Sublime

Seng-chao also discussed the seeming paradox that prajna is a kind of ignorance. Because the ultimate reality has no qualities and is not a thing, it cannot become an object of knowledge. Therefore prajna, direct insight, knows the truth by not knowing.

On the level of view, prajna means “right knowledge” in an abstract and intellectual sense.

Looking is prajna, intellect; seeing is wisdom [jnana].

That tradition teaches that our essence-nature, the core of our being, which is also the ground of being itself, cannot be grasped by the mind and so it goes by many names (while being ultimately nameless)—in Sanskrit it is called sāra (“essence, core”), madhya (“center”), svabhāva (“true nature”), ātman (“real self, soul”), and śivatva (“divinity”

This inner wisdom inclines in one direction or another for the benefit of all beings, which is one key way it is different from the desires of the heart-mind, which usually tend to move toward what is beneficial for you personally. So, the inner wisdom won’t necessarily lead you toward what you most like or enjoy. (However, through spiritual practi

At this level, then, prajna is seeing the truth of the four noble truths—but seeing their truth, not just holding the intellectual conviction of it.

Wisdom or insight—prajña in the Sanskrit language—is not intellectual knowledge. Intellectual understanding forms a good foundation. But it’s only that—a foundation. Insight here is exactly as it sounds in English; prajña means seeing something from within—to inner-stand something. I think that’s really important for us to grasp. We are not separat

Three Wisdom Tools To take this journey inward, we’re going to engage the three prajnas, or “wisdom tools,” of hearing, contemplating, and meditating.6 Hearing, or reading, about something leads to contemplating upon it, which leads to meditating on it. By reading and thinking about this material, you will be engaging the first two wisdom tools. In

One old koan tells the story of a student who asks his teacher for permission to leave the monastery. “Where do you want to go?” the teacher asks. “Around on pilgrimage,” replies the student. The teacher presses him, “What is the purpose of a pilgrimage?” After all, doesn’t practice teach us that everything we’re looking for is already right here?