Yogaja Pratyaksha. Supersensory experience

Great question 🙏

The phrase “Yogaja pratyakṣa” (योगज प्रत्यक्ष) comes from Indian epistemology and is discussed in Buddhist pramāṇa theory (Dignāga, Dharmakīrti) as well as in Hindu Darśanas.

Meaning of the term

• Yoga-ja = “born of yoga (meditative absorption).”
• Pratyakṣa = direct perception (immediate, non-conceptual cognition).

So Yogaja-pratyakṣa means:

👉 Direct perception arising from meditation (yoga).

In Buddhist Epistemology

According to Dharmakīrti (Pramāṇavārttika, Nyāyabindu, etc.), there are several types of valid perception (pratyakṣa):

1. Indriya-pratyakṣa – sensory perception (through eyes, ears, etc.).
2. Mano-pratyakṣa – mental perception (direct awareness of mental states).
3. Svasaṃvedana-pratyakṣa – reflexive awareness (self-cognition of consciousness).
4. Yogaja-pratyakṣa – perception arising in meditation.

Yogaja-pratyakṣa is special:

• It arises from deep meditative concentration (samādhi).
• It allows direct perception of subtle realities not accessible through the ordinary senses, such as the Four Noble Truths, impermanence (anitya), suffering (duḥkha), and non-self (anātman).
• It is considered non-conceptual and non-deceptive (a true means of knowledge, pramāṇa).

In Nyāya & Other Hindu Systems

• Nyāya typically does not recognize yogaja-pratyakṣa as a separate category, but acknowledges extraordinary perception (alaukika pratyakṣa), which can include yogic perception of distant or subtle objects.
• In Yoga philosophy (Patañjali’s Yogasūtra), yogic perception (pratyakṣa) is mentioned as a result of samādhi, giving knowledge beyond ordinary sense perception.

✅ Summary:

Yogaja-pratyakṣa = the direct, non-conceptual knowledge that arises through meditation (yoga), allowing perception of truths that ordinary sense and thought cannot grasp.

Would you like me to compare how Dharmakīrti (Buddhist view) and Patañjali (Yoga Sūtra view) each describe yogaja pratyakṣa? That contrast is quite fascinating.