Sampajañña
Sign in to saveSampajañña (Pāli; Skt.: saṃprajña, samprajñatā, Tib: shes bzhin) is a term of central importance for meditative practice in all Buddhist traditions. It refers to "The mental process by which one continuously monitors one's own body and mind. In the practice of śamatha, its principal function is to note the occurrence of laxity and excitation." It is very often found in the pair 'mindfulness and introspection' or 'mindfulness and clear comprehension) (Pali: Sati sampajañña, Skt.: smṛti saṃprajña).
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism entry
- From the Pali Canon
- Canonical commentary
- Contemporary commentary
- Critical to Right Mindfulness' purpose (Nyanaponika)
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
Sampajañña (Pāli; Skt.: saṃprajña, samprajñatā, Tib: shes bzhin) is a term of central importance for meditative practice in all Buddhist traditions. It refers to "The mental process by which one continuously monitors one's own body and mind. In the practice of śamatha, its principal function is to note the occurrence of laxity and excitation." It is very often found in the pair 'mindfulness and introspection' or 'mindfulness and clear comprehension) (Pali: Sati sampajañña, Skt.: smṛti saṃprajña).
Sampajañña has been variously translated into English as "continuity", "clear comprehension", "clear knowing", "constant thorough understanding of impermanence", "fully alert" or "full awareness", "attention, consideration, discrimination, comprehension, circumspection", and "introspection".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Sampajañña” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.