Asaṃjñāsamāpatti

Asaṃjñāsamāpatti [alt. asaṃjñisamāpatti] (T. 'du shes med pa'i snyoms 'jug, འདུ་ཤེས་མེད་པའི་སྙོམས་འཇུག; C. 無想定), or "perceptionless absorption," is a state of meditative absorption in which the six sense consciousnesses are temporarily brought to a halt, ultimately resulting in rebirth as a perceptionless god. "The Abhidharma-kosa describes the absorption as a trap that is to be avoided by buddhist meditators, although it is cultivated by some non-buddhist traditions of yoga, where it is mistaken for a form of liberation."

This formation is identified as:

• one of the fourteen non-concurrent formations of the Abhidharma-kosa
• one of the twenty-four non-concurrent formations of the Gateway to Knowledge

In the abhidharma tradition of the Vaibhāṣika school, non-concurrent formations are understood as substantially existent entities. In the Sautrantika Abhidharma and in the Higher Abhidharma traditions, these formations are understood as imputations that arise from the mind.

It is also identified as a type of mental object (manoviṣaya) in the Abhidharma-samuccaya.

Alternative Translations

• meditative attainment of non-discernment (Skt. asaṃjñāsamāpatti) (Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics)
• meditative attainment of non-discernment (Skt. asaṃjñisamāpatti) (Coghlan, Ornament of Abhidharma)
• equipoise of nonperception (Skt. asaṃjñisamāpatti) (Buswell, Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism)
• perceptionless absorption (Skt. asaṃjñi-samāpatti) (Rigpa wiki)
• perceptionless serenity (Kunsang, Gateway to Knowledge)
• absorption without perception (Padmakara)
• conceptionless equilibrium

External links

• perceptionless absorption, Rigpa Shedra Wiki
• 'du_shes_med_pa'i_snyoms_'jug, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki