The Dimension of Neither Perception Nor Non-Perception
Nevasaññānāsaññāyatanasutta — Sāriputtavagga
Setting
Sāvatthī
Speakers
Venerable Ānanda questioning Venerable Sāriputta
Form
The compressed formula, matching SN 28.5–7's own treatment, closing the four formless attainments
Length
Under a minute to read
Northern parallel
A rough counterpart may exist in the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama (T99), though this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — brief in text, though what it names sits at the very limit of ordinary description
Why this discourse
The eighth step, and the last of the four formless attainments: going totally beyond the dimension of nothingness, Sāriputta enters a state whose own name acknowledges the difficulty of describing it — neither perception nor non-perception, at the very edge of what ordinary categories can capture.
Reading guide
Beyond nothingness itself
"Going totally beyond the dimension of nothingness, I entered and remained in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception" — this discourse's own source, uniquely among the four formless attainments, gives no accompanying awareness-formula (no "aware that X") for what this state actually consists of, unlike infinite space's "space is infinite" or nothingness's "there is nothing at all."
A name built from its own difficulty to describe
The attainment's very name states what it is not, twice over, rather than what it is: not perception, and not the absence of perception either. Traditional commentary treats this as the most refined attainment within the sphere of ordinary meditative experience, so subtle that perception itself becomes too faint to confidently call "present" or "absent."
Completing the four formless attainments
With this discourse, SN 28.5–8 together complete the classic four āruppa: infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor non-perception — the traditional upper reaches of meditative attainment short of the cessation of perception and feeling itself.
What comes next breaks the compression
SN 28.9 will return to full treatment for the ninth and final attainment in this traditional sequence — a deliberate choice to give this saṃyutta's own climax the same full narrative weight as the four jhānas received.
Key terms
ākiñcaññāyatanaṁ samatikkamma — going totally beyond the dimension of nothingness — this discourse's own defining transition
nevasaññānāsaññāyatana — the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception — the fourth and final formless attainment, giving this discourse its name
āruppa — the formless attainments — SN 28.5–8 together completing the classic set of four
saññāvedayitanirodha — the cessation of perception and feeling — the ninth attainment, examined next at SN 28.9, beyond even this discourse's own state
peyyāla — an elision mark — continuing this saṃyutta's compression pattern, closing the formless attainments
The text
The complete discourse as bilara-data preserves it: Sāriputta's report of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. Venerable Ānanda saw Venerable Sāriputta … “Reverend, going totally beyond the dimension of nothingness, I entered and remained in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. …” …
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Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What meditative attainment does Sāriputta report in this discourse?
Correct: A. The fourth and final of the classic formless attainments.
Question 2 of 10
What does this discourse's formula uniquely lack, compared to SN 28.5–7's own?
Correct: A. Unlike infinite space's "space is infinite" or nothingness's "there is nothing at all."
Question 3 of 10
What does this attainment's own name state about it?
Correct: A. Naming the difficulty of describing a state this refined.
Question 4 of 10
How does traditional commentary treat this attainment, according to this reading guide?
Correct: A. So subtle that perception itself becomes too faint to confidently call present or absent.
Question 5 of 10
What do SN 28.5–8 together complete?
Correct: A. Infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor non-perception.
Question 6 of 10
What happens to this saṃyutta's treatment starting with the next discourse?
Correct: A. A deliberate choice to give this saṃyutta's own climax full narrative weight.
Question 7 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Matching the setting of most discourses in this saṃyutta.
Question 8 of 10
What attainment lies beyond even this discourse's own state, examined next?
Correct: A. SN 28.9's own subject, the ninth and highest of the traditional sequence.
Question 9 of 10
What does this discourse say Sāriputta goes beyond to reach this attainment?
Correct: A. The immediately preceding attainment in this saṃyutta's own sequence.
Question 10 of 10
What is this saṃyutta's own recurring narrative frame, trusted to memory here?
Correct: A. Established at SN 28.1, compressed away here but still implied.
