saññ

Saññ (Pali; Sanskrit saṃjñā) denotes perception, recognition, or labeling. It is a mental factor that identifies objects and distinguishes experiences, such as recognizing a form as a flower, a sound as a bell, or recalling a past event. In Theravāda Buddhism it is one of the five aggregates (pañcāskandha), together with form, feeling, formations, and consciousness, and it functions to classify and name phenomena, supporting memory, language, and conceptual thought.

Saññā arises through contact (phassa) between sense organs, objects, and mind, and it operates alongside vedanā (feeling) to shape cognitive experience. By identifying and labeling experiences, saññā contributes to how we differentiate, compare, and respond to objects in the world. It can be wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral, depending on the object and the intentions that accompany perception.

In practice and meditation, saññā is examined as a momentary labeling process, not as an ultimate truth about reality. Practitioners observe how labels arise and fade, understanding them as conditioned and impermanent, which can reduce attachment and aversion. Etymologically, saññā derives from Pali, with Sanskrit cognate samjñā, and it remains a central concept in Buddhist psychology and soteriology, distinguishing the cognitive act of recognition from other aspects of experience.