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nevasaññānāsaññāyatanasmiṁ

nevasaññānāsaññāyatana

locative singular of nevasaññānāsaññāyatana (noun: neuter); a compound; sometimes spelled neva-saññā-n-āsaññā-yatana

1. the realm of neither-perception-nor-non-perception
2. the highest formless sphere in meditative attainment
3. the eighth jhāna
4. the abode where consciousness persists without definable mental objects

Built from

• neva — prefix · not even
  Emphatic negation (na eva); signals that even perception and non-perception both fail to apply here.
• saññā — root · perception
  From √san- 'to perceive, cognize'; the mental faculty of recognition and labeling.
• nā/a — prefix · without, not
  Prefix a/an- 'non-', negating the following noun saññā to yield āsaññā 'non-perception'.
• saññā — root · perception
  Repeated to emphasize the pair of opposites: ordinary perception and its absence.
• āyatana — stem · sphere, realm, basis
  Literally 'stretch-place'; in Buddhist psychology, the six sense-bases (āyatanāni) and the four formless realms. Here it grounds the paradox in a place of dwelling.
• smiṁ — ending · locative
  Locative singular -e/-smiṁ; places the mental state as the locus of consciousness or meditative abiding.

Analysis. neva (= na eva, 'not even') + saññā ('perception') + nā ('not, without', prefix a-) + saññā ('perception') + āyatana ('sphere, basis'). Literally: 'the sphere that is neither perception nor non-perception'. This compound names the subtlest of the four formless realms (arūpadhātu), where the mind transcends even the cessation of perception yet retains a vestigial consciousness.

Etymology. Sanskrit sama-jñā-nā-asaññā-āyatana; the prefix a/an- ('without') negates saññā ('perception', from √san- 'to perceive'); āyatana ('sphere, basis, place') from √āyam- 'to stretch, extend'. The paradoxical name reflects Buddhist psychology: this state is neither full perception nor its total cessation, a liminal state reserved for advanced meditators.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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