Sampajañña as self-awareness rather than situational awareness

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Greetings!

Currently on SuttaCentral, the main translation for sampajañña is “situational awareness.” I understand why this is the case, but I think it has a big flaw with an easy solution.

This term has a rather common meaning in English that does not correspond to sampajañña. Here is a definition of SA (situational awareness):

[S]ituational awareness is adaptive, externally-directed consciousness that has as its products knowledge about a dynamic task environment and directed action within that environment.
… foundation for successful decision-making across a broad range of situations, many of which involve the protection of human life and property, including law enforcement, aviation, air traffic control, ship navigation, health care, emergency response, military command and control operations, transmission system operators, self defense and offshore oil management.
Wikipedia

I’ve been trained in ‘situational awareness,’ and I’ve spoken to some other people (even a monk!) who have as well in previous jobs or life experience. It’s becoming a much more common skill to have, and is usually in the context of self defense or emergencies as the Wiki entry says. People more familiar agree that it is not the same as sampajañña; it’s a rather distinct mindset.

In fact, you are almost blending yourself out of the scenario and staying hyper alert of external surroundings (i.e. awareness of your situation). This includes the placing of objects, people’s posture and movements, the exit and entrance, your location in terms of theirs, etc. It’s a rather critical and decision-making state of mind.

In contrast, sampajañña and sampajāno seem to mean ‘self-awareness’ or ‘self-aware.’ This word implies a kind of presence and attentiveness to one’s personal actions and one’s relationship to their environment, but in a different way. It implies being restrained and controlled generally, or just simply being aware of oneself rather than merely focused on all of the externals of the world and absorbed in sense experience (as situational awareness tends to imply a strong absorption in a complex task and external environment). In meditation, it is the same self-awareness; situational awareness would be a horrible thorn to jhāna.

“Mindful and self-aware” fit rather well together and I am almost certain that this is the meaning of the word. I think the connotations of it are perfect for its Buddhist usage, it’s clear, and it’s simple. It can be a more daily kind of self-awareness in everyday actions and activities with a slight moral tinge, or it can be a more introspective and meditative self-awareness of one’s mind. Let me know your thoughts.

Mettā

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So you are suggesting saṃ & pajāna (cp. pajānāti) instead is derived from sa + pajāna or otherwise is atta + pajāna.

sa2

base of the nom. of the demonstr. pron. that, he she

atta
masculine

  1. the self, the soul, as a permanent, unchangeable, autonomous entity (always rejected by the Pāḷi Buddhist texts as not corresponding to any reality)
  2. the self, one’s own self (the abstract individual); the image in a looking-glass; especially
  3. oneself, himself, yourself, (used (in the singular) as reflexive pronoun for all three persons and genders); instrumental attanā, by oneself; in oneself, as for oneself, often used in the sense of a nominative
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I have always heard, and understood that sampajañña is formed with 2 intensifiers (sam & pa) + ña (jānāti).

“Clear comprehension”
It is often paired with sati “mindfulness”.

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By ‘meaning’ I mean ‘meaning,’ as opposed to etymology. The meaning of most -ña words cannot be derived by sheer etymology, and the people who try (think ‘viññāna’ as ‘dual knowing’) don’t have very convincing arguments.

I think sampajañña means what we call ‘self-awareness,’ and I think the connotations are nearly identical. I think the audience would have heard what we hear nowadays if someone says “be mindful and self aware while walking, moving, etc.”

