Abhijñā (Skt.; Pali, abhiññā; Tib., mngon shes, མངོན་ཤེས་) has been translated generally as "knowing," "direct knowing" and "direct knowledge" or, at times more technically, as "higher knowledge" and "supernormal knowledge." In Buddhism, such knowing and knowledge is obtained through virtuous living and meditation. In terms of specifically enumerated knowledges, these include worldly extra-sensory abilities (such as seeing past and future lives) as well as the supramundane extinction of all mental intoxicants (āsava).

In Pali literature, abhiññā refers to both the direct apprehension of dhamma (translated below as "states" and "qualities") as well as to specialized super-normal capabilities.

In SN 45.159, the Buddha describes "higher knowledge" (abhiññā) as a corollary to the pursuit of the Noble Eightfold Path:

What, monks, are the states to be comprehended with higher knowledge?
They are the five groups of clinging. Which five? The body-group, the feeling-group, the perception-group, the mental-formation group, the consciousness-group...