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.
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 pāramīs found in late canonic (Khuddaka Nikāya) and Theravādan commentary, and the sixth of the six Mahāyāna pāramitās.[7] It is the third level of the
Threefold Training in Buddhism consisting of 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]
knowledge or wisdom that is acquired from books or listening to others.
reflective paññā (cinta-maya-paññā)
knowledge or wisdom that is acquired from thought or logic and reasoning.
paññā from spiritual development (bhāvanā-maya-paññā)
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.[12]
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.[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]
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 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
three characteristics of all things, namely
impermanence,
suffering, and
non-self.[14] Buddhaghoṣa states that the function of paññā is "to abolish the darkness of
delusion" in order to understand the "individual essence of states".[15]
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]
Bodhipakkhiya dhamma – Spiritual qualities conducive to Buddhist cultivationPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Dāna – Concept of charity in Buddhism, Hinduism and JainismPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Five wisdoms – A Buddhist philosophical concept which means five kinds of wisdoms appearing when the mind is purifiedPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
^Keown, Damien (2003). A Dictionary of Buddhism. Oxford University Press. p. 218.
^Monier-Williams, Monier (1899).
"prā". A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. p. 652. Archived from
the original on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2012-08-14.)
^Loy, David (1997). Nonduality. A Study in Comparative Philosophy. Humanity Books. p. 136.
^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.
Nyanaponika Thera; Bhikkhu Bodhi (1999), Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya, Altamira Press,
ISBN0-7425-0405-0