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Prajñā (Buddhism)

Prajñā (प्रज्ञा) or paññā (𑀧𑀜𑁆𑀜𑀸), is a Buddhist term often translated as "wisdom", "intelligence", or "understanding". It is described in Buddhist texts as the understanding of the true nature of phenomena. In the context of Buddhist meditation, it is the ability to understand the three characteristics of all things: anicca ("impermanence"), dukkha ("dissatisfaction" or "suffering"), and 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.

Gilt-copper statue of Mañjuśrī, the bodhisattva of wisdom. Imperial China, Tang or Five Dynasties period, late 9th to early 10th century.

Etymology

Prajñā (प्रज्ञा) 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]

  • jñā (ज्ञा) can be translated as "consciousness", "knowledge", or "understanding".[web 1]
  • Pra (प्र) is an intensifier which can be translated as "higher", "greater", "supreme" or "premium",[web 2] or "being born or springing up",[2] referring to a spontaneous type of knowing.[2]

Pali scholars T. W. Rhys Davids and William Stede define paññā (Sanskrit: prajñā) as "intelligence, comprising all the higher faculties of cognition" and "intellect as conversant with general truths".[3] British Buddhist monk and Pāli scholar Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu translates Prajñā (Pāli: 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 than English does.[4]

Role in Buddhist traditions

Paññā is the fourth virtue of ten pāramīs found in late canonic (Khuddaka Nikāya) and Theravādan commentary, and the sixth of the six Mahāyāna pāramitās.[5][6] It is the third level of the Threefold Training in Buddhism consisting of sīla, samādhi, and paññā.[3]

Theravada Buddhism

Theravada Buddhist commentator Acariya Dhammapala describes paññā as the comprehension of the characteristics of things or phenomena with skillful means.[7][8] Dhammapala states that paññā has the attribute of penetrating the true nature of phenomena.[7]

Abhidharma commentaries relate that there are three types of paññā.[9][10][11]

  1. Learned paññā (Pāli: suta-maya-paññā), or knowledge or wisdom that is acquired from books or listening to others.
  2. Reflective paññā (Pāli: cinta-maya-paññā), or knowledge or wisdom that is acquired from thought or logic and reasoning.
  3. Paññā from spiritual development (Pāli: bhāvanā-maya-paññā), or knowledge or wisdom that is acquired from direct spiritual experience. Fifth-century Theravada commentator Buddhaghosa states that this category of knowledge is produced from higher meditative absorptions.[11]

Thai Buddhist monk and meditation-master Ajahn Lee classifies the first two types of paññā as Dhamma on the theory-level and the last as Dhamma on the practice-level.[12] 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.[12]

Abhidharma commentaries describe seven ways to gain paññā.[10]

  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.[4] Buddhaghosa specifies paññā in relation to Buddhist meditation as being specifically vipassanā-paññā ("insight wisdom"). Vipassanā-paññā meaning insight knowledge endowed with virtue.[13]

Buddhaghosa defines vipassanā-paññā as “knowing in a particular mode separate from the modes of perceiving (sañjānana) and cognizing (vijjānana).”.[4] 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 it, etc.[4]

Paññā in the context of Buddhist meditation is described as essentially being the ability to understand the three characteristics of all things, namely impermanence, suffering and non-self.[13] Buddhaghoṣa states that the function of paññā is "to abolish the darkness of delusion" in order to understand the "individual essence of states".[14]

