Acinteyyāni

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Acinteyyāni (Pāli, acinteyya, ‘that which cannot or should not be thought’). Certain notions or thought-topics considered by Theravāda Buddhism to lie beyond the scope of imagination or speculation. Prolonged reflection on them is discouraged because it leads to no satisfactory answers, only to frustration and anguish. They are the notions of what it is like to be a Buddha; what a higher state of consciousness is like (see SAMĀDHI); what are the particular fruits of karma; who created the world. See also AVYĀKATĀNI.

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