A Question About the Dimension of Neither Perception Nor Non-PerceptionNevasaññānāsaññāyatanapañhāsutta

“They speak of this thing called the ‘dimension of neither perception nor non-perception’.“‘Nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṁ, nevasaññānāsaññāyatanan’ti vuccati. What is the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception?Katamaṁ nu kho nevasaññānāsaññāyatananti? It occurred to me:Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, etadahosi: ‘It’s when a mendicant, going totally beyond the dimension of nothingness, enters and remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.‘idha bhikkhu sabbaso ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ samatikkamma nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharati. This is called the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.’Idaṁ vuccati nevasaññānāsaññāyatanan’ti.

And so … I was entering and remaining in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.So khvāhaṁ, āvuso, sabbaso ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ samatikkamma nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṁ upasampajja viharāmi. While I was in that meditation, perception and focus accompanied by the dimension of nothingness beset me.Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, iminā vihārena viharato ākiñcaññāyatanasahagatā saññāmanasikārā samudācaranti.

Then the Buddha came up to me with his psychic power and said,Atha kho maṁ, āvuso, bhagavā iddhiyā upasaṅkamitvā etadavoca: ‘Moggallāna, Moggallāna!‘moggallāna, moggallāna. Don’t neglect the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, brahmin! Settle your mind in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception; unify your mind and immerse it in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.’Mā, brāhmaṇa, nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṁ pamādo, nevasaññānāsaññāyatane cittaṁ saṇṭhapehi, nevasaññānāsaññāyatane cittaṁ ekodiṁ karohi, nevasaññānāsaññāyatane cittaṁ samādahā’ti.

And so, after some time … I entered and remained in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.So khvāhaṁ, āvuso, aparena samayena sabbaso ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ samatikkamma nevasaññānāsaññāyatanaṁ upasampajja vihāsiṁ.

So if anyone should be rightly called a disciple who attained to great direct knowledge with help from the Teacher, it’s me.”Yañhi taṁ, āvuso, sammā vadamāno vadeyya …pe… mahābhiññataṁ patto”ti.