Mahāyāna Buddhism

Buddhist-studies scholar Paul Williams states that Mahayana Buddhist tradition considers the analysis of prajñā found in the Abhidharma texts to be incomplete.[15] 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).[15] Buddhist scholar John Makransky describes dharmas in this sense to mean "phenomena".[16] Williams goes on to say that the meaning of prajñā according to Mahayana Prajñāpāramitā sutras is ultimately the state of understanding emptiness (śūnyatā).[15] 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.[17] 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.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Keown 2003, p. 218.
  2. ^ a b Loy 1997, p. 136.
  3. ^ a b Davids, Thomas William Rhys; Stede, William (1993). Pali-English Dictionary. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 390. ISBN 978-81-208-1144-7. from the original on 2016-12-07. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  4. ^ a b c d Buddhaghosa (1991). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga (PDF). Buddhist Publication Society, translated by Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu. pp. 431–432. ISBN 978-955-24-0023-0. (PDF) from the original on 2020-01-18. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  5. ^ Dhammapala, Acariya. (1996). A treatise on the Paramis : from the commentary to the Cariyapitaka (PDF). Translated by Bodhi, Bhikkhu. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. pp. 2–5. ISBN 955-24-0146-1. OCLC 40888949. (PDF) from the original on 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  6. ^ Wright, Dale Stuart (2009). The Six Perfections: Buddhism and the Cultivation of Character. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-538201-3. from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  7. ^ a b Dhammapala, Acariya. (1996). A treatise on the Paramis : from the commentary to the Cariyapitaka (PDF). Translated by Bodhi, Bhikkhu. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. pp. 5–6. ISBN 955-24-0146-1. OCLC 40888949. (PDF) from the original on 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  8. ^ Kalupahana, David J. Nagarjuna: The Philosophy of the Middle Way. SUNY Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-4384-0820-0. from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  9. ^ Bhikkhu, Buddhadasa (2017-05-16). Under the Bodhi Tree: Buddha's Original Vision of Dependent Co-arising. Simon and Schuster. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-61429-219-7. from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  10. ^ a b www.wisdomlib.org (2019-09-21). "(4) Fourth Pāramī: The Perfection of Wisdom (paññā-pāramī)". www.wisdomlib.org. from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  11. ^ a b Buddhaghosa (1991). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga (PDF). Buddhist Publication Society, translated by Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu. pp. 434–435. ISBN 978-955-24-0023-0. (PDF) from the original on 2020-01-18. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  12. ^ a b Dhammadharo, Ajahn Lee (2012). Basic Themes: Four Treatises on Buddhist Practice (PDF). USA: Metta Forest Monastery, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. p. 89. (PDF) from the original on 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  13. ^ a b Thepyanmongkol, Phra (2012). A Study Guide for Right Practice of the Three Trainings. Wat Luang Phor Sodh. pp. 255–258. ISBN 978-974-401-378-1. from the original on 2020-01-11. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  14. ^ Buddhaghosa (1991). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. Buddhist Publication Society, translated by Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu. p. 433. ISBN 978-955-24-0023-0. from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  15. ^ a b c d Williams, Paul (1989). Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. Psychology Press. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-0-415-02537-9. from the original on 2019-12-14. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  16. ^ Makransky, John J. (1997-07-31). Buddhahood Embodied: Sources of Controversy in India and Tibet. SUNY Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-7914-3432-1. from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  17. ^ Wright, Dale Stuart (2009). The Six Perfections: Buddhism and the Cultivation of Character. Oxford University Press. pp. 218–221. ISBN 978-0-19-538201-3. from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2020-01-27.

Sources

Published sources

  • Buddhaghosa; Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (1999), The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga, Buddhist Publication Society, ISBN 1-928706-00-2
  • Keown, Damien (2003), A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press
  • Loy, David (1997), Nonduality. A Study in Comparative Philosophy, Humanity Books
  • Nyanaponika Thera; Bhikkhu Bodhi (1999), Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya, Altamira Press, ISBN 0-7425-0405-0
  • Rhys Davids, T. W.; Stede, William (1921–25), The Pali Text Society's Pali–English Dictionary, Pali Text Society, from the original on 2021-07-25, retrieved 2021-02-20

Web-sources

  1. ^ See, e.g., Monier-Williams (1899), "jña," p. 425 (retrieved 14 August 2012 from "Cologne U." at mw0425-jehila.pdf 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine).
  2. ^ 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 2018-10-06 at the Wayback Machine)

