Five clear perceptions 五神通
The five clear perceptions (Tib. ngönshé nga; Wyl. mngon shes lnga) or the five 'superknowledges' are:
- the clear perception of the divine eye, which is a perception of all forms—subtle and gross, near or far—and an ability to see the births and deaths of beings; it arises due to the power of samadhi meditation on the support of a subtle eye faculty belonging to the realms of form;
- the clear perception of the divine ear, which is the ability to hear all sounds and languages spoken, whether nearby or at a great distance; it too is based on the ear faculty of someone in the higher realms;
- the clear perception of knowing the minds of others, which is an ability to know the minds of other beings that comes about through samadhi;
- the clear perception of one’s own and others’ past lives, which is the knowledge of where births occurred in the past, and whatever pleasant or unpleasant experiences were undergone;
- the clear perception that is the ability to perform miracles, which allows the display of various miracles, such as turning many things into one, or multiplying one thing so that it becomes many, radiating light, or blazing with fire and spouting jets of water.
See also six clear perceptions.
