sañña (Pāli; Devanagiri: सञ्ञा) can be translated as "perception" or "cognition."

Contents

In the Pali literature

In Buddhism, sañña is the third of the Five Aggregates (Skt.: skandha; Pali: khandha) which can be used to skillfully delineate phenomenological experiences during meditation.[1] Whether as one of the Five Aggregates, meditative concentration (samadhi) on the passing and rising (vipassana) of sañña can lead to mindfulness (sati), clear comprehension (sampajanna) and even enlightenment and Arhantship (see Table).

In the Pali Canon, sañña is frequently defined as:

"It perceives blue, it perceives yellow, it perceives red, it perceives white."[2]

In post-canonical Pali commentaries, the Visuddhimagga likens sañña to "a child without discretion."[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ See, for instance, the Satipatthana Sutta.
  2. ^ Thanissaro (2001).
  3. ^ Buddhaghosa (1999), p. 436.

Source

  • Buddhaghosa, Bhadantācariya (trans. from Pāli by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli) (1999). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.
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Buddhism Dictionary. A Dictionary of Buddhism. Copyright © 2003, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
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