External links

    prajñā, buddhism, also, prajñā, hinduism, prajñā, रज, paññā, 𑀧𑀜, 𑀜, buddhist, term, often, translated, wisdom, intelligence, understanding, described, buddhist, texts, understanding, true, nature, phenomena, context, buddhist, meditation, ability, understand, . See also Prajna Hinduism Prajna प रज ञ or panna 𑀧𑀜 𑀜 is a Buddhist term often translated as wisdom intelligence or understanding It is described in Buddhist texts as the understanding of the true nature of phenomena In the context of Buddhist meditation it is the ability to understand the three characteristics of all things anicca impermanence dukkha dissatisfaction or suffering and anatta non self Mahayana texts describe it as the understanding of sunyata emptiness It is part of the Threefold Training in Buddhism and is one of the ten paramis of Theravada Buddhism and one of the six Mahayana paramitas Gilt copper statue of Manjusri the bodhisattva of wisdom Imperial China Tang or Five Dynasties period late 9th to early 10th century Contents 1 Etymology 2 Role in Buddhist traditions 2 1 Theravada Buddhism 2 1 1 Vipassana Panna 2 2 Mahayana Buddhism 3 See also 4 References 5 Sources 5 1 Published sources 5 2 Web sources 6 External linksEtymology EditPrajna प रज ञ 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 jna ज ञ can be translated as consciousness knowledge or understanding web 1 Pra प र is an intensifier which can be translated as higher greater supreme or premium web 2 or being born or springing up 2 referring to a spontaneous type of knowing 2 Pali scholars T W Rhys Davids and William Stede define panna Sanskrit prajna as intelligence comprising all the higher faculties of cognition and intellect as conversant with general truths 3 British Buddhist monk and Pali scholar Naṇamoli Bhikkhu translates Prajna Pali panna as understanding specifically the state of understanding Naṇamoli Bhikkhu notes that Pali makes a distinction between the state of understanding panna and the act of understanding pajanana in a way different than English does 4 Role in Buddhist traditions EditPanna is the fourth virtue of ten paramis found in late canonic Khuddaka Nikaya and Theravadan commentary and the sixth of the six Mahayana paramitas 5 6 It is the third level of the Threefold Training in Buddhism consisting of sila samadhi and panna 3 Theravada Buddhism Edit Theravada Buddhist commentator Acariya Dhammapala describes panna as the comprehension of the characteristics of things or phenomena with skillful means 7 8 Dhammapala states that panna has the attribute of penetrating the true nature of phenomena 7 Abhidharma commentaries relate that there are three types of panna 9 10 11 Learned panna Pali suta maya panna or knowledge or wisdom that is acquired from books or listening to others Reflective panna Pali cinta maya panna or knowledge or wisdom that is acquired from thought or logic and reasoning Panna from spiritual development Pali bhavana maya panna or knowledge or wisdom that is acquired from direct spiritual experience Fifth century Theravada commentator Buddhaghosa states that this category of knowledge is produced from higher meditative absorptions 11 Thai Buddhist monk and meditation master Ajahn Lee classifies the first two types of panna as Dhamma on the theory level and the last as Dhamma on the practice level 12 Ajahn Lee states that this results in two levels of panna mundane panna which is the comprehension of worldly and Dhamma subjects and transcendent panna which is an awareness of the supramundane that is realized by enlightened beings 12 Abhidharma commentaries describe seven ways to gain panna 10 Asking a wise person Keeping things clean Balancing the five faculties faith energy mindfulness concentration and wisdom Avoiding foolish people Associating with wise people Reflecting on and analyzing the Dhamma Having the mind inclined towards developing wisdomVipassana Panna Edit Buddhaghosa states in his commentary and meditation treatise the Visuddhimagga that there are many different types and aspects of panna but does not define them all 4 Buddhaghosa specifies panna in relation to Buddhist meditation as being specifically vipassana panna insight wisdom Vipassana panna meaning insight knowledge endowed with virtue 13 Buddhaghosa defines vipassana panna as knowing in a particular mode separate from the modes of perceiving sanjanana and cognizing vijjanana 4 Buddhaghosa makes the analogy of how a child villager and money changer sees money to explain his definition The child can perceive sanjanana coins through the senses but does not know the value the villager knows the value of the coins and is conscious vijjanana of the coins characteristics as a medium of exchange and the money changer has an understanding panna 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 it etc 4 Panna in the context of Buddhist meditation is described as essentially being the ability to understand the three characteristics of all things namely impermanence suffering and non self 13 Buddhaghoṣa states that the function of panna is to abolish the darkness of delusion in order to understand the individual essence of states 14 Mahayana Buddhism Edit See also Prajnaparamita Buddhist studies scholar Paul Williams states that Mahayana Buddhist tradition considers the analysis of prajna found in the Abhidharma texts to be incomplete 15 According to Williams the Abhidharma description