December 31, 2017; revised August 22, 2019; November 1, 2021; rewritten April 11, 2025
Saññā is a critical concept in Buddha’s teachings. Most of our feelings (vedanā) are due to saññā. In many cases, it is hard to distinguish between saññā and vedanā.
Saññā – No equivalent Word in English
1. Saññā is usually translated to English as “perception” and sometimes as “recognition”; it is both and more! Saññā has simple and deeper meanings.
▪A better translation is “incorrect or distorted perception.” It does not represent the actual reality of anything in this world. Based on that “distorted perception,” average humans (puthujjana) make wrong decisions. The deeper analyses in “Mūlapariyāya Sutta – The Root of All Things” and other advanced posts require a good understanding of what the Pāli word saññā means; it cannot be translated into English in a single word.
▪We will start with some basic ideas in this post.
▪Saññā is pronounced “sangnā” and gives an encoded meaning in Pāli and Sinhala with that pronunciation:
WebLink: Listen to the Pāli word “saññā”
▪It means “sign” or, even closer, “the embedded message.” That latter expresses it well since it is how one “instantaneously gets the idea of what is meant by an external signal.”
Saññā – Basic Idea
2. When we understand what is meant by saññā, we can clarify many things, including how humans can communicate with beings in other realms via saññā.
▪Saññā is the “universal language.” To give an analogy: if a sign reads, “winding road ahead,” only those who know English can understand what that sign says.
▪But those universal signs—showing a picture of a winding road—provide the “saññā” that the road ahead will be curvy.
▪A second example (on the right above) shows a sign with a hand. That conveys the “saññā” to stop.
3. At a fundamental level, saññā means “recognition” of an object, person, or concept, i.e., getting “full comprehension” of what it is AND what it means.
▪Whether one says “fire” in English, “ginna” in Sinhala, or “feu” in French, that will convey the “saññā of a fire.” Of course, a person MUST know to associate any of those words with “fire.” That is the saññā that comes to one’s mind when one hears either the word “fire,” “ginna,” or “feu.”
▪Those words do not mean anything to someone who does not speak those three languages. However, with the following picture, anyone will have the idea that it is about a fire or a flame:
▪As a child raised in an English-speaking household, one is taught that the word “fire” represents it. After that training, one will immediately get the “saññā or a mental image resembling the above picture” upon hearing the word “fire.”
▪Thus, associating a specific perception with a word requires “preconditioning.” One must have prior experience involving it.
“Gods Must Be Crazy” Movie
4. The 1980 comedy movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy” provides a good example of how saññā of a worldly object is established in mind via familiarity and experience (“preconditioning.”)
▪The movie stars Xi, a hunter-gatherer of the Kalahari Desert whose tribe discovers a glass Coca-Cola bottle dropped from an airplane.
▪Since the tribe is fully isolated from the modern world, they have no idea about Coke or even glass bottles. Thus, they were utterly confused when they saw the glass bottle. They initially thought it was a gift from the Gods.
▪The following clip, up to 1 minute, is enough to get the idea. The rest is related to other aspects of the movie storyline.
WebLink: suttacentral: Coca-Cola bottle dropped from gods? | The Gods Must Be Crazy
▪One must have prior experience with an object to identify it, i.e., to establish saññā about it!
Saññā Is More Than Recognition
5. Therefore, saññā is the “full picture/clarification that comes to mind instantaneously.”
▪In a more complex example, parents can teach a child (Y) that a particular person (X) is bad and not to talk to him (that is “preconditioning”). Whenever the child Y sees X, it instantly perceives him as a “bad person” and will try to avoid him.
▪However, X’s child (Z) most likely perceives X as a “loving father.”
▪Therefore, two people will have very different perceptions (saññā) of person X. Recognition/perception is relative!
▪Also, see “The Amazing Mind – Critical Role of Nāmagotta (Memories)” to understand how fast this perception/recognition happens.
Based on Saññā, Vedanā Arise
6. In the above example, the sight of X leads to agitation/displeasure in the mind of child Y; in contrast, the sight of X leads to joy/pleasure in the mind of Z, X’s child.
