the five spiritual faculties: wisdom
Jul. 28th, 2019 05:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cattasallaThe final of the five spiritual faculties is paññā, which is generally translated either as "wisdom" or "discernment" (but occasionally as "insight"). It represents the culmination of the process initiated with faith, the first faculty, which develops through vigor, mindfulness, and samādhi, but it also supports all of those other faculties, by understanding what assists them and what hinders them.
The specific things one understands as part of Buddhist wisdom are usually given on two levels, a coarser and a more refined level. On the coarser level, it's an understanding of what is skillful and what is not skillful. In this case, it's more like discernment.
For the more refined level, we can turn to the text we've been following, SN 48.10, and in my translation:
So it is that awareness that everything is constantly arising and passing away, and nothing is worth clinging to. Understanding that clinging to things that are passing away is what causes dukkha, and nonclinging is what brings about its end.
And when we talk about this wisdom, we're not talking about a simple intellectual understanding of it. It's not too difficult to understand this analysis on that level. It's straightforward, and logical--indeed, that's one of the appeals of the teachings of the Buddha. Wisdom here is understanding it at a deep level, and being able to let go at a deep level, so as to prevent the arising of dukkha. It's one thing to know that one must let go, it's another thing entirely to be able to actually do it. It's that ability to actually let know based on a deep, experiential understanding of how dukkha actually works--that's what wisdom is.
The specific things one understands as part of Buddhist wisdom are usually given on two levels, a coarser and a more refined level. On the coarser level, it's an understanding of what is skillful and what is not skillful. In this case, it's more like discernment.
For the more refined level, we can turn to the text we've been following, SN 48.10, and in my translation:
And what, O monks, is the spiritual faculty of wisdom?
Here, O monks, a noble disciple is wise, and is possessed of the wisdom of the arising and passing away, which is noble, leads to disenchantment, and the complete passing away of all dukkha.
They understand "This is dukkha" as it is, "this is the origin of dukkha" as it is, "this is the cessation of dukkha" as it is, and "this is the path leading to the cessation of dukkha" as it is.
This is called, O monks, the spiritual faculty of wisdom.
So it is that awareness that everything is constantly arising and passing away, and nothing is worth clinging to. Understanding that clinging to things that are passing away is what causes dukkha, and nonclinging is what brings about its end.
And when we talk about this wisdom, we're not talking about a simple intellectual understanding of it. It's not too difficult to understand this analysis on that level. It's straightforward, and logical--indeed, that's one of the appeals of the teachings of the Buddha. Wisdom here is understanding it at a deep level, and being able to let go at a deep level, so as to prevent the arising of dukkha. It's one thing to know that one must let go, it's another thing entirely to be able to actually do it. It's that ability to actually let know based on a deep, experiential understanding of how dukkha actually works--that's what wisdom is.