of prajna 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 sunyata 15 Buddhist scholar John Makransky describes dharmas in this sense to mean phenomena 16 Williams goes on to say that the meaning of prajna according to Mahayana Prajnaparamita sutras is ultimately the state of understanding emptiness sunyata 15 Religious studies scholar Dale S Wright points to the Heart Sutra which states that those who want to practice the profound perfection of wisdom prajna should view things in this way as empty Wright states this view is not wisdom but having the view will make you wise 17 According to Williams Indo Tibetan Buddhist tradition also has another understanding of prajna that is a meditative absorption or state of consciousness that results from analysis and leads to the ultimate truth 15 See also EditFour Noble Truths Noble Eightfold Path Sacca truth Adhiṭṭhana resolute determination Dana generosity Passaddhi tranquillity Nekkhamma renunciation Upekkha equanimity Khanti patience Metta loving kindness Virya diligence Bodhipakkhiya dhamma Qualities conducive to Enlightenment Kenshō Five wisdoms Four ways of knowingReferences Edit Keown 2003 p 218 a b Loy 1997 p 136 a b Davids Thomas William Rhys Stede William 1993 Pali English Dictionary Motilal Banarsidass Publ p 390 ISBN 978 81 208 1144 7 Archived from the original on 2016 12 07 Retrieved 2020 01 26 a b c d Buddhaghosa 1991 The Path of Purification Visuddhimagga PDF Buddhist Publication Society translated by Naṇamoli Bhikkhu pp 431 432 ISBN 978 955 24 0023 0 Archived PDF from the original on 2020 01 18 Retrieved 2020 01 25 Dhammapala Acariya 1996 A treatise on the Paramis from the commentary to the Cariyapitaka PDF Translated by Bodhi Bhikkhu Kandy Sri Lanka Buddhist Publication Society pp 2 5 ISBN 955 24 0146 1 OCLC 40888949 Archived PDF from the original on 2017 06 22 Retrieved 2020 01 26 Wright Dale Stuart 2009 The Six Perfections Buddhism and the Cultivation of Character Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 538201 3 Archived from the original on 2021 06 24 Retrieved 2020 01 27 a b Dhammapala Acariya 1996 A treatise on the Paramis from the commentary to the Cariyapitaka PDF Translated by Bodhi Bhikkhu Kandy Sri Lanka Buddhist Publication Society pp 5 6 ISBN 955 24 0146 1 OCLC 40888949 Archived PDF from the original on 2017 06 22 Retrieved 2020 01 26 Kalupahana David J Nagarjuna The Philosophy of the Middle Way SUNY Press p 15 ISBN 978 1 4384 0820 0 Archived from the original on 2022 05 06 Retrieved 2020 01 31 Bhikkhu Buddhadasa 2017 05 16 Under the Bodhi Tree Buddha s Original Vision of Dependent Co arising Simon and Schuster p 22 ISBN 978 1 61429 219 7 Archived from the original on 2022 05 06 Retrieved 2020 01 23 a b www wisdomlib org 2019 09 21 4 Fourth Parami The Perfection of Wisdom panna parami www wisdomlib org Archived from the original on 2022 05 06 Retrieved 2020 01 23 a b Buddhaghosa 1991 The Path of Purification Visuddhimagga PDF Buddhist Publication Society translated by Naṇamoli Bhikkhu pp 434 435 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 USA Metta Forest Monastery translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu p 89 Archived PDF from the original on 2019 08 02 Retrieved 2020 01 26 a b Thepyanmongkol Phra 2012 A Study Guide for Right Practice of the Three Trainings Wat Luang Phor Sodh pp 255 258 ISBN 978 974 401 378 1 Archived from the original on 2020 01 11 Retrieved 2020 01 23 Buddhaghosa 1991 The Path of Purification Visuddhimagga Buddhist Publication Society translated by Naṇamoli Bhikkhu p 433 ISBN 978 955 24 0023 0 Archived from the original on 2022 05 06 Retrieved 2020 10 28 a b c d Williams Paul 1989 Mahayana Buddhism The Doctrinal Foundations Psychology Press pp 43 44 ISBN 978 0 415 02537 9 Archived from the original on 2019 12 14 Retrieved 2020 01 29 Makransky John J 1997 07 31 Buddhahood Embodied Sources of Controversy in India and Tibet SUNY Press p 109 ISBN 978 0 7914 3432 1 Archived from the original on 2022 05 06 Retrieved 2020 01 29 Wright Dale Stuart 2009 The Six Perfections Buddhism and the Cultivation of Character Oxford University Press pp 218 221 ISBN 978 0 19 538201 3 Archived from the original on 2021 06 24 Retrieved 2020 01 27 Sources EditPublished sources Edit Buddhaghosa Bhikkhu Naṇamoli 1999 The Path of Purification Visuddhimagga Buddhist Publication Society ISBN 1 928706 00 2 Keown Damien 2003 A Dictionary of Buddhism Oxford University Press Loy David 1997 Nonduality A Study in Comparative Philosophy Humanity Books Nyanaponika Thera Bhikkhu Bodhi 1999 Numerical Discourses of the Buddha An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya Altamira Press ISBN 0 7425 0405 0 Rhys Davids T W Stede William 1921 25 The Pali Text Society s Pali English Dictionary Pali Text Society archived from the original on 2021 07 25 retrieved 2021 02 20 Web sources Edit See e g Monier Williams 1899 jna p 425 retrieved 14 August 2012 from Cologne U at mw0425 jehila pdf Archived 2016 03 03 at the Wayback Machine See e g Monier Williams 1899 pra 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 Archived 2018 10 06 at the Wayback Machine External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to Prajna Buddhism What is Prajna Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Prajna Buddhism amp oldid 1145425113, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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