Mettā

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Please explain in more detail how the above results in the translation. Thanks :slightly_smiling_face:

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But it is debatable the above is the meaning. For example, at least in Dhamma practise, it certainly does not seem to mean being self-aware while you are dancing & singing. It seems to mean the opposite. Sati-sampajanna seems to mean knowing dancing & singing are contrary to Dhamma practice. Sati-sampajanna, in relation to the body, seems to mean you are using the body in the right way and not in the wrong way. Thus it seems to mean “situational awareness”, i.e., you are aware how to act appropriately in any given situation. :slightly_smiling_face:

The prefix ‘sam’ means ‘together with’. The root word ’ pajānāti’ means ‘to understand’. Therefore, it seems ‘sampajjana’ means ‘to understand together with’ (what you are doing). ‘Situational awareness’ or ‘situational understanding’ seem to be appropriate translations. :slightly_smiling_face: :surfing_man:t2: :sunny:

Expressed another way, ‘pajānāti’ seems to be a factor of wisdom; where as ‘self-aware’ would be a factor of concentration. ‘Self-aware’ seems wrong. :dizzy:

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This is what self-aware means.

  1. having conscious knowledge of one’s own character and feelings.
    e.g. “we’re self-aware enough to know we’re making mistakes”

One is aware of oneself in relation to their environment and conscious of their actions and conduct, or generally. Being aware of the “situation” certainly isn’t true or 3rd jhāna, and as I have already demonstrated, situational awareness is already a compound in the English language that is developing and means something different. It could be confusing to non-Buddhists.

Mettā

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No it does not. The word ‘self-aware’ has no connotation of ‘dhammic right & wrong’, such as a ballet dancer or assassin that must be very ‘self-aware’. :sunny: :surfing_man:t2:

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Neither does situational awareness. These are just normal words the Buddha is using. In fact, an aggressor is likely to be situationally aware when committing a crime. Checking for witnesses, police, who is around, the exit, etc. All of this external information that is irrelevant to Dhamma = situational awareness.

Mettā

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The cognates in Sanskrit, like samprajānati, that derive from samprajñā, mean “discern, recognize, know accurately.” I’ve seen that last meaning in classical Chinese translation, as “correct knowledge” (正智) in the dhyana passages. So, I think there’s definitely something to that. I suppose if what’s intended is “don’t bump into things by accident because you aren’t paying attention,” it could be translated in different ways. It would involve both awareness of oneself and other things. Situational awareness has become a technical term in modern parlance, so I can see what the OP is saying. It’s often used when talking about fast-moving tactical situations (i.e., combat or flying airplanes). I just saw a Youtube video of a commentator about air accidents use it to describe a pilot losing sight and awareness of another plane in his path and colliding with it.

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The suttas (eg. MN 117) refer to right & wrong view and right & wrong mindfulness; thus also to right & wrong sampajanna. Right sampajanna is related to Dhamma. Wrong sampajanna is related to defiled worldly activities.

It does not really matter how it is translated, such as “clear comprehension”; it will still have right & wrong applications. As said, an assassin requires the necessary mindfulness & clear-comprehension needed to quietly & carefully stalk & kill a person.

For example, if the mind is developing samadhi and the mind engages in attachment, egoism or craving towards that samadhi, the role of sampajanna is to bring the right understanding to that situation to remove the attachment, egoism or craving. Thus as suttas (MN 118 for example) say sampajanna is active; supervising the meditation; at the highest most refined levels of meditation. In other words, sampajanna is much more than the mere bodily posture sampajanna in MN 10.

Sampajanna means ‘situational understanding’; having the right Dhamma understanding or Dhamma knowledge pertinent for a specific situation. Thus Sujato’s translation of ‘situational awareness’ is pretty spot on. But ‘self-awareness’ seems too worldly; too secular. :slightly_smiling_face:

As said, the prefix “sam” seems to be the important meaning. “Sam” does not mean “self”. “Sam” is similar to the English “co”. It seems to mean having understanding “together with” what is being done. Its got nothing to do with “self”. It pertains to the “situation”. :+1:t2:

Yes, the alternate translation for “sam” is “complete” or “thorough”.

saṁ˚

indeclinableprefix, implying conjunction & completeness; saṁ˚; is after vi˚; (19’) the most frequent (16’) of all Pāli prefixes. Its primary meaning is “together” (cp. Lat. con˚); hence arises that of a closer connection or a more accentuated action than that expressed by the simple verb (intensifying = thoroughly quite), or noun

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