Prajñā (Buddhism)

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Mañjuśrī, the bodhisattva of wisdom. Imperial China, Tang or Five Dynasties
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Prajñā (प्रज्ञा) or paññā (𑀧𑀜𑁆𑀜𑀸) is a Buddhist term often translated as "wisdom", "intelligence", or "understanding". It is described in

anattā ("non-self"). Mahāyāna texts describe it as the understanding of śūnyatā ("emptiness"). It is part of the Threefold Training in Buddhism, and is one of the ten pāramīs of Theravāda Buddhism
and one of the six Mahāyāna pāramitās.

Etymology

Prajñā is often translated as "wisdom", but according to Buddhist bioethics scholar Damien Keown, it is closer in meaning to "insight", "non-discriminating knowledge", or "intuitive apprehension".[1] The component parts of the word are:

Pra (प्र)
an intensifier which can be translated as "higher", "greater", "supreme" or "premium",[2] or "being born or springing up", referring to a spontaneous type of knowing[3]
jñā (ज्ञा)
can be translated as "consciousness", "knowledge", or "understanding"[4]

Pali scholars T. W. Rhys Davids and William Stede define paññā (prajñā) as "intelligence, comprising all the higher faculties of cognition" and "intellect as conversant with general truths".[5]

British Buddhist monk and Pāli scholar Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu translates prajñā (paññā), as "understanding", specifically the "state of understanding". Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu notes that Pāli makes a distinction between the "state of understanding" (paññā) and the "act of understanding" (pajānana) in a way different from how English does.[6]

Role in Buddhist traditions

Paññā is the fourth virtue of ten

sīla, samādhi, and paññā.[5]

Theravada Buddhism

Theravada Buddhist commentator Acariya Dhammapala describes paññā as the comprehension of the characteristics of things or phenomena with skillful means.[8][9] Dhammapala states that paññā has the attribute of penetrating the true nature of phenomena.[8]

Abhidharma commentaries relate that there are three types of paññā:[10][11][12]

  1. learned paññā (suta-maya-paññā)
    knowledge or wisdom that is acquired from books or listening to others.
  2. reflective paññā (cinta-maya-paññā)
    knowledge or wisdom that is acquired from thought or logic and reasoning.
  3. paññā from spiritual development (bhāvanā-maya-paññā)
    knowledge or wisdom that is acquired from direct spiritual experience. Fifth-century Theravada commentator
    meditative absorptions.[12]

Thai Buddhist monk and meditation-master

dhamma on the theory-level and the last as dhamma on the practice-level.[13] Ajahn Lee states that this results in two levels of paññā: mundane paññā which is the comprehension of worldly and dhamma subjects, and transcendent paññā which is an awareness of the supramundane that is realized by enlightened beings.[13]

Abhidharma commentaries describe seven ways to gain paññā:[11]

  1. asking a wise person
  2. keeping things clean
  3. balancing the five faculties (faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom)
  4. avoiding foolish people
  5. associating with wise people
  6. reflecting on and analyzing the dhamma
  7. having the mind inclined towards developing wisdom

Vipassanā Paññā

Buddhaghosa states in his commentary and meditation treatise, the Visuddhimagga, that there are many different types and aspects of paññā but does not define them all.[6] Buddhaghosa specifies paññā in relation to Buddhist meditation as being specifically vipassanā-paññā ("insight wisdom"), meaning insight knowledge endowed with virtue.[14]

Buddhaghosa defines vipassanā-paññā as “knowing in a particular mode separate from the modes of perceiving (sañjānana) and cognizing (vijjānana)”.[6] Buddhaghosa makes the analogy of how a child, villager, and money-changer sees money to explain his definition. The child can perceive (sañjānana) coins through the senses but does not know the value, the villager knows the value of the coins and is conscious (vijjānana) of the coins' characteristics as a medium of exchange, and the money-changer has an understanding (paññā) of the coins that is even deeper than the surface understanding the villager has because the money-changer can identify which coins are real or fake, which village created them, etc.[6]

