Prajñā
Prajñā (P. paññā; T. she rab ཤེས་རབ་; C. bore/hui), commonly translated as "wisdom" or "insight," is insight in the true nature of reality, namely primarily anicca (impermanence), dukkha (dissatisfaction or suffering), anattā (non-self) and śūnyatā (emptiness).
Prajñā/paññā is identified within the Buddhist teachings in the following contexts:
- One of the threefold trainings
- One of the five spiritual faculties and one of the five powers
- One of the six paramitas in the Sanskrit tradition
- One of the ten paramis in the Pali tradition
- One of the twenty-five beautiful mental factors within the Abhidhammattha-sangaha of the Pali tradition
- One of the five object-determining mental factors within the Abhidharma-samuccaya of the Sanskrit tradition
Etymology
Prajñā is often translated as "wisdom", but according to Damien Keown it is closer in meaning to "insight", "discriminating knowledge", or "intuitive apprehension".Template:Sfn
- jñā can be translated as "consciousness", "knowledge", or "understanding".[web 1]
- Pra is an intensifier which can be translated as "higher", "greater", "supreme" or "premium",[web 2] or "being born or springing up",Template:Sfn referring to a spontaneous type of knowing.Template:Sfn
Mental factor
Pali tradition
A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma states:
- The wisdom faculty: Paññā is wisdom, or knowing things as they really are. It is here called a faculty because it exercises predominance in comprehending things as they really are. In the Abhidhamma, the three terms—wisdom (paññā), knowledge (ñāṇa), and non-delusion (amoha)—are used synonymously. Wisdom has the characteristic of penetrating things according to their intrinsic nature (yathāsabhāvapaṭivedha). Its function is to illuminate the objective field like a lamp. It is manifested as non-bewilderment. Its proximate cause is wise attention (yoniso manasikāra).Template:Manual of Abhidhamma sv
Sanskrit tradition
Khenjuk states:
- Prajñā means fully discerning the examined object. Its function is to cast away uncertainty.Template:Gateway1 sv
The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:
- What is prajñā? It is the distinction of all that which is firmly established. Its function is to avoid any confusion or doubt.Template:MBP sv
The Necklace of Clear Understanding states:
- It is an awareness which discriminates between the individual observable qualities and defects as well as between the qualities of what is under consideration. The object which has been singled out by appreciative discrimination is threefold (1. Positive 2. Negative 3. Indeterminate) and the individual defects and qualities of these are distinguished.Template:MBP sv
Understanding in the Buddhist traditions
Template:Parami Paññā is the fourth virtue of ten Theravāda pāramitās, and the sixth of the six Mahāyāna pāramitās.
Theravada Buddhism
In the Pāli Canon, paññā is concentrated insight into the three characteristics of all things, namely impermanence, suffering and no-self, and the four noble truths.[1][2][3]
In the 5th-century exegetical work Visuddhimagga, one of the most revered books in Theravada Buddhism, Buddhaghoṣa states that the function of paññā is "to abolish the darkness of delusion".Template:Sfn
Mahāyāna Buddhism
Template:See also In Mahayana Buddhism, the importance of prajna was stressed in combination with karuna, compassion. It took a central place in the Prajñā-pāramitā Sutras, such as the Heart Sutra. Prajna is spoken of as the principal means of attaining nirvāna, through its revelation of the true nature of all things as emptiness.
See also
References
- ↑ Template:Cite book
- ↑ Template:Cite book, Quote: "All phenomenal existence [in Buddhism] is said to have three interlocking characteristics: impermanence, suffering and lack of soul or essence."
- ↑ Template:Cite book
Sources
Published sources
Web-sources
- ↑ See, e.g., Monier-Williams (1899), "jña," p. 425 (retrieved 14 August 2012 from "Cologne U." at mw0425-jehila.pdf).
- ↑ See, e.g., Monier-Williams (1899), "prā," p. 652 (retrieved 14 Aug. 2012 from "Cologne U." at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/monier/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0659-prajalpana.jpg)
