So, both saññā and sampajañña have that ña stem (should read “jña” root) which I understand refers to a knowing quality. I’d like to tease apart the relationship between these two words to come to a clearer understanding of what they each mean.
Usually, saññā is translated as perception. It is one of the pañca upādāna khandas, one of the 5 grasping aggregates, so it is quite a mundane property. Sampajañña however, is a training along the path, it is a special property. It seems these concepts are related though, some have translated sampajañña as apperception (perception with recognition).
Anyway, just looking for some input as I try to mull these over.
They’re both from the same root, jña, meaning “knowing”. This is an extremely fertile root in Pali, which appears in many different forms and contexts.
I don’t think you can render sampajañña as apperception; rather, it means “situational awareness”.
ok so there’s the jña root, what about saṃ is that different from sam which usually means “together” or “with”, what about prajña that’s usually wisdom right?
Ok, yea, I think it provides another layer of meaning. But I totally agree with you on “situational awareness” makes the most sense in context and should be the predominant meaning.
I suppose I am not a big fan of the word ‘awareness’, since, in the English language, it can mean both ‘conscious experience’ & ‘knowledge’, such as: ‘she was aware of (conscious of) the bird flying in the sky’ & ‘he is aware (knows) drugs are harmful’.
Could probably say situational awareness is wisdom in awareness at some level, but as a translation “situational awareness” makes more sense I think:
In looking ahead and looking aside, he acts with situational awareness.
VS
In looking ahead and looking aside, he acts with situational wisdom.
Personally, if not familiar with the subject, I would have no idea what situational wisdom is.
Might be able to say that using the awareness is to have some level of wisdom… compared to being unaware. Then, with sense restraint an additional level of wisdom would enter dealing with the vedanā arising from contact.
But I think, and correct me if I’m wrong, that sampajañña deals more with an “external” sense (and in general, the lower 5 senses). Then vedanā gets a bit more internal, kind of at the precipice between external and internal. And sati is really dealing primarily with an even more internal mental quality (manas - 6th sense). Leading inward, in other words.
Oops, just realized sense restraint comes before sampajañña in the gradual,