▪As a baby grows up, it learns to associate words and pictures with each object, person, and concept it experiences. This requires many parts of the brain to develop, so it takes a newborn several years to become fully functional in the world.
▪This is why babies take time to develop saññā about things: “Distorted Saññā Arises in Every Adult but Not in a Newborn.”
7. In #5 and #6, we discussed the next level of saññā, which is more than just recognition. For example, when two people hear the name of a person X, they will have the picture of that person (or “saññā”) coming to their mind automatically. They would also recall specific qualities they had attached to that person through interactions with X. One may say. “It is my Dad. I love him so much”. Another would say, “Oh, he is a crook.”
▪Then, based on that saññā, each will generate different feelings (vedanā) about X that can lead to attachment via like or dislike. That automatically creates good or bad conscious thoughts (mano saṅkhāra). If one keeps thinking about X, one will consciously generate more thoughts about X and may even speak out (vacī saṅkhāra). If the feelings get strong, kāya saṅkhāra may arise ( leading to bodily actions).
▪Therefore, based on the same thought object, different people can get different saññā and thus may respond differently.
▪Vedanā and saññā are interrelated. (Distorted) saññā built into our bodies gives rise to (mind-made) vedanā; both occur in Arahants, but their minds do not attach to such vedanā. See #6 of “Taṇhā – Result of Saññā Giving Rise to Mind-Made Vedanā.”
“Distorted” Means “Not Correct”
8. I must emphasize that the word “distorted” DOES NOT mean “defiled” (with rāga, dosa, moha). The world is such that “distorted saññā” arises in anyone born in this world, including Arahants.
▪“Distorted saññā” arises automatically upon receiving a sensory input. For example, “sweetness of honey” is a distorted saññā, and Arahants also taste honey as sweet. This is called “rasa paṭisaṁvedī” in a “tasting event.”
▪Within a split second, that “taste of honey” makes a puthujjana‘s mind attach to it. This is the next step, called “rasa rāga paṭisaṁvedī.” This second step does not occur in Arahant’s mind. See #9 in “Sandiṭṭhiko – What Does It Mean?.”
▪At the Sotāpanna stage, one becomes a “sandiṭṭhiko” (“who knows how a mind becomes contaminated/defiled”) by understanding this key idea: A mind can stop this automatic attachment via “rāga” (“kāma rāga” for humans) by cleansing the mind. The “mind-cleansing” involves comprehension of the contamination process!
▪See “Sandiṭṭhiko – What Does It Mean?.”
9. The Buddha taught that anyone born into this world would have “built-in wrong saññā.” Our physical and mental bodies both have such “distorted saññā.” See “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā).”
▪However, there is no attachment yet in that instant of getting the “distorted saññā.” Arahants, who have understood the origin of that “distorted saññā” are not fooled by it; their minds do not attach to it.
▪On the other hand, the main reason a puthujjana engages in immoral activities is that “distorted saññā.” If one or more of the ten saṁyojana remain intact, a mind could attach to that “distorted saññā” without conscious thinking.
▪When all ten saṁyojana are removed at the Arahant stage, that cleansed mind will never again attach to a pleasant or unpleasant vedanā brought in by the “distorted saññā.
Types of Saññā Present in Kāma, Rūpa, and Arūpa Loka
10. We can gain some insights into saññā by comparing the types of saññā present in kāma loka (where the lowest eleven realms are located), with only one kind of saññā present in any of the four realms in arūpa loka.
▪Our feelings arise based on sight, sound, taste, smell, or physical touch. In addition, memories of past experiences with them can trigger feelings (good or bad). We live in kāma loka and have all six sense faculties (eyes, ears, tongue, nose, physical body, mind).
▪In contrast, arūpa loka Brahmās have only the mind; they do not have a solid physical body and, thus, cannot see, hear, taste, smell, or touch; in other words, they don’t generate saññā/vedanā associated with sight, sound, taste, smell, or physical touch.
