Moggallānasaṁyutta 8

Linked Discourses 40.8

1. By Moggallāna

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

1 “They speak of this thing called the ‘dimension of neither perception nor non-perception’. What is the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception? It occurred to me: ‘It’s when a mendicant, going totally beyond the dimension of nothingness, enters and remains in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. This is called the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.’

And so … I was entering and remaining in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. While I was in that meditation, perception and focus accompanied by the dimension of nothingness beset me.

2 Then the Buddha came up to me with his psychic power and said, ‘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.’

And so, after some time … I entered and remained in the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.

So if anyone should be rightly called a disciple who attained to great direct knowledge with help from the Teacher, it’s me.”