Paññā in the context of Buddhist meditation is described as the ability to understand the

delusion" in order to understand the "individual essence of states".[15]

Mahāyāna Buddhism

See also: Prajnaparamita

Buddhist-studies scholar Paul Williams states that Mahayana Buddhist tradition considers the analysis of prajñā found in the Abhidharma texts to be incomplete.[16] According to Williams, the Abhidharma description of prajñā stops at the discernment of dharmas as the final reality, but Mahayana and some non-Mahayana schools go on to teach that all dharmas are empty (dharma-śūnyatā).[16] Buddhist scholar John Makransky describes dharmas in this sense to mean "phenomena".[17] Williams goes on to say that the meaning of prajñā according to Mahayana Prajñāpāramitā sutras is ultimately the state of understanding emptiness (śūnyatā).[16]

Religious studies scholar Dale S. Wright points to the Heart Sutra which states that those who want "to practice the profound perfection of wisdom (prajñā) should view things in this way [as empty]". Wright states this view is not wisdom, but having the view will make you wise.[18]

According to Williams, Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition also has another understanding of prajñā, that is a meditative absorption or state of consciousness that results from analysis and leads to the ultimate truth.[16]

See also

  • Adhiṭṭhāna – Resolute determination, in Buddhism
  • Bodhipakkhiya dhamma
     – Spiritual qualities conducive to Buddhist cultivation
  • Dāna
     – Concept of charity in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism
  • Five wisdoms – A Buddhist philosophical concept which means five kinds of wisdoms appearing when the mind is purified
  • Four Noble Truths – Basic framework of Buddhist thought
  • Four ways of knowing
    – the perfection of action, observing knowing, universal knowing, and great mirror knowing
  • Kenshō – Seeing one's "true nature" as inherently empty of a personal self
  • Khanti
     – Buddhist concept of patience, forbearance and forgiveness
  • Metta – Buddhist term meaning "loving-kindness"
  • Nekkhamma – Buddhist philosophical concept
  • Noble Eightfold Path – Buddhist practices leading to liberation from saṃsāra
  • Passaddhi – Buddhist philosophical concept
  • Sacca – Buddhist term meaning "real" or "true"
  • Upekkhā
     – Concept of equanimity in Buddhism
  • Vīrya – Buddhist term

References

  1. ^ Keown, Damien (2003). A Dictionary of Buddhism. Oxford University Press. p. 218.
  2. ^ Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). "prā". A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. p. 652. Archived from the original on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2012-08-14.)
  3. ^ Loy, David (1997). Nonduality. A Study in Comparative Philosophy. Humanity Books. p. 136.
  4. ^ Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). "jña" (PDF). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. p. 425. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-81-208-1144-7. Archived
    from the original on 2016-12-07. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-955-24-0023-0. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 2020-01-18. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  7. ISBN 978-0-19-538201-3. Archived
    from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  • ^
    OCLC 40888949. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  • ISBN 978-1-4384-0820-0. Archived
    from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  • ISBN 978-1-61429-219-7. Archived
    from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  • ^ a b Mingun, Sayadaw (2019-09-21). "Fourth Pāramī: The Perfection of Wisdom (paññā-pāramī)". www.wisdomlib.org. Archived from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  • ^
    ISBN 978-955-24-0023-0. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 2020-01-18. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  • ^ a b Dhammadharo, Ajahn Lee (2012). Basic Themes: Four Treatises on Buddhist Practice (PDF). Translated by Thanissaro, Bhikkhu. USA: Metta Forest Monastery. p. 89. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  • ^
    ISBN 978-974-401-378-1. Archived
    from the original on 2020-01-11. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  • ISBN 978-955-24-0023-0. Archived
    from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  • ^
    ISBN 978-0-415-02537-9. Archived
    from the original on 2019-12-14. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  • ISBN 978-0-7914-3432-1. Archived
    from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  • ISBN 978-0-19-538201-3. Archived
    from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2020-01-27.

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