11. Even though we say arūpa loka Brahmās can recall memories, they cannot recall memories (say, from past lives) associated with sights, sounds, tastes, smells, or physical touches because they don’t have saññā about such sensory inputs.
▪The four realms of arūpa loka are located well above the Earth’s surface. They don’t have a physical environment with sights, sounds, etc.
▪Even if an arūpa loka Brahma visits the human world, they would not have any recognition/perception of sights, sounds, etc.
▪Arūpa loka Brahmās have only one type of saññā. For example, those in the Ākāsānañcāyatana realm have their minds mainly focused on “infinite space.”
▪When human yogis enter the first arūpa samāpatti, their minds are also focused on “infinite space” (just like arūpa loka Brahmās) and nothing else. While in that samāpatti, a human yogi cannot experience sights, sounds, tastes, smells, or physical touches, i.e., saññā of such sense inputs do not register in their minds.
12. The 16 realms in rūpa loka experience sights and sounds but not taste, smell, or physical touch.
▪Thus, they experience more types of saññā than the four realms in arūpa loka but less than in kāma loka.
▪Even though they experience sights and sounds, those do not trigger kāma rāga in rūpa loka Brahmas since they have no perception of taste, smell, and touch (including sex.)
Kāma Saññā Lead to the Worst Attachments
13. For humans and Devās (in “kāma loka“), the “kāma saññā” is responsible for many immoral thoughts, words, and actions that can bring potent vipāka. In contrast, “rūpa saññā” and “arūpa saññā” in rūpa and arūpa loka realms do not lead to future rebirths; see #10 and #11 in “Loka and Nibbāna (Aloka) – Complete Overview.”
▪Those are deeper aspects pointed out in the series of posts in the “Worldview of the Buddha” section.
▪To understand such posts, one must first realize that our perceptions of the external world are incorrect, i.e., all average humans have “distorted/wrong saññā.” See “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā).”
14. The availability of all six senses in kāma loka leads to the availability of six types of major “saññā categories” and, thus, many avenues for “mind corruption” as stated in the “WebLink: suttacentral: Saññā Sutta (SN 27.6).”
▪Within those six major categories, there are numerous types of saññā.
▪All these types of saññā lead to “mind corruption” and trigger Paṭicca Samuppāda cycles, which lead to direct (within this life) and indirect suffering (in future lives); see “WebLink: suttacentral: Saññā Sutta (SN 26.6).”
▪Out of those six categories, the five types of saññā (for sights, sounds, tastes, smells, or physical touches) associated with beings with (relatively) dense physical bodies in kāma loka are bundled together as “kāma saññā.”
▪Such “kāma saññā” leads to two other types of saññā associated with only the kāma loka, i.e., byāpāda saññā (which triggers aversion/anger) and vihiṁsā saññā (which triggers thoughts of hurting others). See “WebLink: suttacentral: Saññā Sutta (AN 6.110).”
▪Thus, “kāma saññā” is responsible for most akusala kamma that generate kammic energies to power future existences, i.e., to extend the rebirth process.
Saññā Is a Critical Concept
15. Understanding the concept of saññā is necessary to get onto AND progress on the Noble Path.
▪I recommend reading the following posts, which discuss various aspects of saññā. Please feel free to ask questions in the forum by referring to the specific post and bullet numbers. They are roughly in increasing difficulty.
▪Try to capture the basic concept by focusing on posts that seem easier at first.
Cognition Modes – Sañjānāti, Vijānāti, Pajānāti, Abhijānāti, Saññā Vipallāsa – Distorted Perception, Saññā – All Our Thoughts Arise With “Distorted Saññā,” Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā), Distorted Saññā Arises in Every Adult but Not in a Newborn, Saññā Nidāna hi Papañca Saṅkhā – Immoral Thoughts Based on “Distorted Saññā,” Ārammaṇa (Sensory Input) Initiates Critical Processes, Saññā Gives Rise to Most of the Vedanā We Experience, A Sensory Input Triggers (Distorted) Saññā and Pañcupādānakkhandha, Kāma Saññā – How to Bypass to Cultivate Satipaṭṭhāna.